UTA proposes 5¢ bus, TRAX fare hike

A nickel here and a dime there will enable the Utah Transit Authority to continue operating its six-county public transit system, agency officials say.

UTA has proposed a five-cent increase in the adult, one-way bus and light-rail fare — from $1.35 to $1.40 — beginning as soon as April 1. It also wants to increase that fare another dime — to $1.50 — by January 2006.

The agency also has announced a series of public hearings, to be held in each of the six counties in February, to receive comment on the proposal.

Also proposed are more than a dozen other fare increases. The senior and disabled one-way fare would climb from 60 cents to 70 cents this year, then up to 75 cents in 2006. The one-way paratransit fare would increase from $2 to $2.10, then up to $2.25 next year.

UTA spokesman Justin Jones said the fare hike is needed because of an "overall increase in our operating costs, and this is to maintain fiscal integrity and avoid reductions in service."

He said a periodic increase in fare is not unusual for public transit agencies, "especially in the current climate of increased costs . . . (and considering) agencies around the nation are struggling and cutting back severely on their levels of service."

But while the increase may seem fairly moderate, not everyone believes it is fair or necessary.

"No, it isn't, for several reasons," said longtime UTA critic Michael Packard, a Sandy resident who works as a private construction safety consultant. "One, they promised fare increases of only 10 percent every three years — they've done that several times in several official documents — so they are having to come back to the well more often than promised."

Barbara Toomer, secretary of the Disabled Rights Action Committee, is outraged UTA is asking paratransit riders — people on fixed incomes — to pay more.

"We think that they are unconscionable," Toomer said of the proposed fare increases.

Jones said UTA can legally charge as much as twice the amount of a regular adult fare for paratransit services, but it has worked hard to keep those fares down.

"We could charge up to $3 in 2006 . . . but we're not," he said. "We're charging $2.10 (in 2005) and $2.25 (in 2006) because we are committed to serving this population as efficiently and economically as we can."

He said transit agencies in Chicago and North Carolina recently proposed doubling their paratransit fares, while UTA's proposed increase is much smaller by comparison.