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| Re: WhineMATA (951396) | |||
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Re: WhineMATA |
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Posted by Dupont Circle Station on Thu Jul 1 20:31:01 2010, in response to Re: WhineMATA, posted by WMATAGMOAGH on Thu Jul 1 17:57:40 2010. Distance-based fares simply discourage ridership on rapid transit. Metro needs to get over its insistence on trying to act like it's a commuter rail system. It isn't. That may have sold people on using it back in 1976 but not today. It has also outgrown its "gubbmint worker shuttle" role. It is used just as much by folks for short rides as it is by commuters, and as you well know it is heavily used outside of peak hours. Metro has reached the point where it must accept it is a utility used by the average Joe, not a premium service for well-to-do suburbanites.I have a friend who lives in Temple Hills and has to be at work in Rockville at 7AM. For him to take Metro would cost $15 per day for fare and parking (since the bus from near his house to Branch Av doesn't run until 6:15, it's 20 minutes to the station, and the train trip is at least 59 minutes). That's $75 per week. It costs him about the same for gas. He chooses to drive because it generally takes 20-30 minutes less than the subway, it's door-to-door, and it's at his convenience. Back when gas was over $4/gallon, you'll recall how everyone was crowing about all the people who switched to Metro because it was cheaper. Well, when gas prices went down, many of those folks went back to driving their cars every day. They need to be won back for the long haul. I had also suggested to Jim Graham inverting the distance/cost calculation. He told me that was completely out of the question because, regardless of how sound the logic and rationale, a lot of folks in DC would view that as favoring suburbanites and the discussion would rapidly degenerate into the "R" word being flung about wildly. I chose the Beltway because it's a widely-understood, fixed boundary. It's also far enough out so those coming from beyond couldn't claim it as being totally unreasonable. And other than the outer Red Line, there is only a handful of stations where that surcharge would apply. While off-peak fares would increase, peak fares would decrease considerably. Provided WMATA makes tangible improvements to the customer experience, accountability, abolishing outdated or ineffective practices, and once and for all making rail and bus operations play nice with each other, this will ultimately lead to a substantial increase in ridership and revenues. |
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