Ben Franklin Transit wants to make big changes to bus fares, but it will take a bit longer
Now that the danger of losing millions of dollars in Climate Commitment Act funding has passed, Ben Franklin Transit is reevaluating its bus fares.
However, proposed adjustments considered last summer might not be the changes they ultimately go with.
New Ben Franklin Transit CEO Thomas Drozt and BFT staff discussed the potential for fare changes with the transit’s board of directors at their regular monthly meeting last week.
Chief Planning and Development Officer Kevin Sliger told the board that they would be delaying the plan until later this year while they reassess the impact of potential changes.
They pointed to the agency having a new leadership team in place and the state of finances for government agencies across Washington, noting that it would be prudent to take a closer look at the long-term impact of changes to fare structures.
The plan the board had put on hold would have made daily, monthly and annual passes much cheaper, but eliminated transfers.
Sliger also said transit staff had heard concerns from some riders that one-way trips could become prohibitively expensive if that’s the case.
They also hoped to create free passes for military veterans.
He didn’t give examples of what those types of trips typically look like, but that could include situations such as a retail or service worker trying to get to their job, but having to get a ride home from a co-worker because buses are no longer running when they get off, or someone needing to get from Richland to Pasco to access services at Tri-City Union Gospel Mission.
The new fare structure changes also are being designed to rely less on cash payments. Any fare changes will also have to go through a federally mandated equity analysis to ensure they aren’t disproportionately impacting one group of people.
The agency will evaluate potential changes based on three key factors.
- How it will grow ridership
- How it will impact their budget and operational costs
- How it will impact riders who currently rely on transfer passes
Drozt’s agenda presentation noted that they hope to have this information back before the board later this year, with a goal of balancing affordability for riders, ridership growth and financial sustainability for the organization.
Annual service plan update
The transit agency is also in the process of hosting open houses to discuss potential route changes as part of its annual service plan update.
The biggest changes proposed will be adding more peak time buses for crowded routes and potentially scaling back certain under utilized evening and weekend routes. It also includes where new shelters could be belt for bus stops.
BFT has two more open houses planned before a public hearing on the annual service plan in February.
The next open house is Jan. 14 at 6 p.m. at the Three Rivers Transit Center, 7109 W. Okanagan Place in Kennewick.
On Jan. 15 at noon they’ll host a virtual open house on Zoom.
The public hearing will take place during the next regularly scheduled board meeting on Feb. 13 at 6 p.m. in the Ben Franklin Transit Board Room, at 1000 Columbia Park Trail. That meeting will also be available online.
Feedback can also be submitted by email to CustomerComment@bft.org or by calling 509-735-5100.
New transit CEO
Drozt, who was hired in August, began his career as a bus driver.
He came to the Tri-Cities from the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) where he served as deputy chief. Before that he was general manager for MV Transportation in the greater Los Angeles area, according to a news release from BFT.
He has 25 years of experience, including fixed route, bus rapid transit, rail, paratransit and rental car shuttles.
