Fair fares? part two
I mentioned in a previous post that SEPTA was going to increase fares 11 percent, and today those new prices went into effect. Weekly passes will cost $20.75, up from $18.75; monthly passes will rise to $78 from $70, and day passes will be $6 instead of $5.50. And as of now, there wil be no service cuts. The new fares will bring the the 2008 budget down to $100 million, with hopes that state Legislature will cover with a mass-transit funding stream. If all goes well, there won’t be the need to to execute the “doomsday” plan that would raise fares 24 percent with service cuts.
But the real concern now is that people will try to avoid the high prices and find alternatives to public transportation. SEPTA officials already expect 22,000 less daily riders. They can only hope the increasing gas prices will be enough to keep riders on the buses and trains. (See here for more of the SEPTA fare crisis.)
Pennsylvania’s budgeting problems aren’t exclusive to public transportation. State parks, museums and drivers licence offices have been temporarily closed. (You can click here to read a full article from the Philadelphia Inquirer. Or visit Myfoxphilly.com to find out what else has been effected.)
So what can you do to help? First and foremost, continue to support public services, including public transportation. You can also contact your local representative in Harrisburg and let them know how the budget crisis is effecting you. (If you don’t know who you representative is, you can look them up here.)
Budget crisis, SEPTA, fare increase
July 11th, 2007 at 10:33 am
Clearly a short-sighted fix to a bigger problem.
SEPTA has sooo many issues, it needs a complete overhaul. Chasing riders away by increasing fares is not the solution.
The most egregious bit of the plan, I think, is the elimination of transfers. A lot of people rely on transfers to get to work and school. Their fares have now skyrocketed.
July 11th, 2007 at 6:03 pm
I think the logic behind eliminating transfers is supposed to be that it will encourage people to buy the trail passes. Will it work? i don’t know. I started buying passes back before the fare hike and i gotta say, they are great. with the amount i ride the bus, i definitely save money. and its nice not having to dig around for change.
July 12th, 2007 at 8:02 am
I overheard an interesting conversation on the bus about how they want to move away from accepting cash on the bus all together. That the goal is to encourage people, like you said Meg, to buy passes, but also tokens since they are still cheaper than cash fare.