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Council closes transit hearing after staff reports ridership up but farebox ratio far below TDA target
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Summary
At a required public hearing, the city’s finance director reported ridership rose 58% to 4,992 in FY24-25 while the farebox ratio improved to 1.25%. Council adopted a resolution finding no unmet transit needs reasonable to meet in the city; staff will pursue a transit development plan and public outreach.
The Tehachapi City Council closed its annual transit-needs public hearing after staff reported ridership gains but a continuing shortfall in farebox recovery that keeps the city below Transportation Development Act requirements.
The finance director told the council that ridership in fiscal year 2024–25 increased by 58%, reaching 4,992 rides, while total operating cost rose “five and a half percent.” The director said the city’s farebox ratio — the share of expenses covered by fare revenue — rose to “1.25%,” up from 0.54% the previous year.
“To satisfy the [TDA] requirement, the city was able to use $17,000 in ARPA funds, as well as then the general fund subsidy of $8,819,” the finance director said. With those actions, the city is now eligible to apply for up to $791,000 in various transportation funding, the director added.
The finance director and council members cautioned that the year-over-year increase may be exaggerated by special promotions in the prior year. The director said free-ride days offered in FY23–24 likely skewed comparisons and that some nonpaying riders may not have been tracked in the earlier accounting.
Councilmember questions focused on who uses the service and how future development might change demand. One councilmember asked whether riders were primarily school-age passengers, seniors, or people using the service for medical appointments. The finance director said a consultant engaged for a transit development plan will perform rider surveys and help the city assess demand related to local development.
Council members also debated service model tradeoffs. Staff said a fixed-route system could better serve growth but would raise operating costs and could worsen the city’s farebox ratio; the transit development plan will evaluate fixed-route viability.
After receiving no public comment, the council adopted the staff recommendation to close the hearing and passed a resolution finding that there are no unmet transit needs that are reasonable to meet within the city. Staff said the consultant (named on the record as Curranco) will conduct outreach and a virtual public meeting next month as part of the transit development plan.
The hearing record (published notice and associated staff materials) is included with the city clerk’s files; the notice of public hearing was recorded in the transcript as published in “Attachby News” on January 14 (as stated in the staff report).
