Transit officials discuss proposed fare hike with patrons

ALBANY — Relentless rains kept most patrons away from public hearings held Wednesday to discuss a proposed 25-cent Albany Transit Authority base fare increase, but those who did attend morning and afternoon meetings were surprisingly understanding about the need for the increase.

“We’re not getting a lot of opposition to the increase,” Transit Director David Hamilton said. “People who ride the city buses seem to understand that we have to account for the increase in fuel costs. What many are concerned about, though, is improving our customer service. They want to see us do something in that area.

“I’ve explained that we have a customer service training program in place, but I intend to emphasize that program more strongly to our employees. Our riders deserve the best customer service we can give them. Safety is our No. 1 concern, but customer service is right up there.”

Willie Ross, a community activist who says he frequently rides transit buses to get feedback from citizens, said he’s pleased that the Transit Authority is allowing the public to have a say in the proposed fare increase, which city officials have proposed as a way to offset rising fuel costs and to bring the city more in line with similar state transit services.

“It’s fair, and this meeting today has been a very positive one,” Ross said. “I don’t think a lot of our city leaders realize how important this service is to the community. I’d really love to see them put down their keys for a week and ride the buses, get to know the people in the community who depend on the service.”

City plans call for an initial 25-cent increase with 5-cent increases for each of the next four years.

“It’s something we need to do, but we wanted to do it incrementally to minimize the impact on the community,” Hamilton said. “We haven’t had a fare increase since 2008, and everyone knows how much fuel costs have risen in that time.”

Hamilton said the Transit Authority’s projected revenue increase over the first year using the proposed new fare, with service remaining at its current level, would be around $83,000. Over the five years of the subsequent incremental increases, new revenues are projected at $150,000.

The Transit Authority’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2015 is around $7 million, only “around $3.6 to $3.7 million” of which, according to Hamilton, would come from the city’s general fund. Operation costs of the transit system are split roughly 50-50 between the city and federal government, while capital costs are split 80-10-10, with 80 percent of funding provided through federal funds, 10 percent through state transportation funds and 10 percent through local funds.

Hamilton said the authority hopes to purchase five new fixed-rate buses and six para buses soon. The fixed-rate bus purchases would increase the authority’s fleet from 11 to 15 (with one bus being taken out of commission), while the para buses would be replacements.

“To give you an idea of the funding necessary to keep our buses rolling, the last new bus we purchased cost around $400,000,” Hamilton said. “We’ll probably have to spread the purchase costs of the new buses over more than one year, but the funds we would generate from the fare increases would go toward our matching funds.”

Hamilton said the city’s proposed increase would not impact special elderly, child, student, monthly or weekly fares.