BART board schedules day and evening hearings on possible fare increase.

OAKLAND, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 22, 1994--The BART Board of Directors' Administration Committee Tuesday set two dates in January 1995 for public hearings on possible fare increases, the first in nine years for the transit district, and other revenue enhancements.

The first hearing is set for 9 a.m., Thursday, Jan. 12, and the second for 7 p.m., Monday, Jan. 23. Both hearings will be held in the BART Board of Directors room in the BART Administration headquarters building, 800 Madison St., Oakland, above the Lake Merritt BART Station.

"We have scheduled the meetings to be as convenient for the public as possible," said Administration Committee Chair Dan Richard of Orinda, "and so that we can conduct an extensive outreach program that offers ample opportunity for public input."

Richard said that while BART is taking severe cost-cutting measures to reduce operating costs and to eliminate this fiscal year's deficit, fare increases must be considered to meet critical capital improvements such as the system's long-planned rehabilitation of its original fleet of transit cars over the next several years.

He noted that public discussion of the need for a fare increase actually began last year in conjunction with the systems 10-year planning cycle.

The purpose of the public hearings is to invite public comment on a range of fare schedule options which will be presented at the next Administration Committee meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 6, also in the board room. At that time a packet containing various fare increase possibilities will be available for public review.

BART General Manager Richard A. White said a fare increase would be necessary to fund a portion of BART's much needed systemwide rehabilitation program. Under the leadership of BART Board President Margaret K. Pryor, BART reached an agreement with the regional Metropolitan Transportation Commission earlier this year in which the MTC has committed federal and regional funds to support BART's capital rehabilitation program. As a condition of the MTC's funding support, BART must raise a share of the needed funds.

White said that a fare increase would also be needed for service improvements which will result when new extensions start up beginning in mid-1995, and to fund federally mandated American with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements.

If the board increases BART fares, they would not take effect until sometime in the spring of 1995, more than nine years after the last increase in BART fares.

BART has not raised fares since Jan. 1, 1986, despite a 34.6 percent increase in the Consumer Price Index - Urban (CPIU) for the San Francisco Bay Area Metropolitan Region during that time.

CONTACT: BART

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