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I have been to may countries and I have travel on may Metro trains around the world. Metro train are considered as mass mode of transportation, easy convenient and less costly, but it seems that Metro in DC is just opposite. It is very costly and furthermore there is two fare rates for same place/distance of charges (off peak and peak rates). Even consider metro of other US cities like New York, DC metro is expensive.
Yet another things, I could not understand that, despite of charging so high fare, there is lack of basic service like availability of public restroom at metro station. (Normally other part of the world they have those). What riders will do in case of any emergency(health problem)?
Ok, Ok, how many times is this going to come up? Well, fares are so high because there is no dedicated source of funding, like the rest of the world or even the rest of America.
Also, I think they do have rest rooms, just the public doesn't know about them. If you had an emergency, just ask the station manager and tell them its an emergency, and they'll give you the keys, with great hesitation.
Ok, Ok, how many times is this going to come up? Well, fares are so high because there is no dedicated source of funding, like the rest of the world or even the rest of America.
Also, I think they do have rest rooms, just the public doesn't know about them. If you had an emergency, just ask the station manager and tell them its an emergency, and they'll give you the keys, with great hesitation.
Yes they do. I've used one of them in at the Gallery Place/Chinatown station one time. It was right next to this other room, probably a maintenance or custodian room. You do have to ask them though for keys in case of an emergency-only though. Basically if you REALLY have to go.
You can ask to use the restroom at any time. Unless it is out of the service they will get the key and let you go in. I am pretty sure that they keep it locked in order to dissuade homeless people from camping out in there. The facilities are dated and a bit old but normally really clean inside. You know that they are meant for the public because the workers often have their own restroom.
Just looking at MTA/NYCT. MTA's cheap flat rate has bought them $34.4 billion in debt. Their infrastructure constantly on the brink of collapse, and they are planning to borrow another $15 billion over the next 5 years to keep things going. The interest they pay on their debt service annually at that point will eclipse the size of the WMATA budget.
Our fare/funding structure isn't enough to properly maintain our rapid transit system either, but I can't impress enough the absolute disaster that will be for the state of NY (which guarantees the debt) when MTA debt comes to a head. They won't be able to deal with it; we're talking a major federal bailout.
Our bus fares are cheaper than NYC. I can get to 35 stations from my metro for the price of an NYCT subway fare or less at peak of peak. I can get to 54 stations from my metro for less than the price of NYCT off-peak.
WMATA is only more expensive than NYCT if you're taking rail for long trips.
"So expensive"? Consider that for short rail trips within the city, Metro charges a lower fare than most other North American transit systems -- even though this region has one of the continent's highest median incomes:
Baltimore: $1.60
WMATA fare: $1.75 minimum
San Francisco BART: $1.85 minimum
Boston: $2.10
Chicago: $2.25
San Francisco Muni: $2.25
Philadelphia: $2.25
Atlanta: $2.50
NYC: $2.50
Portland: $2.50
Toronto: $3.00
Montreal: $3.00
Ok, Ok, how many times is this going to come up? Well, fares are so high because there is no dedicated source of funding, like the rest of the world or even the rest of America.
Also, I think they do have rest rooms, just the public doesn't know about them. If you had an emergency, just ask the station manager and tell them its an emergency, and they'll give you the keys, with great hesitation.
What do you mean "no dedicated source of funding?" Fares are a dedicated source of funding. And so are the MD/DC/VA municipal contributions provided every year.
What do you mean "no dedicated source of funding?" Fares are a dedicated source of funding. And so are the MD/DC/VA municipal contributions provided every year.
Most states and localities dedicate a certain percentage of sales/gas taxes for public transportation. Atlanta has the same problem so we're not the only ones either.
If you look at the breakdown of revenues by subway systems, the DC Metro relies on a disproportionate amount of fares compared to most cities which explains part of the reason we have such high fares.
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