10 hope to bury UTA surcharge plan

Ten bus riders, wearing black and carrying a miniature coffin, gathered Wednesday at the Utah Transit Authority's headquarters to protest a proposed 25-cent surcharge on one-way transit rides.

The surcharge, which would be temporary, was proposed last month by UTA general manager John Inglish as a way to pay for a projected $6 million increase in fuel costs next year.

The protesters said the surcharge unfairly impacts low-income and homeless riders. Wednesday, they were "mourning the untimely death of affordable public transportation in Utah."

"How can you expect us to get food if the bus fares are raised?" asked Darla Ball, co-chairwoman of the Anti-Hunger Action Committee, a Salt Lake group that assists the low-income.

Ball's comments were directed to members of the UTA Board of Trustees, who were gathered Wednesday for a regularly scheduled board meeting. During the meeting, board members unanimously approved UTA's tentative 2006 budget, which includes the proposed surcharge.

"Without the surcharge, we can't continue to offer the same level of (bus and TRAX) service," said board member Necia Christensen. "Their issue is fair and responsible, but on the same token, if we don't have money to buy fuel, we don't have money to add buses."

In approving the tentative budget, board members also agreed to postpone implementation of the proposed 25-cent surcharge until June 2006. Initial plans were to implement the surcharge by December, but Inglish said more time was needed to address logistical issues.

Two particular issues were discussed:

• How to implement the surcharge on TRAX riders. UTA does not want to create long lines at ticket machines, said Inglish.

• How to collect the surcharge from Ed and Eco Pass riders. Current contracts do not allow UTA to implement additional fees from Ed and Eco riders.

"We're run into a bit of a dilemma," Inglish said.

During the meeting Inglish reiterated that UTA will not implement the surcharge on the following groups: disabled and senior riders, discount passes given to homeless service providers and riders within the Free Fare Zone in Salt Lake City.

"We don't intend for this program to impact them," he said, referring to the group of protesters.

Bill Tibbitts, with the Anti-Hunger Action Committee, said UTA does provide discounts to some homeless and low-income providers — but only on a limited basis.

"Why at this time does UTA not have any discounted pass program for the working poor?" he asked. "UTA has a very, very limited, underutilized (discount) program available through homeless service providers."

Inglish said UTA plans to host a summit with low-income advocates sometime in November. The agency hosted an earlier summit in September.

"We fully intend for this 25-cent surcharge to be a temporary measure to offset what is hopefully a short-term blip on the price of fuel."

A public hearing on UTA's 2006 budget is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 16. Final approval of the budget — and the surcharge — will be sometime in mid-December.

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E-mail: nwarburton@desnews.com