By Marilyn Odendahl, Truth Staff
SOUTH BEND -- Whether taking a ride on the South Shore will cost more is now a matter for the rail line's board of directors to decide.
The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District board will review Friday the comments made at a series of public hearing about proposed rate hikes. The fifth and final hearing was Thursday at the South Bend Regional Airport.
NICTD wants to raise fares 2 percent in August and another 2 percent in August 2007. This would increase the cost of a single one-way ticket from the South Bend airport to the Millennium Station at Randolph Street in downtown Chicago from its current $10.35 to $10.75 next year.
Although the hearings took place expressly to get input on the possible rise in ticket prices, Jeff Lowe, NICTD chief operating officer, said those who attended the meetings generally talked about everything but the increase in fares.
South Bend resident Jeff Sutter was one of only two who attended the meeting at the airport. However, he echoed requests heard at the other hearings when he asked for an express route between South Bend and Chicago that would skip several stops.
Sutter said he rides the South Shore an average of three times a week into the Windy City and estimated he has been a passenger 600 times in the last two years.
"I work in the Loop and driving to the Loop every day is madness," he said of Chicago's downtown. "You ride (the train) this often and you see lots of things you'd like to see fixed."
Despite many favoring an express service, Lowe said it is not feasible.
Still, Lowe and the other representatives from NICTD at the meeting empathized with Sutter.
"We agree on the need to bring that commute between South Bend and Chicago under two hours," said John Parsons, spokesman for NICTD. "We're going to get South Bend closer by minutes but it will be substantial minutes."
Sutter also suggested that instead of making a 2 percent across-the-board increases on all tickets, the NICTD raise single tickets by a higher percentage than monthly passes.
Parsons said such a discount already is built into the current prices and that, compared with the cost of driving every day into Chicago, riding the South Shore is a bargain.
Ridership has been steadily increasing, particularly in the past couple of years as gasoline prices have climbed.
To meet the growing demand, the commuter train has requested local and state funds to purchase 12 new rail cars and has plans for a system upgrade that will include new platforms at some stations and new signals.
The rail system has made a lot of improvements, said David Niezgodski, board chairman of NICTD and St. Joseph County Commissioner.
"As we continue to do things, we are constantly called upon to do more," he said.