Connect Transit may change the amount it charges for rides and modernize its fare boxes. A proposal will go before Connect Transit board members at their February meeting.
If approved, the draft package would be put out for the public to offer input before formal adoption.
Fare rates could go down for most riders and to zero for others. General Manager David Braun told the board in late November he wants to offer an incentive for those who qualify for the door-to-door Connect Mobility service to use the regular fixed route service. That would be a zero fare on fixed route buses for those who qualify for Connect Mobility.
Growth in Connect Mobility use has been far greater than budgeted, and Braun said he wants to try to manage demand. The $4 to $6 cost (not the fare) of a fixed route ride is far less than the $40 per ride cost of a Connect Mobility trip when it involves only one person.
Another part of the reason to cut fares would be to reduce the use of coinage.
“This is a fare simplification. It's not a money grab,” said Braun.
The rate cuts would reduce fare revenue by about $87,000 per year out of $1.3 million in total fares. Connect Transit’s annual budget is about $18 million, said Braun, who noted some proposed changes have the potential to increase ridership, and would be a partial revenue offset.
Some board members are expressing reservations about the initial proposal.
“A perception that we are going back to rates that we persuaded the community to let go of in order to balance the books, which was a very fraught process, is a very big deal,” said board member Julie Hile.
Hile was a member of the task force that came up with the current rate structure and advocated for a one-fare-for-all approach and messaging by the transit agency.
“It suggests to me the analysis that group did is somehow now no longer holding, particularly given that long-term Connect Mobility and Connect Flex costs are still very high," Hile said no Nov. 28. "That is an ongoing threat to the sustainability of this system and so I would be concerned if we take a step back, then discover that we need to make adjustments to raise that rate again. We've been through that and that was a very painful experience for this community.”
Board chair Ryan Whitehouse said there is a time limit to using any strategic planning exercise.
“I appreciate the past and the work of the past. I know you guys worked your rear off on that. I would also say like any good strategic plan, it's a little old,” said Whitehouse. “Just be mindful that things have changed dramatically since COVID…after so many years it's time to re-evaluate and make some edits."
Braun is taking further input from individual board members and the board will have a strategic planning workshop on Jan. 19 before he presents a draft for the public to see.
Fare boxes
Braun also wants Connect Transitto change to a new fare box system that can take credit cards and smartphone payments, in addition to cash and bus card passes.
"A lot of systems are trying to go cash free. I don't know that we'll ever be there, but to reduce that dependence on cash would be fantastic for us," said Braun, adding just because some riders pay cash now doesn't mean they would not use a different method if available.
The new fare boxes would be much smaller than the current ones that present a space problem in the buses used for the new Connect Flex service that takes people to a fixed route bus stop within set zones of the community.
Connect Transit owns its current fare boxes, but the new ones would be leased. Braun said the organization can recoup some costs by selling the old fare boxes to other transit agencies.
The change to a vendor would move the fare boxes from a capital cost to an operating cost in the budget.
The new collection system also could do away with transfer slips.
"We would go to a pay-per-ride system," said Braun. "Any time you boarded a bus you would pay. Those that have a tap card could tap it as many times as they want or those using their cell phone, using their credit card."
There would be a maximum limit for fares per day, beyond which riders would not be charged no matter how many buses they boarded, as long as they used the same mode of payment each time, or registered various cards with Connect Transit.
Transfer center
Connect Transit is still waiting for state approval of the agency’s "request for qualifications (RFQ) for architecture and engineering services," said Braun.
Connect Transit needs the sign-off because some of the money to pay for a new facility in downtown Bloomington comes from state grants. After the state releases the RFQ, Connect Transit can go out to bid for the architecture and engineering services.
