Public Transit Question

[Spot's Meow]

As I read about the new fee increases that my local bus service is planning, I wonder what bus fares around the country (and around the world) are like. How much does it cost for public transit in your area?

The bus system that I ride to work every day costs $1.50 for general fare, $.75 for students (high school and below) and $.60 for seniors. Because I am a student at a local university I can ride for free.

The proposed increases would raise the general fare to $2.00 and my once free ride to $1.00. I would drive to work (it's only about 15 minutes away) but the parking in downtown Sacramento is just about as bad as you can imagine, and very expensive. But now that the bus will cost up to $60 a month for me (a trip each way every day) I don't know how I can afford to get to work at all.

The other bus system is $2.25 for general fare and $1.10 for students and seniors. I can still ride that one for free with my university pass. Unfortunately this bus is mostly useless to me because it doesn't run in the right directions.

When I used to ride BART from the East Bay into San Francisco it would cost about $11 for a roundtrip. The trip is about an hour each way I believe. But I feel that the fare was reasonable because it would have cost more in gas and parking to drive there yourself. Either way takes the same amount of time.

In one of the cities that I grew up in we had "Dimes a Ride" buses that looked like old trolleys and only cost two dimes. Of course there was nowhere really worth going because it was a boring little town in the middle of nowhere.

So what are your local fares like?

 

[Hermiod]

I pay £36.80 a week for unlimited travel through zones 1-4 on London Transport (specifically the Tube, Buses, Docklands Light Railway etc).

After the bullshit I've had to go through this evening to get home, however, I do wonder why.

 

[JonathonWally]

NYC subway is $2 a ride, I don't know the buses, since I don't take them, but we have plenty of people on here that do, I think they're the same price.

But we also have tons of different Metro cards that have ways of saving you tons of money, Monthly passes, Day passes with unlimited rides, weekly passes, all that good stuff.

When I buy my metro cards, at about $50 a pop they have like 4 extra uses on them to give you a bonus for buying the big one. The $20 card has like 2 extra uses on them.

 

[Luckyflux]

NYC subway is $2 a ride, I don't know the buses, since I don't take them, but we have plenty of people on here that do, I think they're the same price.

But we also have tons of different Metro cards that have ways of saving you tons of money, Monthly passes, Day passes with unlimited rides, weekly passes, all that good stuff.

When I buy my metro cards, at about $50 a pop they have like 4 extra uses on them to give you a bonus for buying the big one. The $20 card has like 2 extra uses on them.

Oh man do I miss the E train! I took an E almost everyday for like 10 years when I worked in the City. Sometimes I would get an express A which would take me to Canal st, but mostly I liked the E. It was dirty and stinky and full of masturbating bums, but it felt like home

Now I live in LA and there are no subways. Buses are 1.25 if I remember correctly. Public transportation is great!

 

[nevermore]

So what are your local fares like?

Currently it appears that the bus fares in Baltimore are $1.60 one-way, $3.20 Round trip or $3.50 for a day pass. I don't use the city buses though as there is a University shuttle system that I can use as an employee, the city buses take forever and a cab to pretty much anywhere from my place is less than $10; I may try out the new free shuttle they're starting to the Harbor if that ever gets off the ground. The MARC train from Baltimore to DC, which runs during the work week, is $7 each way.

 

[Tomato]

The Transit in toronto is 2.50 if buy 10 tokens. 2.75 if you go cash. And there are no zones. Only if you leave toronto.

 

[Mallory]

I pay $25/month for an all zone pass that includes buses, light rail and the streetcar. Portland is pretty transit-friendly.

 

[Mr. B]

In New Orleans, the bus and streetcar is $1.25 /ride, 25 cents for transfers.

 

[DeeEss57]

It's $.65 off-peak to ride the bus in my hometown. $1.50 during peak times. You can buy passes that only expire when you've used all the money on it, too.

We don't have trains here, although they do in Minneapolis.


DES

 

[Bears Discover Fire]

Now I live in LA and there are no subways. Buses are 1.25 if I remember correctly. Public transportation is great!

We have subways here in LA. They're just extremely limited in their service area. They don't service the west side, South Bay or most of the San Fernando Valley.

You can go to Metro.net and from there download comprehensive maps of their bus and subway/light rail systems. For Example: http://metro.net/riding_metro/maps/images/System_Map.pdf

And yeah, LA metro buses are $1.25 each ride (no transfers) and up to $4.00 a ride for the express buses. Some the cities immediately outside of LA have their own transit systems with their own prices. The Culver City bus, for instance, is only $0.75 per ride and that includes one way transfers. It's also the oldest public transit system in continous operation in California.

There's also the Dash bus, run by LADOT. Those rides are a mere $0.25 per ride! Their routes are a bit limited and convoluted, though. However, if I'm willing to walk a bit, I can get to work and back on $0.50/day by taking that bus.

Monthly passes for the LA Metro are currently $62 per month (unlimited use), and from there you can add on zone and express priviledges for additional fees. Unfortunately, there is no real cooperation with LA's public transit and the Metrolink system that serves a big chunk of greater SoCal.

 

[Canadave]

Here in Ottawa, fares are $2 per ride (with an hour and a half transfer window) if you buy tickets, or $3 if you pay cash.

 

[Holdfast]

I pay £36.80 a week for unlimited travel through zones 1-4 on London Transport (specifically the Tube, Buses, Docklands Light Railway etc).

After the bullshit I've had to go through this evening to get home, however, I do wonder why.

I heard the Circle line wasn't pleasant, at the very least!


I don't use public transport often. Generally my use is limited to a very occasional Oxford-London day return. I'm always too lazy to book in advance, and buy at the station when I get there instead, so the cost is astoundingly high. Something like £40 for a peak day return for what, a 120 mile round trip? Off peak is around £20 I think. (those prices are totally from memory, so may be off by a bit, and have probably gone up anyway).

 

[hellsgate]

In Vancouver, we have 1 Zone, 2 Zone & 3 Zone Fares, starting at $2.50. Same hour-&-a-half transfer window as Ottawa, by the way.

 

[Mike Farley]

They just increased prices here in Las Vegas this past weekend.

A one way ride went from $1.25 to $1.75
A 24hr pass went from $2.50 to $4.00
a 30 day pass went from $40 to $55

There are no transfers. You either pay full price for the next bus or by the day pass.

They've also added a 3 day pass for $15. I'm not sure if they really think people are dumb enough to spend $15 on a 3 day pass when you can buy 3 one day passes for $12.

Public transportation in Las Vegas sucks. When I used to have to take it more often, at least once a week I would wait more than an hour for a bus that was supposed to run every 20 minutes.

 

[thestrangequark]

NYC subway is $2 a ride, I don't know the buses, since I don't take them, but we have plenty of people on here that do, I think they're the same price.

But we also have tons of different Metro cards that have ways of saving you tons of money, Monthly passes, Day passes with unlimited rides, weekly passes, all that good stuff.

When I buy my metro cards, at about $50 a pop they have like 4 extra uses on them to give you a bonus for buying the big one. The $20 card has like 2 extra uses on them.

The buses are the same cost as the train, except for special express buses, which I think are $3.50, but I never take those. I do take the bus twice a week when I work in Brooklyn. I usually buy a 7 day unlimited card, which covers buses and subway, for $25.
Unfortunately the MTA is severely in debt and are considering yet another fair hike. When I moved to NYC about 8 years ago a 7 day unlimited pas was $17 (now $25), and a single ride was $1.50 (now $2.00). The MTA is not only considering a $.50 fair hike, but also cutting bus lines completely, like the M8 (Manhattan 8th St. crosstown), decreasing the frequency of trains at night, cutting staff in subway station booths, and amost doubling the cost of Access-a-Ride, the public transport system for disabled people who cannot use the subway.
The situation is awful. Despite the obvious concerns of working class people and the disabled over the price, there is the added concern for women: that due to the unstaffed booths and decreased frequency of trains, they will be left alone too long at night. A few years ago I had a frightening experience in a train station when I was coming home from a late shift at work. Several young men began harrassing me on the platform as I tried to exit the station, and refused to let me leave. Fortunately, the MTA attendant in the booth was able to keep me company and notify the police. If he hadn't been there I'm not sure what would've happened; the idea of unstaffed stations is frightening.

 

[An Officer]

I think the buses in London are relatively cheap. It's the congestion that's the problem and you don't get anywhere fast. Especially if you're having to pass through the centre. It takes half an hour to get through Oxford street alone. I mostly use the underground, for which I do not buy a weekly/monthly pass, as I never know how much I'll travel any given week. Single fares don't come cheap. Over-crowding is also rather unpleasant. On the good-side, most trains are new, and they even play classical music in some of the stations.

I'm seriously thinking about getting a bicycle! I just don't relish the thought of getting hot and sweaty and battling double-deckers. Not that I don't get hot and sweaty on the tube in any case. Transport gives me a headache. I wish I had a horse,on which to clip clop through the streets.

 

[Colonel Green]

In Victoria the bus is 2.25 for adults, not sure how much for students/seniors, maybe 1.75. You get a transfer slip and use it for a return/connecting trip if it's within an hour.

The bus service is pretty good around here, except it ends too early (12, 12:30) IMO. A bus passes the end of my street every 1-15 mins. It goes through downtown (from there you can transfer to buses that go pretty much everywhere) and to the main local university.

 

[JonathonWally]

NYC subway is $2 a ride, I don't know the buses, since I don't take them, but we have plenty of people on here that do, I think they're the same price.

But we also have tons of different Metro cards that have ways of saving you tons of money, Monthly passes, Day passes with unlimited rides, weekly passes, all that good stuff.

When I buy my metro cards, at about $50 a pop they have like 4 extra uses on them to give you a bonus for buying the big one. The $20 card has like 2 extra uses on them.

The buses are the same cost as the train, except for special express buses, which I think are $3.50, but I never take those. I do take the bus twice a week when I work in Brooklyn. I usually buy a 7 day unlimited card, which covers buses and subway, for $25.
Unfortunately the MTA is severely in debt and are considering yet another fair hike. When I moved to NYC about 8 years ago a 7 day unlimited pas was $17 (now $25), and a single ride was $1.50 (now $2.00). The MTA is not only considering a $.50 fair hike, but also cutting bus lines completely, like the M8 (Manhattan 8th St. crosstown), decreasing the frequency of trains at night, cutting staff in subway station booths, and amost doubling the cost of Access-a-Ride, the public transport system for disabled people who cannot use the subway.
The situation is awful. Despite the obvious concerns of working class people and the disabled over the price, there is the added concern for women: that due to the unstaffed booths and decreased frequency of trains, they will be left alone too long at night. A few years ago I had a frightening experience in a train station when I was coming home from a late shift at work. Several young men began harrassing me on the platform as I tried to exit the station, and refused to let me leave. Fortunately, the MTA attendant in the booth was able to keep me company and notify the police. If he hadn't been there I'm not sure what would've happened; the idea of unstaffed stations is frightening.

I don't like the idea of less attendents around either. Unless they plan on increasing the cops.

 

[OmahaStar]

Here in Omaha, it's $1.25 one way and 5 cents for a transfer. There's also a 30 day pass for 50 bucks.

We have no subway here, and the bus system is pretty much a joke. Some lines, such as the 4, only run once every three hours on the weekends, and if you have to get anywhere after 8 pm, you're screwed.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Here in Omaha, it's $1.25 one way and 5 cents for a transfer. There's also a 30 day pass for 50 bucks.

We have no subway here, and the bus system is pretty much a joke. Some lines, such as the 4, only run once every three hours on the weekends, and if you have to get anywhere after 8 pm, you're screwed.

You think we'll get the streetcar line built downtown?