County’s Largest Bus System Considers Increasing Fares : South Coast: Hikes would be the first since ’82. They are sought by Ventura and Oxnard, which pay a major share of costs.

Ventura County’s largest bus system, South Coast Area Transit, is considering its first fare hike in more than a decade at the request of two of the cities that help pay its bills.

The transit system’s directors, who usually meet in their own small board room, have reserved the Oxnard City Council chambers because they expect a large turnout at a fare-hike hearing that will begin at 1:30 p.m. Thursday.

The regular adult fare on the west Ventura County bus system, widely known as SCAT, would jump from 75 cents to 90 cents or $1 under several options being reviewed by the board. Students and senior citizens would also pay up to 20 cents more per ride.

SCAT officials said they are moving cautiously because annual ridership plummeted by more than a half-million boardings after they last hiked fares and cut services in 1982.

“It had a devastating effect on ridership,” said Maureen Hooper Lopez, director of planning and marketing.

At Thursday’s hearing, the SCAT board also will consider a separate proposal from bus drivers, who want to require riders to carry exact change--even if the fare is an unwieldy 90 cents.

SCAT is a joint-powers agency formed by the county and five cities: Ventura, Oxnard, Port Hueneme, Ojai and Santa Paula. Today, the system’s 14 routes boast about 3 million boardings annually.

One route, serving Oxnard beaches, will be halted in July. No other service cuts are planned.

Lopez said the proposed fare hikes were requested by Oxnard and Ventura, the cities that pay the largest share of SCAT costs not covered by fare box receipts.

The bus system’s annual operating budget is about $6.2 million, but fares generate less than $1.3 million. SCAT receives other revenue, including state and federal transit funds, but the remaining $3-million shortfall must be made up by the county and the five cities, Lopez said.

This cost is divided according to the number of service miles SCAT provides in each jurisdiction. Under this formula, Oxnard’s share is 44.3% and Ventura must pay 39%.

In 1987, Ventura paid $650,000 to SCAT, said Nazir Lalani, the city’s transportation engineer. Since then, the city’s contribution to SCAT has nearly doubled, but bus service in the city has increased only about 20%, he said.

Lalani said a SCAT advisory committee on which he serves believes the current fares, adopted in 1982, are outdated.

“We really feel that’s an awfully long time not to have a fare increase,” he said.

Ventura and Oxnard “were concerned because federal funding has been frozen--so any increase in costs has to be paid for by the cities and the county,” Lopez said. “I think the cities were saying, ‘Let’s see about distributing the cost more equitably among the users as well as the cities.’ ”

Ventura City Councilman Jim Monahan, who is also SCAT’s board chairman, said the fare-hike request originated among frustrated city staff members who were trying to fund a variety of projects with dwindling resources.

“There’s only so much money,” Monahan said. “They have to decide whether they want to fund bus services or use it to repair potholes. It’s a constant battle.”

Monahan said he believes adult riders who pay as they board should be charged $1. But regular riders who purchase books of bus coupons in advance should be charged only 75 cents.

The SCAT staff recommended that the adult base fare be raised only to 90 cents and that drivers continue to make change until the fare reaches $1.

SCAT is one of the few large bus systems whose drivers still make change. But the drivers want the board to require riders to board with exact fares.

“There’s concern among the drivers about safety, time delays and the condition of the money that’s sometimes handed to them,” Lopez said.

Lalani of the Ventura staff said raising the base fare to 90 cents while forcing drivers to continue to make change will simply lead to more delays at bus stops and more headaches for passengers.

“It just makes it even more awkward for people,” he said. “They’ll have to find nickels and dimes.”