Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit (Tcat) has been abuzz with activity lately — briefing drivers, employees and outlets and putting up signs and posters — all in an effort to prepare itself, as well as its riders, for a systemwide fare change that will go into effect Monday, June 7. Gone will be the three separate fare structures formerly used by Cornell, Ithaca Transit and TomTran. In their place will be a greatly simplified fare structure that applies to all Tcat routes and services.

These changes are part of the service and fare consolidation study that Tcat recently completed with the help of Weslin Consulting Services, a national public transportation consulting firm. Throughout the study, public input on how to improve the current transit system was gathered in more than 50 meetings and a rider survey. This past winter, Tcat unveiled to the community the fare structure proposal that's now being put into effect. Riders can expect to see bus service improvements, such as more frequent times and Sunday and evening service come this August.

Tcat General Manager Rod Ghearing explained the reasoning behind the fare change: "Since we consolidated over a year and a half ago, almost all of the buses have been painted to look the same, but depending on which route you get on — city, county or Cornell — the fares are still very different. We needed to develop a uniform fare structure that would work for all routes. The main purpose of the consolidation was to provide more efficient and expanded service to area transit riders. Changes such as this uniform fare structure will make riding Tcat buses less confusing and, we hope, less intimidating."

With the new fare structure, every bus route will charge the same fare based on Tcat's established zone structure.

Zone 1: encompasses the city of Ithaca and surrounding areas, including Cornell, Ithaca College, Cayuga Medical Center and Pyramid Mall.

Zone 2: covers the rural and suburban areas of Tompkins County.

The new fares will be determined by how many zones a rider travels through.

• Single zone fare: 75 cents per ride (for travel within one zone)
• Multi-zone fare: $1.50 per ride (for travel across two or more zones)

This new base fare is less than those being charged by more than two-thirds of the transit systems in the United States, and lower than the fares being charged by other transit companies in Central New York cities such as in Binghamton, Buffalo, Cortland, Elmira, Syracuse and Utica.

In addition to the fare change, new monthly and annual bus passes will also be available:

• Monthly pass: single zone ($20)/multi zone ($40)
• Annual pass: single zone ($220)/multi zone ($440)

The monthly passes will be sold at Tcat ticket and schedule outlets, and the annual passes will be distributed through Tcat on a subscription basis. They will be valid on all Tcat routes.

Tcat hopes the new passes will be a convenient and affordable alternative for bus riders.

"If somebody rides the bus twice a day, five days a week, they'll save $10 with a single zone monthly pass and $20 with a multi zone monthly pass," Ghearing said. "That comes out to just 50 cents and $1 a ride — which is less than most riders are paying now. For anyone that rides Tcat regularly, I would recommend getting one of the passes."

For more information on TCAT's new fares and bus passes, look for signs and brochures on all Tcat buses, call Tcat at (607) 277-RIDE or visit the Tcat web site at http://www.tcatbus.com.