It might be time to lower bus fares

The 25-cent fare increases planned for 2008 by King County Metro are, by standard measures, reasonable. But standard measures are not the only ones. A case can be made for keeping bus fares steady, and even for cutting them.

The standard measure is to look at costs. Kevin Desmond, Metro's general manager, says costs have risen 37 percent since Metro imposed its last fare increase, in 2001. Back then, Metro was paying 75 cents a gallon for diesel; now it pays upward of $2.65. Other costs have risen. Already taxpayers, through the sales tax, pay 75 percent of Metro's operating costs and all of its capital costs. Should taxpayers pay more?

Maybe they should. People who use the bus help decongest the roads — and with 110 million boardings this year, Metro has a huge effect on how many cars are on the road. Reducing bus fares, dramatically extending the Seattle ride-free zone or creating other such zones might cost several tens of millions of dollars a year. But, it would be less than the cost of even one new freeway lane for one mile, or building light rail for one mile. Lowering bus fares would not require an environmental-impact statement or a grand public battle. It could be done quickly, and adjusted quickly.

There are always reasons for not cutting bus fares. Money saved by not building a road or light rail is not paid to bus companies. Metro gets $80 million a year from the fare box and, absent a change in state taxing authority, has no other source for that amount. But, laws can be changed.

Metro says the most-important reason people ride the bus is convenience, not price. Grant that — but even if the level of fares is the second-most-important reason, it is an incentive worth thinking about.

City bus companies used to be commercial enterprises, but they have not been that for many decades. People need to start thinking of Metro more like a public library — an enterprise funded with tax money in order to encourage the maximum number of people to use it.