I want to thank everyone who voted (over 750) or left comments (240) on my blog to share your perspectives on the ideal tram fare. Thanks, in part, to your input, I have been able to look at this issue from most all angles and develop a new propsed tram fare structure.
The Tram Executive Management Committee (TEMC) will meet at 7:30 am, Wednesday, January 24th in the Rose Room in Portland City Hall (1221 SW 4th Ave) to take public testimony and consider the following recommendation.
Rolled out for public comment in November 2006, the initial tram fare proposal was set at $4.00 per rider, per round trip, for all public riders. OHSU will be paying a separate estimated $1.2 million annualy to cover the fares of its employees, patients, students, and other customers who ride the tram.
Today, we propose a modification of this proposed tram fare to include the following provisions:
- Tram rides will be free to Annual and Monthly TriMet and Streetcar transit pass holders
- The Tram will sell Annual Passes for $100. Annual Tram Passes will be valid fare on the Streetcar System, but not TriMet buses or lightrail
- For those without transit or tram passes, the fare will be $4.00 per rider for a round-trip pass. This fare will be valid for one round trip for the entire day on which it was purchased.
- Daily tickets from TriMet and Streetcar will not be valid as fare to ride the Tram
- Tram rides will be free to the public all day Saturday (9 am- 5 pm) and from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm on Friday evenings for every weekend through the month of February
This is a more seamless approach than originally proposed, but not a totally seamless one.
The proposed modified tram structure benefits riders who will be using the tram as part of their usual transit. There are an estimated 110,000 TriMet annual and/or monthly pass holders. It also provides local residents with the option of purchasing an annual Tram pass that costs roughly $8.00 per month. Also, it will discourage automobile drivers from driving to the tram.
This has been made possible because OHSU has agreed to modify its existing agreement with the City of Portland and will pay 85% of the operating costs for the next five years, as opposed to the next two years as originally proposed, after which costs will apportioned between the City of Portland and OHSU based on actual OHSU and public ridership. The change limits the City's cost to approximately $240,000 annually (in today's dollars) for the next five years. Under this modified proposal, any fare revenue generated that exceeds the city's share of the operating costs will be split between OHSU and the city.
By 2010, on-street parking meters in South Waterfront are estimated to generate enough revenue to pay the City's portion of the tram not covered by fare revenues.
Why this proposal? Why not a totally seamless approach that also allows daily TriMet and Streetcar tickets to be used as fare on the tram as well?
While I agree with the original vision to make the Tram a completely seamless part of the region's transit system, the history of this project makes a good argument for a careful and conservative approach. There were cost projections that proved wildly inaccurate, and I do not intend to repeat those mistakes.
We need experience under our belt before we can know if we can afford to go to a completely seamless tram/transit fare structure. Since there hasn't been an urban aerial tram built in the U.S. since the 1960's, we simply don't know what ridership to expect. There are no comparable trams to help us forecast the ridership trends with sufficient accuracy. It is prudent to make long-term decisions based on actual experience.
And, we cannot afford to make a mistake and drain money away from other transportation needs. Portland already lacks the dollars necessary to maintain its existing transportation infrastructure, to say nothing of the need to make strategic investments in new infrastructure for our future. That's because the traditional funding mechanisms upon which we have relied to fund transportation no longer keep pace with the increasing cost of providing and maintaining the infrastructure. By example, in the next five years, due to flat revenues and rising costs, I will be required to cut over $60 million from PDOT's budget, on top of millions in cuts prior to these.
So, in considering how to pay for the Tram's annual operating costs, fares must cover the City's $240,000 share of the $1.76 million total annual Tram costs, while keeping the fares as seamless, equitable, and affordable as possible.