Transit Fares

Comparing Bus Fares to Minimum Wage
A bus fare doesn't exist in a vacuum. To understand the true cost of a transit ride, one report compared bus fares to the local minimum wage, revealing Atlanta, Dallas, and Salt Lake City to have the highest fares.

Dallas Area Rapid Transit Overhauling Fare System to Improve User Experience
The changes to DART's fare system will target improvements in the user experience for residents without bank accounts or enough cash to buy monthly passes—i.e., some of the people who need transit most.

Earth Day Special: First Electrified Commuter Rail Lines Opens in Over a Century
The new University of Colorado A-Line service opened as scheduled. Free rides were offered Friday and Saturday to thousands of happy children of all ages to enjoy the 23-mile, 37-minute trip from Union Station to Denver International Airport.
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Wants to End Cash Payments
Boston is the latest of a growing number of cities that could end the use of cash to may for transit tickets. The change does not come without some concern for riders.
Pittsburgh-Area Buses Due for a Fare Overhaul
Public hearings have begun for a proposal that would implement a flat fare system on the Port Authority of Allegheny County transit system.
Beer Company Paying for Transit on New Year's Eve in Washington, D.C.
Miller Lite is shifting from its normal lobbying expenditures in the nation's capital to pick up the tab on the ride home for those taking transit. Here's to getting home safely, tonight and every other night.

Three Ways Mobile Transit Payments Will Change How We Move in Cities
One idea for how to make transit better is rolling out in cities across the country: mobile payment of fares on smartphones.
Early Reviews Are In: Chicago's New Transit App Makes it Easy to Pay the Fare
The Ventra app hits the streets—or the tracks, perhaps—this week. Steven Vance of Streetsblog Chicago has already tested the new tool.
Portland Streetcar Considers Fare Hike, Expanded Service
Long one of the rosiest of transit services in the country, thanks to low fares and its status as progenitor of a streetcar renaissance of sorts, changes are coming to the Portland Streetcar.
New York Subway Fares Jump to $2.75 Today
The $2.50 subway fare is set to rise by a quarter, but will service improve? This New York Times article focuses on problems plaguing the 110-year-old New York subway (second oldest after Boston's), but fares are increasing for all MTA services.
New York MTA Increases Transit Fares to Fund Capital Investments
The latest fare increase for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority comes against the backdrop of record ridership and a $15 billion funding gap for the system's five-year capital plan.
Invention Could Turn Leftover Transit Fares into Charity Donations
How much money goes unused in the form of spare change leftover on transit cards around the world? One invention would allow those fares to go to charity instead of washing away in the laundry or at the bottom of the dump.
Mobile Phone-Enabled Train Tickets Coming to Chicago's Metra
Mobile phones are doubling for tickets onto airplanes and into concerts all over the world. Why not commuter trains too?
Should Transit Systems Break from the Low Fare Orthodoxy?
A proposal for a radical reinvention of the fare structure for the country's transit systems—one that balances the cost of transit with that of driving, generates more revenue from fares, and enables more capital investments.
MARTA's 2015 Budget Expands Rail Service
While many transit agencies around the country have increased fares in recent months to deal with budget deficits, Atlanta's MARTA has reported good financial news and has even proposed a 2015 budget that expands rail service.
Explained: the Ever-Increasing Transit Fare
Boston, Washington D.C., San Francisco, and Los Angeles—all major cities that have mulled transit fare increases in recent months. Eric Jaffe examines the numbers behind the continuous need for transit agencies to raise the price of a fare.
Proposed Transit Fare Increase Provokes Strong Opposition in Los Angeles
More than 500 “activists, students and low-wage workers” spent their Saturday at a public hearing at the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority imploring the agency’s board not to raise fees.
Transit Fare Hike Sparks Civil Unrest in Mexico City
A move by Mexico City's mayor to raise fares for the city's run-down, but essential, subway system by 66 percent has sparked a protest movement.
Bay Area Considers Basing Transit Fares on Need
Transportation officials in the greater San Francisco area have been debating a proposal to provide free public transit for low-income youth. They are now considering the possibility of basing fares on income, rather than age or disability.
Time-Based or Distance-Based Transit Fares: Is One Better Than the Other?
Is there a difference between the two most common fare structures in public transit?
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