SamTrans will be holding four community meetings and a public hearing in order to gather feedback on their plan to increase fares in an effort to address inflationary costs.

The press release from SamTrans mentions that the fare increase plan will be broken into two parts, with the first increase tentatively effective January 10, 2016. The second fare increase would take place in 2019, on the 20th of January. The last fare increase was in 2010.

Students here on campus will feel the increase if SamTrans plans to move forward with the proposal, after the community meetings and the public hearing.

“I’m a student, and I don’t work, and I have a limited amount of spending for school, so adding more to the spending will be harder,” Skyline student Hazanne Likwong said.

SamTrans will hold the first of four community meetings on Sept. 14, with the rest following throughout the month. The public hearing will take place Oct. 7 at 2 p.m. in the second floor auditorium at SamTrans headquarters, located at 1250 San Carlos Avenue.

Currently the adult fare and is $2 with monthly passes at $64, and Day Passes at $5.

“For me, it’s going to be tougher,” Skyline student Mizel Bautista Hilaro said. “I don’t ride the bus frequently. I have to keep adding 50 cents, so I’d rather just get a pass.”

The proposed fare increase will also see these changes, according to the SamTrans website: An approximate change of 10 percent discount for riders using Clipper e-cash will be in effect, in addition to increasing the maximum age of a youth pass from 17 years to 18 years of age.

“I feel like that’s really drastic,” Skyline student Oriana Talaeai said. “Because some people don’t work and increasing fares will make it harder for people to take the bus and public transit.”

The proposal was first announced on Aug. 19 on the SamTrans website, before the press release was sent out.

Update: an image was added to the article. 11:38 p.m. Sept. 4, 2015