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August 12, 2004

PUBLIC HEARING REGARDING
IMPLEMENTATION OF A FARE SURCHARGE FOR MARIN
EXTENDED INTER-COUNTY PARATRANSIT SERVICE

 

Proposed Fare Surcharge

  At the July 9, 2004, meeting of the Board of Directors, the Board approved setting a public hearing on the proposed implementation, effective October 1, 2004, of a $0.50 surcharge to the current base fare for a District-sponsored inter-county paratransit trip that begins or ends beyond ¾-mile on either side of a Golden Gate Transit (GGT) non-commute bus route or outside of the comparable bus service hours within Marin County.   This fare surcharge is proposed to be implemented in order to maintain consistency between Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District (District) inter-county and Marin County Transit District (MCTD) local paratransit fare policies.  Current and proposed District fares are attached.

 

Background

 In 1991, in response to the newly adopted Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the District and MCTD prepared, adopted, and implemented a Joint ADA Paratransit Plan.  As a result of this plan, in 1993, the District and MCTD entered into an Agreement for Inter-county Paratransit Service, with MCTD as contractor and Marin Senior Coordinating Council/Whistlestop Wheels (WSW) as provider of the District’s inter-county paratransit service.  MCTD, as the primary and local service provider, opted to provide paratransit service to origins and destinations in the urbanized eastern portion of Marin County beyond the ¾-mile minimum and comparable service hours called for by the ADA.  To maintain consistency in implementing its inter-county service, the District followed suit.

 

Similar Agreements have been executed each year through Fiscal Year (FY) 2003.  The FY 2003 Agreement has been extended while negotiations on a new FY 2004/2005 Agreement continue.   Both MCTD local and District inter-county paratransit services achieved and have maintained compliance with ADA since December 1994.

 

Each year both MCTD and the District found that agency budgets needed to be increased substantially to meet increased demand, especially because ADA requires service to be provided with “no denials.”   In FY 2003, to address rising costs, both MCTD and District staffs reviewed the provision of their fixed route bus and corresponding ADA paratransit services.  In early FY 2004, WSW advised MCTD it would no longer be able to meet the demand for Marin local trips without an increase in the Marin local budget.  Federal law requires that trips required under ADA continue to be provided.

 

In order to insure ADA compliance in the face of limited resources, in September 2003, MCTD directed WSW to begin differentiating between trip requests required by ADA and trip requests more than ¾-mile or beyond the service hours of the adjoining non-commute fixed route bus.  MCTD increased the Marin local paratransit fare, effective April 1, 2004, from $1.80 to $2.00 for ADA trips, and established a new “extended” fare ($2.50) for trips that began or ended beyond ¾-mile or comparable service hours of the adjoining non-commute GGT bus.

 

To retain consistency with past practice of operating Marin local and District inter-county paratransit service under comparable policies, and in recognition of the District’s limited transit financial resources, staff proposes that the District bring its inter-county paratransit fare policy in line with MCTD local paratransit fare policy by establishing a $0.50 fare surcharge for Marin “extended” paratransit trips requests.  Staff has referred this paratransit fare proposal to the District’s Advisory Committee on Accessibility, to each of the Paratransit Coordinating Councils in Marin, Sonoma, and San Francisco counties, and to the East Bay Paratransit Service Review Committee.   

 

The purpose of this public hearing is to take further public input into whether or not a Marin extended inter-county paratransit service fare surcharge of $0.50 should be added to the base fare of any District sponsored inter-county paratransit trip that begins or ends beyond ¾-mile of a GGT non-commute bus route or outside of the comparable bus service hours within Marin County. 

 

This potential fare surcharge for Marin extended trips could result in approximately $600 in extra revenue to help offset the approximately $100,000 annual Marin extended paratransit service costs.

 

Next Steps

The Board of Directors will consider all public comments prior to any final decision on this proposed Marin extended trip paratransit fare surcharge.   The results of the public input process, this hearing, and a final staff recommendation will be provided to the District Board of Director’s Finance-Auditing Committee on September 9, 2004.  The Board of Directors could take action the following day at its regularly scheduled meeting on September 10, 2004.  This will allow sufficient lead-time for an October 1, 2004, implementation of the proposed paratransit fare surcharge.

 

Attachment

 

 

GGBHTD INTER-COUNTY PARATRANSIT FARES

Current and Proposed With a $0.50 Surcharge for Marin Extended Trips

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FY 2005 FARES FOR ALL DISTRICT INTER-COUNTY PARATRANSIT TRIPS

(Fares effective July 1, 2004)

 

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

1

 

$5.10

$6.30

$7.70

$10.60

$11.95

$9.00

$10.25

$6.30

$10.25

2

$5.10

 

 

 

$7.70

$9.00

 

 

 

$6.30

3

$6.30

 

 

 

$6.30

$7.70

 

 

 

$5.10

4

$7.70

 

 

 

$5.10

$6.30

 

 

 

$6.30

5

$10.60

$7.70

$6.30

$5.10

 

 

$10.60

$9.35

$9.35

$9.35

6

$11.95

$9.00

$7.70

$6.30

 

 

$11.95

$10.60

$10.60

$10.60

7

$9.00

 

 

 

$10.60

$11.95

 

 

 

$10.25

8

$10.25

 

 

 

$9.35

$10.60

 

 

 

$9.00

9

$6.30

 

 

 

$9.35

$10.60

 

 

 

$7.70

10

$10.25

$6.30

$5.10

$6.30

$9.35

$10.60

$10.25

$9.00

$7.70

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PROPOSED FARES FOR MARIN EXTENDED INTER-COUNTY PARATRANSIT TRIPS

(If approved, surcharge would apply only to trips beginning or ending in the extended portions

 of Marin Fare Zones 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, & 9 and would be effective October 1, 2004.)

 

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

1

 

$5.60

$6.80

$8.20

$10.60

$11.95

$9.50

$10.75

$6.80

$10.25

2

$5.60

 

 

 

$8.20

$9.50

 

 

 

$6.80

3

$6.80

 

 

 

$6.80

$8.20

 

 

 

$5.60

4

$8.20

 

 

 

$5.60

$6.80

 

 

 

$6.80

5

$10.60

$8.20

$6.80

$5.60

 

 

$11.10

$9.85

$9.85

$9.35

6

$11.95

$9.50

$8.20

$6.80

 

 

$12.45

$11.10

$11.10

$10.60

7

$9.50

 

 

 

$11.10

$12.45

 

 

 

$10.75

8

$10.75

 

 

 

$9.85

$11.10

 

 

 

$9.50

9

$6.80

 

 

 

$9.85

$11.10

 

 

 

$8.20

10

$10.25

$6.80

$5.60

$6.80

$9.35

$10.60

$10.75

$9.50

$8.20