MOORPARK : 25-Cent Increase in Bus Fares Approved

Moorpark residents will begin paying 25 cents more for bus service in the city, beginning next Monday.

The Moorpark City Council voted 4 to 0 last week to raise fares for the city’s bus service from 50 to 75 cents as part of an effort to increase the financial return on the bus program.

For the city’s bus program to continue qualifying for state funding, annual revenue from fares must equal at least 14.9% of the service’s total cost, according to a staff report by Mary Lindley, assistant to the city manager.

For the fiscal year that ended June 30, Moorpark’s bus program collected only an estimated $4,700 in fares, or 5.1% of the total cost of the service.

If the city is not able to substantially increase the fare revenues this year, it may lose $87,100 in state funding, which is most of the $91,600 cost of the program.

The increase in fares will not be enough to raise revenues to the necessary level, the report states. But the city also plans to use advertising to increase the number of riders who use the bus program.