The Metropolitan King County Council will take public testimony on legislation that would increase transit rider fares as part of an overall package to maintain Metro Transit service levels.
The public hearing is at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 18 at the County Council Chambers on the 10th floor of the King County Courthouse in Seattle.
The fare increase, which would be implemented in March 2015, would raise fares by 25 cents for all fare categories for Metro Transit bus service, according to a county media release. It would also increase fares for Access paratransit service by 50 cents in order to move towards Metro’s policy goal of achieving parity between its Access fare and off-peak adult fare over time.
The legislation would also authorize the creation of a reduced fare program for transit riders. It would set the fare at $1.50 and establish the eligibility threshold at 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level, currently $22,980 for an individual and $47,100 for a family of four.
The fare increase is part of a proposal introduced by County Executive Dow Constantine last month to help maintain current Metro Transit service, which is preparing to cancel 74 bus routes and reduce and revise another 107 routes due to reduced revenues.
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