New transit fares too high?

[CC420]

^$150 to $300 can be a lot of money for some people. Although if you were paying that money then your best to get a monthly pass. I think the ticket prices are too much but then so is the cost of fuel these days. With the price of oil going up so does the price of everything else. I guess there is no avoiding getting bled in todays economy.

[Canadian Mind]

Originally Posted by nname

Vancouver's transit fare is not high compare to other cities in Canada. But compare to elsewhere in the world, it is. For instances, Whatcom and Skagit transit just south of us only cost $0.75 per ride; Seattle cost $1.50 (or $1.75) for 1 zone fare...


This problem also occur on North Road.. Whenever I took the 97, I see many people walk to the McDonald's on the other side of North Road instead of waiting at the bus loop. When getting on at McDonald's, the bus ride will be within a single zone instead of crossing the zone boundary 30 seconds after getting on the bus at the loop... (ps. did they even pay the skytrain fare?)

Maybe they should create a 4 zones system, with something like
1 zone: $2.50
2 zones: $2.50
3 zones: $3.75
4 zones: $5.00

This will eliminate this kind of problem...

I would think 6 zones with the expanded system; Point Grey/UBC/10th Street, Downtown, Central/East Vancouver, Burnaby/Coquitlam, North/West Surrey, East Surrey/Langley. Each zone would be charged based on how many zones away you were. Travel within your zone is $1.50, one zone away is $2.00, 2 zones away is $2.50, 3 zones away is $3.50, and 4 zones away is $5.00.

Between each zone would be a "buffer" station or two. The point of the buffer zone would be to allow travelers to head into either zone as if it were traveling within their local zone, which should help eliminate the problem of a person working right across a zone boundary from where they live.

Originally Posted by CC420

^$150 to $300 can be a lot of money for some people. Although if you were paying that money then your best to get a monthly pass. I think the ticket prices are too much but then so is the cost of fuel these days. With the price of oil going up so does the price of everything else. I guess there is no avoiding getting bled in todays economy.

pretty much my point. Even at increased prices, transit is still a better alternative to driving. hopefully people will start to live closer to where they work.

[paradigm4]

Originally Posted by Canadian Mind

I would think 6 zones with the expanded system; Point Grey/UBC/10th Street, Downtown, Central/East Vancouver, Burnaby/Coquitlam, North/West Surrey, East Surrey/Langley. Each zone would be charged based on how many zones away you were. Travel within your zone is $1.50, one zone away is $2.00, 2 zones away is $2.50, 3 zones away is $3.50, and 4 zones away is $5.00.

Between each zone would be a "buffer" station or two. The point of the buffer zone would be to allow travelers to head into either zone as if it were traveling within their local zone, which should help eliminate the problem of a person working right across a zone boundary from where they live.

Or we could just implement a distance based charging system with the new smart card that the Province is putting in.

[mr.x]

Originally Posted by paradigm4

Or we could just implement a distance based charging system with the new smart card that the Province is putting in.

i was just about to say that...it's a much fairer system. I could hop on a bus to UBC (i live near Blanca), and the ride might only cost me $0.25. That said, i wonder how monthly and day passes would be implemented.

[Canadian Mind]

Originally Posted by paradigm4

Or we could just implement a distance based charging system with the new smart card that the Province is putting in.

Makes sense.

[nname]

Originally Posted by Canadian Mind

I would think 6 zones with the expanded system; Point Grey/UBC/10th Street, Downtown, Central/East Vancouver, Burnaby/Coquitlam, North/West Surrey, East Surrey/Langley. Each zone would be charged based on how many zones away you were. Travel within your zone is $1.50, one zone away is $2.00, 2 zones away is $2.50, 3 zones away is $3.50, and 4 zones away is $5.00.

Between each zone would be a "buffer" station or two. The point of the buffer zone would be to allow travelers to head into either zone as if it were traveling within their local zone, which should help eliminate the problem of a person working right across a zone boundary from where they live.

I think this is just too complicated with the current fare system...

Greater Vancouver used to have a 12-zones system in the 70s that goes like this:
- Vancouver/UBC
- Burnaby/New Westminster/Coquitlam
- North Vancouver
- West Vancouver
- Richmond
- South Delta
- Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal
- Surrey/North Delta
- Mud Bay
- Cloverdale
- Langley
- White Rock

And the fare (peak, off-peak):
1 zone: 0.25, 0.25
2 zones: 0.40, 0.25
3 zones: 0.60, 0.45
4 zones: 0.80, 0.65
5 zones: 1.00, 0.85
6 zones: 1.20, 1.05
.... and so on

[bils]

Originally Posted by paradigm4

Or we could just implement a distance based charging system with the new smart card that the Province is putting in.

i totally agree as well. if we're looking to eliminate congestion, we should be doing everything possible to discourage short trips taken by vehicles. it seems prohibitive to pay a few bucks to take a short hop down two stations. i would much rather just drive. (i.e., if i was at richmond centre and wanted to go to aberdeen, it would be a ripoff to pay $2.50.... thing is, i can see TONS of shoppers wanting to make that trip via rapid transit... if that trip was 75 cents, it would do WONDERS for no.3 rd)

do it HK style. distance based. smart cards.

sure, monthly/annual passes can be done as well. come up with a reasonable price. riders will be encouraged to take transit whenever possible to increase the value of their pass.