Students, seniors and people with disabilities get discounts to ride the bus and light rail. Now, the city of Phoenix is considering offering military veterans a deal.
According to a Valley Metro survey, 6 percent of people who use public transit are veterans. Of those, 17 percent reported using either reduced or free fares.
Phoenix estimates it would cost the city $2 million a year to provide free rides to all veterans and $1.1 million to provide discounts.
To offer free fares only for veterans with an annual income of less than $25,000, Phoenix estimates it would cost $600,000 a year and $300,000 to provide reduced fares.
A city reportsays creating a new category of new and reduced fares would require greater subsidies from transit cities in the region or reductions in services.
City staff plans to conduct more research and any changes must be approved by the city council and Valley Metro.
