C-Tran will have a series of three open houses regarding a proposal to boost fares starting in September, culminating with a public hearing scheduled for the C-Tran board’s next monthly meeting at 5:30 p.m. April 13.
o Wednesday: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Clark County Public Service Center, sixth floor hearing room, 1300 Franklin St.
o March 18: 5 to 7:30 p.m., Fisher’s Landing Transit Center, Rose Besserman Community Room, second floor, 3510 S.E. 164th Ave.
o March 25: 5:30 p.m., C-Tran administration building, 2425 N.E. 65th Ave.
Clark County’s transit agency is proposing to boost fares for the third time in as many years.
C-Tran will have a series of three open houses regarding a proposal to boost fares starting in September, culminating with a public hearing scheduled for the C-Tran board's next monthly meeting at 5:30 p.m. April 13.
o Wednesday: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Clark County Public Service Center, sixth floor hearing room, 1300 Franklin St.
o March 18: 5 to 7:30 p.m., Fisher's Landing Transit Center, Rose Besserman Community Room, second floor, 3510 S.E. 164th Ave.
o March 25: 5:30 p.m., C-Tran administration building, 2425 N.E. 65th Ave.
C-Tran proposes to increase the current base fare for adults by a nickel, to $1.55. The cost for Express rides to Portland, which doubled to $3 five years ago, would increase by 25 cents.
C-Tran will host a series of three open houses beginning next Wednesday to air the proposal, which the agency’s board of directors will consider adopting next month. Agency staff estimate the change will net C-Tran about $330,000 annually, while ensuring that riders pick up a steady share of the costs.
“We’re trying to get to a routine of doing it once a year,” said Jim Quintana, C-Tran’s manager of development and public affairs.
Fare box receipts account for about 22.4 percent of the cost of operating C-Tran’s fixed routes in Clark County and its Express service to Portland, a proportion Quintana describes as slightly exceeding the average for transit systems nationwide. Annual sales tax revenue of about $20 million accounts for the bulk of the agency’s budget, but revenue has fallen with the economic recession.
The agency expects to shed a few riders with the fare hike.
“It’s a tough balance,” Quintana said. “The majority of our riders are transit-dependent. We really have to balance that good business model with that social service model.”
C-Tran last year cut routes and spent money from a reserve fund to make ends meet.
The agency also envisions asking voters to raise its current 0.5 percent sales tax rate as early as next year, to maintain and expand service under its recently adopted 20-year transit development plan. The plan calls for building a new bus rapid transit line on Fourth Plain Boulevard, expanding disabled rider services and operating a proposed light rail extension across a new Interstate 5 Bridge.
The agency is planning to ask voters to boost the sales tax by 0.3 percent in 2011.
Erik Robinson: 360-735-4551, or erik.robinson@columbian.com.
