By JOHN EBY
Dowagiac Daily News

Dowagiac, which has one of the oldest Dial-A-Ride Transit (DART) public transportation systems in Michigan, Monday night boosted fares for just the second time in 35 years.

The service is supported by rider fares, state and federal grants and local millage city property owners pay.

DART “provides an essential service given that over 50 percent of ridership consists of senior citizens and disabled riders,” according to Assistant City Manager Rozanne Scherr, who for the past several months has been working with the city DART Advisory Board reviewing budgets and rate structures to arrive at its June 15 recommendation.

“The bulk of the rate increase” City Council adopted July 12 “centers on out-of-town riders,” City Manager Kevin Anderson commented. “Because city residents also support Dial-A-Ride through tax bills, out-of-town residents will pay a rate double of those routes within the city. This approach should provide a more equitable rate structure for users.”

Additionally, Anderson said, rates for senior citizens rise from 50 cents to $1.

“Even with the proposed increases,” Anderson advised, Dowagiac’s fares were “quite low,” so rates for riding the buses within city limits “are still well below the average cost of other Dial-A-Ride services within the area.”

New fees will be implemented in August.

Here are current fares with survey averages in parentheses:

• Dowagiac in-town, adults $2 ($2.90); children ages 4-11, $1 ($1.53); disabled, 50 cents ($1.50); seniors over 62, 50 cents ($1.50); and students K-12, $1 ($1.95).

• Out of Dowagiac, adults, $2 ($4.39); children ages 4-11, $1 ($2.11); disabled, 50 cents ($2.22); seniors over 62, 50 cents (2.21); and students K-12, $1 ($2.38).

New in-town fares will be: adults, $2; out-of-town, $4; children ages 4-11, $1; out-of-town, $2; disabled, $1; out-of-town, $2; seniors over 62, $1; out-of-town, $2; and students K-12, $1; out-of-town, $2.

Scherr said similarly-sized communities surveyed included Buchanan, Greenville, Hillsdale, Ionia, Marshall, Niles, the Twin Cities (Benton Harbor and St. Joseph), Cass Transit, Berrien Bus and Van Buren Transit.

Since 2002, Scherr reported, “We have had to draw on retained earnings to supplement the cost of providing DART service due to a combination of factors, including reduced state funding, declining interest rates, declining ridership and the increase in the cost of providing the service.”

She told First Ward Councilman Junior Oliver it costs $47.78 an hour to operate DART.
“To offset the decline,” Scherr said, “in 2007 Council approved an increase to rider fares for the first time in DART history and in 2008 the millage was increased by .5 mill to .55 mill.

“These increases have served to slow the decline in fund balance and keep DART financially viable. However, despite various efforts to reduce or keep costs flat, we still need to draw on retained earnings to balance the DART budget.”