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

On Monday, around 60-70 bus riders came to state their case against any higher bus fares, a mandate that the Local Government Advisory Committee (LGAC) largely ignored, though not completely. Members of the disabled and elderly communities gained a partial victory when, at the last minute, an amendment was tacked on to eliminate the proposed 35 cent fares for seniors and the disabled. Though we can be happy that these fares remain unchanged, we must not stop until all fare increases are halted.

• See the KLBJ coverage for a more complete recap
  

The atmosphere of the LGAC meeting was interesting. At times, there was enough heckling and interruptions to think that we were actually gaining control of the meeting. Almost every speech not made by the Chamber of Commerce or Alliance for Public Transportation, each made by a non-bus rider, was excellently delivered and followed great logic. What's more is that most people who spoke against the fare increase recognized that any moves towards free fares were good moves. It's interesting to contrast this to last fall, when we were simply asking Capital Metro not to double fares. However, the blank stares by the elected officials out on to the crowd, and their cries to respect their speeches too, were enough for any on-looker to realize that at worst, they weren't listening to anything we were saying, or at best, only selectively listening.

When it came to vote, Leander Mayor John Cowman motioned to approve the fare increases. There was a call by Chair Sam Biscoe for a second, followed by a long silence. It seemed as though we had actually won for that 5 or 10 seconds. Austin City Councilmember Brewster McCracken, obviously waiting for someone else to make the second so that they, and not he, would feel any political fallout, begrudgingly seconded the motion. He then made an amendment to eliminate the fares for seniors and the disabled and replaced that loss of fare revenue by increasing fares on MetroRail, Express Buses and the redesigned Downtown 'Dillos, which the committee voted down 4-6. Then came an amendment just to eliminate the proposed senior and disabled fares, without any way to replace that loss of fare revenue, which is what ultimately passed.

Many bus riders left with a slightly bitter taste in their mouths. While there were plenty of those who left exuberant knowing that they dodged another bullet, at least for the time being, there were many that were mad and disgusted that the committee would not consider Commissioner Ron Davis' amendment to include the working poor as an exception to the fare increases.

The proposed fare structure has now headed back to the Capital Metro board, where it will seemingly be approved at their August 27 board meeting. The BRU-ATX will meet this Saturday, August 9 at 4 pm at the Austin History Center to discuss the next steps.