Athens Transit is already funded, but Culpepper wants to bring back fares

Athens-Clarke County, Georgia Commissioner John Culpepper wants to use TSPLOST sales tax dollars, which were intended to fund fare-free operations on Athens Transit through 2027, and use that money to buy fare-boxes again.

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TRANSCRIPT

Athens Transit was one of many bus systems across the country to drop fares to zero during the COVID pandemic and it’s still entirely fare-free. But one ACC Commissioner wants to use TSPLOST sales tax dollars, which were intended to fund fare-free operations through 2027, and use that money to buy fare-boxes again, the exact opposite of what we voted on.

“We discussed this during budget time, looking at charging fares and the cost that we were going to incur to putting the meters back in there, but there was a SPLOST project that had to do with transit that we could use. I’d like for us…I don’t know how we get that ball rolling but I think we ought to start looking at that.”

Sales taxes like TSPLOST are often criticized for being regressive and hurting the poor. And that’s true. But Commissioner John Culpepper wants to amp that up to a whole new level. Taking 1% of a poor person’s income with a sales tax is bad enough, but using this money that they’ve already paid to buy a machine to make them pay even more is outrageous. It might cost two million dollars to outfit Athens’ bus fleet with fareboxes again. And for someone on the poverty line who rides the bus once a day, fares could add up to 9% of their income or more. That means fares are 9 times more regressive than the entire TSPLOST program, of which transit operations are a small percentage. People’s lives are hard enough today, and it’s so easy for us as a city to allow freedom of movement for everyone.

So, Commissioner Culpepper, what are we doing here? Why would you even consider bringing back fares, as regressive as they are, when we can easily pay for transit with TSPLOST as we’re doing right now. He must not realize what he’s saying.