ARTICLE: Bus riders see inequities in proposed Metro fare increases

[Tritransit Area]

I will say that I don't like how it'll affect everyone, but not because of the rich or poor issue.

My thing is that while WMATA is proposing these fare increases and service cuts, they are not proposing other fare options that could be more viable than what is currently being put on the table. A unified bus/rail pass (IMO) is long overdue....

I don't understand why there isn't a Regional Pass - they did it with Smartrip.  I dunno how people manage to commute easily down there when a good many trips must be multi-modal and multi-agency.  Honestly, a Regional Bus Pass (or at least multi-agency and multi-modal) should have been the priority OVER the Smartrip.  Or...is that in the plans when they eventually make it possible to load passes onto Smartrip?

[Scrabbleship]

Whenever transfers aren't free, I'm reminded of the regular rants I'd hear back when I lived in Albany and someone would bring up that it cost more to get from (Hospital/Supermarket/Mall) to (Part of town not near any of the 3)  than from Albany to (Downtown Schenectady/Troy). Of course it is, you're paying cash in a system that has many pass options. Of course, then they'd complain that the daypass option ($4, base fare $1.50) cost "too much".
(

That's a steal compared to what Philly is proposing.  We will have $2 base fare, $1.55 per token, and $1 transfers that can only be used once in two hours to a connecting route, not returning to the origin of the trip.  Our [ in ]Convenience Pass, which only allows 8 transit trips in one day, will cost $7, and the Independence Pass (unlimited rides on everything SEPTA outside of Jersey) will cost $11.   The annoyingly ridiculous zone fare will remain at 50 cents.

I should've also mentioned that good 'ol CDTA went 14 years without a fare increase of any sort because their dedicated funding (mortgage recording tax) kept things at bay perhaps a bit too long, especially since they drew funds from areas they provided no service to. When it went up to $1.50, everything went up 50% across the board though they did begin rolling passes.

Of course, being the bizarro city it is, the one rider pressure organization (which is heavy on the elderly/disabled as its head is both) is more concerned with the buses not going into one of the malls than a fare increase. I swear I lived in bizarro world before DC...

Is cost of living that much higher up here than down in DC, where people are better able to afford this type of stuff in PA?

I think WMATA's refusal to raise transit fares is a "bone" being thrown to people for the alleged high cost of living. I think it's the same situation in Boston where the MBTA's pass fare structure is so out of wack ($9 for a daily but $15 for a weekly? $59 for a monthly?).