Sep 29, 2008 8:54 am US/Mountain
RTD Scales Back Rate Hike For Eco Pass
DENVER (CBS4) ―
Small businesses in the Denver area have been heard by RTD after the transit agency had planned a large hike in the cost of a popular discount rider program. RTD's board will vote Tuesday on the fare increases.
Regular bus and light rail riders will pay up to 14 percent more for a ride.
Because of a gap in the cost of the popular Eco Pass, the proposed increase in that program would have cost some small businesses ten times more than they were paying to help employees get to work on public transportation.
"It was like a punch in the stomach and a slap in the face," said Noel Maye of the Financial Planning Standards Board in Denver.
The board has seven employees who all ride the bus on the Eco Pass.
"What we're trying to do on an interim basis is increase the pricing for the Eco Pass program so that it is more equitable with what our cash paying customers and our monthly pass customers are paying at this time," said Scott Reed, spokesman for RTD. "I think that people were very shocked by the original proposal and we fully understand that."
RTD revised the proposal, meaning Maye's business will now pay about $3,000 for the office Eco Passes.
"We don't mind paying, we don't mind paying a little more, but we can't pay as much as some of the larger corporations," Maye said.
The fare changes for the Eco Pass alone are expected to generate as much as $1.3 million for RTD next year.
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