RTD is considering a fare increase for 2006 and a new, zoned bus and light-rail fare structure for the entire metro transit system.
The proposal would base all fares on travel distance.
Regional Transportation District officials hope to have the zones and fare increase in place before the opening of the 19-mile southeast corridor light-rail line late next year.
“I think it’s just wrong. They just increased (fares) last year,” said Wiley Lofton of Denver. “This is my only means of transportation. They make it really hard for people like us who rely on it every day.”
He takes a bus from the Broadway and Interstate 25 station to Arapahoe Road five days a week.
Discussions of the increase and the new structure are preliminary and need the approval of the full RTD board of directors, said agency spokesman Scott Reed.
If approved, a fare increase would require public hearings. RTD officials have not identified how much fares might rise.
The zones would give RTD a more equitable and easy-to-understand fare plan modeled after progressive transit systems in Portland, Ore., Berlin and other cities, officials say.
The zones spreading as concentric rings from Denver’s downtown also would accommodate the surge in ridership that RTD expects as it builds the $4.7 billion FasTracks transit expansion over the next 12 years, said Jeff Becker, RTD’s senior manager of service development.
RTD’s last fare increase was in January 2004, when local cash fares were raised to the current $1.25 each way from $1.15. Prices also rose for monthly passes and other fares.
Under the planned zoned structure, transit riders would pay local fares if their trips stay within two zones.
Additionally, they would pay the equivalent of an express fare for trips in three zones and the equivalent of a regional fare for trips that cross four or more zones.
The current express cash fare for both bus and light-rail service is $2.75 per trip, and the regional bus fare is $3.75 a trip.
Some RTD transit patrons said Tuesday that they could live with fare zones but would balk at paying more for their bus and light-rail trips.
“I already pay $100 a month to come from Aurora; if they raise it anymore, I’ll start driving to work,” said Sonya Burrell of Aurora.
She takes a bus from RTD’s Nine Mile station at Parker Road and I-225 to the I-25 and Broadway station, then takes light rail into downtown Denver.
RTD’s current light-rail system operates with a simplified fare structure that charges riders $1.25 per trip unless they travel across a fare boundary at Hampden Avenue.
If a rider crosses Hampden on light rail, whether heading north or south, the traveler is charged the express fare of $2.75.
RTD officials say that penalizes some riders traveling only a short distance who cross the Hampden line.
Under the proposed zoned system, a light-rail rider traveling between the Littleton and Evans stations – who now crosses Hampden and pays the premium express fare – would instead pay the lower local fare by staying within two zones.
Transit users would pay cash fares – or buy monthly passes – based on the number of zones crossed on their trip, RTD officials say.
Robert Baldocchi owns a car but said he likes to use public transportation.
Each day, he takes a regional bus from Franktown to the Broadway station, then takes light rail to Englewood.
He also was against a fare increase.
“If they raise it anymore,” he said, “I’ll walk.”
Staff writer Jeffrey Leib can be reached at 303-820-1645 or jleib@denverpost.com.
