Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

LennyKravitzScarf t1_ja8i0c9 wrote

Reply to comment by Middle-Example6618 in MBTA won’t roll out $935M automated fare payment system in 2024 by weallgettheemails2

Using January 2019 monthly ridership data, we had 672k monthly bus rides and 1.7 million subway rides. At the current fare, that’s $2.37 million of fares/month. A billion dollars would be 35 years of free bus and subway service.

12

AboyNamedBort t1_ja8ncjg wrote

Buses should be free. It makes boarding so much quicker.

10

ahecht t1_ja8vs40 wrote

The new system will allow any-door boarding on busses and fare validation once on board, so it should be just as fast.

6

thebruns t1_jaaopm8 wrote

You mean like Charlie did in 2006 before they cancelled it since some people were upset that not everyone was paying?

3

ahecht t1_jaarrna wrote

Not quite. That system was the people would enter through any door and then fight there way up to the front to pay at the the kiosk by the driver. With the new system there won't be a kiosk at the front. There will be touchpoints throughout the car, and when you get on you tap at any touchpoint. There will be inspectors boarding the trains at random and checking people's cards/phones, and if anyone didn't tap in they get a fine. This is the same system that many European cities use.

4

thebruns t1_jaas0uc wrote

There were payment terminals at surface stations that dispenses a paper proof of payment ticket. There WERE inspectors boarding the trains at random and checking people's cards/receipts, and if anyone didn't have one they got a fine. This is the same system that many European cities use.

After about a year of this, those machines sat unused for 8 years before they were installed on the Fairmount line where they are in use today.

2

RhaenyrasUncle t1_jabp5mk wrote

Every form of transit should be free.

Simply assess an extra property tax to everyone who lives within X distance of an MBTA subway station.

2

swni t1_jaaq9q0 wrote

That doesn't seem right, as of 2014 it is close to a million subway rides per weekday. 2019 fares were 671.4m. Last year fares were only $200m though obviously that was mostly a temporary decline. https://cdn.mbta.com/sites/default/files/financials/budgets/fy19-itemized-budget.pdf

3

LennyKravitzScarf t1_jaatk5h wrote

I’m sure I messed up some math somewhere, but I pulled out just subway and bus rides form the January 2019 data from the mbta website. The 671m figure includes commuter rail and ferry.

1

Shoobert t1_jaahljz wrote

Wish they would have just put that billion in an endowment fund and use that money to fund it in perpetuity with free rides for all. Shit, levy a sales tax and ad that to the fund annually to increase the principle while we're at it.

2