What Fare Is Fair? : * The Bus-Toll Flap Offers Lessons for Those Who Would Propose Ballot Initiatives

The recent flap over the 5-cent increase in senior-citizen bus fares proposed by the Orange County Transit District has been resolved satisfactorily enough for now.

A commission charged with overseeing the so-called “stabilization” of fares for the elderly and the handicapped under a provision of Measure M, the half-cent sales tax for transportation improvements passed last year, will take the matter under advisement. That will buy time to cool off and study the increase.

But at the heart of this conflict are some powerful political forces, and there are lessons for those proposing future ballot initiatives. One is the evidence of real economic pressure on a substantial voting group that is trying to manage in an expensive area, often on fixed incomes. Another is the notion of truth in packaging--whether a ballot measure proposing a new sales tax, as Measure M did, really makes good on its promises.

The latter especially comes into play in this moratorium on the fare. Although Measure M did not specifically call for a freeze on fares for a specified time--the way a similar transportation measure in Los Angeles County did--it pledged to “stabilize” fares for senior citizens and the handicapped. That was important in getting senior citizens to sign on.

The problem was that not everybody agreed on exactly what stabilize meant. When the transit district passed along a 5-cent bus fare increase for seniors and the handicapped to the Orange County Transportation Commission for approval, some commissioners worried that imposing a new increase was hardly an example of keeping fares “stable.’

There also were concerns from the Transportation Commission that the plan resulted in an improper use of Measure M money as a replacement for lost state subsidies. Measure M funds, the argument goes, were not designed to replace money lost from other sources of revenue in tight times; the money was designed to go for specific purposes. There’s a fine line there, because part of Measure M’s mission was to provide money to keep fares from getting out of hand.

One lesson is that, when in doubt about the meaning of “stabilized” fares, it’s good to have a citizens’ oversight panel that can define terms and work to ensure that voters come away with what they thought they were getting. But because a measure such as M is essentially a compact with the voters, it’s important that voters know up front how their money is being spent. That is especially true for senior citizens, who vote regularly.