There were fewer riders on CART buses last month, but with each ride costing more, the nonprofit group still saw a significant increase in revenue.

Lee Maloney, executive director of Community Alliance for Regional Transportation, said it had an increase of 86 percent in fare revenue.

Since the program started in 2006, a ride cost $2. But last month, fares jumped as high as $6 for some trips.

A ride within the same town costs $3, a ride across town lines costs $4, and a ride outside the seven-town region costs $6.

As a result, fewer people used the service last month, but Maloney said she doesn't expect that to last long.

"I don't really have a problem with that," she said.

Just about every public transportation provider goes through a temporary drop in ridership when they raise prices, Maloney said.

Last month, CART gave 1,158 rides, which generated $4,062 in fare revenue. In September, CART provided 1,340 rides and 1,365 in August, according to Maloney.

CART was forced to increase fares after a 70 percent cut in state funding and Sandown's decision to leave the alliance. CART is only receiving $2,000 from the state this year, compared with the $8,500 it received in previous years.

CART has decreased the number of hours it provides rides, Maloney said.

Rides are available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., but Maloney said its drivers have cut back about 20 hours per month.

That doesn't mean there aren't drivers available when someone calls for a ride to the doctor or supermarket.

They're just rearranging drivers' schedules to times when they have more requests for rides, Maloney said.

"We had a 40 percent decrease in service denials in October," Maloney said.

In two weeks, those drivers will operate three new buses paid for with the $420,000 in stimulus funding the group received.

The new buses will hit the roads when the decals are put on and drivers are trained on them, Maloney said.

Cutting back on service hours was partly due to CART limiting its request from the seven towns the nonprofit group services, Maloney said.

Derry, Londonderry, Salem, Hampstead, Danville, Windham and Chester are all being asked to pay the same amount for the service next year, she said.

Salem pays the most for the service at $47,500. Communities are billed by population, not by ridership numbers.

Last year, CART suffered the loss of two communities, Plaistow and Sandown. Sandown voters decided against spending $7,620 for the year and Plaistow officials cut funding.

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