SEIBUS fares on the rise

FARE INCREASE

“We will be monitoring ridership so if we see a big decline in ridership that may spur a conversation around it.”

Garry Seyb, Lee County Supervisor

LEE COUNTY – Rates for bus rides via the local SEIBUS program are on the rise.
Lee County Supervisors brought up the increases at Tuesday’s regular meeting during supervisor comments. Chair Ginger Knisley said the increases was “concerning”.
Supervisor Garry Seyb sits on the board of Southeast Iowa Regional Planning Commission, which operates SEIBUS, said the increases were the first for non-in-town runs in a long time.
“We will be monitoring ridership so if we see a big decline  that may spur a conversation around it,” he said.
"With maintenance costs, fuel costs, and everybody getting paid more we want to keep our drivers.”
Knisley said it is something to pay attention to.
“I had a few communications about the increased fares for SEIBUS and it’s my understanding they haven’t had an increase in a quite a few years,” Knisley said.
“That increase right now is a bit of a sticker shock for folks and I’m a little concerned about that.”
According to a report provided by SEIBUS Transit Director Pat Inrachavonga, fares make up less than 5% of the annual operational revenue. From fiscal year 2011-2018 rider fares made up 4.7% of revenue. From 2019-2025 that figure dropped to 3.7% or just under $50,000 of the total $1.4 million in revenue.
The rest of the revenue comes from state and federal subsidies, and Medicaid when reimbursing travel for medical purposes.
Current fares for in-town rides are $3 which was unchanged. Those rates increased 20% last year. However town to town rides including county to county through the SEIRPC territory, go from $5 to $9 an increase of 80%. Medical shuttle calls one-way increase 33% from $15 to $20 and Monthly passes will go up 44% from $25 to $36. Monthly passes will not cover town-to-town transports. Inrachavonga's report indicated those are hard to schedule and can interfere with higher frequency in-town rides.
The increase in fares is projected to raise an additional $14,000 to $17,000 in fiscal year 2027 which began July 1.
The one-way Medical Shuttle rides are the most expensive and probably the most critical ride in the system and the fare hasn’t been increased in 20 years, he wrote.
SEIBUS staff is recommending reviewing fares every three years and is also looking into the option of cashless payments. The changes went into effect July 1.
Despite the in-town ride increase implemented last year, ridership increase from 9,144 in the first quarter to 10,367. Second quarter usage from the general public rose from 9,196 to 11,088 and preliminary 3rd quarter numbers looked static to last year.