One commissioner voiced his concerns over the proposal
By Johannes Werner and Mark Edge
Original Air Date: November 22, 2024
Host: Transit rarely gets much attention by the Sarasota County Commission. Raising fares for an on-call service did so on Wednesday. We have the details.
Johannes Werner: The Sarasota County Commission this week tabled discussion to triple fares for the Breeze OnDemand service. The contractor that operates the service said such a price increase could have triggered a steep drop in ridership.
The county’s transit agency started OnDemand in 2021 as a ride-share alternative that uses minivans. It was meant to replace big buses on fixed routes, particularly in low-density areas. The idea was to save the county money in the long run.
Mark Smith
But at the meeting on Tuesday, the commissioners voted to move the discussion to a yet-to-be-determined date. Commissioner Mark Smith said he would not vote for a fare hike “at this point”.
Mark Smith: In all honesty, I have some heartburn over passing this at this point. I don’t think we want 80 year olds walking down the sidewalk or in the street to a corner, quite honestly, to catch a bus.
JW: The company that provides the OnDemand service told Breeze it would expect a 70% drop in ridership if there was a similar fare increase in other markets.
Breeze told us that a 70% drop was “not specifically predicted” for Sarasota County: “The relationship between the number of riders and the fare is challenging to predict, especially on a type of transit that is relatively new.”
The commissioners now want Breeze to come back to them with rider demographics and alternative fare structures — including discounts, monthlies, and distance-based pricing.
As OnDemand use has grown, staff say the service is in need of more funding and proposed to incrementally raise fares from 2 dollars to six dollars by 2027. Users who qualify for Transportation Disadvantaged Fare would pay 2 dollars per ride, 50 cents more.
People 80 years and older used to enjoy free OnDemand rides, but the county commission ended that program. Venice resident Barry Zamoff gave commissioners an earful.
Barry Zamoff: Three years ago, when three South County routes were cut out, we received the promise from Sarasota County Commission that the quality of our transportation would not be diminished. Two years ago, in an action that I still deem inexplicable, the commission removed that free service and started charging the full base fare to persons over 80. What percentage of riders were over age 80? 0.4%. What that translates into is for every 10,000 in on demand revenue, 40 comes in from persons over 80. Isn’t that an amazing statistical fact?
JW: No date has been set for discussion of OnDemand fares.
Short of new funding, the alternatives would be dropping service areas, or reducing hours of operation.
A year ago, Breeze raised regular bus fares from one dollar twenty-five to one dollar fifty. Passenger growth has been slow in Sarasota County, barely recovering to pre-pandemic numbers. In contrast, Manatee County last year introduced its zero fare program and recently expanded it for a year. Since rides became free MCAT has seen ridership increase by 28% within six months, and more than 50% within 18 months.
For WSLR News, this has been Johannes Werner, with reporting from Mark Edge.
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