Bus fares to go up…again

Posted by donroach on June 02, 2010
RIPTA

As a person who uses the transit system daily, this is depressing news. It seems RIPTA is considering rate hikes or service reductions. Sigh. I now have a dilemma. Right now I pay 3.50 to go to and from my house to Kennedy Plaza everyday.  Back in April 2008, RIPTA raised it’s fares from$1.50 to $1.75. Why? The reasoning seems to be based on “the rising costs of fuel“. Back then, fuel costs were surging into the $3.75+ per gallon range. In 2010, average fuel prices are much less so one would think that the increase in 2008 in addition to the lessor fuel costs would have helped RIPTA cover its costs. Alas, no.

RIPTA is facing a budget deficit and is hoping that the fare increase will cover the gap. RIPTA will be holding public hearings in July (see first link in this post) to discuss the increase. Here are my questions:

  • Why hasn’t the ‘08 increase coupled with lower fuel costs assuaged any budget deficits RIPTA is facing?
  • How, specifically, does this fare increase address the current budget deficit?
  • What, if any, demand elasticity models have been done to see if demand will decrease with a fare increase?
  • Overall, is RIPTA a solvent entity or will it continue to need to increase fares every two years by significant amounts in order to meet rising costs?

We’re such a small state, one would think we’d be able to execute a transit system that is viable and healthy. But it seems just like other programs in this state, someone’s asleep at the wheel and either the taxpayer or the commuter will have to pay for the poor planning of these government run programs.

To use a cliche term, Rhode Island deserves better.

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3 Comments to Bus fares to go up…again

Damien Baldino
June 2, 2010

The big problem is that Rhode Island isn’t committed to public transportation. If it did more to actually add service and publicize park and ride programs, you’d probably see ridership increase, which would reduce the need for fare increases.

By the way, what about the street cars proposed by David Cicilline? Besides a single study, I haven’t heard about any substantive progress on that front.

Don Roach
June 3, 2010

Damien,

I haven’t heard anything about street cars, honestly. But public transportation is in my opinion an untapped potential resource for RI.

It just doesn’t seem like RIPTA or for that matter our government has a real focus on public transportation. The MBTA is making it so you can train from Warwick to Boston. That’s going to open up another pool of workers for Boston. I commute to Boston everyday and there are hundreds of people who get on the train at Providence on their way to work to Boston. RI needs to understand the usefulness of public transportation and leverage our small size to maximize the benefits. Unfortunately, RIPTA seems intent to raise fares which will lead to lower ridership which will lead to fare increases…etc…It’s a shame.

joe bernstein
June 3, 2010

Streetcars are a wonderful means of public transportation.They are durable-Boston still has some refurbished PCC cars running on the Ashmont-Mattapan Line that were built in the 40’s!!Philadelphia has some similar cars on the Girard St#15 Line.
That’s because they use electric motors-non polluting and last forever with good maintenance.
Trackless trolleys are also good transit vehicles.
Thanks to GM and the oil companies electric transit was exterminated in the US.No nicer way to put it.It was a conspiracy.And me,a right winger saying that-imagine.But it’s the truth.
I’ve been incities where they still run streetcars all over the place(Amsterdam,Antwerp,Ghent,Rotterdam,Den Haag,Brussels,Toronto,etc)and the cities are cleaner and more intraurban commuter friendly.
Heavy rail rapid transit like in London,NYC,Chicago,Paris etc serves a similar purpose.
Innovative fare structures also help.
Don’t hope for much in a city where the little weasel mayor’s brother can get his obese ass out of prison and abuse cops with impunity.

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