Cost of Bus Day Pass to Rise 25%

After nine years with no fare hikes, many of Orange County’s bus riders will be paying more to get around starting Sunday, when the price of unlimited rides goes from $2 to $2.50 per day.

While the basic fare for boarding a bus remains at $1, the higher-priced day pass still will be a more economical choice for the estimated 40% of riders who need to take more than one route to reach their final destination.

But “more economical” is relative. Though it may be cheaper than the alternative for riders of multi-bus routes, it still represents a 25% increase over the old price.

Along Harbor Boulevard, the county’s busiest route, Diana Navarrete waited for her ride home Wednesday with a dollar bill crumpled in her fist. Navarrete said she is grateful that her daily round trip from home in Anaheim to work in Costa Mesa doesn’t require her to transfer buses, which means that most of the time she can avoid having to pay $2.50 for the day pass.

“It is much better to pay only $1 each way,” she said. “For me the day pass is too expensive. I don’t have too much money.”

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The price hike is the final step in a fare restructuring that began six months ago with the introduction of the day pass and the elimination--after 27 years--of free transfers on the county’s bus system. Transit officials first proposed the hike a year ago, saying that eight years without tinkering with bus fares was long enough.

In order to lessen the shock of an increase after so many years without one, Orange County Transportation Authority board members voted to delay any fare increases for six months after the July changeover, letting regular riders first get used to the day pass.

The new fare is expected to generate $1.5 million each year in additional revenue, money that transit officials said will be used to buy more buses and expand service in the county.

Transit officials said that about 60% of riders have been buying the $2 day pass, the same price as most round trips under the old transfer system. It remains to be seen how many riders will continue to buy the pass under the higher fare, since transit studies have shown that only about 40% of riders need to take more than one bus to reach their destination.

Orange County’s bus system is one of the fastest-growing in the country, with more than 5 million boardings each month, up nearly a third over the past decade.

More than 60 liquefied-natural-gas buses, which have cleaner emissions than the existing fleet of 757 traditional buses, are scheduled to be delivered this year. The transit agency also anticipates delivery of 20 new extra-long models for use on the busiest routes.

In addition, transit officials in June plan to begin “straight-lining” the county’s sometimes twisting routes to provide more efficient and easier-to-understand service.