Move to Save Commuter Line Could Double DASH Fares This Summer
Ed Fuentes
A DASH bus is prepped outside Disney Hall to kick off 2008's Late Night DASH holiday pilot, which was privately funded.
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Fares on Downtown DASH buses could double this summer instead of next if the City Council approves a motion passed by the Transportation committee on Monday during a joint session with the Budget and Finance committee.
The city's Department of Transportation had proposed raising fares from a quarter to $0.35 this year as part of an effort to eliminate a $23 million shortfall in transit funding. That fare would then raise to $0.50 in 2011.
The motion to move immediately to the higher fare came after a long discussion over the fate of a Commuter Express line from Pacific Palisades to Downtown that the department had proposed to cut. Councilman Bill Rosendahl and a number of community speakers argued in favor of the line, which carries few riders and has a city subsidy of $13 per passenger. LADOT transportation planner Phil Aker said that most days, the line's afternoon runs carry only one or two passengers.
Despite that, the Councilman said that the line was a vital piece of transit for a community that lacks other options. He suggested that perhaps DASH fares could even rise to one dollar to cover the cost of other services.
Councilman Bernard Parks, chair of the city's Budget and Finance committee, spoke out in support of the 28 million yearly DASH riders. "Most of our DASH riders are the poorest of the poor," Parks said. "If we increase their fees, or their fare, to subsidize Commuter Express, we're doing Robin Hood in reverse."
Commuter Express and other non-DASH city transit services carry approximately three million riders yearly.
Downtown will likely see the loss of three DASH lines as part of the proposed cost reductions. The Central City East DASH, launched to much fanfare in September of 2008, the South Park DASH C and the weekend DASH DD services would be eliminated.
The department's recommendations and the proposal to accelerate the fare hike will next go to the full Council for further debate. The report can be downloaded from the city's website as a PDF.
The fare hike and service cuts were originally targeted for July 1, but are now expected to go into place later in the summer. The department shared on Monday that each month of delay puts it $2 million further in the hole.
Susana Benavidez on May 26, 2010, at 11:33AM – #1
Woah! Pacific Palisades?? Why don't they raise the Commuter Express fees? It is ridiculous to ask Dash riders to fund a commuter express line that is underutilized and too expensive. I would support an increase in Dash fare if it would directly fund the existing dash lines.
Where are the voices of Downtown's council members??
carter on May 26, 2010, at 12:14PM – #2
They could also eliminate the Studio City-Van Nuys route as it basically duplicates routes already provided by Metro.
It too operates with no more than 2-3 passengers at any time, often with none.
Truly a waste of money.
Aaron on May 26, 2010, at 02:17PM – #3
Seriously? Raising Downtown DASH fares to subsidize a posh CE route? That stinks pretty badly.
Despite that, the Councilman said that the line was a vital piece of transit for a community that lacks other options.
The BBB #9 runs much of that route along Sunset, connecting the the BBB #10 to Downtown... it's not like all of those rich folks are going to be stranded in their homes.
Jamie DeFrisco on May 26, 2010, at 04:03PM – #4
I agree with raising the commuter express fees. If people don't want to pay for it, then they could cancel it.
I like the Dash buses, but unfortunately their routes are inconvenient for me. Plus their lack of late night and weekend schedules is a problem.
Vero Queero on May 27, 2010, at 09:12PM – #5
Merge LADOT with MTA, there has to be redundancy that can be consolidated, reduced and made more efficient.
Dana Gabbard on May 28, 2010, at 02:17PM – #6
Southern California Transit Advocates has proposed to serve users of Commuter Express Route 430 by taking advantage of it sharing the northernmost two stops of Route 431 by having the latter be extended on half of its trips to Pacific Palisades via the route of the 430. This would still provide some operational savings to LADOT while continuing to serve the far Westside.
http://socata.net/ladot2010.html