Proposed SMART BUS fare increase.

[Danny]

Well folks Just about when our economy is stabilizing and two of Detroit's Big Three is going bankupt. Take a look at this.

Notice of Public Hearing to consider a proposed fare increase

SMART is seeking public input on a proposed fare increase. Since 1993, SMART has maintained its base fare of $1.50. Due to an increase in the cost of operations and declining revenue, SMART is considering up to a 50¢ base fare increase on fixed route, up to $1.00 Connector ADA fare increase and a $2.00 Connector full fare increase. Impacts on other costs, such as other fares, transfers and Regional Pass policy changes will also be considered.

Macomb County

Eastpointe City Hall, City Council Chambers
23200 Gratiot, Eastpointe
June 8, 2009, 5:00 - 7:00 p.m.

Mt. Clemens Library
150 Cass Ave., Mt. Clemens
June 25, 2009, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.

Oakland County

Royal Oak Transit Center
202 Sherman Drive, Royal Oak
June 4, 2009, 5:00 - 7:00 p.m.
June 30, 2009, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.

Wayne County

Buhl Building
SEMCOG Board Room, 3rd Floor
535 Griswold Street, Detroit
June 10, 2009, 5:00 - 7:00 p.m.
July 2, 2009, 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.



An interpreter for the hearing impaired will be available at a meeting given adequate notice via e-mail at:
PublicHearing@smartbus.org
Subject: Interpreter

Written comments should be addressed to:
Fare Changes
535 Griswold Street, Suite 600
Detroit, MI 48226
Or emailed to PublicHearing@smartbus.org

Would you want to ride SMART for $2.50 plus transfer? Take your fight to the meeting. I'm going to be there.

[Alley]

I wouldn't ask for it, but I could deal with that fare increase. I've been expecting a hike since gas prices went up. SMART has been 99% reliable, and saved my butt plenty a time, so if they need to increase fares, I'll pay the extra .50 or 1.00

[professorscott]

Who else do you know hasn't raised their price in sixteen years? This is completely reasonable and long overdue, though unfortunately it affects a lot of people who will have a hard time paying any more.

Transit systems measure how much of their operating costs are covered by farebox revenue, and SMART and DDOT are both in very bad shape compared to their peers, by this metric. It is an unfortunate but necessary step.

[Bearinabox]

How does $2.50/ride stack up to what comparable transit agencies around the country charge?

If DDOT's fares stay the same and SMART's go up, how will that affect the price of the regional pass? Will the price be jacked up, and all the additional revenue sent to SMART? Will DDOT and SMART continue to accept each other's transfers?

[DetroitPlanner]

Not surprised, the cost of providing this service has really gone up over the last several years; Fuel has increased, the cost of the coaches have increased as has labor; and transit is a very labor intensive business. What we pay for transportation in general is not keeping up with the rate of our needs; and if folks are going to continue to fight a gas tax increase, [[and the last gas tax increase passed pretty much left transit where it was), and demand for these services are going to continue to increase; what other choice would transit providers have?

[professorscott]

Bearinabox,

Transit prices vary widely all over the country. Many regions use zone-based fares, which we don't. Some cities have increased peak-hour fares, which we also don't. Of course in all other big cities, the transit system includes rapid transit which we don't have at all and which is perceived as providing greater value. Also, the base fare is going up to $2.00, not $2.50, so far as I can tell. $2 is an average cost for a ride, IMO, if you look at the fare in major cities.

I've heard talk of the regional pass going up, but I haven't heard a dollar amount proposed. No other big-city region charges as little for that as we do; other regions charge $65 to over $100. I've never known how that money is split between DDOT and SMART; if anyone knows, I'm interested.

Prof. Scott

[Retroit]

As long as the additional fare revenue is being used to pay for the cost of providing bus service, how can you complain? Someone's got to pay.

[MIRepublic]

Regular fares for other Michigan city mass transit:

Detroit: $1.50
Lansing: $1.25
Flint: $1.25
Ann Arbor: $1.25
Grand Rapids: $1.50

[ghettopalmetto]

It also bears repeating that SMART has one of [[if not THE) longest average passenger trips [[in miles) of any bus system in the United States.

[Hypestyles]

I hope for the best.. ideally, a regionalized, single bus service would be the best.. share costs/revenue.. alternative-fuel buses are needed ASAP.. 24 hour service.. more expanded routes..

[casscorridor]

There is no reason to justify raising fare increases. It is unjust. For in a time of economic depression, or in any time for that matter, raising fares impacts those who can least afford the increase.

In addition, in a time where we there is strong incentives for drivers to take transit... the economic downturn, climate change, etc.. raising fares works to undue those incentives. We need to be making it easier for people to take tranist, not harder.

We need to stop trying to justify fare increases, and start finding ways to solve this problem. Why isn't there a movement of people resisting these fare increses and working on the local, state and federal level to prevent any increases and to expand public transit?

If SMART is on the side of transit riders, then they should join in pressuring the state and federal government to give more funding. We all need to start thinking bigger.. more rail, more bus routes. There is no good reason why mass transit cannot be expanded, only excuses disguised as good reasons: such as that the busses are more expensive to opperate now, so fares need to be expensive, which ignores the fact that transit systems are not self-sufficent, and for a good reason. The more the government funds mass transit, and the less reliant on fares they are, the more resistant they will be to economic recession. Jobs will be kept, routes maintained, and fares kept as low as possible, and something we all need very badly: massive expansion of our mass transit sytems.

[professorscott]

The state and federal funding for transit are formula-based and anybody can go look at the formulas. Essentially, we have poor transit because we don't pay for it. In other regions of 4 to 5 million population in the US, the average per-capita funding for transit is about $250, and in metro Detroit it was a little under $80 last I checked.

We are getting what we are paying for, and I'm sick and tired of the "why doesn't uncle sugar take care of us" bullshit. WE are responsible for OUR region's priorities, in how we spend our tax dollars. We spend very little for transit. That is our fault, not Jennifer Granholm's and not Barack Obama's, and until we change that our transit systems will always be subpar.

Bread should also not cost $1.40 a loaf, because that impacts poor people disproportionately. I doubt Donald Trump gives half a shit whether a loaf of store-brand white bread is 80 cents or a buck-forty, but a lot of other people do. But people don't go to Aunt Millie's en masse to protest when they raise their price, yet they will go to a SMART hearing. SMART only has so much money and is trying to provide a service, with lower than average fare [[for a big city, not Flint), and lower than average local tax revenue. They can't just keep a fare low because you wish they could. There is no transit fairy.