Tomorrow (Tuesday, 6/14/05) the Transit and Parking Commission for the City of Madison is going to be considering having a public hearing so that they can raise the bus fares every year for the next four years. If you are one of those folks who get the "free bus passes" from the UW or your employer, you many not think this affects you, but it does, please read this to find out why and what you can do to help.

What is the proposal? How much will fares increase?
There are two different proposals that were given to commissioners. Rates could raise from the current fare to the following fares in 2008:

Adult Cash Fares $1.50 to $1.90
Adult Monthly Pass $39 to $54
Adult Quick Tix $11 to $15.30

Youth Cash Fares $.85 to $.95
Youth Semester Passes $95 to $153
Youth Quick Tix $6 to $9.50

Elderly/Disabled Cash Fare $.75 to $.95
Elderly/Disabled Quick Tix $7.50 to $9.50

Paratransit Peak Times $3 to $3.60
Paratransit Non-Peak Times $2 to $2.40

Why are the fares being raised?
Madison Metro is facing a $1.6 million gap in its $41 million operating budget for 2006. There are several reasons for this.
1. Wages. Wages are hands down the largest portion of Metro's budget, so it is tough to find a way to trim costs without cutting service. Service cuts have a drastic impact on the lives of people who are transit dependent.
2. Fuel increases.
3. Federal Funding. The federal government eliminated operating subsidies for cities over 200,000, and substituted a capital costs program.
4. State funding. This is the largest portion of Metro's budget and it was frozen at 2003 levels for the last budget cycle. The Governor tried to increase funding by 2%, but that was eliminated in the final budget. We do not know what will happen this year, but it isn't looking good. The Legislature has not shown willingness to fund programs that help Madison.
5. City Funding. The City provides about $8 million of the $41 million budget for Metro. Metro can directly bill Fitchburg, Middleton, Monona, and the UW when costs increase. Madison's portion of the Metro budget is determined by the Mayor and City Council has not seen the same rate of funding increases.
6. Advertising Revenue. Not likely to increase.

Unfortunately, the fare increases will not solve the problem and have unintended consequences. The fare increase accounts for less than 2% of the $41 million dollar budget and will not fill the $1.6 million projected gap while losing riders. Current projections indicate that the fare increases would raise roughly the following funds:

2005 - $190,00 - $210,000
2006 - $509,000 - $548,000
2007 - $546,000 - $570,000
2008 - $641,000 - $770,000

Why should you care if the rates are raised?
There are many reasons why you should care, but the primary reasons are:
· It's an economic development issue. Good, dependable, affordable transit is a central to a vibrant city.
· It's a social justice issue. Low-income people, elderly and people with disabilities are often transit dependent.
· It's an environmental issue. We need to give people realistic alternatives to driving.
· It's a quality of life issue. Traffic congestion is a major complaint, and it is likely to get worse if there are no alternatives.

Additionally, fare increases hit the transit dependent population hard. There are groups (Low income, disabled, children, elderly) that simply must use Metro as their primary transportation option. They are least able to afford a fare increase.

Also, consider the impacts on the bus system in general. Each cash fare increase makes it more difficult for the "choice rider" to choose transit over driving. Choice riders are those that have other options, but choose transit for one or more reasons: environmental concerns, costs of driving/parking, desire to not deal with traffic, etc. We are trying to get as many people as possible to use transportation alternatives. Raising fares makes that first attempt at transit that much less appealing when the cash fares are so high. Losing choice riders and first time riders weakens the system both financially and erodes the broad base of support that Madison Metro has. At some point, raising fares will be counterproductive as we lose more riders than we will gain by increasing the fare. Our increased fares are projected to lose approximately the following amounts of riders:

2005 – 51,000 – 57,000
2006 – 113,000 – 123,000
2007 – 83,000 – 85,000
2008 – 57,000 – 63,000

Finally, fare increases also hit social service providers hard because they often give out bus tickets to clients. They will either have to give out fewer tickets, absorb the cost by cutting other programs, or find additional funding elsewhere.

A few notes about the process.
The Common Council doesn't vote on bus fare increases, the Transit and Parking Commission can make this decision on their own.

We don't know what the gap in 2006 will be, we are basing this on projections. If we are to have an increase, that decision should be made at a later date when we have a clearer budget picture for 2006.

There should not be an automatic increase each year. Federal regulations require that there be a public hearing when rates are increased. Having one public hearing for the next four years of increases subverts the public right to their public hearing.

What can be done?
First of all, we should be looking for innovative solutions like leasing space at transfer points for newsstands or coffee carts.

Second of all, we need your help. Please consider doing any of the following, listed in order of importance.

1. Contact the Transit and Parking Commission through their assistant Gail Phillips at

.

2. Attend the Transit and Parking Commission meeting Tuesday June 14, 2005 at 5:00 in Room 260 in the Madison Municipal Building (215 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.) and register against or speak against.

3. Contact the alders on the Transit and Parking Commissioin
a. Ken Golden –

or 238-4370
b. Jed Sandborn –

or 576-5509
c. Noel Radomski –

or 236-8892

4. Contact the Mayor's office at

or 266-4611.

If you have further questions, contact Ald. Robbie Webber at

or myself at

.

A special thanks to Ald. Robbie Webber, Julie Spears, Satya Rhodes-Conway and Lisa Subeck for helping to gather information and writing the basis for much of this article.