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For 2008, Capital Metro is planning to double bus fare for adult passengers from 50 cents to $1. Other fares would increase in proportion (students would have to pay 50 cents instead of 25 cents for local/rapid routes); the Dillo would remain free for everyone. In their informational brochure(.pdf), Capital Metro makes a point of saying that the current fares have been the same since 1985, while operational costs keep going up. Is this fare hike deserved? Do you use the bus enough to care about a rate hike?
Open community forums on the fare hike will be held starting next week, so you can tell Cap. Metro what you think about it.
- Thursday, Aug. 23 5:30-7:30 pm, Conley-Guerrero Senior Activity Center, 808 Nile Street [map], Bus Routes 2, 17 & 300
- Monday, Aug. 27 5:30-7:30 pm, Austin Public Library, Carver Branch, 1161 Angelina [map], Bus Routes 2 & 320
- Tuesday, Aug. 28 6-8 pm, Austin Community College, Pinnacle Campus, 7748 Highway 290 West, Bus Route 333
- Wednesday, Aug. 29 6-8 pm Pat Bryson Hall @ Leander City Hall, 201 N. Brushy Street [map]
[Capital Metro: Proposed 2008 Fare Adjustments]
Photo by Matt Wright on flickr
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Maybe they wouldn't "need to" raise fares if they didn't offer Whole Foods employees a 300% discount and Statesman employees a 400% discount on monthly passes. Four months of public transportation for $10? - it probably costs more in North Korea.
I feel for the people this will hurt the most, but at the same time our public transportation is ridiculously cheap. I hope they can find a way to help those who this will hurt the most.
I can certainly afford to pay $20 for all my transportation needs for a month. That's still a savings of $510 off what I spent using my car. And it's still less than a tank of gas. It's hard to argue that unlimited rides around town for 30 days for less than the cost of a tank of gas is too expensive.
I wish Cap Metro offered service to Cap TX Hwy. I'd totally ride the bus to work.
It's about time. My one gripe is that they are discontinuing the half-price pass. Now there is no incentive to encourage frequent travel. Marketing 101 states that you give a discount with larger purchases, especially if you prepay.
Why get rid of the half price pass? Most people can't justify a monthly pass but can justify pre-paying for rides if they get a discount.
Another gripe about getting rid of the half-price pass: now you'll always have to remember to carry dollar bills. While the rest of the world is going to a cash-less society Capmetro is taking a step back. The nice thing about the pass is you can buy the card and not have to worry about carrying spare dollar bills around all the time.
i lived in portland for 4 years and bus prices (which i think started out higher than even these new cap metro rates) rose at least twice while i was there. one rate hike in 22 years is nothing to complain about. a monthly trimet pass is almost twice as expensive as a monthly capmetro pass, and portland seems to be getting along just fine...
I think the increase in fares is probably justified, and I concur with the above commenter who said he hopes they'll find some way to have discount fares available to those that may be truly hurt by the fare increase. Further, I think keeping some sort of pre-paid card as an option is a good idea -- even if the discount isn't as steep as it has been, a discount for bulk purchase and enabling people to have a paid card is probably ideal.
Are those discounts for Whole Foods and Statesman employees not subsidized by the companies?
You haven't been able to ride the bus for 50 cents in at least 2 years anyway. The drivers make you purchase a day pass for $1. Still, compared to other cities where a $1 for a whole day of travel is a steal. So is $20 for a whole month.
elizabeth, thanks for this great post.
historically, fare hikes have been most punishing to those who can least afford them: low-income riders who live outside of the city limits.
as a proud texas bus rider, i've also observed that lots of disabled people, students and garden-variety addicts ride, too.
none of these groups are particularly well-off, but it strikes me that perhaps UT should shoulder some of the transit system's burden.
it's so frustrating when an already drag-ass system (about an order of magnitude less efficient than car transport) jacks up the $$$.
i hope to get to one of these forums.
thanks again.
An easy way to help those who will hurt the most from this is to keep the half-price pass. I know I sound like a broken record but it would be simple to hand these passes out at homeless shelters or soup kitchens so the destitute don't have to beg for dollar bills to ride the bus.
With this pass a mother can afford to take her kids to the park on the weekend by using her pass and not have to carry the cash to get them there and back. A monthly pass will only get her on the bus but she can use the half-price pass to get all her kids on the bus.
The drivers don't make you buy a day pass. Get out two quarters and ta da...a one way fare is accomplished.
I ride the bus every day. It's my main form or transport. While this fare hike is really very cheap compared to other cities, does the hike really justify the system? What i mean is, the current system kind sucks.
Routes don't really go west and the ones that do don't usually run on Sunday. (Ever had to ride the 19 on a regular basis?)
It takes 3 hours to get northwest-south (and vice versa) and usually 3 or 4 bus changes. It takes almost the same amount of time and bus transfers to get east to northeast.
I ride one bus...the 3. To get from Northcross transit to oltorf and lamar takes an hour.
The system sucks (though, it's still better and safer than most large cities systems), so show me what you plan on doing with that extra $1 a day, and I might be ok with the hike.
Cap Metro does about as well as you can do with a bus-only system in an area where parking downtown is readily available and not too expensive. The fare rise is minor - and long overdue, if for nothing else than to keep up with inflation; but it has the added benefit of taking a bit of the wind out of the sails of the self-identified libertarian asshats who whine about CM's low farebox recovery.
As a daily bus rider, I have no problem with higher fares IF they improve service. It's ridiculous that it takes one hour to get from 2nd & Congress to Metric & Braker on the 1M. That's an avg. of about 8 mph.
Agreed Kenneth1. Agreed.