Struggling with what they fear could be a major budget deficit, Sacramento Regional Transit officials agreed Monday to raise bus and light-rail fares as soon as October – if needed.
Most local transit officials are saying they fear the fare hikes will be needed, as soon as state officials pass a budget. The governor and Legislature have signaled they intend to cut state funding for transit.
In preparation for a $3 million to $11 million blow, the RT board Monday night provisionally laid out a new set of fares:
Single-fare tickets would go from $2 to $2.25. An all-day pass would increase to $6, and the monthly pass would jump from $85 to $100.
Disabled riders certified for Paratransit service no longer will be able to ride RT buses and trains for free. Instead, they will pay about $1 per ride.
The increases may come this year, but more likely will be instituted in January.
After listening to dozens of riders plead that the agency not cut its already skeletal bus services, RT officials said they do not intend to reduce bus routes or times.
The agency also for now backed off a proposal to charge $1 or $2 for parking at light-rail station lots.
Officials lamented their budget uncertainty as they await the state's budget.
"It looks like we are doing target practice in the dark with the state budget," board member Steve Miller said.
What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com
Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)
Here are some rules of the road:
• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "report abuse" button to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand. If you want to discuss an issue with a specific user, click on his profile name and send him a direct message.
• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to feedback@sacbee.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.