TARC Fares to Increase

The Transit Authority of River City, or TARC, will likely increase its fares and reduce the number of trips on some bus routes as a result of rising gas prices and a tighter city budget. Public meetings are scheduled over the next two weeks to discuss a proposed ten-or-25-cent increase to the current dollar-and-a-quarter fare.Spokesperson Nina Walfoort says a number of route changes are also being considered."We really need to know which hurts less, if we keep the fares down a little more, or if we reduce the service cuts, so we’re just trying to gauge from people what direction they would like to see us go with this," she said.The public meetings will be held on Wednesday and Thursday of the next two weeks. The TARC Board of Directors is expected to vote on the changes on June 19^th.