On Aug. 18, the Utah Valley Express buses will begin charging riders a regular fare of $2.50, after six years of a zero fare promotion.
BYU and UVU students, faculty, staff, and their spouses and dependents can still ride the UVX for free. The UTA transit Ed Pass is built directly into university ID cards, so those individuals can tap their card on the platform card reader before boarding and leaving the platform.
UVX buses will not be offering cash or electronic fare collection on board. Passengers can pre-pay their fare with electronic fare cards, including FAREPAY Cards, Transit app tickets, transfer tickets from bus or rail, paper passes purchased from a retailer or at rideuta.com, UTA School Pass Program and Eco Pass. Transfers from FrontRunner or other bus routes will also be accepted for up to two hours from the time the ticket and tap were validated.
Reduced fare rates will also be available to certain community members.
“The reduced fare rate of $1.25 is available to those who qualify, and the income qualifications for reduced fare are expanding from 150% to 200% of the federal poverty level,” Gavin Gustafson, UTA senior public information officer, said. “This means that more Utah residents will qualify for reduced fare.”
More information on how individuals can qualify for free or reduced fare prices can be found on the UTA website.
Part of this change with UVX fares is fare capping. As explained on UTA’s YouTube, fare capping will replace the 20% discount on FAREPAY Cards to ensure riders do not exceed a daily and weekly maximum fare.
“This program eliminates the need to pay a large upfront cost for a monthly pass,” Gustafson said. “You can load as little as $5 at a time and pay as you go.”
Gustafson also explained that the UTA’s decision to start charging fares was always intended. In 2018, UVX was introduced as a zero fare service, funded by the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program. This program covered the first three years of zero fare operation, and UTA extended zero fare while a long-term fare strategy was developed.
“UTA is dedicated to continuously improving its services and ensuring that public transit is an accessible, equitable and reliable option for everyone,” Gustafson said. “The upcoming changes reflect UTA’s ongoing efforts to innovate and adapt to the needs of riders while sustaining its services.”
Gustafson shared how UTA will be allocating the money collected from the newly implemented regular fares.
“Fares help to ensure UTA’s financial sustainability and support our ability to maintain the transit system. Transit is an investment by the community back into the community,” he said. “Similarly, fares collected enable UTA to invest in the quality and safety of its services — including a new 900 East Provo UVX station currently under construction near the BYU Creamery.”
Several frequent UVX riders shared their thoughts on this new development.
Robert Clegg is a BYU sophomore majoring in economics. He use the UVX about twice a day during the week to get to school and work. He explained how he understood the reasoning for the fare addition
"(UTA) states that 80% of ridership are students who already have institutionally paid fare cards," Clegg said. "The bus will remain free for university students, which to me feels like the targeted ridership is for."
Cassie Reichmann, a recent BYU chemical engineering graduate, said she has used the UVX multiple times a week for the past four years to get groceries and to go to the temple.
“I’m glad to see them recovering more revenue but this will disincentivize non-students and lead to a drop in ridership,” Reichmann said. “This makes UVX less competitive against the very real costs of air pollution and energy consumption that come with personal vehicle travel. UVX needs every advantage it can get to win over riders at this point.”
Others shared similar concerns. Kari Mason, a BYU senior studying design, uses UVX almost every day.
“I take it to work, school, to pick up prescriptions, to get groceries and other everyday activities,” Mason said. “I can’t afford a car right now so it’s my only mode of transportation besides my feet.”
Mason continued that this change might limit how often community members can take public transportation.
“I rely on it to get around and I know there are many other people in Provo in the same situation,” Mason said.
BYU geography student Jenna Mathews expressed a few different concerns, saying she believes the current infrastructure with the bus stops is not built for a change like this.
“I also think a flat rate could potentially introduce unfairness. Does this mean that someone only going 2 stops over pays the same amount as someone going 12 stops?” Mathews said. “And while I know I’ve got to read up on everything, I would like UVX to be transparent about how these new fees will improve the UVX experience, or are these fees simply going to line the pockets of its employees without changing anything for their customers?”
For more information and updates about UVX and other local public transportation, individuals can visit rideuta.com.