Transit Ridership Up, So Are Fares

TRANSPORTATION  GENERAL NEWS 

By Chris Lehman

Salem, OR  June 22, 2008 3:31 p.m.

Record numbers of people have been hopping aboard busses and trains across the Northwest this year.  But many of those riders could find themselves paying more later this year.  Salem correspondent Chris Lehman has more.

From Bellingham to Medford to Boise and everywhere in between, more people are using transit.

Riders disembark from a bus at the transit mall in downtown Salem

That’s not too surprising, with gas prices climbing to new records every week.  But the pain at the pump is affecting the people who drive all those busses, too.

Steve Dickey:  “We are paying over two dollars a gallon more for diesel this year than we were a year ago.”

That’s Steve Dickey of the Salem-Keizer Transit District.  The two dozen bus routes the district operates drink up more than a quarter of a million gallons of diesel per year.

The higher fuel prices will be passed along to riders in the form of a fare hike.  Fare increases are also on tap in Portland, Eugene, and two systems north and west of Seattle.

I hopped on the Number 5 bus to talk to riders about the fare hike.  Ryan Howard is on his way to work at Best Buy. He says he’s one of those new bus riders who are helping send ridership figures upwards.

Ryan Howard:  “As gas prices go up, and now that I’m working part-time and being a full time college student, it makes more sense to ride the bus.”

Chris Lehman:  “So how do you think this fare increase is going to impact you?”

Ryan Howard:  “As far as me, not so much.  It’s not that much of an increase.  I mean right now I think it’s $25 for a bus pass.  If it goes to $35, I’m pretty sure I can scrounge up an extra ten dollars.  There’s plenty of other things that I spend more money on than just the bus pass.”

But not all riders are taking it in stride.  Colleen Price rides the bus to her job at a grocery deli counter.

Colleen Price:  “It’s gonna suck because I don’t make very much money and it’s gonna be hard to pay for it to get around, because I don’t have a car.”

Of course, fare increases are nothing new to mass transit riders

Steve Dickey of Salem-Keizer Transit says when fares go up, some people head back to their cars.

Steve Dickey:  “In a traditional environment, you would see typically about a ten percent drop in ridership. And when I mean traditional, back when fuel prices were in the dollar to two dollar range and people could look at driving as a viable alternative.”

But Dickey thinks $4-a-gallon gas will keep more people on the bus this time.

Now you might be asking yourself:  With all those new riders, aren’t transit agencies raking in the dough?  Dickey says that’s true, but only to a certain extent.

Steve Dickey:  “What happens is a cash paying passenger who might have been riding two, three times a month, who now shifts over to that being their primary source of transportation, will then be more likely to buy a pass.”

Which then gives them unlimited rides.  So a good portion of those higher rider numbers comes from people riding more times for the same price.

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© 2008 OPB