Golden Gate Transit Increasing Bus, Ferry Fares
LARKSPUR (CBS SF) - The Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District's board of directors unanimously approved increases over the next five years to Golden Gate Transit and Golden Gate Ferry fares.
The fare increases begin July 1.
The adult cash fares for all Golden Gate Transit regional bus rides and for regional bus routes within Marin County will increase five percent annually.
KCBS' Margie Shafer Reports:
Discounted bus fares for youth ages 6 to 18, seniors 65 and older, and people with disabilities will remain discounted at 50 percent of the new adult cash fare rate.
Discounted bus fares for Clipper card users will remain at 20 percent of the adult fare.
Clipper card fares will not increase on the Golden Gate Ferry during the first year of the five-year fare increase program because those fares were raised on Jan. 1.
Adult single ride fares on the Sausalito Ferry will increase by $1 in the first year of the five-year program starting July 1, and will increase 5 percent a year over the next four years.
Adult single-ride fares on the Larkspur Ferry will increase five percent annually starting July 1.
On both the Sausalito and Larkspur ferries, the discounted fare for youth ages 6-18 who use Clipper Cards, seniors 65 and older and people with disabilities will remain at 50 percent off of the new adult cash fare rate.
The special event ferry fare rate to AT&T Park will be $8.75, the same as the Larkspur Ferry adult single ride fare, starting July 1 and will increase five percent each of the next four years.
The Port of San Francisco is imposing a 25-cent surcharge for each passenger boarding or alighting at the AT&T Park ferry dock, bridge district spokeswoman Mary Currie said.
The fare increases over five years will generate $2.6 million in additional revenue and the anticipated loss of ridership because of the fare increases is estimated at 1.8 percent, Currie said.
The district's 2009 financial plan anticipated an $89 million budget shortfall over five years.
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