COLUMBIA — The city of Columbia's Public Transit Advisory Commission says it is "inevitable" that the Go COMO bus fare will be reintroduced due to cost concerns.
The commission was set to meet Tuesday about various recommendations for the city's fiscal 2027 budget, but the meeting was never called to order because there was not a quorum present to do business.
There are 13 members on the commission, but only six members of the commission were present. To reach a quorum, seven or more members of the commission must be present.
One budget recommendation being made by the commission is to use some money from the budget to update the fare collection equipment in city buses.
Go COMO was made fare-free in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the outdated fare collection boxes were also removed then. Before the pandemic, the city used to charge riders $1.50 per ride.
The draft recommendation letter from the Public Transit Advisory Commission states, "fare collection at some point is a practical inevitability."
In an email to KOMU 8 News, Columbia Public Works Department spokesperson John Ogan said the potential update of fare collection equipment would "cost up to approximately $585,000." That number is still an estimate, and no formal decisions have been made.
Mary Lou McCormick, a Columbia resident who frequently uses the bus, said she would pay if fares were reintroduced.
"I think that having to pay a bus fare— there could be a potential improvement in the service," McCormick said. "It could potentially mean that bus drivers perhaps get paid better, and I think it would also give people some sense of value in service."
Columbia's Transit Manager Shannon Hemenway said that the city has been collecting information about a potential return of fares, and if the City Council votes to return fares, they will restore them.
"We have collected the information as we were asked to do," Hemenway said. "That is entirely the city council's decision, and we will put that into place if they ask us to."
Matt Wright, the head of Columbia's Public Transit Advisory Commission, said that a return to fares is needed.
"The money's just not there," Wright said. "There's no federal funding, therefore, there's no state pass-through funding. And so we're reliant totally on local funding, and that includes fare collection."
Another recommendation made in the draft budget letter was to introduce a parking fee at the Columbia Regional Airport. Currently, parking is free to passengers at COU.
The airport receives between 25% and 30% of the general transportation sales tax each year, according to the commission's letter. Implementing a parking fee could free up more of the city's transportation sales tax that is currently allocated to the airport for public transit.
If paid parking is implemented, the commission suggests that revenue could be directed toward airport operations and capital maintenance expenses, allowing for increased self-sufficiency.
The Public Transit Advisory Commission is set to meet again on July 21.
