Council Votes to Stagger DASH Rate Increase, Implement Service Cuts
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 — DASH rates will be going up this summer, but just to 35 cents.
City Council today votes to approve a two-step rate hike for the circulator system, increasing the current $0.25 fare on August 1 and then raising it again to $0.50 in July of 2011.
That was the plan recommended by the city's Department of Transportation, but last week Councilman Bill Rosendahl had spearheaded an effort to make the leap all at once and use the extra funds to keep a Commuter Express line from Pacific Palisades to Downtown. Rosendahl reconsidered his plan for Friday's meeting, acknowledging the minimal ridership on the Commuter Express route.
The last day of July will also see the end of three DASH lines that operate Downtown: DASH C, which serves South Park; DASH DD, which offers a weekend loop; and the Central City East DASH, which serves Skid Row.
All of the changes are part of an effort to eliminate a budget deficit projected to reach $350 million over the next ten years. The DASH system carries 28 million riders yearly. Fares had not been raised since the system was implemented in the 1980s.
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