Madison should bump bus fares in August and then annually to cover rising costs, Metro general manager Catherine Debo says.
But fare increases are likely to face opposition.
Salaries, benefits and skyrocketing fuel prices are increasing costs about 3 percent a year, or $1.2 million for 2006, Debo said.
State and federal funding, however, which cover half of Metro's $40 million budget, are largely flat and can't cover the projected gap, she said.
"We need to deal with this issue," Debo said.
To raise money, Debo is proposing a series of fare hikes that would raise between $560,000 and $755,000 annually through 2008.
The rest of the gap could be covered with about $250,000 more from city taxpayers, more advertising revenues and money from other outside sources, Debo said.
Fare increases are better than service cuts, which riders oppose, Debo said.
A fare hike, however, was unpopular among regular riders at Metro's South Park Street transfer station on Tuesday.
"They don't provide good enough service," said rider Kathy Cox, who sometimes works nights. "It stops at 11 p.m. at most places. For them to be raising fares to get more money, that's ridiculous."
George Twigg, spokesman for Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, said it was premature for Metro to consider rate hikes.
"The mayor is not prepared to endorse any specific plan until we have a better idea of what the state is going to be doing for transit aid," he said, adding that state aid makes up 45 percent of Metro's budget.
"I don't think there's a lot of support for it," City Council President Brenda Konkel said of the proposed increase.
The city's Transit and Parking Commission discussed Debo's proposal Tuesday night and is expected to continue discussions next month. The commission will set a public hearing before any rate change takes place.
The city hasn't had consecutive fare increases since at least 1989. The cost of basic fare rose in 1991, 1996 and most recently in 2000.
Under Debo's proposal, the basic fare would rise from the current $1.50 to $1.65 in August, and gradually increase to $1.80 in August 2008.
Discount fares, paratransit service for the disabled and other charges would also gradually increase.
"Rather than lurch from year to year, this will help us to meet the need for a long time," Debo said.
Bus rider Delores Singleton wasn't pleased.
"I'm working just part time. I can't afford it," she said. "But I'm going to do what I have to do."
But she added, "We pay taxes. The city should pay more."
Metro is delivering good service, Debo said, noting that ridership in 2004 hit its highest point in 17 years.
But Metro, like any agency, must cover costs for wages and benefits plus deal with rising fuel prices, Debo said. Fuel costs rose 24 percent in 2004 and leaped 35 percent from January 2004 to January this year, she said.
The agency, Debo said, has largely cured extensive overtime that produced salaries of $100,000 for bus drivers and spiked costs when Metro changed from a Downtown hub to a transfer station system in the late 1990s. Driver overtime hours dropped from 1,940 hours per pay period in 1998 to 747 last year, she said.
Metro and the bus drivers' union, she said, have agreed to modest wage increases, contracting out some maintenance work, more part-time driving hours, cuts in supplemental workers compensation and more.