Several GRTC officials said the new VCU partnership, as well as a similar agreement with Richmond Public Schools that cost the city an additional $270,000, have contributed to an increase in ridership.

While the city and VCU combined are paying nearly $1.5 million for the deal, GRTC officials said this week that they aren’t sure whether that amount is enough to cover their operating costs.

VCU and RPS students and faculty eligible to ride for free have accounted for about 64,000 rides each month on GRTC’s buses from October through December. (That number does not include people from VCU who ride the Pulse because GRTC is currently unable to track who is boarding those buses.)

Barry Herring, GRTC’s chief financial officer, said people who are “gaming” the fare system on the Pulse are also affecting the company’s bottom line.

He said that cost savings on the expense side of the budget and other revenues are balancing out the worse-than-expected revenues, but that it is nonetheless an area of concern, especially if nothing changes.

“What we have to be concerned about is our operating revenues, including our customer fares,” Herring said. “The advent of what fare enforcement may be doing should shore that up, because I think we’re losing quite a bit there.”