Local News in Brief : Glendale to Offer Free Beeline Rides
The Glendale City Council voted Tuesday to make all rides free on the city’s Beeline downtown shuttle system.
Public Works Director George Miller told the council that eliminating the shuttle’s 25-cent fare would increase ridership on the 4-mile route.
The council passed the resolution over the objections of council members Ginger Bremberg and Larry Zarian. Bremberg argued that without the fare, the shuttles might become “havens for resident homeless and drunks who want to sleep it off.”
Shuttle ridership has increased steadily since the service was instituted in December, 1984. Miller said 11,459 passengers rode the shuttle in September, a fivefold increase over first-month ridership.
Revenue from fares totaled about $25,000 last year, only a small portion of the system’s $350,000 operating budget, Miller said, adding that drivers might stop collecting the 25-cent fare as soon as Monday, Miller said.
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