The City of Turlock is making it easier for many residents to ride Turlock Transit buses with a few fare changes.

The Turlock City Council unanimously approved revisions to the transit fare structure at their July 11 meeting that:

·         Reduced the qualifying age for senior discount fares from 65 to 55;

·         Extended free and discounted fares to active, reserve and veterans of the U.S. armed forces;

·         Expanded the waiver of fares for faculty and staff at public education institutions; and

·         Delegates authority to the City Manager, or his or her designee, to temporarily reduce or eliminate fares on any transit mode for promotional, regional coordination or emergency purposes.

All changes go into effect Aug. 1.

“(These changes) further the goals of transit…generate more ridership, to improve air quality, to reduce traffic congestion,” said Wayne York.

According to the staff report, the City discussed the proposed changes with peers at the Stanislaus Regional Transit Authority (StanRTA) for their consideration. While fare policies are at the sole discretion of each transit entity, there is a strong desire between both entities for regional uniformity to simplify regional travel for passengers.  Accordingly, StanRTA is considering the implementation of some of these proposed adjustments to their fare structure in the future, though no final decisions had been made by the July 11 meeting.

While City staff anticipates the fare changes will result in reduced fare revenue overall, staff stated it was  difficult to estimate the amount of the decrease as it’s dependent on the number of passengers that elect to travel, the number of trips those passengers elect to take and the qualifying status of those individuals. Despite all the uncertainty, City staff estimated the annual impact to be a loss of fare revenue between $3,500 and $5,000.  However, there is sufficient federal, state and regional transit revenue (Fund 426 - Transit) to offset any loss of fare revenue associated with these changes, according to staff.

According to York, Turlock Transit is serving approximately 6,200 passengers a week — which is about a 25% increase of pre-pandemic levels.

“We’re situated really well. As I talk with my peers throughout the Central Valley, a lot of them are more like 60 to 70% of pre-pandemic levels so they haven’t quite gotten back there yet. We’ve met and exceeded that,” said York.

For more information on Turlock Transit fares and routes, visit turlocktransit.com or call (209) 668-5600.