Would a distance based fare payment system be a good thing for NYC Subway?

[JubaionBx12+SBS]

Answer the question above with your honest opinion.

[metsfan]

No.

 

- A

[checkmatechamp13]

No it wouldn't. The reason being is that first of all, it would be too complicated to have people swipe their MetroCard at both the entry and exit point. Second of all, the poorer neighborhoods tend to more outlying, so people on the Upper East Side would pay $2.25 to get from their home to Midtown Manhattan, while people in Brownville have to pay $6 to get to Midtown. Statistically, lower income people tend to take the longer trips in NYC, so the person paying $2.25 to go a mile is subsidizing a person who pays $2.25 to travel across the city.

[MattTrain]

Distance based would not work and it shouldn't be implemented at all. This isn't the railroad you know.

[Guest lance25]

No. You can't apply railroad logic to buses & the subway. There's a reason why the double fare to enter the Rockaways was eliminated.

[TwoTimer]

No. You can't apply railroad logic to buses & the subway. There's a reason why the double fare to enter the Rockaways was eliminated.

 

As well as why they've tried their best to hold down fares on the SIRR, otherwise effectively unless you worked in lower Manhattan within walking distance, the whole of SI is a two fare zone.

[EE Broadway Local]

Distance based would not work and it shouldn't be implemented at all. This isn't the railroad you know.

That is true that New York is used to a single fare, but other systems do have a distance or zone based system. Notably Washington, D.C., BART, PATCO and the London Underground.

[Grand Concourse]

But some of them are more like Commuter RRs than typical subway lines.

[EE Broadway Local]

Good point. Probably the best examples of a distance based system would be the Washington, D.C. Metrorail and London Underground.

[ladyjay114]

No.

 

I've been on both the D.C. and London subway systems and the distance-fare is a pain in the neck unless you have an unlimited card. I had a 3-day unlimited in London, but I didn't in DC and it seemed as if I was always putting money on that fare card.

 

Also, I think distance-fare is a bad idea because the MTA still hasn't mastered the Metrocard system yet. We still have issues with the money machines and the turnstiles. We have a basic fare system yet if you swipe too fast or too slow, the turnstile loses your ride. Imagine if it has to figure out what fare you need to be charged..... I can only imagine the bottlenecks at the stations :cry::eek::mad::tdown:

[Nova RTS 9147]

That is true that New York is used to a single fare, but other systems do have a distance or zone based system. Notably Washington, D.C., BART, PATCO and the London Underground.

 

There's a different construct there. WMATA, BART, PATCO and The Tube have commuters coming from different municipalities into a main business district. It's one thing to charge out-of-towners a higher fair, but charging city residents zone fair is a whole new unchartered (for good reason) territory.

[PATCOman]

I don't think NYC should get fare zones. Maybe because I'm used to the flat fare by living here my whole life.

 

PATCO and PATH are similar by being a subway in Philadelphia/New York and going to New Jersey, but PATCO's fares are distance based, and PATH's is a flat $1.75.

[TwoTimer]

If you take the near Metro North/LIRR (like what runs in Westchester/Nassau) and combine it with the subway, u get the DC Metro.

[metsfan]

If you take the near Metro North/LIRR (like what runs in Westchester/Nassau) and combine it with the subway, u get the DC Metro.

 

No, not really. The metro rail is much more like PATH. Rapid transit heavy rail.

 

- A

[cdi919]

yes. since the has decided to try and run the system off the fares they should use fare zones. to go from 241st on the to rock park on the for 2.25 is a steal. it should cost at least 5 dollars. if the money was managed well it could help pull the system out of debt. but the key word is managed well. as far as the public not wanting it. they really have no choice. they really did not want the metrocard but they had to learn to live with it. its the moving into the future.

[Nova RTS 9147]

yes. since the has decided to try and run the system off the fares they should use fare zones. to go from 241st on the to rock park on the for 2.25 is a steal. it should cost at least 5 dollars. if the money was managed well it could help pull the system out of debt. but the key word is managed well. as far as the public not wanting it. they really have no choice. they really did not want the metrocard but they had to learn to live with it. its the moving into the future.

 

Could the same logic be applied to congestion pricing? I don't think it's fair that one can drive from Wakefield (or Mount Vernon/Westchester County for that matter) to the Rockaways while only paying $1.75. Now thats a steal!

[cdi919]

Could the same logic be applied to congestion pricing? I don't think it's fair that one can drive from Wakefield (or Mount Vernon/Westchester County for that matter) to the Rockaways while only paying $1.75. Now thats a steal!

 

it could in theory. make it like the jersey turnpike. u pay based on distance.

[w8Hou]

Hell NO.

 

You will kill the ridership.

[553 Bridgeton]

I say it could work. Just count Manhattan,Bronx,Brooklyn,Queens as zones. To go from Dyre Av to 125th Street would cost 4.50 and vise versa. This could bring money to the MTA. But from Far Rockaway to Eastchester is 2.25 is indeed a steal. YOu know how much gas that would cost.

[TrainFanatic]

I say no. Implementing this idea would increase fare beaters hopping the turnstiles because he/she does not want to pay $7 to get from Coney Island to Chinatown.

[Donald]

No. You can't apply railroad logic to buses & the subway. There's a reason why the double fare to enter the Rockaways was eliminated.

 

Technically you can. Many subways, such as Washington D.C., are distance based. Plus my father, a retired conductor, once spoke with someone back when they installed the current turnstlyes and he said that they have the ability to charge people based on the distance traveled.

 

But having a distance based fare would be a tax increase on the poor since they travel further.

[Nova RTS 9147]

Technically you can. Many subways, such as Washington D.C., are distance based. Plus my father, a retired conductor, once spoke with someone back when they installed the current turnstlyes and he said that they have the ability to charge people based on the distance traveled.

 

But having a distance based fare would be a tax increase on the poor since they travel further.

 

Again, WMATA doesn't just serve Washington D.C., but also different municipalities throughout the metro area (a metro area that includes two states). So that technically is applying railroad logic to our subway system.

[RokuSix]

I would argue against it.

 

First of all, when traveling on the subway, you do not leave the boundaries of New York City. Compare this to the railroads, where you go across various cities and towns. It doesn't make sense to charge for zones when technically, you're in the same zone.

 

Plus, this would ruin the economies of various neighborhoods. For example, who from the Bronx would want to visit Coney Island or the Rockaways for the same price it would cost them to get to Rye or Connecticut? You would have far fewer people from the north spending money in Brooklyn and Queens, and vice versa.

[Queens Surface]

Add a Rail Road system of fare payment, people will crush load the buses instead and create another issue.

[Ms. W Supporter]

No it wouldn't. The reason being is that first of all, it would be too complicated to have people swipe their MetroCard at both the entry and exit point. Second of all, the poorer neighborhoods tend to more outlying, so people on the Upper East Side would pay $2.25 to get from their home to Midtown Manhattan, while people in Brownville have to pay $6 to get to Midtown. Statistically, lower income people tend to take the longer trips in NYC, so the person paying $2.25 to go a mile is subsidizing a person who pays $2.25 to travel across the city.

 

If they raise the one way fair to $3.00, yes, because round trip even for a short distance would be $6.00 (would feel like ripping out a kidney). I rather one way fare (distance based) to start at $1.60 and end at $3.50 (like in Japan) instead of the whole system being $3.00. Low income residents (like me) would save money with a distance based fair between $1.60-$3.00 instead of selling a kidney for a system wide $3.00 one way fair.

 

Distance based can work as long as the MTA keeps it reasonable e.g under $3.00 one way.

 

Distance based would not work and it shouldn't be implemented at all. This isn't the railroad you know.

 

Not only railroads have distance based pricing. As mention earlier, DC, London, and of course, Japan, use distance based. We are probably one of the very few that don't.

 

If you take the near Metro North/LIRR (like what runs in Westchester/Nassau) and combine it with the subway, u get the DC Metro.

 

That's how JR East runs, rapid service and communter rail on the same tracks following the same system.