To Help Fill Bus Seats, Hillsborough Considers Doing Away With Fares

By RICH SHOPES The Tampa Tribune

Published: Aug 7, 2007

TAMPA - Riding the bus could get a whole lot cheaper. Try free.

Hillsborough County's transit agency will explore eliminating fares as it considers switching from property taxes to sales taxes to keep buses running.

"I think we need to look at that," said Hillsborough Commissioner Mark Sharpe, who pitched the idea Monday during talks about the revenue switch. Sharpe also is a Hillsborough Area Regional Transit board member.

A half-cent sales tax would give HART $110 million a year, plenty to replace the $36 million the agency gets from property owners and enough to cover fare box collections at $10 million.

Scrapping the fares would increase ridership and set an example to cities serious about mass transit, Sharpe said.

Reaction was muted. Other board members didn't comment, and the commissioner spoke briefly, saying it should be something to consider later.

Free rides are a hot topic in transit circles - but mostly just talk. Cities such as Miami, Denver, Portland, Ore., and Chapel Hill, N.C., offer fare-free zones or give university students and seniors a break, but only a handful extend the courtesy to everybody.

Suited For Medium Systems

Whidbey Island Transit, 40 miles north of Seattle, is one of two fare-free systems in Washington state. Its $8.3 million system operates 56 buses.

"It seems to work for small to medium systems," said Assistant Director Sandy Rubini, who sometimes gets calls about how the system works.

Island Transit is funded by a 0.6 percent sales tax. Had the system been larger at its start 20 years ago, or had it launched today, Rubini isn't sure it could've mustered the funding to succeed.

"The cost to implement and operate a fare system and maintain it … we would not get any useful revenue to go toward our budget," she said. "To say we're starting everything right now and buy all new equipment, I don't know."

Jacksonville has off-peak free rides for seniors, and Manatee County's transit system offers free trolley rides on Anna Maria Island. Miami operates a free downtown people mover called Metromover.

The Hillsborough Metropolitan Planning Organization recommended in a recent report that HART consider a fare-free downtown zone by 2012, but the agency hasn't decided. The standard one-way fare for HART buses is $1.50.

"There's been a lot of discussion but very little application," said Steve Polzin, a program director at the Center for Urban Transportation Research at the University of South Florida.

One reason is unwanted side effects.

Agencies that experimented with free rides saw big ridership gains but also exponential growth in operating and capital costs. The surge wasn't always good at the customer level, either. Vandalism and petty crime rose.

In some cases, buses became popular all-day hangouts for teens and panhandlers, prompting loyal riders - and those the agency wants to lure from their cars - to complain or avoid buses, Polzin said.

"It gets to be a real nuisance problem to the regular customer," he said.

Influx Of Cash Necessary

Closer to home, the downtown 96 Trolley ran fare-free for two years but started charging a fare after a grant expired two years ago.

HART would need a windfall before it can dump its fare boxes now. Switching from property taxes to sales taxes would go far toward doing that, but the switch wouldn't be easy.

Before the agency can draw one penny of sales tax, it will need voters' approval. Before that can happen, Hillsborough County commissioners would have to give their support to place the question on the ballot.

The HART board voted 10-2 to study the idea.

The motion came as HART is struggling to find $2 million in budget cuts after lawmakers in June voted to cut property taxes statewide.

HART staff members came to Monday's meeting with a list of service changes that affect more than a dozen routes.

On the chopping block are the 98 In-town Trolley and the 52LX, a limited express bus from New Tampa and Pasco County to downtown. About a dozen others would be trimmed or see their hours cut.

Instead of gaining board approval, the measure was tabled until September so an alternative plan by HART's union can be studied.

HART wanted the cuts to take effect in October, at the start of the fiscal year, to achieve their full benefit. Now it looks as if those changes won't happen until November, if at all.

The union, which represents bus drivers and mechanics, suggested the agency cut management positions and combine others to find enough savings to preserve bus service.

Board members promised to look into the union's plan. They should have a decision by next month.

Reporter Rich Shopes can be reached at (813) 259-7633 or rshopes@tampatrib.com.