Metro GM proposes eliminating peak and off-peak fares and just having one price all day

Since the 7000 series were removed last year, people have complained that WMATA should not be charging peak fares when they couldn't offer peak service. The previous management wasn't listening. The peak fares make the fare structure too complex, so I agree that it should be eliminated. It should not matter what time of day you travel, the fare should be the same

The budget would increase rail fares for most riders who don’t qualify for the low-income discount, in some cases significantly. Clarke is proposing eliminating peak and off-peak fares and just having one price for the vast majority of the day (there would still be a $2 flat fare after 9:30 p.m. and on weekends).

Currently, the maximum fare during off-peak hours is $3.85, and with the elimination of peak/off-peak pricing, a rider making a long trip during what is now off-peak hours would see their price go from $3.85 to $6.00. Riders making semi-long trips would see significant increases well.

https://wjla.com/news/local/metro-budge ... om-roussey#

Off-peak/peak fares have always seemed silly to me, and really confusing for riders. Not to mention the ancient fare machines!

The highest peak fare should probably be lowered and just have that in effect all the time.

I remember how in 1975 the MBTA had Dime Time from, I think, 10 am till 4 pm. The usual fare was a quarter, and to some of us, fifteen cents was enough to make us wait until 10 before riding. People would wait outside the stations till Dime Time started. Twenty years or so later, I would sometimes see people waiting outside Washington Metro stations until the off-peak fares began. Going to work at a temporary job, I couldn't wait till mid-morning, but sometimes I would get off the Metro a half mile before work so I could save ten cents on the distance-based fare. The things people will do when we are scraping to get by …

davinp
The peak fares make the fare structure too complex.

The things that make the fare appear to be too complex are:

• WMATA no longer explains what arithmetic is used to calculate the fare between any two given points.
  • Back in the day it was pretty simple, The fare was based on a composite mile. A composite mile was route mile plus line of site mile divided by 2. First 3 composite miles was the base fare. Each additional composite miles was a fixed price, First 3 composite miles plus additional composite miles or fraction thereof was rounded up or down to the nearest $0.05. The difference between peak and off peak fares was the price of any additional composite miles, as the base fare was the same both peak and off peak.
• The existence of a fare structures for student, senior/disabled, peak, off peak, weekends, late night.
• The arithmetic used to calculate the discounted fares.

I happen to believe a system wide flat fare is an unfair fare.

Sand Box John wrote: ↑Thu Jan 05, 2023 9:24 am The things that make the fare appear to be too complex are:

• WMATA no longer explains what arithmetic is used to calculate the fare between any two given points.
  • Back in the day it was pretty simple, The fare was based on a composite mile. A composite mile was route mile plus line of site mile divided by 2. First 3 composite miles was the base fare. Each additional composite miles was a fixed price, First 3 composite miles plus additional composite miles or fraction thereof was rounded up or down to the nearest $0.05. The difference between peak and off peak fares was the price of any additional composite miles, as the base fare was the same both peak and off peak.
• The existence of a fare structures for student, senior/disabled, peak, off peak, weekends, late night.
• The arithmetic used to calculate the discounted fares.

I happen to believe a system wide flat fare is an unfair fare.

I'm of the opinion that if you can reliably detect entry and exit from a system, you can do distance based fares. This is perfect for subways. Light rail/trolley systems (Pittsburgh PRT, Philly SEPTA, MBTA Green Line) don't have that and makes such systems hard. PRT had a "Pay on edges" system which required you to pay on exit when going outbound... which if you were boarding/exiting from the front, made for long stops and more complicated fare operations.

That said, everything else is programming:

1. Calculate base fare.
2. Apply time-based adjustments (peak/weekend/night)
3. THEN apply per-person discount (senior/disabled/student/military)