Hop on the bus, Gus...4 bucks, please

So bus ridership in the Twin Cities is at its highest point in nearly 30 years. Yet, Metro Transit is in a funding crunch, according to this article, which also talks about potential solutions. With ridership at these high levels (I can attest to this with full buses going up and down Nicollet), the Met Council does not want service cuts...however, fares going up too much would lower ridership numbers. For me, I believe that there may have to be service cuts. For example, do there really need to be certain routes running every 7-8 minutes (I am thinking of the Hi-Frequency routes in Minneapolis and St. Paul)? How much money would be saved by having 15 minutes between buses throughout the day? If need be, run the accordion buses. You almost never see those in town.

Also, fare increases are inevitable. This sucks for people who rely on the bus (I am kinda amongst that group), but we riders really do need to foot more of the bill for riding the bus, as fares cover only 30 percent of the cost to run a bus. The proposal for another 50 cent increase (on top of the 50 cent increase already happening) could help provided ridership doesn't drop too much.

I am someone who believes that public transportation is a need in communities across the country. Cars rule, but buses and their riders shouldn't be totally left in the lurch.