For San Diegans who made resolutions to save money by driving less, an alternative to getting behind the wheel also just got more expensive.
As of Jan. 1, the Metropolitan Transit System (MTS), which manages the bus and trolley system, raised fares for buses and increased the rates on monthly passes.
One-way cash fares on buses went up 25 cents, so fares for bus lines servicing the beach communities are now either $2.50 or $2.25, depending on the route. Monthly adult passes went up $4 and now cost $64. Youth passes went up from $30 to $32 a month. The price for senior, disabled and Medicare passes increased $1 to $16 a month.
But the major change in MTS’ fare system was the elimination of transfers. Riders must either pay the fare each time they board a bus or trolley or purchase a $5 day pass.
While a day pass can be more efficient for commuters, a one-way trip with a transfer now costs more than a gallon of gasoline.
According to Rob Schupp, director of marketing and communications for MTS, the fare increase was necessary to fill a hole in the operating budget created by a decrease in state funding.
“Half of our operational budget comes from sales tax revenue,” Schupp said. “Those projections for our fiscal year originally were a 6 percent increase from last year. Those have since been revised, first to only a 3 percent increase, then to a flat, equal amount. Now projections are actually showing a decrease.”
Incidentally, MTS ridership actually went up during the 2007 fiscal year.
According to Schupp, MTS generated 85,949,827 trips ” 50.8 million by bus and 35.1 million by trolley ” breaking the previous record by more than 2.7 million trips.
With the majority of MTS’s budget tied to the state sales tax, even increased ridership and revenue couldn’t close the funding gap.
Schupp said cities serviced by MTS, which include San Diego, Coronado, Imperial Beach, National City, Chula Vista, Lemon Grove, La Mesa, El Cajon and Santee, do not contribute to MTS’ budget.
“Systemwide, about 37 percent of our revenues are from fare box recovery,” Schupp said. “The other 50 percent is from sales tax, then federal taxes make up the majority of the rest.”
Before transfers were eliminated, riders were allowed to board connecting buses at no extra charge within two and a half hours from the purchase of a ticket. Now one-way riders will have to pay for each leg of their trip.
“Transfers were very difficult to administer and we believe that there was a lot of misuse of transfers,” Schupp said. “By eliminating them, it was another way to ensure that people were paying for each one of their trips. That was the primary reason.”
For information about public transportation, fares or trip planning, visit www.sdmts.com or dial 5-1-1.