GOLDEN GATE LARKSPUR FERRY FARE to/from AT&T PARK INCREASES

By $0.50 from $7.50 to $8.00 effective March 1, 2009

At the February 27, 2009, meeting of the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District (District) Board of Directors, an increase of the Special Event one-way ferry fare between the Larkspur Ferry Terminal and AT&T Park to $8.00 from the current $7.50, effective March 1, 2009, was authorized. This is a 6.7% increase.

The District requires that fares be set to generate sufficient passenger revenues to cover the cost of providing the service. The current fare of $7.50 one-way was set in 2008. Staff estimates it will cost approximately $551,000 to operate ferry service to 79 San Francisco Giants home games in 2009. In keeping with the goal to “break even” and with an estimated average ridership per ferry trip of 436 passengers, the price of a one-way ferry fare ride would be $8.00.

Larkspur to/from AT&T Park	2008 SPECIAL EVENT ONE-WAY FARE	2009 SPECIAL EVENT ONE-WAY FARE Effective March 1, 2009
Adults and Children over 5 yrs. of age	$7.50	$8.00
Children 5 yrs. old and under per fare-paying adult	FREE	FREE
Youth, Senior and Disabled discounts	$7.50	$8.00

Staff issued public notice of the proposed fare increase on January 27, 2009, initiating a public comment period that ended with a public hearing on February 13, 2009. One comment was received stating that the total fare for family groups would be more expensive than driving and requesting consideration of a 25% discount for groups of 3 or more persons. After considering the public comment, staff continues to recommend the proposal without modification because offering a discount for groups of riders would necessitate a higher fare increase than $8.00 for individuals to obtain sufficient fare revenue to cover service cost unless the discount increases ridership enough to offset the discount, which is unlikely considering the relatively low price sensitivity of public transit customers.