An advisory committee convened by the King County Council voiced unanimous support for a potential low-income bus fare. But committee members acknowledged that implementing such a fare would place a financial burden on the county’s cash-strapped transit agency.
After a handful of meetings in six months, the King County Low-Income Fare Options Advisory Committee delivered its final report to the county council in early July. The report highlights eight recommendations on how county officials could help Metro institute a fare to benefit people with little or no income.
Those recommendations include streamlining the process to identify eligible riders, allowing human service agencies to continue a free bus-ticket program and coordinating a low-income fare with other local transit agencies such as Sound Transit.
But the 21 committee members, who agreed they didn’t have enough data to pinpoint a specific fare, concluded that low fares come with a price: namely that “a low-income fare program would impose costs in terms of lost revenue to Metro.” The report also stated that all agencies involved with the program would face administrative costs.
Katie Wilson, a Transit Riders Union (TRU) spokesperson who served on the committee, said that in the current economic climate, it’s hard for people to get gung ho about starting a low-income fare program. But she said a program could still work, even during Metro’s hard times.
“I don’t think the fact that Metro’s in dire financial straits means the city should put this on a shelf,” Wilson said.
She suggested an employee tax, where business owners are charged a small fee based on the number of employees, could pay for a low-income fare program.
Metro officials have been vocal that the transit agency is facing a fiscal cliff. Data from Metro reveals the agency projects a $75 million budget deficit for 2014. Transit advocates had hoped state legislators would pass a statewide transportation package that could have helped Metro.
But when the state legislature adjourned its special session last month, state senators declined to approve the transportation bill. Now, Metro officials are planning to cut 65 bus routes and reduce or revise another 86 routes, with the majority of those service changes going into effect next fall. A fare hike is also planned for next year.
The current nonpeak, one-zone fare is $2.25.
Metro currently offers $.75 fares to seniors 64 and older and riders with disabilities.
In its report, the committee pointed out that although having a discount fare for seniors is mandated by the federal government, the county discount is more than is required.
Any low-income fare would have to be approved by the King County Council.
Councilmembers voted last fall to create the advisory committee to investigate options for lower fares.
Committee members couldn’t agree on how to define a low-income rider, but some argued that rider would be someone who earned 200 percent of the federal poverty level guidelines. For a family of four, that would amount to an annual household income of $47,100.
The report stated that members felt a less expensive fare option was important because many low-income riders can’t afford a $90 monthly transit pass or pay for several bus fares a day.
Research from TRU showed that in the mid-70s, a minimum-wage worker only had to work 10 minutes a day to afford bus fare to and from work. Today, a minimum-wage worker in Seattle, who earns $9.19 an hour, would have to work almost 35 minutes to cover daily bus fare.
Wilson said TRU members have gathered 1,000 signatures in support of a low-income fare.
“The county has a mission to make transit affordable to everyone,” Wilson said.
Bad timing?
Across Puget Sound, Kitsap Transit runs a reduced fare program that encompasses low-income riders. John Clauson, executive director of Kitsap Transit, said that Metro could start a similar low-income fare program — but Metro should wait to do it.
Clauson said that in 1995, Kitsap Transit officials instituted a low-income fare, which is half the regular fare, currently set at $2. Low-income riders, students, seniors and people with disabilities all pay $1, he said.
Kitsap Transit data shows that in May, 13 percent of the agency’s riders used low-income ORCA cards. Clauson said the agency has an annual ridership of roughly 4.2 million people.
That number pales in comparison to Metro, which each year serves roughly 115 million riders.
Even though Kitsap Transit is a much smaller agency, Clauson said Kitsap’s low-income fare program isn’t cheap. He doesn’t think Metro’s program would be either. “In essence you’re giving away a lot of fares,” he said.
While he said he supports low-income fares in general and thinks it would be a good idea at some point for King County, instituting a program now would only worsen Metro’s financial woes.
“I personally don’t think the timing is right,” Clauson said. “And I know people don’t want to hear that.”
Katie Wilson with TRU said she thinks the timing couldn’t be better.
She said Metro’s deficit is tied to the county’s sales tax revenue, which fell during the recent recession. The downturn in the economy also coincided with a spate of fare hikes, she said. Together these events have made paying for transportation difficult for low-income people — including Wilson. She said she only earned $5,000 last year.
She said today’s economic climate is the perfect moment to help people with little or no income.
“This is precisely the time that we should be implementing a low-income fare,” Wilson said.