One year after voters approved a sales tax increase to fund major changes at Thurston County’s public transportation agency, officials at Intercity Transit are proposing to stop collecting fares and make bus rides free starting Jan. 1.
The change would apply to bus service and Dial-A-Lift, a door-to-door service for people with disabilities. Fares now range from $0.50 to $3 depending on who is riding and where they are going.
Those fares net less than 2 percent of IT’s operating revenue. Meanwhile, IT’s fare collection boxes need to be replaced. The agency says it looked at switching to a card-based payment system but most cost at least $1 million to introduce.
https://www.theolympian.com/news/local/article237257744.html
Street Roots vendor Mark Rodriguez, who has an Honored Citizen pass for TriMet, was fined $175 because he forgot to tap his card before he got on a MAX train. He showed his receipt for Honored Citizen card but was still fined. Mark said he’s going to fight the ticket. It means time and emotional labor he cannot afford. (Street Roots photo)
Mobility is everything. The ability to get from point A to B means getting to a job, securing food, and accessing education, health care or assistance in any form. In a larger sense, it means the vibrancy of a community and the fulfillment of commerce. It is a fundamental element of a successful region like the Portland metro area.
And it’s time for us to explore what it would mean to have a fareless public transit system.
This proposition has major implications – economic, social and environmental – for riders and nonriders alike, which should be considered when deciding the future course of our region’s mobility.
First and foremost, we have to stop thinking of it as a radical idea. It’s not.
https://news.streetroots.org/2019/11/09/sr-editorial-time-explore-fare-free-public-transit-portland
