Bus fares increase

Point Park University students get a discount on passes and fare tickets, but now the Zone 2 bus fares have gone up by 15 cents and so have the bookstore's prices. 

Sophomore education major Autumn Shuty is annoyed at the increased discount rate for the Zone 2 bus tickets. She has leftover pre-rate increase tickets, which forces her to find change to cover the increases every day that she rides the bus.

"I have old bus tickets, and now I have to pay 15 extra cents and it's really inconvenient. It just doesn't make any sense to me ... and I definitely think we should have a free bus pass," Shuty said. "I also wish my bus dropped me off closer to school because I have to walk a long way from my bus stop to the school."

Zone 2 tickets went up a dollar for students. Formerly, it was $19.50 for a book of tickets, but it is now $20.50. The bookstore has 37 bus passes to sell per month for Zone 2, while there are 250 Zone 1 bus passes. Because most students live in Zone 1, there are less bus tickets to go around for Zone 2. There are a maximum of 50 booklets to sell for Zone 2, while for Zone 1 there are 100 available.

According to Bill Fabyanic, manager of Point Park's bookstore, all of the numbers are controlled by the United Student Government (USG). USG also controls how many passes and tickets the bookstore receives. USG pays for 25 percent of the costs for the discount.  

"Bus passes rarely get sold in December and January because students are rarely here ... a lot more bus tickets are sold that time of year," Fabyanic said.

More than half of the student body at Point Park is made up of commuters, and many wonder why they cannot receive a free bus pass or free tickets. If students do not go to the bookstore for discounts, a monthly bus pass for Zone 1 is $80. Zone 1 extends about six miles from Downtown.

Luckily, for Zone 1 passengers, their bus fare did not go up, but students living in Zone 2 were hit with a rise in bus fare. A Zone 2 bus pass costs $105, and it now costs $2.75 each way a day if students do not partake in the discounts the bookstore offers. Zone 2 bus passengers are now paying up to $22 a week. Zone 2 makes up the rest of Allegheny County beyond Zone 1. Also, there is a one dollar student discount to ride the bus after 7 p.m. and on weekends.

"I hate the rise in the Zone 2 bus fare. It's not like people don't ride the bus -- the buses are always packed," freshman Sam Lunz said.

According to Jim Ritchie, the public relations director of the Port Authority, the fare increase is not up to them but is decided by the Pennsylvania Transportation Funding and Reform Commission instated in 2007 because of a multi-million dollar operating deficit by the transit agency.

"We increased our fares 15 cents a trip because the PA Transportation Funding and Reform Committee told us that we do not raise our fares often enough," Ritchie said.

They do a statewide analysis in many states and felt that it was time for Pennsylvania to raise the rate by 15 cents.

"We followed those recommendations to raise the fares once every two years as opposed to a much higher rate every five years," Ritchie said.

Fares traditionally increase as time progresses because of inflation and hikes in operating costs, but many students, like Shuty and Lunz, feel there should at least be a discount that is more accessible. However, many Point Park students are being reminded with the recent increases to take advantage of the discounts already available.