Cash fares for FrontRunner commuter rail will decrease by $1 Nov. 1.
On that date, the Utah Transit Authority will charge $2 instead of the current $3 to board a train and 50 cents for each additional station used or passed, making a ride across the entire line decrease from $6 to $5.
However, riders who buy UTA's Premium monthly pass for $162 a month will not see a decrease.
Cash fares are decreasing on FrontRunner to bring the cost in line with express buses, which cost $4.50 a trip, and bus and TRAX rides, which cost $2, said UTA spokesman Gerry Carpenter.
"The $162 monthly pass was for either FrontRunner or express-bus users and priced accordingly," Carpenter said. "The change to the base fare is a recalibration to make cash fares more comparable. On Nov. 1, an express-bus ride from Ogden to Salt Lake will be $4.50 and a FrontRunner ride from Ogden to Salt Lake will be $4.50.
UTA anticipates 200,000 more trips a year as a result of the lower fare. By the end of 2009, FrontRunner will have made almost 1.3 million trips, said UTA Chief Operating Officer Jerry Benson. "Basically we assume that our revenue is going to be equivalent," Benson said. "So we'll increase enough riders to cover the reduction in revenue."
Also Nov. 1, UTA will discontinue the monthly unlimited paratransit pass. Disabled riders who qualify for paratransit service will have to pay the $2.50 fare in cash or purchase a non-discounted punchcard.
During a UTA board of trustees meeting Wednesday, UTA staff discussed 2009 and 2010 budgets. UTA receives most of its operating funds from sales taxes, which have been down because of the recession. By the end of the year, UTA will have received $182 million in taxes, according to the agency's estimates. The hope is the economy will recover in 2010, and the agency is estimating a 2 percent increase in sales-tax revenues.
Base fares will likely stay the same throughout 2010. But the "ed pass" that college students receive will likely increase. UTA also may increase its "Eco Pass" that companies purchase for their employees, Benson said. The amounts by which the passes will increase have not been announced.
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