MTA, Metrolink Fare Hikes Could Cost Employers

The cost of passes provided by businesses as incentives to get workers to use buses and trains is expected to go up following a fare increase approved May 24 by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board of directors. The annual Metro pass given only to businesses is tied to the cost of the monthly pass that will increase to $62 in 2008. In addition, the transit agency’s B-Tap program that provides passes to all workers at a company, in a manner similar to medical or dental benefits, would increase as well. The MTA board approved the fare hike following a daylong hearing at which some 1,500 people showed up to voice their opposition or support. Under the new fee structure, monthly passes will go from $52 to $62 in 2008, $75 in 2010, and $$90 in 2012. The $3 day pass rises to $5 in 2008. The new prices are significantly less than what they agency had sought and which had drawn criticism from advocates claiming an increase would most harm the working poor, senior citizens and students and possibly result in a drop in ridership. “It would be great to have it continue on at the same fare but our costs are going up,” said Don Sutton, director of Metro Commute Services, the department charged with working with business to provide alternate means to solo commutes by car. Days before the Metro board met, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa called for more modest increases that would lessen the burden on low-income riders and suggested the agency find other ways to make up the loss, such as borrowing money for bus and rail car purchases and going after state gas tax money. Current fares are heavily subsidized through tax dollars. For seven years, Metro could not raise its fares under a federal consent decree, which also ordered an expansion in bus service that resulted in a $1.8 billion operating deficit over the next decade. Metro is just like any other business in that when there is increase in expenses, there must also be an increase in revenues, said Brendan Huffman, the president of the Valley Industry & Commerce Association, which has not taken a formal position on the increase. “No one likes to pay higher fares but sometimes it is necessary,” Huffman said. Sutton’s office works with five Valley companies offering annual passes and another 34 companies offering monthly passes at a reduced rate. When purchased in a small number, an annual pass costs $624. When offered to all employees of a company, Metro offers a group rate based on based on the level of service in that area. In the west Valley area, many member companies of the Warner Center Transportation Management Organization offer monthly passes for Metro and other transit agencies at a discount of anywhere from $10 to $40, said executive director Christopher Park. If the Metro board goes ahead with a fare increase, he doesn’t expect companies to change their policies. “Most companies are offering a generous subsidy,” Park said. “I don’t see that increasing just based on a fare increase.” The Warner Center TMO, with a membership of 58 companies representing 35,000 workers, has not taken a formal position on the proposed fare increase. Nor has the Burbank TMO, with its membership of 115 companies representing 30,000 employees. The Burbank companies face not only a potential Metro increase but also a 3.5 percent hike in Metrolink train fares beginning on July 1. The Burbank Metrolink station is one of the most used, outside of Union Station in downtown Los Angeles, said Burbank TMO Executive Director J.J. Weston. “We always have concerns if the price goes up because we don’t want to see a reduction in train ridership,” Weston said. Use of public transportation in the Warner Center area nearly tripled following the opening of the Orange Line busway through the Valley in October 2005, Park said. “That is attractive to the employee that wants flexibility to come in earlier or later in the morning or leave earlier or later,” Park said. “It’s quick and it’s a very reasonable cost.” The boundaries of the TMO are Ventura Freeway to the south, Vanowen Avenue to the north, Topanga Canyon Boulevard to the west and DeSoto Avenue to the east.