We all know the increases in the price of hydrocarbons so it is hard to oppose increasing the fares of an already-subsidized transportation medium.
But it would seem that the price of diesel must not really motivation for this increase since the proposal is not
based on distance. Instead of increasing the fare so that more would be charged for longer runs, all users would pay the same increase whether they were going from West Seventh to downtown or from
A more fair fare system would set the basic minimum fee and then charge more for the distance covered. I suspect that we will hear that Transit is not set up to collect fares this way. It would be a disingenuous argument for Transit to make since they have set up the present apparatus, but that won’t stop them from making it.
Another option is to establish a flat rate for each municipality covered. I don’t know the amount, but a more fair number can be figured out without unduly increasing the burden on local people who travel locally.
Taxpayers are subsidizing the whole thing anyhow, but doesn't it seem that they are subsidizing the longer rider more?
But fairness and Transit have seldom been connected, so why would we expect differently now?
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think that if you look around at a lot of things that you will find that the cost of energy and gasoline in particular is being given as a ruse for many rate increases in a lot of businesses. Gas prices and the oil companies and the Arabs are convenient whipping boys.
Metro Transit is probably one of the most honest of the people using energy costs as a rationale for an increase. But you are right. It really is disingenuous to continue to treat distance as not being a major factor in costs. They made the determination several years ago to flatten the rates and do not seem inclined to change that, even as they get fancy computer systems to calculate fares, issue transfers, etc.
When I was a little girl I used to get on the Selby-Lake bus with my mother or my big sister. We paid when we got on and when we got off in Minneapolis we paid again. Each city was a separate fare.
But I guess that we are too metropolitanized [if that’s a word] to do things that way any more.
Cherokee Park lawyer
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