SacRT Board Votes To Reduce Fares

Sacramento Regional Transit riders will likely see lower fares starting in October.

The transit system's board of directors voted to reduce the cost of a monthly pass by $10 from $110 to $100, a single ride by a quarter to $2.50, and a discount ride by a dime to $1.25

Paratransit rides would drop by 50 cents to and monthly super senior fares would decrease by $2 to $40.

The reductions come as RT continues to see decreases in ridership. Riders are down 6.8 percent systemwide so far this year, including a 5.5 percent decrease for bus and 8 percent for light rail.

“That is one of many considerations,” said SacRT General Manager Henri Li. “But the primary reason is we have heard our stakeholders and customers asking us to reduce the fares for the last several years.”   

The new fares follow recent reductions to the monthly student fare. The board also voted to return 25-cent transfer tickets, which will allow people to transfer between bus and light rail.

“We have some budget savings and we think we should use some of those savings to invest back into the community and the customers,” Li said.

SacRT credits cost-cutting measures with helping create a $10 million reserve fund, which  allows it to reduce fares.

In January light rail service is scheduled to increase from every 30 minutes to every 15 minutes Monday through Friday.