Should Raleigh charge people to ride the bus again? The transit authority thinks so.
News&Observer, November 11, 2022
The board that oversees GoRaleigh says it wants the city to start charging people to ride the bus again.
The Raleigh Transit Authority voted 6-2 Thursday to recommend the City Council reinstate bus fares in the fiscal year that begins next July 1. The majority agreed that the city’s bus system needs the money and that riders would be willing to pay.
“I just don’t think people have an expectation of not paying for public transportation. Nobody has that expectation until people start giving them that expectation,” said Tolulope Omokaiye, the authority’s chair. “And if we need money for the transit system, I don’t understand us leaving money on the table.”
GoRaleigh and other bus systems in the Triangle stopped collecting fares at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. The move, along with having riders get on and off through the rear doors, was meant to enforce social distancing and reduce contact with frequently touched surfaces, including the fare box.
That same month, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security or CARES Act, a $2.2 trillion stimulus package that provided money for public transit agencies. That money and the American Rescue Plan passed in 2021 have more than made up for the lost revenue and helped blunt the impact of inflation on fuel, salaries and other expenses, said David Eatman, the city’s transit administrator.
But the federal money will run out in the fiscal year that begins in 2025, and GoRaleigh must be ready to do without it, Eatman said.
Fares and monthly passes generated about $3.1 million for GoRaleigh in fiscal year 2019, the last full year before the pandemic. That amounted to about 15% of the system’s operating budget, with the rest coming from various federal, state and local government sources and advertising.
“That’s not pennies. That’s going to go towards something,” said authority member Sara Prado. “Even though it’s only 15%, 15% is better than nothing.”
Before the pandemic, it cost $1.25 to get on a GoRaleigh bus, with discounts for people with disabilities or on Medicare. A monthly pass cost $40. People 65 and older and 12 or younger were free, and teens 13 to 18 could ride free with a special pass.
With those programs, 32% of GoRaleigh passengers were already riding for free, Eatman said, and another 12% were riding at a discount. Several authority members said that if the city reinstates fares, it should ensure people who need the discounts and free fares get them.
“We’re talking about people who can fully afford to pay for the bus not paying for the bus,” Omokaiye said. “We need the funds.”
CITY COUNCIL WILL HEAR SUPPORT FOR FARE-FREE BUSES
Despite the authority’s support for reinstating fares, there remains strong support for keeping the buses free. All eight members of the incoming City Council have expressed support for the policy.
Before the pandemic, a coalition that includes nonprofit social service groups and the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce was building a case for eliminating fares. They say going fare-free increases ridership, reduces the time buses idle while passengers get on and helps low-income people who depend on the bus, even if they don’t qualify for discounts or free passes.
The city has already chosen to subsidize 85% of bus operations and could afford to cover the rest and make it easier for people who rely on the bus, says Joe Milazzo, executive director of the Regional Transportation Alliance, a program of the Raleigh chamber.
City Council member Jonathan Melton, who was reelected this week, says not collecting money can also help the system attract more “choice riders,” those with cars who might be interested in trying the bus but are confused about the need for tickets, transfers or correct change.
Authority member Jennifer Truman, who made fare-free buses part of her platform in an unsuccessful run for a seat on the City Council this fall, was one of two who voted against reinstating fares. Truman said the board should wait to see what a proposed budget for next year would look like with and without fares and then make a case to the council to find the money elsewhere.
“I think this goes beyond people who need free fares,” Truman told fellow authority members Thursday. “This is a statement of the priority of how we want people to move around the city. I think as a transit authority that we should want people to be able to have easy access to the bus.”
DRIVER SAFETY ALSO AN ISSUE Wrapped up in the debate over bus fares is concern among drivers that unlimited free rides have turned the buses into de facto shelters on wheels. Assaults and harassment have increased as people with mental illness or substance abuse problems ride buses all day, says Terrence Dewberry, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1328, which represents GoRaleigh drivers.
Making someone pay $1.25 each time they board a bus would probably help, said Omokaiye.
“That’s a very low threshold,” she said. “But that threshold is high enough to keep some of our operators safe from things like people riding the bus for safety and not just transportation.”
But Nathan Spencer, the other authority member who voted against eliminating fares, said he doesn’t think charging money is the best way to deal with problems of homelessness and mental illness or the financial challenges of paying drivers and expanding service.
“I don’t see how fares will have any impact on the issues at hand of our budget that is growing and the safety of operators,” Spencer said. “Because those two issues have to do with other factors that we are not right now addressing.”