[sustran] Re: Chicago Transit Fare Hike

[Todd Edelman, Green Idea Factory]

... and what about private transport being self-financing as a 
pre-condition or part of the same plan? Hmmm.... guess it would have to 
be part of a package lowering income taxes significantly at the same 
time....

- T


Christopher Kost wrote:
> Brendan,
>
> You raise good points, but the assumption that the transit-dependent  
> can pay more than cheap is problematic.
>
> At least in the U.S., many public transport users are very poor. In  
> Los Angeles, the median household income for bus riders is $12,000.  
> (The median household income in the city as a whole is $43,000.) A  
> family with that income buying, say, two adult monthly passes and two  
> student passes will end up spending a similar proportion of its  
> income on transportation to that spent by those who own cars. So even  
> the current "low" fares aren't giving poor people much of a break.
>
> I agree that the first-best solution would be to use welfare  
> channels, but that's difficult in the current political climate in  
> the U.S., so in the meantime I think it makes sense to keep fares low.
>
>
> Regards,
> chris
>
>
>
> On Sep 1, 2007, at 8:41 AM, Brendan Finn wrote:
>
>   
>> Dear Eric, Sujit,
>>
>> I have argued many times against cheap fare policies (i.e.  
>> deliberate under-pricing) and that transit should be as close to  
>> self-financing as it can achieve. I have argued three main points :
>>
>> 1) All choice users and many non-choice users have the  
>> affordability to pay more than "cheap", and most would be willing  
>> to do so for better quality. Under-priced transit uses up the  
>> available funds for wealth-transfer, leaving little for quality  
>> improvements or reinvestment. Public funds should be spent on  
>> service, quality and infrastructure, not on low fares.
>>
>> 2) The vulnerable within society can be supported by subsidising  
>> transit passes for them (rather than for all users) and this should  
>> be done through welfare funding channels rather than transit  
>> funding channels. This better protects the funding source since  
>> politicians and administrators would have to overtly remove welfare  
>> from those who need it, at risk of heavy political backlash.
>>
>> 3) Cheap fares require heavy subsidies, and these inevitably tend  
>> to keep growing. The transit is then totally at the mercy of the  
>> funder. Sooner or later, an administration will come in who decides  
>> to cut the subsidy program. They can dress it up in many ways -  
>> national austerity measures, correct 'inefficiency and  
>> profligacy' (as Eric quotes), moving to a user-pays principle,  
>> etc., etc. - we are all familiar with these dreaded sea-changes.  
>> Tariffs increase dramatically, services are thinned out and quieter  
>> routes closed, customer support programs are slashed, investment is  
>> put on hold, quality programs are shelved, important management  
>> functions are shut down, and confrontation arises with labour as  
>> hard measures are forced through. Patronage is lost, good working  
>> relationships are lost, the development effort of a few decades  
>> goes down the drain, and the innovators and developers in the  
>> management team are pushed aside for the bean-counters. Instability  
>> and down-sizing kil
>>  l user confidence in a way that takes decades to recover.
>>
>> Chicago seems to be yet another example of the vulnerability of  
>> transit once subsidy becomes a significant part of its income  
>> stream. I have no moral or economic argument against subsidy for  
>> transit - the more public funds the better, if used wisely.  
>> However, it is a Faustian Pact, and a day of reckoning eventually  
>> comes. Transit planners and managers should think long and hard  
>> about the bargains they enter - they owe it to their customers,  
>> their city and their workers.
>>
>> With best wishes,
>>
>>
>> Brendan.
>> ______________________________________________________________________ 
>> _______________
>>     
>>> From Brendan Finn, ETTS Ltd.   e-mail : etts at indigo.ie   tel :  
>>> +353.87.2530286
>>>       
>>   ----- Original Message -----
>>   From: eric.britton at free.fr
>>   To: sustran-discuss at list.jca.apc.org
>>   Sent: Saturday, September 01, 2007 10:10 AM
>>   Subject: [sustran] Chicago Transit Fare Hike
>>
>>
>>   Dear Sujit and Sustran friends,
>>
>>   Don't think that our Chicago CTA friends have made these moves  
>> with joy in their hearts.  The fact is that they have been trapped  
>> by state legislators (many of whom have their power base in rural  
>> and small town areas) who have decided to, in a phrase, "punish the  
>> CTA for their inefficiency and profligacy". Typically "old  
>> mobility" and terribly wrong headed, but if this were only the only  
>> city and agency that this kind of thing were to take place this  
>> would be a happier planet.
>>
>>   In point of fact I have just come back from a lively week on  
>> brainstorming session with a group of more than forty experts and  
>> agencies around the table, where we gave our full attention to the  
>> possibility of "Reinventing Transport in Chicago".  You can see  
>> more of that if interested in our New Mobility/Climate Emergency  
>> Project at www.climate.newmobility.org <http:// 
>> www.climate.newmobility.org/> , where I hope shortly to post some  
>> useful information on these sessions.
>>
>>   In the meantime, you may fond some us in the "Workpad" that you  
>> will find on the bottom left menu of this site in process.
>>
>>   Eric Britton
>>
>>   1 September 2007
>>
>>   While we feel encouraged by the excellent proposals initiated by  
>> the Mayor of New York, here is what I got from a friend about  
>> Chicago. I was under the
>>   impression that Chicago was one of the better cities in the US in  
>> providing transit facilities.
>>   --
>>
>>   Sujit
>>
>>   Here is the news:-
>>
>>   To make up for poor revenues in recent years, the Chicago Transit  
>> Authority's board has approved *fare hikes *and changes to services- 
>> to include the shutting down of 39 bus routes. Bus and off-peak  
>> train fares paid in cash will rise from $2 to $2.50. During peak  
>> hours, train fares will become $3. The price of the one-day travel  
>> pass will increase from $5 to $6; the seven-day pass from $20 to  
>> $23; and the 30-day pass from $75 to $84. The changes go into  
>> effect on September 16th.
>>   --------------------------------------------------------
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>> ================================================================
>> SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred,  
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>>     
>
> -------------------------------------------------------- 
> IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via YAHOOGROUPS. 
>
> Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement.
>
> ================================================================
> SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). 
>
>   


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