Why does Septa gouge Airport and Trenton passengers?

I can almost understand why Septa created the Zone 6 to make more money off the captive casual Trenton rider that more often than not will continue to New York, but why do they charge a premium to the Airport? It's easy to access right off I-95, and from ridership numbers, they're really not off the charts, are they?

cpontani wrote:I can almost understand why Septa created the Zone 6 to make more money off the captive casual Trenton rider that more often than not will continue to New York, but why do they charge a premium to the Airport? It's easy to access right off I-95, and from ridership numbers, they're really not off the charts, are they?

compared to a taxi ($25-30 from the airport to center city) it's a steal, however every time i have been on the R1, it was mostly airport employees as opposed to travelers, and they are getting hosed paying $10 a day to commute to a service job.

i suppose a trans pass would ease the pain a bit, but still a heavy commuting fee for an airport job

Majority of the airport employees who take the airport (R-1) line use the
Monthly or Weekly transpass which is valid on the R1 line - which is approximately $2.07 a ride. Many times I have been on the Airport line and the amount of "travelers" is very significant.

nittany4 wrote:

cpontani wrote:I can almost understand why Septa created the Zone 6 to make more money off the captive casual Trenton rider that more often than not will continue to New York, but why do they charge a premium to the Airport? It's easy to access right off I-95, and from ridership numbers, they're really not off the charts, are they?

compared to a taxi ($25-30 from the airport to center city) it's a steal, however every time i have been on the R1, it was mostly airport employees as opposed to travelers, and they are getting hosed paying $10 a day to commute to a service job.

i suppose a trans pass would ease the pain a bit, but still a heavy commuting fee for an airport job

As someone who used to commute from Paoli to the Airport, I will say this:

Zone 3 Trailpass.

Railroad Division did not remove that loophole from the books (and for all of you that don't know what I am talking about: All Zone 3 and higher passes are valid for travel to ALL zones on ALL off-peak trains.) For someone who had to come from Zone 4 to Center City then to Germantown, Chester, or the Airport SEVEN days a week the Zone 3 was my best friend.

Besides, the Airport Line is partially funded by the city which allows the Transpasses for all trains. The cash fares are designed to get the most out of the occasional rider, not the true commuter.

The Airport Line runs at an incredible deficit (i think fares only cover AROUND 15% of the total costs, last i heard, but i might be wrong) even with the huge one-way fare. If they charged zone 2 fares it would be even worse. Regular riders can use a transpass.

I'm trying to figure out the definition of "gouge" in relation to how much it ought to cost for the journey outlined in this thread. Compared to what the PANYNJ charges as a surcharge for trains connecting to their "AirTrains" at EWR and JFK, is the fare to PHL "gouging" anybody?

Hebrewman9 wrote:The Airport Line runs at an incredible deficit (i think fares only cover AROUND 15% of the total costs, last i heard, but i might be wrong) even with the huge one-way fare.

Operating ratio as of the FY 2007 Annual Service Plan (our copy of the FY 2009 report is at the office) was 25%, tied with Cynwyd for lowest on the system.

And to answer the original question: because they can. As others mentioned, competing transportation modes to the airport are still more expensive, even with the zone 5 peak fare. This is a good and businesslike decision on SEPTA's part.

mb38 wrote:Majority of the airport employees who take the airport (R-1) line use the
Monthly or Weekly transpass which is valid on the R1 line - which is approximately $2.07 a ride. Many times I have been on the Airport line and the amount of "travelers" is very significant.

We also get a discount on the monthly pass... $54.60 - instead of $80.

I actually rode the R3 the other day to West Trenton for free - i showed my pass when I got on at Market East, but the collector never came back to me again after that. (it was the 17.19 Express).

The expresses usually serve commuters leaving Center City. I think I've only seen one or two people boarding the outbound expresses at Forest Hills or Trevose once or twice. If they sit down in your car, expect a conductor coming by.

Anyway, I do use both the Airport and the Trenton lines since I travel quite a bit. Most of the riders are airport employees. There are a few (like myself) that take it for travel purposes. I think that the fare is well worth it. I'd rather pay $18 for a round trip from Langhorne to the airport than pay $50 for airport parking or a taxi.

How about this thought: with the rising cost of fuel and a resulting fare hike with taxis, do you think it would be reasonable for SEPTA to change the airport fares to Zone 6 peak? ($2 increase)

R3 Passenger wrote:How about this thought: with the rising cost of fuel and a resulting fare hike with taxis, do you think it would be reasonable for SEPTA to change the airport fares to Zone 6 peak? ($2 increase)

Maybe not at first, just so that the new riders won't complain right away, but maybe in a few months/next summer. as long as they don't start hurting the airport employees by charging more. US Airways employees complain about everything, so I would assume they'd throw another fit

There's also the 37 bus from Broad/Snyder and it's only $2 one way to the airport, only taking 12-17 minutes longer.

R3 Passenger wrote:How about this thought: with the rising cost of fuel and a resulting fare hike with taxis, do you think it would be reasonable for SEPTA to change the airport fares to Zone 6 peak? ($2 increase)

IMO even a targeted fare increase would be counterproductive right now. SEPTA got itself in oceans of hot water with the way they handled the last set of increases, and they STILL haven't agreed to rescind the obscene on-board surcharge. Raising fares yet again on riders who are already forced to pay the surcharge doesn't make for happy visitors to the area. I've already heard more than a few grumbles from tourists who were "welcomed" to Philly by having to pay extra because of SEPTA's inability to install TVMs.

Better that they put their efforts into proving that they're serious about a modern fare collection system than adding still more "gotchas" to what is arguably the most contorted fare system in the country.

SBON wrote:There's also the 37 bus from Broad/Snyder and it's only $2 one way to the airport, only taking 12-17 minutes longer.

$2?? $1.45 for those of us unwilling to pay the so-called "sucker fare"

just wanted to add that i wasn't very happy waiting for 20 minutes in the pouring rain yesterday for the 47 southbound at Cecil B. Moroe - Septa needs better AND more shelters damn it.

Just an update, now that I've copied the relevant pages out of the Annual Service Plan: current cost recovery for Airport is up to 29% since the fare increase, while Cynwyd is up to 28%. Best performer is Media-Elwyn at 62%, followed by Paoli-Thorndale at 51%.

One other thing to realize is that there are a decent number of folks who ride the R1 from Eastwick station, which is just a Zone 2 fare. This helps with the ridership at peak hours but probably not so much with cost recovery.

SEPTA should really put up some advertising in the halls between the airport security checkpoints and the entrance to the R1 platforms comparing the cost savings of taking the train versus taxis to Center City. Until you get to the point of cramming four people in a taxi, it's cheaper to take the R1 so long as your destination is near one of the CC stations.