In response to a $1.5 million deficit, Gainesville's Regional Transit System will increase rates and reduce Saturday service starting Oct. 1.
Saturday service routes will be replaced with modified Sunday routes.
The routes will now run once an hour between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m., except Route 401, formerly Route 5, which will run every 30 minutes, RTS spokeswoman Theresa Harrison said.
Route 401 and Route 400, formerly Route 20, will also receive UF funding to run until later at night, she said.
The fare increase is RTS's first in 12 years, Harrison said. It will include adult fares, which will increase from $1 to $1.50; all-day passes, which will increase from $2 to $3; and student semester passes, which will increase from $35 to $60.
RTS proposed a list of possible solutions to its budget problems in July, including reducing service frequency on eight Saturday-only routes from one hour to two hours, she said.
After listening to input from Gainesville residents, the city commission passed the rate increase and reduced Saturday service frequency at its Sept. 18 meeting.
Harrison said she thought RTS users had been receptive to the changes.
"Although everyone would like to have kept the existing fares and existing levels of service, they understood," she said.
