RTD Raises Basic Fare for Bus Riders ot 85 : Elderly, Handicapped, Students, Commuters also to Pay More in July; Service Cuts Avoided

The Southern California Rapid Transit District on Wednesday raised the basic bus fare from 50 cents to 85 cents and imposed an across-the-board increase for freeway commuters, the elderly, handicapped and students.

RTD President Nikolas Patsaouras said the RTD board members, who are faced with losing $43 million in local tax subsidies later this year, chose the 85-cent fare rather than a 75-cent hike, which the staff had proposed.

The fare increases take effect July 1.

Students, the elderly and the handicapped will pay more but continue to receive fare discounts.

L.A. Subsidy Expected

However, officials say the elderly and handicapped who live in Los Angeles are expected to escape the fare increases.

The City Council has tentatively agreed to Mayor Tom Bradley’s request for a subsidy from city funds to maintain the present discounts for Los Angeles’ handicapped and aged residents. But Bradley did not request money to underwrite discounts for students.

The added revenue from the fare increase will prevent threatened service cuts and will distribute the burden of meeting the deficit more equitably, Patsaouras said.

“We were able to maintain the bus service without having to cut or cancel service with only minor adjustments, so I’m pleased,” Patsaouras said.

The fare increase will boost the cost of a regular monthly bus pass from $20 to $32, which Patsaouras said was reasonable and would protect regular riders who depend on bus service.

Express stamps, which are used by commuters who ride from one fare zone to another, will go from $7 to $12. When the stamp increase is added to the monthly pass boost, the maximum cost for a freeway rider--now at $55--will climb to $92.

The new fares will affect the more than 1 million riders who use the RTD.

Elderly and handicapped people living outside Los Angeles will pay nearly twice as much as they do now. Students will pay up to nearly four times what they now pay.

Cash fares for the elderly and the handicapped would go from 20 cents to 40 cents and their monthly pass would increase from $4 to $7. The staff had proposed an increase to $9.

Student Passes Triple

Students who now pay 20 cents would pay 85 cents and the price of their $4 monthly passes would also escalate. Elementary and high school students, for example would pay $12. College and vocational students would pay $15.

Board members said they tried to keep fare increases for the discount riders to a minimum after hearing testimony at a recent public hearing about how much the fare increase will hurt low-income families.

“Clearly, what we heard (at the hearing) was that senior citizens and the handicapped would be affected . . . as would families with schoolchildren,” said director Jan Hall.

In adopting the fares for the elderly and handicapped, board members said they expected that the proposed $3-million subsidy from Los Angeles will help keep fares at the current level for the city’s aged and handicapped residents.

After the board meeting, one student leader said he was pleased with the board’s rejection of staff recommendations that would have been even worse for students.

“I think it’s really grand. I think they met us halfway,” said Randy P. Banis, a UCLA student and chair of the Los Angeles Collegiate Council Inc. “Still, there’s going to be a lot of students hit hard by this.”

Still, after a daylong debate, the rate proposal barely passed by the two-thirds needed when three members of the 11-person board voted against it. The most vociferous opponent was Nate Holden, an appointee of Supervisor Kenneth Hahn.

“I don’t want to give the signal that we’re going to rush, rush, rush and stick it to the rider,” said Holden, who chided his colleagues for voting for a rate proposal when there were so many financial uncertainties.

Subsidy Loss

Board members said the fare increases were needed because the district will lose $43 million in Proposition A subsidy funds when the three-year bus subsidy program ends on June 30. But Holden said stalemated labor talks with the bus drivers union could skew the district’s financial picture. The RTD also faces a possible $48-million loss in federal funds if President Reagan succeeds in efforts to eliminate operating subsidies to transit districts.

Although RTD General Manager John A. Dyer told board members that service cuts will now be minimal--amounting to a longer wait for buses on some lines--he said the district will have to review the proposal to see exactly what effect those service cuts will have.

But director Jay Price reiterated that “no service cuts of any importance at all” will be made.