On Thursday night, transit users got a preview of what the future of paying for a bus ride might look like next year.
During an open house session at the Citizens Advisory Committee meeting Thursday, C-Tran discussed proposed fare increases and the new electronic fare payment system called Hop Fastpass that will be available by 2017. The meeting was the last of three open houses in January on the Hop Fastpass.
“The open houses have been well attended with people who have been very passionate about the issue, really interested and armed with really good questions,” said C-Tran spokeswoman Christine Selk. “I’ve viewed them very positively.”
C-Tran is proposing fare increases that, if approved, will take effect Sept. 1.
Public Meeting
• What: Public hearing on C-Tran fare changes and the Hop FastPass system.
• When: 5:30 p.m. Feb. 9.
• Where: Vancouver Community Library, Columbia Room, 901 C. St., Vancouver. Comments can also be made at feedback@c-tran.com, 360-696-4494 and P.O. Box 2529, Vancouver, WA 98668-2529.
For riders staying on the Washington side of the river, the regional all-zone day pass for seniors, disabled people and youth would jump from $2 to $2.50. The agency says the increase will bring prices into step with TriMet’s regional all-zone day passes for those same groups.
C-Tran is also proposing to make a regional all-zone fare a requirement on limited and local routes that cross the Columbia River. They argue the fare change will eliminate transfer penalties for riders getting onto TriMet.
One of the biggest changes riders can expect to see is the introduction of an electronic fare system called Hop Fastpass. The system is meant to speed bus boardings and simplify transfers between C-Tran and TriMet and Portland Streetcar.
Electronic fare systems are fairly common with transit agencies in metropolitan areas. The first e-fare system came to the Seattle area in 2009. With TriMet looking to embrace them, C-Tran decided to do the same, Selk said.
“We are partnering with them, it was kind of the perfect opportunity for C-Tran to join forces with TriMet on a regional scale,” she said. “Our passengers ride TriMet vehicles and vice versa, so there’s a lot of partnership as to how things are integrated.”
The new system will bring some changes that C-Tran says will benefit its users.
For one, monthly passes will be replaced with monthly charge limits. Anyone who rides twice a day for 20 days will have the rest of month for free. If a rider buys two 2½-hour tickets in a day, he or she will be upgraded automatically to a one-day pass.
Passengers will also get a 2½-hour transfer on any fare, even when purchasing a fare for C-Zone, Regional All-Zone and Express.
The pass will also change its definition of youth for its youth discount fare from the current ages, 7 to 18 years old, to 7 to 17 years old. However, anyone older than 17 with a current high school photo ID will still be able to get a discount.
Senior, disabled and youth monthly passes will drop from $34 to $28.
The Hop Fastpass will be sold on a network called Ready Credit and will be available in most grocery and convenience stores, as well as the C-Tran customer service office and online.
“I think people are pretty excited about the proposal,” Selk said.
A public hearing on the fare changes and the Hop Fastpass system will be held during the C-Tran Board of Directors regular monthly meeting at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 9 in the Columbia Room of the Vancouver Community Library, 901 C St., in Vancouver.
Comments can still be made by phone at 360-696-4494; feedback@c-tran.com; or in writing to P.O. Box 2529, Vancouver, WA 98668-2529.
