Transit fares increasing...

The paratransit fares in my area went up July 1^st, along with regular transit fares as well  Until the end of 2003, I barely paid for the bus ever, as the local college consortium made for most of the  area’s transit cost (and even on the trips they didn’t cover the maximum cost for a one way trip was $1.50).  However, in an effort to make up for a budget shortfall that year, the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority (my local bus provider) had to begin charging fares on most buses.  Able-bodied people pay $1 a trip on the regular  bus; disabled people pay 50 cents (and can travel with a PCA at no additional cost).  If you took the paratransit, you’d pay between $2 and $3 one way.

This was a budget strain for me, but I somehow squeezed the money out of budget and managed to keep having a life.  However, on July 1, 2008 fares increased again; this time to $1.15 for able-bodied people and 60 cents for disabled people on the regular bus and paratransit fares of $2.50 to $3.50.  That may not sound like much, but sure felt like a lot when I needed to surrender 4 pre-paid $2 van tickets and $3 additional dollars in order to accommodate all my travel needs on Monday.  Of on first day of the fare increase, I needed to make three trips.  Going to Amherst, a nearby town, to meet a friend cost $2.50.  From there I went to Northampton, other town that’s no to far away, for a wheelchair evaluation (I’m getting a new chair- yay!).  That cost $3.00.  Afterwards, I went to the mall and home.  That roundtrip cost me $5.50.
 
The fare increase will doubtless rein in my social life a bit, but it might have an untold and positive side effect; making me a greener traveler, as I strive to conserve both the planet and my budget by taking the regular bus more often instead of taking the paratransit as much as I used to.  However, in winter (when it gets cold I get spastic and being in the cold actually becomes dangerous to me) and to too far away places like my wheelchair repair shop (where it now costs me $7 roundtrip on the paratransit to go- you can take buses to reach it, but it requires 5 buses and 5 hours and 12 minutes; no thanks I’d rather besane) will force me to use the van service more often despite how that strains my budget.  But as summer turns to autumn and then winter, I’m sure I’ll learn to deal as I do with everything that happens in my life.