Why not one flat rate for the entire Metro system??? (purchasing, gated)
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(i'm no expert on the numbers) But what would it take to get flat rate fare for the entire Metro System? I thinks $2 is a fair price for rail and bus trips.
It would be $2.70 in the most recent report from WMATA.
For the sake of simplicity, you're completely throwing equity out the window. Personally I think it makes more sense to pay for something based on your actual use instead of having the short-distance commuters massively subsidize the long-distance commuters. If you have a small system, then a flat rate can make sense. When you're working with 100 miles of rail, the inequities become glaring, which is why the proposal to go to a flat rate has been wildly unpopular - especially in the district.
NYCT would go to a fare structure like ours tomorrow if they didn't have to replace the turnstile systems in 468 stations to do it.
"Poor inner city people subsidizing the rich suburbanites" would be the complaint.
Certainly not the only complaint. Look at the distances. If you commuted a few miles, would you think it's fair to pay the same as someoen traveling five times the distance? Not just a matter of poor vs. rich (and there are some pretty wealthy people inside the District, though some, like in Georgetown, didn't want Metro). Rail costs more than busses to maintain, if I'm not mistaken. If you do want to push for a flat-rate, contact the Metro board. Do other systems covering equally large distances charge flat rates? I don't know. Toll roads (e.g., Dulles) charge by distance, don't they?
The problem with a flat rate is it is not fair in the end. What is the max and minimum now 2.75 and 1.50? Let's say they made it to 2.50. People who dont ride it very far would be paying more so people who do use it more can pay less. Let's say they made it $2.75 so now people who ride it a short distance are paying the same rate as people who use it a longer distance. Let's say it is $1 so now people who use it more are charged the same rate as people who use it less. The more people who are on a metro the more they contribute to expenses. The current system tries to correlate revenues to expenses. By charging a flat rate everyone is paying the same amount despite use. It is a fair system. Why change it to an unfair one?
The only argument for a simpler fare system is the cost savings in terms of fare purchasing and collecting equipment (like we could use tokens or something). However, we already have all the necessary infrastructure for variable fares. I think it would just be foolish not to use it. I mean if I'm going one stop why should I pay as much as some guy going from Greenbelt to Virginia. Also the variable rates allow us to have peak hours which can encourage or discourage metro use so it can be used to its maximum profitability and potential at all times.
"Poor inner city people subsidizing the rich suburbanites" would be the complaint.
The "poor" living on the fringe of DC bear the brunt of the current system's fare structure on long daily commutes .... Many of inner city "poor" residents maybe Metro bus riders.
The "poor" living on the fringe of DC bear the brunt of the current system's fare structure on long daily commutes .... Many of inner city "poor" residents maybe Metro bus riders.
Indeed. It's much harder on some dude taking the train from Branch Avenue to Farragut North than Richie Rich taking the train from Cleveland Park to Dupont.
As KStreet says, almost any transit system would prefer to have a distance based fare system if they could; both NYC and Chicago investigated the possibility when installing new turnstiles, and every single new-build metro system I know of (except Beijing) has variable fares.
Most toll roads cost more if you drive longer. Airfares to Australia cost more than to Alabama. The Chinatown bus costs more to Boston than Philadelphia. Every commuter rail system in the USA uses distance based prices, and some of them don't even go as far as Metro. Why shouldn't Metro cost less from Anacostia than from Rockville and Vienna? After all, aren't the area's suburban counties -- Prince George's included -- some of the wealthiest in the country?
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