PORT ANGELES — The Clallam Transit board voted to extend the system’s one-year zero-fare pilot program as part of its regular fixed-route and paratransit service schedule.
Chair Brendan Meyer, Rachel Anderson, Kathy Downer, Mike French, Mark Ozias and Lindsey Schromen-Wawrin approved the extension in a 6-1 vote on Wednesday. Jeff Gingell voted against the measure; Clint Wood did not attend the meeting.
General Manager Jim Fetzer said he brought the measure before the board because staff needed to know if it should begin preparing to return to a fare collection system or continue with the free-fare structure. The public also would have to be informed whether there would be a change or not, he said.
Gingell said he did not want to commit to continuing the zero-fare pilot because its Climate Commitment Act funding is uncertain.
The CCA would be repealed and that money would disappear if voters approve Initiative 2117 on the Nov. 5 general election ballot.
“I have some reservations about it,” Gingell said. “I’m reluctant to continue until we have permanent funding.”
Schromen-Wawrin said that while he agreed there is some uncertainty whether Clallam Transit would be able to rely on the CCA to continue funding the pilot program, recent polling showed support for the initiative was diminishing.
Implementation of the zero-fare pilot program is not permanent, Mike French said. The decision could be revisited if funding changes.
Fetzer said he preferred thinking in longer terms for the zero-fare pilot rather than year-by-year decisions because it gives staff time and flexibilty to respond to any revisions.
“If we get into an economic downturn or we get into a situation where we’re going to be looking at deficits in the future, then we have the ability to reinstitute fares,” he said.
Gingell also was the lone “no” on a 6-1 vote for the board officially opposing Initiative 2117.
“I don’t agree with politicizing Clallam Transit,” he said. “We should let the voters decide.”
French said it is important Clallam Transit communicate the positive impact the CCA has made and would continue to make if it is not repealed.
“I think one of the points we’re making is every potential tax is a return-on-investment proposition,” French said. “We’re trying to show the public this particular measure had a lot of return for our community.”
Clallam Transit has received $1.9 million from the CCA in the past two years, Fetzer said.
Separately, Fetzer said he is working to hire a security service at Gateway Transit Center when the downtown resource officer is not on duty in response to concerns about public safety, illegal activity and public disturbances.
Meanwhile, two of the four new 40-foot fixed-route buses Clallam Transit purchased have arrived. When the two remaining buses are on site, they will be wrapped with the work of photographers John Gussman and Betty Stinnett.
Ridership on the Hurricane Ridge shuttle was down from last year, when vehicle access was severely curtailed due to the destruction of the lodge by fire and the limited number of portable toilets. There were 8,277 rides between May 25 and Sept. 2 this year — about 38 percent lower than in 2023, but 268 percent higher than in 2022, Operations Manager Jason McNickle said.
A partnership with Black Ball Ferry Line, which sold excursions that included tickets to Hurricane Ridge, helped boost ridership in August, he said.
At the end of the meeting, Downer requested that a discussion about placing a Narcan dispenser at Sequim Transit Center be put on the agenda for Oct. 16. In June, the board approved a measure to allow Clallam County Health and Human Services to place a Narcan dispenser at Gateway Transit Center.
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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com.
