The Madison Transit and Parking Commission heard hours of citizen commentary at the Monona Terrace Monday night at a public hearing on the proposed bus fare increases tentatively set to go into effect in March 2009.
Chuck Kamp, general manager of Madison Metro, explained the logistics of price increases among a variety of fares - from cash tickets to ride passes for youth, adult and senior riders - to attendees of the hearing.
The commission must now tackle the widely debated 50-cent increase for the adult cash fare from $1.50 to $2, as well as a $25 hike for the semester pass to $150 in order to hit the $682,000 in additional Metro revenue approved in Mayor Dave Cieslewicz's 2009 operating budget.
Kamp also said ridership is still expected to increase by about one percent despite the proposed fare increase, mainly because most of the Metro's contracts for unlimited ride passes, such as their partnership with the Associated Students of Madison, are secured through 2009.
Ald. Satya Rhodes-Conway, District 12, disputed the idea that ridership wouldn't suffer from the fare hike.
My belief is that we need to build the Metro system and the way that we do that sustainably in the long-term is to increase ridership,"" Rhodes-Conway said, noting the recent, but in her opinion limited, success of the ride pass programs.
""I think that has sustained us despite previous service cuts and fare increases that we have seen, and I don't know how long that can continue to sustain us,"" she said.
Madison resident Michelle Beasley said she and her husband, who has a physical disability that prevents him from driving, make up two different kinds of Metro customers - transit-dependent and choice riders.
Beasley said she supports the fare hike after seeing the debilitating effect not increasing prices had on transit services in her old community of Mesa, Ariz., where service cuts forced the couple to relocate to Madison.
""[My husband] rides the bus because he has to. I ride the bus because I want to,"" Beasley said. ""What I do know is that we need to do what we can to maintain the riders that we have.""
The TPC is scheduled to make a final decision on the fare increase proposals at its Dec. 9 meeting.
