YouthFarePHmin

REPORT OF PROCEEDINGS

PUBLIC HEARING

PROPOSAL TO INCREASE THE YOUTH DISCOUNT FROM 25% TO 50%

FOR LOCAL MARIN TRAVEL ON GOLDEN GATE TRANSIT BUS ROUTES

JULY 22, 2005

The Board of Directors of the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District (District) held a Public Hearing in the Board Room, Administration Building, Toll Plaza, San Francisco, California, on Friday, July 22, 2005, at 9:00 a.m., for the purpose of receiving public comment on a proposal to increase the youth discount from 25% to 50% for local Marin travel on Golden Gate Transit Bus Routes.

Directors Present (9): Directors Brown, Cochran, Hernández, Martini, Murray, Pahre, and Stroeh; Second Vice President Boro; President Middlebrook

Directors Absent (9): Directors Ammiano, Dufty, Eddie, Kerns, McGoldrick, Reilly, Sandoval and Shahum; First Vice President Moylan

[Note: On this date, there was one vacancy on the Board of Directors.]

Staff Present: General Manager Celia G. Kupersmith; District Engineer Denis J. Mulligan;; District Secretary Janet S. Tarantino; Attorney David J. Miller; Deputy General Manager/Bus Division Susan C. Chiaroni; Planning Director Alan R. Zahradnik; Public Affairs Director Mary C. Currie; Acting Auditor-Controller and Budget and Program Analysis Manager Jennifer Mennucci; Executive Assistant to the General Manager Amorette Ko; Assistant Clerk of the Board Karen B. Engbretson

Visitors Present: None

1.	Purpose of Public Hearing

	The public hearing was conducted by President Middlebrook and she announced that the purpose of the public hearing is to receive public comment on a proposal to increase the youth discount from 25% to 50% for local Marin travel on Golden Gate Transit bus routes.

2.	Public Outreach

	District Secretary Janet Tarantino reported that in compliance with District policy, the following forms of public outreach were undertaken by the District: The Notice was mailed to organizations and individuals on the District’s mailing list; Copies of the Notice were posted in various locations on District properties; In compliance with Resolution No. 2005 063, adopted July 8, 2005, legal notices of this Public Hearing were published in the Marin Independent Journal during the period of July 12, 2005 to July 19, 2005; A press release on the public hearing was issued on July 13, 2005 and posted to the District’s web site; Display ads were placed in the Marin Independent Journal, the Commuter Times and the Novato Advance during the period of July 14, 2005 to July 20, 2005; The notice and staff reports were posted on the District’s web site and on www.511.org; E-mail updates were sent to subscribers on July 13, 2005 and July 20, 2005; The notice was sent to the Marin County Office of Education and the Marin County Transit District; Posters in English and Spanish were placed on Golden Gate Transit buses and ferries, at bus stops and ferry terminals; and, The District’s Bus Passenger Advisory Committee was provided notice of the public hearing on July 13, 2005. The Attorney for the District confirmed that the above-described public outreach met the legal requirements for calling a public hearing.

3.	Staff Presentation

	A formal staff presentation was not made at this public hearing. The public hearing staff report is officially incorporated into these proceedings and is attached hereto.

4.	Public Comments Received

	President Middlebrook then opened public comment portion of the public hearing.

	a. Written Comments
	Ms. Tarantino reported that four public comments had been received prior to the public hearing. She summarized the comments as follows: Three comments expressed support for increasing the youth discount, noting that it will have positive results such as: (1) encouraging students to ride the bus rather than drive a car, thereby reducing local traffic in Marin County; and (2) fostering a public transportation mindset in students so that they will be more likely to ride public transportation as adults. One comment expressed opposition to increasing the discount, noting that fares for commuters have been increasing and that students should pay their fair share.

	b. Oral Comments
	There were no oral comments provided at the public hearing.

5.	Closing Remarks

	President Middlebrook stated that staff would summarize all public comments received and would present a final recommendation relative to the proposal presented at this public hearing to the Finance-Auditing Committee at its regularly scheduled meeting on August 11, 2005. If action is taken by the Finance-Auditing Committee on August 11, 2005, the item will come before the full Board of Directors the next day on Friday, August 12, 2005, for its consideration. Both of these meetings will be held in the Board Room, Administration Building, Toll Plaza, San Francisco, California.

6.	Conclusion

	All business having been concluded, the public hearing was closed at 9:06 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Janet S. Tarantino

Secretary of the District

July 22, 2005

PUBLIC HEARING TO RECEIVE PUBLIC COMMENT ON A PROPOSAL TO INCREASE THE YOUTH DISCOUNT FROM 25% TO 50% FOR LOCAL MARIN TRAVEL ON GOLDEN GATE TRANSIT BUS ROUTES

Proposed Transit Fare Change

At its meeting on July 8, 2005, the Board of Directors approved setting a public hearing on staff’s proposal to increase the youth discount for local Marin travel on Golden Gate Transit (GGT) bus routes from 25% to 50% of the adult cash fare as requested by Marin County Transit District (MCTD). This will result in a youth fare of $1.00 per ride.

Summary

On December 8, 2004, the District and MCTD executed an Agreement for Intra-County Public Bus Transit Service in Marin County, effective November 1, 2004, through April 30, 2006. Under the terms of this Agreement, MCTD is responsible for setting fares and service levels of 20 local bus routes operated by GGT. The Agreement also acknowledges the benefit to the public of having a highly coordinated local and regional bus network.

The District received a request from MCTD to make the following fare changes, effective with the beginning of the 2005/2006 school year on August 22, 2005:

Reduce the GGT bus fare for local youth riders, age 6 to 18, by increasing the existing adult cash fare discount from the current 25% to 50%. The resulting local youth cash fare would be $1.00
Reduce the price of local Marin youth ticket books from the current $1.50 per ticket, or $30 per book, to $1.00 per ticket, or $20 per book

On August 2, 2005, MCTD will hold a public hearing on its fare and service proposal.

To coordinate local and regional bus fares, the District would concurrently increase the youth discount to 50%, or a $1.00 fare, for local rides on regional bus routes. Since many local youth riders on regional bus routes, in particular on the transition local bus routes, have been using Ride & Roll tickets to ride free, and since MCTD has recently discontinued the Ride & Roll demonstration program, staff anticipates a modest increase in fare revenue of less than $100,000 to the District resulting from the discounted $1.00 youth cash fare proposed by MCTD.

The Board authorized staff to solicit public comment on this proposal via notices on transit services, newspapers, the District’s website, and at this public hearing.

Next Steps

Following the District’s public hearing on July 22, 2005, and after considering anticipated action by MCTD on August 2, 2005, staff would prepare a subsequent staff report for Finance-Auditing Committee consideration at its August 11, 2005, meeting. The Board of Directors will consider all public comments prior to any final decision on the proposed transit fare change. Final action by the Board of Directors to implement the local youth discount fare change would occur on August 12, 2005. Both these meetings will be held in the Board Room, Administration Building, Golden Gate Bridge Toll Plaza.