Two or three times a week, Myrrhia Reed takes Metro Bus Line 2 from Sunset Boulevard to Hollywood for church or to Silver Lake to visit friends.
But since July 1, the Metro bus fare has increased 20 percent, from $1.25 to $1.50.
The fare increase will “absolutely affect” her ridership, said Reed, a second-year world arts and cultures student. While she said her obligations to her church remain nonnegotiable, she may have to decrease her trips on the Metro bus to once a week as a result.
In addition to the changes in the Metro fare, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation Commuter Express is also increasing the price of its Zone 1 passes from $82 to $105 starting Aug. 1. And beginning fall quarter, the Santa Monica Big Blue Bus and Culver CityBus will start charging students and faculty 10 extra cents, increasing the fare to 35 cents.
The fare increases were spurred by the statewide fiscal crisis, which led policy makers to look at all the available resources, said Dave Karwaski, manager of planning and policy for UCLA Transportation.
Local transit agencies are left with reduced state support and have to compensate through increased fares and service cuts, he added. For instance, student one-way passes are being eliminated on the Santa Clarita route.
Karwaski said UCLA Transportation is equally feeling the pain of absorbing part of the rising cost. He compared the situation to a carpool, where the driver faces a budget gap after an increase in the price of oil, but doesn’t ask the carpoolers to split the full cost.
However, UCLA Transportation will continue to keep its 50 percent subsidy on fares for students and faculty and has negotiated with the bus companies to help keep costs lower, said Penny Menton, associate director of communications and marketing of UCLA Transportation.
UCLA Transportation is mostly funded through parking permits and uses them to run alternative transportation programs such as Vanpool. Karwaski said the agency doesn’t anticipate increases in the cost of permits of programs as a result of the fare increases.
He said he believes each local transit agency will take a “hard look” at the services they can provide. For instance, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation is trimming some commuter express routes and the DASH service in Central City, and the Los Angeles Metro is looking to eliminate the Metro Rapid Line 920 on Wilshire Boulevard.
He added that the Big Blue Bus will likely face service cuts, although he is uncertain what they are at this time.
While transportation cuts are occurring around the nation as a result of budgetary pressures, the severity of those cuts are greater in California as a result of its fiscal crisis, Karwaski said.
He said UCLA transportation has looked at and will continue to track the effect of the fare increase on ridership and the price sensitivity of various groups, from students to adults. The agency anticipates an impact on ridership, but Karwaski added that it was unlikely to be very large.
“Generally, our programs are one of the most cost-effective ways to commute to campus,” he said.
However, he also noted that it was unlikely the fares would decrease again ““ at least not in the near future.