$1 to ride the bus: Plan calls for many STA riders to pay reduced fare
Low-income riders will soon get half-priced fare to ride the bus in Spokane after a vote Thursday by the Spokane Transit Authority to approve a two-year pilot program.
It’s not immediately clear if the program will last the entire two years, after the initially recommended three-year, roughly $3 million pilot program was truncated to two years and capped at $1.14 million at the behest of Spokane City Councilman Michael Cathcart, who wanted to limit costs.
But while the money lasts, qualified riders accepted into the program will only have to pay $1 to ride the bus, which supportive board members and agency leadership believe will boost ridership and improve affordability for those who rely on the bus system.
The program will be phased in during two stages. Qualification will be dependent on existing enrollment in the Spokane Housing Authority housing aid programs for phase 1 and the state’s Basic Food nutrition assistance programs for phase 2. Phase 1 will likely be implemented this fall and Phase 2 will likely be implemented no later than next spring, agency spokeswoman Carly Cortright projected.
Additional methods to prove eligibility to access the pilot program, which is broadly meant to reduce fares for riders under 200% of the federal poverty level – roughly $31,000 for a single person – may be developed in the coming months.
County Commissioners Al French and Josh Kerns voted against the proposal, believing it would be unfair to taxpayers and current riders. In a Wednesday letter to his fellow board members, French made several arguments against the reduced fare, including that it was unfair to subsidize fares when some areas still don’t have bus routes, and that it would reduce the percentage of agency costs paid for through fares, though agency staff disputed the likelihood of this on Thursday.
Further, French argued that reduced fares for the poor could turn buses into “mobile homeless shelters” and make it easier for the homeless to “expand their presence” elsewhere in the county that aren’t “equipped to deal with this element and the policies adopted by the City of Spokane.”
By making it easier for low-income people to ride the bus, it would also potentially threaten the safety of existing riders and place “children in harm’s way,” French continued.
“The exposure of our children and our drivers to illegal drug use by an element that currently doesn’t use the bus is something that other agencies in the country have tried and abandoned,” he wrote. “I did interact with some riders of the system for their perspectives and what I heard was deep concern about safety, odors, drugs, violence, swearing and loud noise.”
Chief Operations Officer Brandon Rapez-Betty, asked how the agency would address safety concerns as a result of a reduced-fare program, noted Thursday that STA was already implementing additional security measures in response to concerns and complaints systemwide, but that it was difficult to correlate any heightened issues with the agency’s other existing reduced fare programs.
“So we’re approaching the security strategy as a general, all-ridership approach that’s obviously multipronged,” Rapez-Betty said, including additional security guards, a new transit “ambassador” program, and an app that will allow riders to report disturbances directly to the agency.
Spokane City Council President Betsy Wilkerson argued that the people making use of existing reduced fare programs are primarily just trying to reach their destination and are not a heightened security concern.
Emry Dinman can be reached at (509) 459-5472 or by email at emryd@spokesman.com.