Muni may roll out higher fares

Hold that thought: Muni’s chief says that before the transit agency raises fares, it would look at other options, such as limits on hiring. But experts say fare hikes are inevitable. (Examiner file photo)

SAN FRANCISCO — Muni will struggle to keep fares at $1.50 per ticket while maintaining reliable service as state funding for public transportation is poised to evaporate, transit experts say.

As the state faces a budget crisis, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed slashing state funding assistance for public transportation by 75 percent, Sonali Bose, chief financial officer for the San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Agency, said at a committee meeting Wednesday.

When the state budget was signed nearly two months ago, Muni reported it was to receive $37 million less than expected.

With the latest proposal from the governor, the agency is bracing for another cut of more than $26 million next year, and possibly the same amount the following year, Bose said.

“We’re going to have to tighten our belts,” she said.

Muni chief Nathaniel Ford said the agency’s first step is to focus in-house, such as limits on hiring.

“Before we talk about raising fares or raising fines or fees, let’s make sure we are doing all we can with our existing resources,”
he said.

But some say raising fares or cutting service are inevitable decisions transit agencies across California will have to consider.

“If it’s a choice between raising fares and cutting service, people I’ve talked to say they are more willing to pay extra,” said Margaret Okuzumi, executive director of BayRail Alliance, a nonprofit that advocates for better public rail transit in the Bay Area.

Greg Dewer, who writes a blog about Muni called the N-Judah Chronicles, agrees that fare hikes are unavoidable.

“You cannot make this many cuts year after year after year, first at the state level, then cut more and more and expect something not to give,” Dewer said.

Other Bay Area transit agencies are facing the same scenario. BART was hit hard by the first round of cuts, stripped of nearly $38 million. The agency said the money has hindered plans to replace and expand its “aging” fleet of 669 rail cars, as a way to mitigate overcrowding during peak commute hours, spokesman Linton Johnson said.

The agency recently approved measures to raise prices at station parking garages, and also approved charging for EZ Rider cards, but agency officials are not quite sure how to handle another round of cuts.

“We’re still reeling from the first budget the governor recommended,” spokeswoman Luna Salaver said. “This is like a double punch.”

Caltrain and SamTrans are also facing deep cuts.

“I don’t think that we know yet how we will deal with these cuts,” spokeswoman Christine Dunn said. “Suffice to say that is a gloomy proposition.”

maldax@sfexaminer.com

Light-rail service delayed

The combination of the financial crisis, escalating costs and a drop in airline ridership has stalled BART’s plans to create light-rail service to the Oakland International Airport, BART spokesman Jim Allison said Thursday.

Allison said the agency’s Oct. 28 deadline for proposals passed with no responses to a call for a plan to build a 3.2-mile elevated tramway to shuttle passengers between the Oakland Coliseum station and the airport.

He said that, until recently, BART had been in discussions with the only remaining prequalified consortium for the project, which consisted of Babcock & Brown, Merrill Lynch, Flatiron Constructors and Bombardier.

Allison said linking the Oakland airport to BART is still an important project for the transit agency and its funding partners.

He said BART’s staff is “undaunted” by the delay and has already begun to assess new, lower-cost system technologies, procurement strategies and funding alternatives to quickly determine how to continue the project “in a financially viable way.”

— Bay City News