Gwinnett County plans to raise bus fares 25 percent as it struggles with rising costs and declining tax revenue used to subsidize local transit service.
One-way local cash bus fares would rise from $2 to $2.50 early next year. One-way express service to Atlanta would rise to $3.75 or $5, depending on the route.
County officials said the fare hikes are needed to offset rising fuel and other costs and to make up for declining state and local tax revenue.
“We’re certainly not going to be making any profit,” Gwinnett Transit Division Director Phil Boyd said.
Bus passengers said the fare hikes will hurt people already struggling in the wake of the economic downturn.
“To charge an additional 50 cents when you’re not adding service or expanding hours is unfair,” said Octavia A. Washington, a Norcross resident who attended a public hearing for the proposal on Monday night.
Mass transit passengers across metro Atlanta have been squeezed as local governments struggle to keep buses and trains rolling. MARTA, which primarily serves Fulton and DeKalb counties, will raise one-way fares from $2 to $2.50 beginning Oct. 2. Cobb Community Transit’s one-way local adult fares also will rise 50 cents to $2.50 on Oct. 1. And Clayton County eliminated transit service last year to save $8 million.
Gwinnett last raised fares in 2008. That same year it eliminated less productive routes, and cut routes again in late 2009 and early last year.
On average, nearly 10,000 people board a Gwinnett County bus each weekday, and ridership has been growing. A handful of those passengers expressed their displeasure with the proposed rate hike at Monday night's hearing.
Until recently, Washington used Gwinnett’s bus service and MARTA to commute to her job in Atlanta because she didn’t have a car. She said a 50-cent increase would be a hardship for underemployed people who have a tough time making ends meet.
“We always ask the little people and the handicapped to make up the difference,” Washington said.
Although cash fares would rise 25 percent under the proposal, frequent passengers would see smaller increases if they buy monthly or 10-ride passes. For example, each trip for a 10-ride ticket would cost $2.25 instead of the full $2.50; each trip in a monthly pass would cost $2.
Gwinnett will spend about $14 million on local transit service this year. Even with the fare hike, Boyd said Gwinnett bus riders would pay only about a third of the cost of providing the service. The rest is paid for with local property tax money and state and federal transit funding.
The Gwinnett Transit Advisory Board will discuss the proposed fare hike on Sept. 29. The county Board of Commissioners will take up the issue later this fall.
Written comments on the proposal will be accepted through Thursday at www.gctransit.com or by email at transit@gwinnettcounty.com. Written comments can be mailed to the Gwinnett County Department of Transportation, Attention: Proposed Fare Changes, 75 Langley Drive, Lawrenceville, GA 30046. For information on the proposed fares, visit www.gctransit.com.
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