Dial-a-Ride fares are standardized
By Sophia Fischer sfischer@theacorn.com

Users of Dial-a-Ride in Thousand Oaks will soon all pay the same price for transportation service.

Last month the city council approved a single fare of $1.50 per trip for all riders effective May 1.

Until now fares charged for the service ranged from 50 cents per ride for low-income users to $1 for all others. On weekends, those rates go up to $1 and $2 respectively. The new rate means that everyone pays the same fare seven days a week. Only seniors age 60 and older ride free when traveling to a congregate meal site.

"We're trying to get away from all of the confusion of who pays what when," said Transportation Analyst Roy Myers, who oversees the city's Dial-a-Ride.

All other Dial-A-Ride services in the county charge more than Thousand Oaks does, added Myers. A staff report lists prices ranging from $1.50 to $2.50 per ride.

Mary Harris, who uses the service, spoke out against the increase at the council meeting.

"It's a wonderful service and we appreciate it, but the price going up is going to be hard on those with limited incomes," Harris said.

Last year the Thousand Oaks Dial-a-Ride service logged more than 75,000 trips. Of those, about 40 percent were for medical appointments, 27 percent for shopping trips and 8 percent went to the senior center, according to Public Works Director Mark Watkins.

"The Dial-a-Ride service is more heavily used by the elderly for to door-to-door trips to the doctor," Watkins said.

The city contracts for the service through MV Transit. There are some vans that can carry four to five passengers and larger vehicles that can carry up to 10 riders.

The service, in existence in Thousand Oaks since 1984, cost the city more than $1 million in 200405, earning a little more than $59,000 in fares received. The city's general fund supplemented the service by nearly $45,000. The new increased fare is expected to generate an additional $45,500 in fares, helping to offset the use of city funds.

The change is also necessary under guidelines set by the state's Transportation Development Act, which requires that services to elderly and disabled have a ratio of fare revenues to operating costs of at least 10 percent. Over the past three years, the city's Dial-a-Ride service has failed to meet that requirement.

In 1995, the Ventura County Transportation Commission requested that all cities in the county have a uniform fare for the service. At that time Thousand Oaks reduced its fare from $1.50 to $1 but continued to offer lower-income rates as well as weekend service, something no other city in the county offered, according to Myers.

The Dial-a-Ride service currently operates from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on weekdays, and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends. There is no service on major holidays. The service area includes the city and its unincorporated areas.

For more information please call (805) 375-5467.