Reply to Wmata to target fare evaders on metro busses

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]They could try to put fare boxes on the outside. Maybe like scan your card or insert money, and then the doors open. It would slow things down and suck for customers that were already paying.[/quote]

Imagine if drivers had to get out of their cars and scan a payment card every time they wanted to get on a road. How much would they complain? Why do we make it seamless for them to drive long distances, cross jurisdictions and "transfer" between roads but make it a real expense and chore to bus riders to do the same? [/quote]

If drivers evade a toll, then they get a bill automatically sent to their house. If you don't pay to get on the bus, then you can't get on (the doors don't open0.[/quote]

I can drive all over DC and never use a toll road. Why shouldn't I have the same no-pay option when I take a bus?[/quote]

You're still paying gas taxes.[/quote]

And bus riders pay the sales and income taxes that fund public transit. We realize that user fees are terrible for drivers, but for some reason insist on them for transit. We should either have no user fees for transportation, or all transportation users should have to pay a user fee. [/quote]

User fees are terrible for drivers? You might want to tell that to New York democrats.

I think we should be encouraging people to ride public transit. Perhaps even making it free. But until and unless we do that, people should pay the fare.[/quote]

That's pretty much my point. Look at the way drivers freak out the second they might have to pay a user fee. They expect to be able to take an entire journey without having to make a payment. It is a large part of why driving is so popular and why people associate it with "freedom." Driving would plummet if you had to have a transponder to ride on Interstates, then purchase a pass to ride on a state highway, then scan some payment fob to get on a county road, etc...

But for some reason we think its perfectly fine for transit users to carry multiple payment methods and constantly scan every time we transfer.

The nickel and dime'ing of transit is a big part of what limits its adoption. [/quote]

I don't understand this position. Gas taxes are nearly equivalent to user fees. You pay based on how much you drive.

Also, where does SmarTrip not work?[/quote]

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