Plan Making Way To City Council
Santa Fe teenagers could soon be riding around town free under a proposal by City Councilor Carmichael Dominguez to eliminate bus fares for anyone younger than 18.
“It’s an attempt to send a message to our young people that we care about them, that we want them to enjoy the community,” Dominguez said.
In addition to making it easier for youngsters to move about Santa Fe — a need identified by both the Mayor’s Youth Advisory Board and participants in the 2007 Santa Fe Youth Summit — a no-cost program on Santa Fe Trails would educate young people about eco-friendly transit alternatives and help create a foundation for future bus ridership, Dominguez said.
The city’s Transit Advisory Board unanimously approved the idea July 1, and the Public Works Committee is slated to consider the matter Monday. The proposal then goes to the Finance Committee July 21 before getting a hearing by the entire City Council July 30.
If all goes well, the program could potentially be in place by the start of the upcoming school year, Dominguez said.
The financial impact likely would be minimal, according to public works director Robert Romero. He estimated the cost to the city at about $3,500 — the rough income generated by the 7,250 youth rides, at 50 cents a trip, calculated during the 2006-07 fiscal year.
The city did count 25,000 youth rides on Santa Fe Trails during the 2007-08 fiscal year, Romero said, but he attributed that number to the success of a city program that provides homeless teenagers with free bus passes. About 900 monthly passes and 500 daily passes were given to young people last year, he said.
Overall, bus fare income constitutes a rather small part of the city’s transit operations, Romero noted — about $300,000 out of an $8 million budget.
“I don’t think this is going to have that much of a fiscal impact, but I think our young people are worth it,” Dominguez said.
How the program would be administered is still undetermined, and one area of debate at the Transit Advisory Board meeting was how Santa Fe Trails should identify those wishing to take advantage of the free fares. While some of the board’s members advocated that young people be required to show an I.D. card upon boarding a bus, others suggested ridership be left to the discretion of the bus driver.
Dominguez, for his part, said he just wants to get the no-cost program “up and running” and stable before cracking down on identification.
“I don’t think there’s that many people on the bus where the driver can’t use his judgment,” he said.
Another idea of Dominguez’s that has since been eliminated from the resolution was the creation of a youth-oriented bus route with stops at places like Warehouse 21 and skateboard parks.
Young people in the area are probably served well enough by current routes, Dominguez said, although there might be room for improvement, such as moving around certain stops or marking out certain points of interest on transit maps.
