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Free ride? Cutting bus fares a popular plan in council

by Steven T. Dennis
The Gazette Staff Writer
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May 12, 2000

There may be no free lunch, but how about a free bus?  A proposal by County Councilman Philip M. Andrews to slash Ride On bus fares,  ultimately to zero, has two politically  attractive qualities: It is a tax cut of sorts for riders, who skew toward the low end of income scale, and it would boost ridership at a time when politicians of all stripes decry traffic congestion as the Montgomery County's biggest problem.                       
                                     
"I think Ride On should become Ride Free," Andrews (D-Dist. 3) of Gaithersburg said in an interview this week.

Of course, there is no free bus, at least for the taxpayers. Bus riders now pay about $11 million a year in fares, and that is only a fraction of the cost of buying and operating the buses.

Eliminating fares would cost more than the $11 million the county gets in fares because many routes would become overcrowded, requiring more buses and more drivers, Ride On officials said.

But Andrews said the cost of free buses, even if it reaches $20 million a year, is small if the proposal succeeds in getting people out of their cars. He said he was encouraged to float the idea of free buses after reading an article in The Washington Post last week about rising transit ridership nationwide, spurred in part by stable -- and in some cases falling -- fares.

Andrews opposes major new road projects, such as the $63 million Montrose Parkway in Rockville and the $1 billion Intercounty Connector between Gaithersburg and Laurel. A better solution to the traffic nightmare, he said, is to increase transit ridership, change land use patterns and provide incentives for telecommuting and changes in work schedules.

Andrews will flesh out his free bus idea later this year.

In the meantime, the council has tentatively supported a 44 percent cut in fares for regular Ride On commuters, saving them up to $208 a year.

Under the plan, which must be approved by County Executive Douglas M. Duncan (D), two-week and 20-ride bus passes would drop from $18 to $10. Regular riders would effectively pay 50 cents a ride. The regular bus fare is $1.10 during peak hours and 90 cents off-peak.

The fare cut is projected to cost about $1 million a year. Duncan spokesman David Weaver said the executive is predisposed toward any initiative that could cut traffic congestion, but is still looking at the specifics of the fare cut proposal.

The council also is considering a similar reduction for Metrobus passes at a cost of $2 million a year, but that will require regional agreements.

Deputy Council Staff Director Glenn Orlin proposed the fare cut last week as a way to give money back to the residents in a progressive way during a year with a huge budget surplus but no tax cut.

Ride On officials estimated that Orlin's proposal would generate more than1 million new Ride On trips a year.

Orlin said free buses would produce a variety of benefits in addition to the costs. For example, the county plans to install new fareboxes over the next few years at a cost of $8.4 million. They would not be needed if no fares were charged. Neither would some employees who now process fares.
And people could get on the bus more quickly, shaving time off bus routes.
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