PRTC raising fares

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. -- Commuters in Prince William, Manassas and Manassas Park will pay more to ride the bus starting July 1.

After a series of public hearings last month that drew few residents, and an online forum on the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commissions’ Web site that saw demands for service increases, the PRTC Operations Board voted unanimously Thursday for a sweeping fare increase. The hike impacts OmniRide, OmniLink and Metro Direct connector buses.

The increases come in the wake of increased ridership, reduced state operational funding and uncertainties in how much money Prince William County taxpayers — the largest supporter of PRTC services — will be able to provide the transit agency in the next year.

“We continue to have near record highs on our bus ridership. We are still carrying 13,000 riders a day. I want to remind you, particularly the Prince William representatives at the table, that those 13,000 riders, roughly speaking, about 10,000 who are Prince William residents, and the 17,000 [Virginia Railway Express] daily riders are roughly about six to 7,000 Prince William residents. So remember who your constituents are,” commented PRTC Director Alfred H. Harf to the elected officials on the PRTC operations board.

The fare increase is expected to generate an additional $690,000 a year for the transit agency.

OmniRide cash fares will increase 50 cents to $7 one way, while SmarTrip fares will increase 50 cents to $5.25. OmniRide Metro Direct cash fares will increase 30 cents to $3.30, and SmarTrip fares will increase 25 cents to $2.65. OmniLink cash fares will increase 10 cents to $1.20, and SmarTrip fares will also go up to $1.20.

Additionally as part of the fare increase, if Congress chooses to extend a $230 transit subsidy for federal employees beyond January 2011, PRTC will add an additional 25 cents to OmniRide commuter bus fares. If Congress does not act, fares will remain the same as they are listed above.

PRTC last increased their fares in December 2008.

Harf said the majority of those who commented on the fare increases, about 27 people, pleaded with the transit agency not to increase fares. But if fares were raised, many said the money should go for higher bus driver wages or increased services, said Harf.

“We have been doing our best to respond to those who commented by pointing out we need the fare increases to simply sustain what we already have,” said Harf.

Fares cover 34 percent of PRTC’s operating costs. The transit agency has proposed operating on a $30.3 million budget in FY 2011, which begins July 1. The amount is roughly the same as this year.

The fare increase comes as contracted bus drivers at PRTC are in the middle of negotiating a labor contract with their employer, First Transit, Inc. When union officials and company representatives could not reach a new contract agreement Tuesday, both parties agreed to extend their current contract to at least April 2.

Contract negotiations are set to begin again Monday in Woodbridge.

Also at the meeting Thursday, Board members approved an FY 2010 budget $14.9 million budget revision for various federal and state grants that will be used to rehabilitate old buses, add new bus shelters and for the expansion of a park-and-ride lot at PRTC’s Woodbridge Transit Center on Potomac Mills Road.

The lion’s share of the monies are from grants that the transit agency though would have been awarded in FY 2009, and because the monies are designated for capital improvements they cannot be used to offset a fare increase, PRTC officials said.

Staff writer Uriah A. Kiser can be reached at 703-878-8065.