Fighting Subway Fare Increases

I'm a big fan of the concept of public transit.  I'm not always a big fan of the execution.  New York City has a fantastic system for the most part.  You can go almost anywhere you want to go, 24 hours days, 365 days a week.  There are not many cities that can probably lay claim to such a service schedule.

However the benefits in NYC do come at a price - an increasing price that at least in recent years does not seem to result in noticeable differences in service.  Although I love the access of the NYC subway, it is probably the dirtiest subway system on the face of the planet.  What makes it worse is that since I have lived in NYC, ticket prices have increased 30%, but I have no idea where that money goes. 

I would not mind paying extra if the result was cleaner stations and trains, working escalators, and more station attendants, however service only seems to get worse. The utter stupidity of people is one obvious problem.  I cannot fathom what goes through someones mind when they spit their gum on a subway platform. 

Anyway, I actually don't ride the subway very often which gets to the point of the post.  I much prefer riding my bike to riding the subway.  I recently spotted this bike and the owner is responding to the recent news that once again subway fares are increasing. 

Upon closer examination you can clearly see the selling points. 

Comments

[Ron Ablang]

Our Light Rail system also has constant increases as well w/o any increase in service or value.

They are not encouraging folks to use public transit.

[Swimfast.wordpress.com]

I'm very disappointed by this blog post. I have been reading Bike Hacks for several months and really enjoy it. I am a regular bike commuter in NYC, however I do take the subway when needed.

The New York subway bashing has got to stop and people need to learn where the money from the subway comes/goes. Actual fare receipts do not cover the subway, and the tax revenue is tied to real estate taxes. As we are all aware, when the bubble burst, so did the money allocated toward the MTA. What's worse, the dysfunctional legislators in Albany have actually dipped into the MTA's coffers to help plug budget deficits elsewhere.

The MTA is required by law to have a balanced budget at the end of every year, and with a lack of funding it must increase fares and reduce service. Part of this has been reducing cleaning forces as well, although I think the cleanliness is to be expected for one of the only systems in the world that runs 24/7.

Still, the MTA costs less today accounting for inflation than it did when it first started. While switching to cycling is the economical and better way to travel, this can be said without having to disrespect the one organization that fuels New York City's economy. Without the subway system the city would not run. While we continue to enourage bike lanes, we must also make transit more accessible for everyone.

Please do more research next time you make an offhanded comment.

For more information, please visit:

www.transalt.org
www.streetsblog.org
www.mta.info (where they post all financial information)
www.secondavenuesagas.com

[Tony Bullard]

Try Atlanta. MARTA just raised rates and CUT a ton of service. The new schedule means if I don't leave work 3 minutes early, I get home 25 minutes later. Same for heading into work. If I don't pedal fast enough, I'm almost half an hour late.

The State of Georgia seems to be doing all it can to destroy the transit system we have.

[Matt]

Swimfast - good comment, but I must take exception, just some healthy debate =)

Sorry, I will not stop what you call "subway bashing." Sure more research can be done, but I consider my eyes, nose, and ears to be great research tools.

Each year I ride subway systems all over the world and NYC's system is FAR, FAR behind almost every system in terms of cleanliness, timeliness, noise, and generating revenue through advertising. It is also hard to believe that ridership in any of these cities is greater than ridership in NYC. To name a few, I have strap hanged in Boston, Chicago, D.C., Portland, San Diego, Bangkok, London, Lisbon, Paris, Berlin, Madrid, Tokyo, and Seoul.

I have been riding the subway system for close to a decade in NYC and little has changed. Escalators do not work, there is filth everywhere, the tunnels are loud, and the trains are far behind in technology as compared to other systems.

You raise some great points, however your point about the bubble bursting is not one of them. The service was terrible long before the bubble burst so sorry, that is not really relevant to my point. Why were fares increasing and service staying the same during the boom if this were the case?

You passed on some great information and I will certainly look into it, but officials and riders from other systems around the world literally must plug their noses when they ride our subways.

My solution? "Sell" the subway stations to corporations and let them advertise any way they like. For example, Coke could have the rights to the Times Square station. The city charges Coke and Coke can advertise to their heart's content, any way they like in that station. Then use that money to improve services. There are hundreds of stations in NYC and corporations certainly would be much better at advertising than the MTA. Other stations in the world have all sorts of advertising. Sure it's annoying, but if I have to look at stupid ads in exchange for a clean subway platform, I'll take it!

Debate on . . . =)

Matt