THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 27, 1995 TAG: 9507260018
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 49 lines
If Tidewater Regional Transit, after recently cutting service, now adopts a plan to raise the basic bus fare, it will continue along the route that its privately owned predecessor traveled toward demise years ago.
People who are old enough will remember a time when private firms operated public-transportation systems, offering patrons comprehensive routes and frequent pickups at nominal prices. As often as not, it seemed, it was SRO in the aisles of buses as well as theaters, and balance sheets showed a nice profit. But as wages increased and suburbs sprawled in post-World War II America, demand for automobiles soared. Buses cruised with ever more empty seats. Trying to maintain profitability, transit companies forced riders to pay more for less: abandoned routes and stretched-out schedules.
It didn't work.
Granted, TRT doesn't face the profit imperative. Its vehicles keep rolling because government keeps bankrolling. But the parallel is still there: Charges go up and services down because of anemic ridership coupled with the prospect that Congress will reduce federal financial help.
If there is any good news for South Hampton Roads bus riders, it lies in accompanying proposals. Although the proposed increase - from $1.10 to $1.50 - would hit the poor's pocketbooks hard and rank TRT among the nation's more expensive systems, elimination of the 55-cents-per-zone surcharge would both simplify the fare mechanism and make using TRT less costly for about 40 percent of the passengers. Also, the steeper $1.50 flat charge could encourage more patrons to buy 10-ticket computer books, which, though rising from $8 to $10, would save people even more money.
These steps could help TRT cushion the drop in ridership, which nationally averages 3 percent to 4 percent for every 10 cents of fare increase, according to the American Public Transit Association.
But in any case the traditional operating formula doesn't address TRT's basic problem. While the bus is essential for those who don't have another transportation option, it is irrelevant to virtually all who do.
TRT's real challenge - and certainly, as we noted a few weeks ago, a merger with the Peninsula's PENTRAN would improve the odds of meeting it - is making public transit relevant to more of those people with other options.
KEYWORDS: TIDEWATER REGIONAL TRANSIT by CNB