Comments on: Metro’s Fare Hike Not Quite Enough

By: Craig

Craig — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 01:26:17 +0000

Gas prices are down, but for how long? It is true that gas prices have fallen dramatically in the past few months, but prices generally do fall around this time of year. Once spring arrives, prices will likely go up. Maybe they won’t hit $4 next year, but in this economy anything hurts. I don’t think a few months of low gas prices is enough to claim that people will leave public transit and return to sitting in traffic for hours on end.

If fares aren’t raised, Metro is certain to have to cut service. If that happens people in effected areas won’t have an option. They’ll HAVE to return to their cars. I’d love to keep fares the same, I’d love it even more if they were free, but I’d also like an unlimited supply of service, and an unlimited supply of money for Metro and for myself. You can’t win ‘em all. Tough decisions had to/will have to be made before this is over.

Besides, factoring in the increased price of gas/insurance/everything else over the past few years, the small increase in fares is still a bargain. This year saw Metro’s first fare increase since I think 2001, and now we’ll have a slight increase again. Compare that to anything else you’ve had to pay for since 2001.

By: Iridius

Iridius — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 22:59:24 +0000

Gas – down to $2.23 average in Washington state. Bus – UP 50 cents. What a great way to send drivers back to their cars.

And the Performance Reports Metro put up – obfuscation. If you review the reports, they make comparisons between routes instead of giving hard data. They don’t tell you that route #XXX was late this percentage of times or anything really useful.

By: John Jensen

John Jensen — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:58:55 +0000

I think bus wraps are pretty cool :)

I can understand why some people are bothered by them, but hey there’s another $500k in service — for example. I’d open up more buses to advertising.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 23:29:44 +0000

http://mkcclegisearch.metrokc.gov/detailreport/?key=8813

You can get to the document via this link.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 23:27:20 +0000

It didn’t bring in that much. There’s a staff report at the KC site (part of the ongoing debate to reintroduce Bus Wrap with the 15″ clear strip) that says it made $754K in 2006 and $558K in 2007 – not sure if that’s net to Metro or if the Titan Outdoor cut is subtracted from that. They said they made $7K from the one all clear window wrap this year and they project revenue of $450K in 2008, $278K in 2009, and $409K in 2010 leasing 25 buses each year with the 15″ clear strip.

Personally I hate bus wrap and I don’t think it’s enough money to warrant covering any part of the windows.

By: John Jensen

John Jensen — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 21:24:44 +0000

I can see some of this argument but the shortfall has been around for quite some time.

By: Oran

Oran — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 21:19:49 +0000

I don't know if this is new but Metro now has a link to Rider & Performance Reports on the home page. It has rider & non-rider surveys, route performance reports, etc.

By: brad

brad — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 06:03:13 +0000

The rumor is that Obama is going to help municipalities with the transit shortfalls as part of his initial stimulus plan.

In anticipation of this, local governments would likely plan their budgets a little short in order to plead for help from the Feds.

It’s like negotiating, only backwards.

By: Brian Bundridge

Brian Bundridge — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 04:35:17 +0000

I’m sure the next move will be restarting the wrap buses… that brought in a good chunk of revenue if I remember correctly.