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C-Tran wants to raise fare 20?: Increase would counter $4.6 million shortfall
(Columbian, The (Vancouver, WA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Nov. 18--C-Tran will unveil a proposed 20-cent boost in base fares during a public hearing tonight at the Clark County Public Service Center.
The hourlong hearing will begin at 5:30 p.m., following a work session involving the public transit agency's board of directors. The hearing will be held in the sixth-floor hearings room at 1300 Franklin St.
The agency is proposing to boost its base fare to $1.50 as soon as January. Express and all-zone rates would remain the same, though the monthly all-zone pass would increase by $4.
C-Tran is proposing the rate hike to address a $4.6 million shortfall:
n Rising C-Van ridership: C-Tran anticipates it will cost the agency an extra $1.3 million to provide curb-to-curb service for qualified riders under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
C-Tran calculates each trip costs slightly less than $35, and the agency has experienced a double-digit percentage growth in demand over the past year. Riders pay regular fares, currently $1.30.
"It's just a very expensive mode of service for transit systems to provide," C-Tran spokesman Scott Patterson said.
n Falling tax revenue: The softening economy is driving an anticipated shortfall of $1.5 million in sales tax revenue, which provides the bulk of the funding for the agency's $35 million annual budget.
n Higher fuel costs: The agency anticipates it will cost an additional $1 million to fuel its fleet of 170 buses and vans. The agency burned 1.1 million gallons of fuel in 2007.
Boosting the fare should maintain the current proportion of fare box receipts as a share of the agency's $35 million annual budget -- about 22 percent.
When voters approved a sales tax increase in September 2005, the agency pledged to increase fares every other year to ensure riders pay a greater share of the cost of operating the buses.
To see more of The Columbian, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.columbian.com.
Copyright (c) 2008, The Columbian, Vancouver, Wash.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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