Less than two weeks after the Madison Common Council voted to approve a 50-cent bus-fare increase, residents will get the opportunity to chime in on the issue at a public hearing Monday.
Mayor Dave Cieslewicz proposed a $682,000 increase in Madison Metro revenue through the fare increase in his 2009 operating budget. After hours of public comment and budget deliberations, the Common Council approved the fare hike from $1.50 to $2 on Nov. 13.
It is now up to the city's Transit and Parking Commission to determine how to deal with the fare increase, set to take effect in March 2009, amid high fuel costs and a tough economic situation.
The Madison Area Bus Advocates, an organization dedicated to the city's public transit system, is holding a rally before the hearing to generate discussion about the fare increase and other issues facing Metro.
MABA member Barbara Smith said the group is hoping to get more residents involved in the decision-making process behind one of the most controversial changes being made in the 2009 budget.
We wanted to draw more people into participation [and] to give their opinion at the hearing, and also we want to sort of comment on the city council's decision on the bus fare,"" she said.
Smith said the organization has opposed the fare increase since its proposal but has not come up with a formal stance since the budget's approval. Members and speakers will address a number of topics ranging from low-income ridership to possible service cuts at the rally, themed ""The Future of Transit in Madison.""
""I guess we're just using this occasion of interest in the buses to really talk about a lot of issues even besides the fare hike,"" Smith said.
The MABA rally will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Monona Terrace, where the TPC public hearing on the fare increase will take place at 6 p.m.
