COUNTYWIDE : Bus Riders Facing 5-Cent Transfer Fee

The Orange County Transportation Authority decided Monday to charge bus riders a nickel for transfer passes, an unprecedented fee that will be imposed starting next week.

The transfer fee will take effect Monday at the same time as the general bus fare is scheduled to increase from 90 cents to $1.

The transfer fee is expected to generate as much as $600,000 a year for the transit authority, said Joanne Curran, a spokeswoman for OCTA.

The new fee is expected to affect 25% of the riders--or close to 12 million people a year--who transfer at least once when they ride the bus, she said.

Orange County’s bus system was one of only three in the state that had not been charging for transfers, she said. But directors decided they needed more revenue to offset increasing operating costs due largely to the growing number of passengers who do not pay full fare, such as the disabled and the elderly.

The number of disabled passengers, for example, has increased by 62% since last year, Curran said. “The basic fare is just not keeping up with the ridership growth,” she said.

Directors of the Orange County Transit District approved the nickel transfer fee in May. But Dana Reed, then the representative of the public on the board, asked the panel to reconsider.

Last week, the OCTD and the Orange County Transportation Commission merged, along with five affiliated agencies, to form the transportation authority. The move brought the county into compliance with state law and is expected to boost the authority’s share of state transportation funds.