IT makes changes

Intercity Transit will raise its fees the first part of next year, according to transit head Mike Harbour.   Daily fees will rise from 75 cents to $1 and day passes will go to $2.  Monthly passes will increase to $30.

Harbour said passenger use has increased more than 20 percent over last year and this is on top of a 12 percent increase that year.   He attributes the new usage to the price of gasoline.   While the increase in the price of gas has increased the number of passengers carried by Intercity Transit it has a down side.  IT has spent $1 million dollars more for fuel than it budgeted for.

Even with these fare increases, Intercity Transit still gets only about 15 percent of its revenue from the fare box.  The rest comes from a three tenths of one percent sales tax  approved by the voters.

But, while the system is facing increasing labor costs, health care costs and fuel costs, it still has a reserve of more than $16 million dollars.

Harbour also said that the transit system will re-look at the DASH program next year but not until after the legislative session.  This daily program travels between the Farmer’s Market and the Capitol Campus.  When the legislature is not in session, the buses run mostly empty.