Fw: Message from AC Transit Board President Elsa Ortiz
Jean Washburn
AC Transit Fare Policy Now Being Developed—Your Input and Your Constituents’ Input Invited!
AC Transit is developing a comprehensive fare policy and looking for public input on elements ranging from goals and principles, to pass pricing and transfer rules, to the timing and level of fare increases. The overall aim is to have fares that are more logical and equitable, and fare changes that are more rational and predictable. District staff has spent the last half-year on internal deliberations, with periodic presentations to the Board of Directors. We are now reaching out to our passengers, community leaders, and the general public for feedback on our work so far. In early March, staff will present a formal proposal, which the Board may choose to take to public hearing in April, and then implement in July or August.
Full details on the fare policy development are available in the “Have Something to Say About Fares? We Bet You Do!” article on our Web page. I would like to call your attention to three of the most significant aspects open for discussion:
· Should the District establish and maintain a fare structure with consistent relationships among the various fare types (adult, youth, senior/disabled) and fare media (cash, passes)? (At present, pass prices are not a consistent multiple of the cash price for each fare type.)
· Should the District gradually raise the prices of youth 31-day and senior/disabled monthly passes to reach a consistent multiple of the cash price? (At present, adult passes are priced at 40 times the cash price, while youth and senior/disabled passes are priced at 15 and 20 times the cash price, respectively.)
· Should the District adopt a multi-year schedule of specific fare increases to provide cost and revenue predictability? (At present, fare increases are proposed, considered, and adopted individually at various intervals.)
We welcome your feedback and that of your constituents via online online form, e-mail, voicemail, fax, or letter (see details in Web article). We are also holding a public meeting to engage riders and other members of the community in discussions with staff. The meeting will be:
Thursday, February 17
5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
AC Transit General Offices
1600 Franklin Street, Oakland
If your office has a newsletter, e-mail list-serve, or other communications tool for reaching your constituents, we would appreciate your passing along information about the fare policy development. Please feel free to use any of the text above, along with reference to our Web site, www.actransit.org, for more details. Or, for a brief announcement, you may find the sample message below useful:
AC Transit wants to hear from you! The bus district is developing a comprehensive fare policy and is seeking input from the public before a formal proposal is made. Topics under discussion include goals, principles, pass pricing, transfer rules, timing and level of fare changes, and more. For information, visit www.actransit.org and read the homepage article, “Have Something to Say About Fares?” Then complete the online form or give feedback in a number of other ways. AC Transit will also hold a public meeting on Thursday, February 17, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at AC Transit General Offices, 1600 Franklin Street, Oakland.