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35 <br /> 1 going forward include a fare card reader system to make the process easier. He said going fare <br /> 2 free would result in a substantial increase in the general fund monies. <br /> 3 Commissioner Greene said she would like to know more about that because the bar <br /> 4 chart shows that fares only covers 1%, and she wonders how much is the 1%. <br /> 5 Travis Myren said he will look at that. He said the fare study was done within the past <br /> 6 couple of years, so is not very old. <br /> 7 Theo Letman said the study is a year old, and noted that Covid has impacted revenues. <br /> 8 Commissioner Hamilton said the demand will change with no fare versus fare, so it <br /> 9 would cost more under a no fare system because of increased ridership. <br /> 10 Commissioner Greene said that is true, but if the long-term goal is to get more people <br /> 11 out of cars, it should be looked at further. <br /> 12 Chair Price asked if the routes and services represented in the fare total could be <br /> 13 identified. <br /> 14 Theo Letman said it is from the fixed routes, as well as the on demand program. He <br /> 15 said it is not as significant due to loss of state funding for the ROAP program. <br /> 16 Chair Price asked what the fares are generally. <br /> 17 Theo Letman said there is a $3 copay, $12.75 for on demand service, and $2 for regular <br /> 18 bus service. <br /> 19 Chair Price said if the County wants to expand bus service, she believes people may be <br /> 20 willing to pay if the busses were reliable and frequent. She said restricted service does not <br /> 21 entice people to use the bus service and pay that money. She said she would like to look at the <br /> 22 possibility of a smaller fare, or if people use the service for work, that businesses could pay for <br /> 23 bus passes for employees to use. She said she would like to explore ways to get people to <br /> 24 want to use the bus. She asked if there has been any feedback on the mobility on demand <br /> 25 program. <br /> 26 Theo Letman said so far, so good. He said staff has played with the fares, and ridership <br /> 27 picked up greatly when it became fare free, but it is not really sustainable right now to open the <br /> 28 program full throttle. He said people are expressing interest in being able to get a ride from <br /> 29 their homes after hours and on weekends. <br /> 30 Travis Myren resumed the PowerPoint presentation: <br /> 31 <br /> 32 Slide #74 <br /> Community Services <br /> Orange County Transportation Services—page 345 <br /> 0CP7 Ridership <br /> ORANGE COUNTY <br /> 33 <br /> 34 <br /> 35 Travis Myren noted that ridership dropped off during the pandemic. He resumed the <br /> 36 PowerPoint presentation: <br /> 37 <br /> 38 <br /> 39 Slide #75 <br />