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Council approves Duluth Transit fare increase; local impact limited, ADA Stride service discussed
Summary
The Common Council approved a Duluth Transit Authority system-wide fare increase effective Jan. 1, 2011; Duluth representatives said the change funds added service on the Duluth side, with an estimated $8,000–$12,000 revenue effect locally. Councilors extensively discussed Stride ADA paratransit service reliability and denials.
The Superior Common Council on Dec. 7 approved a Duluth Transit Authority system-wide fare increase, effective Jan. 1, 2011, with councilors and transit staff discussing the rationale and local impacts.
Planning Director CERC introduced the request on behalf of the Duluth Transit Authority. Jim Heilig of the Blue Transit Authority told the council the fare increase was proposed after community discussion and that in Duluth the low-income population pushed for the change to fund added service and improve access to jobs. Heilig said the local revenue effect on the Superior side would be modest — "somewhere between maybe $8,000 and $12,000" — and that no additional regular-route service was recommended for Superior as a result.
Councilors raised several questions. Councilor Finsland noted a typographical error in the fare table and asked for the record correction. Several councilors and Heilig discussed Stride, the ADA paratransit service: Heilig explained the federal paratransit standard that a trip requested a day in advance must be provided within a one-hour window either side of the requested time to avoid a recorded ADA denial. Heilig said adding an extra Stride bus has eliminated ADA denials since implementation, though some riders have refused offered alternate times. "Since we've added the bus, we have not had an ADA denial," Heilig said.
Councilors also asked about ridership trends and fleet composition; Heilig said ridership dipped slightly earlier in the decade and that Superior's off-peak service uses smaller buses. Heilig described a Duluth depot project funded with approximately $16,000,000 in Federal Transit Administration State of Good Repair funds; that project is separate from the fare increase.
After the discussion the council approved the fare increase by voice vote.
