A budget committee of the Somersworth City Council has agreed to support a petition received by the council in April requesting full funding the COAST bus line’s budget.

COAST has requested $44,392 from Somersworth for the next fiscal year. During the last fiscal year, the city only provided 73 percent of the $42,970 COAST requested. As a result, COAST doubled fares to $2 for all buses leaving Somersworth.

Somersworth residents going to Newington or Portsmouth, for which a transfer and an additional $1 fare is required, paid $3 for the cost of a one-way trip, $2 more than a similar trip leaving from Dover or Rochester. COAST bases its funding requests on a number of factors, including a town’s population and the length of the route.

After COAST instituted the fare raise at the beginning of April, 23 Somersworth residents signed a petition requesting that the council provide the full amount requested by COAST in order to correct the situation and prevent further fare hikes.

COAST executive director Steve Wells says fares would be reduced as soon as COAST receives confirmation from the city that it will pay the full requested amount.

Councilor Michael Micucci believes the issue should be settled at a budget meeting on Tuesday, June 6. Micucci says that he believes the council will agree to fully fund the COAST bus service, based on the opinions expressed by his fellow councilors.