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Southern California Transit Advocates is a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion, development and improvement of public transportation in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.

SO.CA.TA statement on Foothill Transit fare increase

Statement made regarding proposed November, 2007 fare increase by Foothill Transit.



Southern California Transit Advocates (SO.CA.TA) recognizes the needs of transit agencies to obtain sufficient funding in order to operate transit service. However, we have several reservations to this proposal.

The Foothill Transit staff has produced three fare increase proposals: a multi-year across-the-board fare increase proposal in April; an across the board pass and Silver Streak/Commuter Express fare increase proposal in September, including increase of all discount passes to 50% of the equivalent adult monthly pass, and elimination of the discount commuter express pass; and the proposal currently being offered to the public, a fare increase that reduces the rate of increase for discount local passes, while completely eliminating the discount passes and cash fares for Silver Streak customers.

It is our understanding that Federal law prohibits the elimination of discount cash fares to senior citizens, the disabled, and Medicare card holders during off peak hours. There are certain trip pairs, such as West Covina Plaza – El Monte station, that are impossible to make without using the Silver Streak. The September fare increase proposal stated that discounted passengers who needed to go to Los Angeles could still take the Silver Streak. Elimination of the discount fare would detrimentally affect those who need to access Cal State LA or County USC Medical Center, resulting in an unacceptable 150% increase in the cash fare for these riders.

The Silver Streak is more of an urban transit line and is less of a commuter express route that does not make stops for dozens of miles at a time. We do not object to the elimination of discount passes for commuter express service since that is the most expensive for Foothill Transit to provide. The commuter express fare will be comparable or more expensive than Metrolink for many trip pairs such as Baldwin Park-Los Angeles or Industry-Los Angeles.

A discount monthly pass of 50% the base fare is the national standard and is currently used by the EZ Pass. Cities and school districts who wish to subsidize the pass to a greater extent are free to do so with their local funds. Infrequent senior riders will still benefit with a cash discount for virtually all of their trips, while student riders will pay a fair share of the cost of providing added peak hour service.

Therefore, we strongly object to the October fare increase proposal, and urge the Executive and Governing Boards to adopt the fare increase proposal as presented by Foothill Transit staff at the September Executive Board meeting.


We further encourage Foothill Transit to continue pursuing changes in the Formula Allocation Plan (FAP) to allow agencies to increase their base fare. A pass-centric fare increase such as being currently proposed discourages riders from purchasing passes. A person who makes one round trip daily without transfers will not benefit at all from purchasing a monthly pass. An across the board fare increase should increase base fare prices as well. In addition, we encourage the Foothill Transit board to set a policy, like Metro and Omnitrans, of regular, modest fare increases about every two years to meet increasing costs.

We encourage Foothill Transit to pursue distance based fares on the Silver Streak. The fare increase will penalize individuals that board at the Puente Avenue freeway stop, late night riders with no alternate service, or those with trips such as West Covina-El Monte that cannot be otherwise made without multiple transfers. These riders should pay less than those who travel the entire distance from Montclair to Los Angeles. A distance based fare structure can be implemented with the deployment of the TAP card, or integrated with the current Proof of Payment fare system.

We also recommend a distance based fare structure on commuter express, so that trips to West Covina are not charged the same as a trip into Chino. In addition, residents of San Bernardino County do not pay taxes to Los Angeles County, nor are they members of the Foothill Transit Zone. Thus, it is appropriate to charge riders from San Bernardino County more.

We encourage Foothill Transit to reduce the level of service on commuter express after the fare increase to match with demand. We expect that many riders from some of the inner commuter express routes such as West Covina and Industry to switch to Metrolink, which offers comparable fares, more reliable service, and the ability to use transit for errands anywhere within the County. In addition, we encourage Foothill Transit to reduce service to match with demand on some of their frequent service routes, including evaluating the amount of midday service provided on some of their major routes.

Finally, all effects of the fare increase should incorporate the EZ Pass. As the pass prices go up, the EZ Pass becomes more attractive to the rider who may occasionally use another agency’s service. Paradoxically, this will result in less revenue since the EZ pass reimbursement is much less than that of a standard monthly pass, where Foothill keeps all of the revenue.