The Columbian | Serving Clark County, Washington

With the temperature climbing past 90 by mid-afternoon Friday, Jim and Donna Warren climbed into the air-conditioned comfort of a C-Tran bus.

The Vancouver couple, bound for the Clark County Fair, had eschewed the fairgrounds parking lot and instead pointed their car to the 99th Street Transit Center in Hazel Dell.

“It’s cheaper this way,” Jim said, “and a lot less hassle.”

For $2 each, the couple were able to settle in to cushy seats and spread their legs on a near-empty bus. They didn’t have to pay the fairgrounds’ $6 parking fee. They didn’t have to hike a quarter mile through the grass and gravel parking lot. They didn’t have to worry about a long line at the entrance gate.

Fifteen minutes after boarding the bus, they ambled into the fair from C-Tran’s exclusive entrance a stone’s throw from the Exhibition Hall.

“This is an awesome asset,” Donna said.

Bus use drops

Yet a dwindling number of people are taking advantage of the long-standing shuttle service. The service recorded just over 19,000 boardings during the fair’s 10-day run last year, less than half the peak of 44,000 in 2003.

The decline reflects several factors, said Scott Patterson, C-Tran’s development and public affairs director.

He said a new amphitheater and the fairgrounds came with an expanded parking lot, making it easier for people to drive. Also, C-Tran has doubled its fare twice since 2004, when it was charging 50 cents for a round-trip lift to the fair.

“On one hand, we want to provide the service,” Patterson said. “On the other hand, the agency wants to recoup as much of the cost as we can.”

C-Tran spent just under $68,000 last year to provide the service, a figure that was only partially offset by fare-box receipts. Even so, the cost of the shuttle service represents a fraction of the agency’s current annual operating budget of $44.6 million.

Service is cut back

Nonetheless, C-Tran has curtailed the service in an effort to cut costs. Total hours of operation dropped from 1,000 to 672 hours between 2008 and 2009. Patterson said the agency has scheduled a similar operating schedule this year.

Shuttle runs emanate from five locations around the county: 99th Street; the Westfield Vancouver shopping mall; the Ridgefield and La Center park-and-rides; the Battle Ground Community Center; and the Fisher’s Landing Transit Center.

It worked great Friday afternoon for Jim and Donna Warren, who shared an entire bus with a belly dancer named Cassiopeia.

“This is kind of like riding as a VIP,” Donna Warren said.

Driver Kellie Wilkinson, listening from the driver’s seat, piped up from the front: “Just like a limo service.”

The belly dancer nodded in agreement.

“For two bucks,” she said.

Erik Robinson: 360-735-4551 or erik.robinson@columbian.com.

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