Elimination of Free Bus Transfers OKd

ORANGE COUNTY —  New fares that eliminate free transfers for Orange County bus riders were approved Monday by transportation officials. The fares take effect July 11.

All riders, other than senior citizens and the disabled, will continue to pay $1 per boarding, although the elimination of free transfers will mean a 25% increase in fares when a $2.50 day pass goes into effect next January. Between July 11 and then, the day pass will cost $2.

The fares approved Monday for senior citizens and the disabled were far different than the original proposal sent to the board in January, which would have quadrupled the 30-cent, round-trip fares for off-peak hours. That proposal sparked outrage.

Under the final plan, fares for senior citizens and the disabled will be subsidized by Measure M, the half-cent sales tax county that voters approved in 1990. Those tax funds--more than $1 million a year--will allow transportation officials to reduce the cost of riding the bus for senior citizens during peak hours.

Transit officials estimate the new fares will generate $1.5 million a year in revenues. The transit agency plans to add an additional 31,000 hours of bus service as a result of the increased revenues.