The cost of getting to work in Forks, Port Angeles and Sequim is about to climb 50 percent, but commuters like Brent Waddell and Vicki Rockholt aren’t a bit miffed.
While Waddell rides the Clallam Transit Commuter No. 30 bus to Sequim to work at Nikola Engineering, his Internet and computer programming company, Rockholt takes the No. 14 to her job as a counselor at Forks Elementary School.
On Thursday, their daily fare will go up by $1, as Clallam Transit’s day passes rise from $2 to $3.
One-way trips from Port Angeles to Sequim or Forks will increase from $1 to $1.50.
One group of passengers is the exception: Peninsula College students will receive a pass good for all routes starting this fall.
For everyone else who takes a bus, base fares are going up all over Clallam Transit territory as of Thursday.
For adults, it will go from 75 cents to a buck, while seniors older than 65, youth 19 and younger and disabled passengers will all pay a base fare of 50 cents.
Base fare in towns
Taking a Clallam Transit bus around town — the Lincoln-Peabody or College-Plaza bus in Port Angeles or the Forks or Sequim shuttle, say — will cost the base fare of $1 for adults and 50 cents for seniors, youth and disabled riders.
Using the system’s “premium routes” — those traveling longer distances to Sequim, Forks or the farther West End — will cost $1 each way for seniors, youth and disabled, or $1.50 for adults.
Even with the increase, “it’s still so reasonable,” said Rockholt.
“I’ll start buying a bus pass again,” said Waddell.
Clallam Transit’s monthly passes are not going up in price: they will stay at $36 for unlimited rides, so commuters to Sequim and Forks need only take 14 round trips in a month to make it a money-saving purchase.
Waddell added that by not driving his car, he’s been saving about $4 a day. When the fares go up, he’ll save about $3, depending on where gasoline prices go this summer.
Sean Perkins saves even more by not owning a car.
He takes the bus from his home near McDonald Creek to his job as a supervisor at McDonald’s in Sequim each day.
He said he saves $3 to $5 a day depending on gas prices, not counting insurance and upkeep of a car.
“I was surprised they didn’t raise the fares before, when gas prices were so high” in spring and summer 2009, Rockholt added.
Tax revenues down
Though Clallam Transit held on through that period, it had to do something drastic this year, said Terry Weed, the system’s general manager.
“Eighty-five percent of our revenue comes from locally generated sales tax,” Weed said. “That’s been down for the past three years.”
Passengers accounted for 935,000 rides on Clallam Transit buses last year, he added, and 29 percent used the Sequim Commuter.
The Forks No. 14 counted 79,636 rides.
The Sequim Shuttle, aka No. 40, is at the bottom of the popularity roster. If you hop onto it, you’re likely to be one of just three passengers, Weed said.
And though the Port Angeles-to-Sequim bus is called the Commuter, students and shoppers are among its more avid riders.
The busiest time of the weekday for the Commuter is between noon and 4 p.m., when as many as 36 passengers ride the 40-seat bus, Weed said.
Rider numbers go down into the teens in the morning and evening.
Additional $90,000
“We’re projecting this [fare hike] will generate an additional $90,000,” in a year, Weed said.
That won’t solve the financial problem, considering the system’s annual operating budget is $7.48 million.
“We want to put off a reduction of service as long as possible,” said Weed, but “if things don’t change dramatically in the next six months to a year,” in the sales-tax picture, “we’re going to have to look at reducing service or find another source of revenue.”
To find out about bus schedules and routes, visit www.ClallamTransit.com or phone 360-452-4511 or 800-858-3747.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.