Sound Transit to vote on mileage-based light-rail fares

When Sound Transit opens Seattle's light-rail line this summer, passengers will need to learn a fare system much different from what we're used to on Metro buses.

Trips on Link would cost $1.75, plus approximately a nickel a mile, rounded to the nearest quarter, in a proposal that goes to a transit-board vote today. The most expensive ride would be $2.50 from downtown to the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, when the airport station opens in December. Also, fares would be charged for trains inside the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel, but the tunnel would continue to be free for bus riders on King County Metro Transit.

Sound Transit has spent months studying how to set fare policy. Many riders, especially in Rainier Valley, prefer a fare within the tunnel because it would help keep fares lower beyond downtown, said planning and policy director Ric Ilgenfritz. Few people would likely pay cash for a tunnel-only train ride, but Sound Transit would receive tunnel revenue based on regional transit-pass users who finish their trips within the tunnel.

Metro buses use a zone system, in which Seattle is one zone and the rest of the county is another, so people pay more for trips crossing the city limits. A peak-time Metro bus trip costs adults $2 in one zone, or $2.50 for two zones; off-peak trips are $1.75 anywhere.

Zone fares can create absurd situations, for instance, when somebody rides a few blocks on a bus from unincorporated White Center into West Seattle, said transit-board and County Council member Dow Constantine of West Seattle. A mileage-based system on light rail could possibly avoid similar frustrations for a passenger riding from Rainier Beach to Tukwila, one station apart. Sound Transit is "seeking fairness for all users of the system," Constantine said.

Fares cover roughly a fifth of operating costs for Metro and Sound Transit bus lines, which are subsidized mainly by local sales taxes.

Mileage-based charges are used on Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART); Washington, D.C., Metrorail; and the Hong Kong MTR network. Zone fares are used in Portland and Vancouver, B.C., for both bus and train. Instead of gates, Sound Transit would use a sort of honor system to collect payments. People would buy tickets (or passes) outside the trains and then be subject to spot checks by transit personnel.

Mike Lindblom: 206-515-5631 or mlindblom@seattletimes.com