MASCOT set to raise fares

MAT-SU — The price commuters pay for Matanuska-Susitna Community Transit’s Southcentral Bus Pass is set to increase from $7 to $8.50 for the daily rate and from $120 to $140 for the monthly fare.

The pass gives riders a trip to and from Palmer or Wasilla on MASCOT into Anchorage. The pass then allows riders unlimited use of the People Mover bus system in Anchorage.

At the MASCOT board of directors meeting Wednesday, interim executive director LaMarr Anderson said the rate hike comes from a request by People Mover.

MASCOT gets 70 percent of the fare from the passes, and the Anchorage bus service gets 30 percent.

“They felt they needed more to recover their cost,” Anderson said.

People Mover proposed the increase in the daily rate from $7 to $8.50, he said. The Anchorage group suggested keeping the monthly fare at $120, but changing the revenue sharing between the groups to a 60/40 split.

“We can’t afford to reduce our fare,” MASCOT board president Charles Parker said. “Reducing our costs doesn’t seem to be good business at this point.”

The date the rate hike goes into effect has not been determined.

The one-way fee for riding MASCOT into or out of Anchorage without access to People Mover remains unchanged at $3.