SEAT to cut time limit on transfers
Southeast Area Transit District plans to cut the time riders will be allowed to use free bus transfers — from two and a half hours down to an hour and a half — following a decrease in ridership.
Ridership on fixed routes was down about 15 percent in December 2016, compared with the year before, according to a report from SEAT's general manager.
The year-to-date decrease in ridership is 7 percent, and SEAT has fallen about $61,000 short of its goal for passenger revenue, "due to a more significant decline in ridership than anticipated and greater use of transfers," according to the report.
SEAT General Manager Michael Carroll said at Wednesday's board of directors meeting that the use of free transfers is up, but paid ridership has declined, since SEAT adopted a new fare structure in September.
The new fare structure had eliminated fare zones and offered the option for riders to purchase unlimited passes for one day, five days or 31 days, according to a SEAT document. Along with the new fare structure, the transit district also extended the period of time in which people can transfer to a second bus, Carroll said.
Carroll said he thinks the people are using the transfer as a 150-minute ride pass, and hopes a reduction in the transfer time limit will lead to more money in the fare box or encourage people to buy a day pass.
SEAT also will add an option to track, for a small fee, bus tickets and period passes being sent through the mail. Carroll said they have received some calls recently from customers who say they have not received the passes or tickets they ordered.
SEAT in September had closed its ticket office at the Norwich Transportation Center after the state cut funding to the transit district.
Meanwhile, since the amount of state aid SEAT will receive next year currently is unknown, SEAT management is preparing budget options for the board to review next month, including how SEAT would respond if the state Department of Transportation cut state funding to transit districts by 50 percent next year.
The state Office of Policy and Management requested all state agencies, including DOT, to prepare options if their budgets were cut by 10 percent. DOT's proposal calls for a 50 percent decrease in funding to transit districts for fiscal year 2018 and cutting out the subsidy entirely for fiscal year 2019.
Carroll, who began looking into what a 50 percent cut would mean, said the possible reduction would be "ugly." He looked at SEAT eliminating all weekend and night service and still could not get to the required budget number. He is trying to keep the core service from about 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Local officials said they plan to raise the issue of the potential cut in state funding with state legislators.
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