I think keeping the flat fare for buses would be the right thing to do and then switch to a distance fare for SkyTrain/Seabus. As well, adjust the Skytrain/Seabus fares for peak times. This just considers stored value and not cash (as 95% of people use Compass cards)
Peak Fare- Bus $2.10
- SkyTrain/Seabus $1.50 + $0.14/km
Transfers: Same 90 minute window. Transfer fare will be the maximum of the bus fare ($2.10) and the SkyTrain fare. So $2.10 will be the minimum fare unless you are doing a super short SkyTrain only trip.
e.g.
- A trip from King George to Waterfront is about 30km so that trip would be $5.70. This is more than the stored value discount (closer current to cash fare), but I think represents the premium we should value such a quick trip.
- UBC to Lougheed Stn (99 and 13km on SkyTrain) would be $3.32. Flat fare bus trip of $2.10 is included in fare.
- Seabus 3.2km would be $1.95 (bumped up to $2.10 if bus transfer included)
Off-Peak Fare- Bus $2.10
- SkyTrain/Seabus $1.50 + $0.07/km
Transfers: Same 90 minute window. Transfer fare will be the maximum of the bus fare ($2.10) and the SkyTrain fare. So $2.10 will be the minimum fare unless you are doing a super short SkyTrain only trip.
e.g.
- A trip from King George to Waterfront is about 30km so that trip would be $3.60. This is more than the current 1-Zone fare, but as a premium service I still think it should be charged more.
- UBC to Lougheed Stn (99 and 13km on SkyTrain) would be $2.41.
- Seabus 3.2km would be $1.72 (but would be bumped up to $2.10 if a bus transfer is included).
Instead of monthly passes, frequent transit users should be provided a discount on each subsequent trip. Something like 1% after each trip (theoretically after 100 trips, all other trips would be free). For the person doing King George to Waterfront exclusively for work (40 one way trips) the first trip of the month would be $5.70, but the last trip would be $3.42 ($5.70 x (100%-40%)). If you average all forty trips that would total $182.40 which is pretty close to the current monthly pass 3-zone pass.
For a bus rider doing 40 one-way commuting trips, the first trip of the month would be $2.10 and the last trip would be $1.26 for a monthly cost of $67.20. This is a bit of a discount over the monthly pass, but buses are slow and crowded. Also, this doesn't account for additional weekend rides which currently aren't earning revenue with hyper-frequent transit users. Someone doing 100+ bus trips a month would cap out at $105 which I think is fair.
I haven't thought much about a daily rate, but perhaps something like you cap out after 3 trips, and only pay for the 3 most expensive trips you take in a day (prevents people from scamming by taking a short trip a lunch to have a cheap fare put you over the 3 fare threshold). If you are doing similar cost trips, it should work out okay. And even if you have a forth short trip that is free, it's still a free trip.
What are peoples thoughts? I've tried to capture peak/off-peak, simplicity for buses, discounts for frequent riders, premiums for SkyTrain but lower fares for short distances, same 90 minute transfer window. Also, I'm open to adjusting the base fares or $/km rate if it turns out this reduces revenue (ideally it would be the same revenue). Also, I think having tap-out on buses and using the same distance formula would be the best, but I think it would be easier to implement this way.