Green Bay Transit will reduce fares from April 1 through the end of the year to draw new riders and thank its regular passengers, according to director Patty Kiewicz.
The temporary reduced fare structure, announced in a press conference Wednesday, will be paid for with funds from the CARES Act which Congress approved in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The reduced fares will be:
- A 30-day adult pass, regularly $39, will be reduced to $19
- A 30-day reduced fare pass, which serves elderly and disabled individuals, regularly $29, will be reduced to $9
- One-way trips, regularly $4, will be reduced to $2
Kiewicz said public transportation services are crucial for people in the community who may not have access to transportation.
“The majority of our riders are using public transportation to get to work, get to school and get to medical appointments” she said.
Reducing fares will help those who count on the service. In addition, the Transit Commission hopes to introduce more people to the services it offers. Those services have included increased hours and the GBM on Demand microtransit service.
Ridership has declined “tremendously” from as many as 4,000 trips per day prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Kiewicz. She did not specify what current ridership numbers are but a review of Transit Commission minutes shows that ridership in 2019 was near $1.3 million annually and in 2021 had only recovered to about half that number.
