Because the diesel fuel that powers Utah Transit Authority buses and FrontRunner trains has stayed above $4 a gallon for three months, a surcharge schedule set in place earlier this year means fares will rise a second time Oct. 1.
The two-hour tab for buses and TRAX light rail increased 25 cents, to $2, on July 1. Now it will jump again to $2.25 on Oct. 1. Other tickets - such as monthly, FrontRunner and paratransit passes - also will spurt by the same amounts they did on July 1. A monthly bus or TRAX pass will go up $8, to $74.50, while a monthly FrontRunner card will rise $15, to $175. A specially scheduled paratransit ride for disabled customers will jump to $2.75, from $2.50.
"It's crazy," said Angie Thurnall, a store manager who lives in Salt Lake City. "They raise it every three months."
Thurnall takes TRAX twice a day and either pays by the ride or walks to the library and catches the train in the free-fare zone.
Advocates for the poor and disabled are disgusted by the price bump, but they knew it was coming after UTA approved the surcharge plan.
"There are too many people suffering," said Transit Riders Union co-chairwoman Tammi Diaz, who urges UTA to cut bonuses to its executives before asking for more from people who cannot afford cars or fuel of their own.
UTA General Manager John Inglish, whose annual salary approaches $300,000, said the agency cut $5 million out of its administrative budget at the same time it imposed the first surcharge. Now it's looking to shave another $3 million by year's end, in part because the sales-tax receipts that largely run the system are falling at the same time that fuel prices are rising.
Some riders see the increases as inevitable - with soaring fuel prices affecting most goods and services.
"It makes sense they would have to do that, but it's unfortunate because they're trying to encourage people to ride it," said Lisa Jones, a psychologist who lives in Sugar House and rides on a subsidized education pass.
"It's still better than spending money on gas," said Edward Granda, a Cottonwood Heights resident who rides TRAX four or five times a week. "It's still cheaper than filing up my Jeep."
Overall UTA ridership is up about 7 percent so far this year. The first surcharge responded to fuel costing more than $3 a gallon, and the second was assured when the price averaged more than $4 throughout the past quarter. If fuel were to drop below $4 for most of the upcoming quarter, UTA would remove the second surcharge in January. If it rises above $5, though, a third surcharge is planned. UTA also has a regularly scheduled fare increase planned for January, boosting the price of a ride by another 25 cents.
