Bus Riders Union of Austin, Texas | El Sindicato de Pasajeros

By Karie Meltzer
KUT
Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Members of the Bus Riders Union of Austin are looking for a free ride. They're meeting this morning - at the Capitol bus stop at 11th and Congress - to propose free transit for all riders on Capital Metro buses. Austin Van Zant is a member of the union and also a pedi-cab driver downtown. He says a no-fare system will get people out of their cars. But, he's looking beyond air quality and traffic problems.

"One gigantic reason why we want to do this now is so that before the rail comes online we don't have to install fare boxes, we don't have to worry about the expenses that come along with fares, that's actually a big reason why we argue against collecting fares. The net amount that we collect is not that much."

Maybe not much - but it's something. Misty Whited (WY-did) is with Capital Metro.

"Right now our fare box recovery is only 10 percent, we're among the lowest out o fall transit agencies around the nation, so to be sustainable and offer more service, we need that. We want our customers to understand that paying fares is paying for good service."

That 10 percent fare box means passenger fares make up 10 percent of CapMetro's operating budget. It's not the first time people have proposed a no-fare system. In October 1989, the CapMetro board gave it a try. The pilot program was only supposed to last three months. But the number of people riding shot up by 80 percent. So the board let it ride. Demands for more security, passenger assistance programs and bus maintenance also went up. After the program was cut in December 1990, vandalism and violent incidents went down. A free-ride system was also shot down in 1994. Still, Capital Metro says the board is reviewing the current fares and nothing is set stone.

• Listen to the unedited mp3 interview with Bus Riders Union of Austin, Texas member Austin Van Zant [3.92 Mb]