faresToday it was announced that the City of Phoenix along with Valley Metro are looking to raise fares across all public transportation by 40% (at the minimum).  The news story on AZCentral had over 15 pages of comments just a few hours after it was published.  People are pissed and that’s understandable.  Who wants to pay more to ride the bus or the light rail?  Obviously, the rate increase will hurt those who have to use mass transit the most – the working poor and elderly.

This post isn’t really about how I agree or disagree with the rate increase as much as it is about how dumb the people are at the AZCentral site.  They try to make the comparison between the new proposed fares and the fares of mass transit in other western states.  The article focuses more on the one day pass being doubled in price along with mentioning that the one way ticket will go up by $.50 to $1.75.  I have included an image of the proposed new rates for Valley Metro along with the comparisons they showed on AZCentral.com.  Unfortunately, they don’t clarify what the comparison fare is and this, I’ve found, caused confusion among those who read the article and resulted in a lot of comments being posted on the story.  So, let’s do a better job in giving some comparisons.  Since the article focused both on one way tickets and daily passes, here’s what I’ve found while looking up the prices in other western cities.

  • Denver – Bus and Light Rail Fares (2 zones) – One Way Ticket = $2 – All Day Pass = $6
  • Dallas – Bus and Light Rail Fares (Dallas Only) – One Way Ticket = $1.50 – All Day Pass = $3
  • Las Vegas – Bus Fares (Local Only) – One Way Ticket = $1.75 – All Day Pass = $4
  • Los Angeles – Mass Trasit (No Metrolink) – One Way Ticket = $1.25 – All Day Pass = $5

So, as you can see, PHX has had pretty cheap mass transit fares compared to other cities on the west coast, especially when it comes to all day tickets.  These mass transit systems are surviving and have decent ridership.  I think people will be shocked by the changes initially but will get over it quickly.  Do I think an increase in fares will make people choose to drive instead of ride? Possibly, but only by a small percentage.  Some of the new riders that came on board because of the light rail may be turned off and might go back to driving. People that relied on the Red Line that was replaced with the Light Rail will continue to ride it.  The increase in fare may also keep some occasional riders from using it as often as the currently do, depending on their reason for riding.

How will this rate increase change how I use the Light Rail?  It won’t really have an impact.  I use the rail to get downtown because parking is atrocious and PHX is upping the rate at the meters, extending metered time, and will start charging on Saturdays.  I guess what will change is that I won’t be buying an all day pass when I want to take a round trip ride downtown.  I’ll end up having to buy two single ride tickets.  It’s not really that big of a deal if you think about it.