SamTrans is proposing a new fare hike effective Jan. 2016. The SamTrans system has not raised their fares since 2010, and is now proposing to raise its current fare costs. The first series of fare increases would start on Jan. 10, 2016. The second series would start on Jan. 20, 2019. These changes would include an increase to the Adult Local cash fare to $2.25 on Jan. 10, 2016 and to $2.50 on Jan. 20, 2019. The fare currently stands at $2.

Students at Skyline, College of San Mateo, and other community colleges in the peninsula area have voiced many concerns and complaints that they have no means of transportation for late night classes or school events. These are a few of the areas of concern that riders have expressed and they’re frustrated by the fact that SamTrans once again is talking about fare hikes, but the availability of transportation seems to be declining.

As agencies will tell you, fare hikes are needed in order to maintain the service and vehicles. What they don’t tell you is that service has suffered. SamTrans used to offer a number of Xpress buses from many different areas that were helpful for students, as well as business commuters. Many of these services and bus routes have been discontinued. If SamTrans is going to go through with raising the fare they would need to also provide us with an improvement or expansion of services.

People commute to school and work from all parts of the Bay Area. In the Pacifica area for example, SamTrans has very limited Xpress service and the regular service is not much better. On the weekends for that area there are two buses available and the last stops running at 11 p.m. This is inconvenient for people in this area as there is no BART for there either. This is the main argument riders have with fare increase.

Many of the younger riders complain that they have no access to many of the social events going on in the Bay Area. They would like to attend different events such as shows, concerts and lectures, but can’t because the SamTrans lines stop running very early. There is only one main bus line in the SamTrans system that runs late, the ECR bus line; if you happen to live right off El Camino you can take advantage of this bus life. However, riders who live in parts of Daly City, Pacifica, South City and San Bruno, have no viable means of bus line transportation.

The Description of Route Change effective Jan. 26, 2014 states in detail which routes had been discontinued, shortened, expanded, etc. While the expansions of certain routes were helpful to parts of the community, other changes caused anguish for people in different surrounding parts of the Bay Area. For example, Route 123 offered services from the Colma BART Station to Skyline College, but was discontinued. In its place SamTrans recommends taking Route 121 which still includes drop off and pick up at Skyline College, but isn’t as fast as Route 123 was.

The limited services and changes to particular routes haven’t only impacted Skyline College students, but other community colleges in the area as well. Transportation to College of San Mateo is only available by transfer, meaning the student or commuter would have to take more than one bus. Buses can sometimes be early or late and bus schedules don’t always align with transfers people might need to make. This can make it difficult and frustrating to coordinate transportation to school or work.

The SamTrans board of directors is scheduled to vote on the fare policy changes at its November 4 meeting and this would be an excellent opportunity for our Bay Area population to go voice their concerns and share their ideas for better transportation service for all.