No doubt many patrons of TheBus will be upset that a City Council committee has unanimously approved a new, higher fare schedule. They should take comfort in the fact that with the new fares, riders will be paying just 30 percent of the cost of operating TheBus.
That’s not as affordable as it used to be, but it’s fair.
In fact, the system is facing a projected deficit of $5.2 million. The proposed fare increase would bring in $5.6 million a year, but it wouldn’t be in place in time to prevent the shortfall.
Taxpayers who don’t ride the bus may wonder why they have to subsidize bus riders to the tune of 70 percent. They should ask themselves what traffic would be like if 40 riders were forced off each city bus and put behind the wheel of a car.
In addition, many people are able to work only because TheBus gets them there. It’s essential, then, to our economy.
The right philosophy is to keep the fare box paying about 30 percent of TheBus’ costs, as the Council’s new fare schedule achieves.
As we’ve said before, the Council could save itself some pain by agreeing to keep the farebox portion of bus costs fixed at about 30 percent, with fares rising or falling periodically as needed.
That would save Council members from having to stand up and be counted every time new fares are justified.
