Transit rider unhappy with fare increase
Posted on 19. Mar, 2009 by Tony Arranaga in News
UPDATED: VALLEY METRO RESPONSE
I just talked to Valley resident/transit rider Heather Skipworth, who was a bit surprised to hear about the fare increase. She takes the bus AND light rail to work four times a week.
Skipworth says she never saw the news reports, nor did she see any signage on the bus or light rail about the possibility of a fare increase.
Like yours truly, Skipworth is also car-free but her situation is a bit different. Skipworth has a fear of driving.
Skipworth tells me the fare increase, which amounts to an additional $16 a month, will mean less money for groceries, and less money for her daughter’s allowance. Skipworth is 35 and a single mom.
Earlier today, a spokesperson with Valley Metro sent me an email about the outreach efforts. “We feel we were
extensive in both our outreach and comment acceptance efforts,” says Susan Tierney with Valley Metro via an email. Here are some of the numbers she forwarded to me:
Public
comment & Outreach Efforts
•
Occurred
December 2008 through January 23, 2009
•
2.1
million people reached via Public Relations and Media: Covered 25 times by 9
media outlets
•
1.2
million readers via 6 advertisements (AZ Republic, AZ Informant, La Prensa, La
Voz)
•
10,000
mailers delivered to libraries, transit centers and park-and-ride lots
•
3,000
visitors to fare policy page on ValleyMetro.org
•
2000+
calls to customer service
•
1,300
mailers mailed to Maricopa Association of Governments public involvement
database
•
951
Transportation Coordinators – Employer outreach included meetings, newsletters,
webinars, etc.
•
900
buses – posted public notice posters
•
235
comments emailed to fares@ValleyMetro.org
•
84
people attended public hearing held via webinar
•
7
public hearings throughout the Valley (Avondale, Glendale, Mesa, Phoenix,
Tempe)
2 Responses to “Transit rider unhappy with fare increase”
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Michi-chan
20. Mar, 2009
In my opinion, Valley Metro could have done MUCH better in their public announcements, especially to bus and train riders.
I have been exposed to other properties’ fare proposal notifications and they will normally provide a fairly detailed information brochure with the proposed fares (or service/route changes).
Here they don’t. They put a few ads in the papers and put something on their website and they think they have done it all.
Have you noticed that there are no “take one” racks inside the trains to put brochures, notices, transit books, etc.?
RPTA will come back and tell you that the reason is because of budget. Yet, they can find budget to market to non-bus riders and “transit choice” customers while leaving “transit dependent” customers hanging by the wayside.
For the record, I support a fare increase. Our current transit fares are out of parity with our peer cities but at the same time, I want to see RPTA and the member agencies to work towards an integrated fare system that is more intensive on using tap-card stored value media in order to speed boarding and improve on-time performance.
There’s a lot of things we do bass-ackwards here in Phoenix. We need to change the overall structure of transit in this community if we are ever going to see improvement. Phoenix has too much influence.
THE LIGHT RAIL BLOGGER
22. Mar, 2009
I have to be honest, outside of tv news coverage, I didn’t see anything in the paper(I usually read the news online and not print) nor did I see any flyers or posters at the light rail stations. I’m ok with the increase, but I know the fare is tough for others. As it turns out, those other people are the ones who are too busy working to watch tv and don’t have an internet connection at home. I also just noticed the time frame for education. One month?? Well, lets look ahead, maybe METRO’s IT dept can type an announcement on the kiosks? Or maybe a message over the PA system at the stations?