Bus Costs Rising as PRTC More Reliant on Fare Box

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. — Starting this summer, riders who use the local and commuter buses in Prince William County, Manassas, and Manassas Park will pay more for the service.

Effective July 1, the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission (PRTC) is will increase fares for local and commuter services. The transit agency provides a series of OmniRide commuter bus services that take commuters to Arlington and Washington, and OmniLink – a local bus service within Prince William and Greater Manassas.

In April, PRTC held public hearings on the proposed fair increase, and its Board of Commissioners approved the increase as proposed in a meeting on June 6.

On PRTC’s Tysons Express buses, which provide service in HOV and Capital Beltway Express Lanes between Woodbridge and Tysons Corner, promotional fares will increase, but will continue to be available. The cost of a one-way trip will cost the same as a one-way Metro Direct trip — $2.90 with a SmarTrip card, an increase of 25 cents from the current fare, or $3.60 when paying with cash, an increase of 30 cents.

The Tysons Express service is entirely funded by Virginia Megaprojects, which is a collaboration of the Virginia Department of Transportation and the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation.

The new rates will reflect an approximate 10% increase for both SmarTrip and cash fares using the OmniRide, Metro Direct, OmniLink and Cross County Connector services. OmniRide fares for passengers using SmarTrip cards will increase 50 cents from $5.25 to $5.75, and will increase 70 cents for customers paying cash, from $7.00 to $7.70.

Fares for both the OmniLink and Cross County Connector will increase from $1.20 to $1.30, with the cost for a day pass increasing from $2.50 to $3.00. A weekly pass using either service will increase from $11.00 to $12.00.

Reduced fares for passengers 60 and older, persons with a disability, or persons presenting with a valid Medicare card will remain available, but will also increase to half of the regular fare, according to a press release from PRTC.

Also according to a press release, this is PRTC’s first fare increase since July 2010 and is necessary to contain the amount of increased subsidy required from three local jurisdictions that sponsor PRTC bus services. Prince William County, Manassas and Manassas Park rely on their 2.1% motor fuels tax collections in order to subsidize the service, with the majority of that subsidy coming from Prince William, as the sole sponsor of PRTC’s commuter bus services. Prince William also covers most of the subsidy required for local bus service expenses.

Constraining the local subsidy is necessary because Prince William County’s motor fuels tax generates less revenue than what the County currently spends for PRTC bus and Virginia Railway Express rail services combined, said PRTC officials. Because the tax yield is less than the County’s annual cost for transit service sponsorship, the shortfall is being covered by tapping fuel tax reserves built up in prior years as a stop-gap solution, according to a press release.

To cover the remaining cost of its services, PRTC must rely more heavily on fare revenue, which covers only a fraction of the cost of operating service, and an anticipated increase in state assistance resulting from the passage of transportation funding legislation during the last General Assembly session.

In its FY 2014 budget, PRTC has envisioned service changes that will help to counteract longer running times and overcrowding, as well as restructuring plans for PRTC’s westerly OmniRide services. Keeping in mind the limitations on available public funding, these projected modifications would bring bus service to the new Cushing Road commuter lot at Prince William Parkway and I-66 when it opens in July 2013 and also allow Metro Direct buses to serve the new Tysons Metro station when the Metrorail’s Silver Line opens.

In addition, restructuring would enable PRTC to shift existing resources to create a new OmniRide route with direct service from Gainesville to Washington, D.C.