Rates to ride the Ceres Area Transit (CAT) system and Dial-A-Ride are going up this July. The Ceres City Council approved the increase at meeting of May 24.
Kay Dunkel, an administrative analyst with the city of Ceres, said rider fees need to be increased by at least $40,000 so that Ceres meets its required minimal farebox recovery ratio. In other words, the fixed route CAT system needs to make up at least 15 percent of its operations costs through fees; while Dial-A-Ride has a 10 percent ratio to meet.
Fees to ride CAT will be increasing from $1.25 to $2 for the general public; and $1 to $1.50 for rides for seniors and the disabled.
Dial-A-Ride charges will increase from $1.75 to $2.15 for the general public; and $1.25 to $1.50 for the seniors and disabled.
During the 2008-09 year, CAT served 114,000 passenger trips.
Adjustments are also being ordered for the CAT service hours because of a decline in ridership. Specific adjustments include the following:
CAT ROUTE A
• Provide limited service on Musick, River Road and Richland Avenue during the 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. runs to accommodate school children;
• Deleting stops at locations with low numbers of boardings and deboardings, including Acorn near Fifth, Fowler near Mitchell, North Street near Fifth Street, and Ninth Street near Whitmore;
• Adding a stop on the northeast corner of Mitchell and Dale.
• Reduce service by an hour in the evening, making the last run at 6 p.m. and the final stop at 7 p.m.
CAT ROUTE B
• Deleting stops with low participation, including Brown near Hackett, Tranquil near Willow Pond, Service near Cornucopia and Whitmore near Crowslanding;0
• Moving bus stop #96 from Herndon near Microtel Suites to the north side of Evans near Herndon.
• Reduce service by two hours in the evening, with last run at 5 p.m. and last stop at 6 p.m.
CAT ROUTE C
• Deleting certain weekend stops and realigning others.
• Reduce service by two hours on Sunday mornings, with first run at 10 a.m. instead of 8 a.m.
Kay Dunkel, an administrative analyst with the city of Ceres, said rider fees need to be increased by at least $40,000 so that Ceres meets its required minimal farebox recovery ratio. In other words, the fixed route CAT system needs to make up at least 15 percent of its operations costs through fees; while Dial-A-Ride has a 10 percent ratio to meet.
Fees to ride CAT will be increasing from $1.25 to $2 for the general public; and $1 to $1.50 for rides for seniors and the disabled.
Dial-A-Ride charges will increase from $1.75 to $2.15 for the general public; and $1.25 to $1.50 for the seniors and disabled.
During the 2008-09 year, CAT served 114,000 passenger trips.
Adjustments are also being ordered for the CAT service hours because of a decline in ridership. Specific adjustments include the following:
CAT ROUTE A
• Provide limited service on Musick, River Road and Richland Avenue during the 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. runs to accommodate school children;
• Deleting stops at locations with low numbers of boardings and deboardings, including Acorn near Fifth, Fowler near Mitchell, North Street near Fifth Street, and Ninth Street near Whitmore;
• Adding a stop on the northeast corner of Mitchell and Dale.
• Reduce service by an hour in the evening, making the last run at 6 p.m. and the final stop at 7 p.m.
CAT ROUTE B
• Deleting stops with low participation, including Brown near Hackett, Tranquil near Willow Pond, Service near Cornucopia and Whitmore near Crowslanding;0
• Moving bus stop #96 from Herndon near Microtel Suites to the north side of Evans near Herndon.
• Reduce service by two hours in the evening, with last run at 5 p.m. and last stop at 6 p.m.
CAT ROUTE C
• Deleting certain weekend stops and realigning others.
• Reduce service by two hours on Sunday mornings, with first run at 10 a.m. instead of 8 a.m.
