Comments on: Is a fare hike on the table for 2010?

By: As deficit grows, anticipating a steep fare hike :: Second Ave. Sagas

As deficit grows, anticipating a steep fare hike :: Second Ave. Sagas — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 21:08:03 +0000

[...] first time this year we’ve heard talk of a premature fare hike. In March, talk of an increase emerged in the press, but the MTA officially denied considering raising its rates. Still, when a one percent increase in [...]

By: Curt Sampson

Curt Sampson — Fri, 28 May 2010 18:39:29 +0000

Do you have some sources for Japan running mainline trains OTPO? I’ve seen such a thing only on some very small trains in the countryside.

Within the greater Tokyo area (where I live), all trains have both a driver and a conductor. All stations have at least one station attendant on duty at all times. (Most have several.) In addition many stations have a platform attendant on duty at all times, and most stations have one during busier hours (busier stations will have two to four per platform).

I was back in NYC a couple of months ago, and the stations seemed shockingly deserted of staff by comparison.

Of course, do keep in mind that, looking at subways alone, the Tokyo subway systems move more passengers daily than the NYC subway does, but on less than two thirds the number of stations and lines, as well as charging more for long trips (and even short ones in some cases).

By: Alon Levy

Alon Levy — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 15:15:19 +0000

Who said anything about profits? No Western transit system is profitable. The subjects at hand are OPTO and deferred maintenance. All of those maintenance-deferred, politics-dependent, union-choked systems run all subway trains OPTO. Japan even runs mainline trains OPTO, and I believe that so do Germany and Switzerland.

By: Marc Shepherd

Marc Shepherd — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 14:16:53 +0000

If you seriously believe that it is possible to run the New York City subway at a profit, then clearly you have chosen the wrong profession, and should be marketing your services to the MTA.

But it’s funny that over a period of roughly eight decades, not one person charged with running NYC transit has reached your conclusion.

By: rhywun

rhywun — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 05:47:17 +0000

I agree in theory that car travel is underpriced… but at this point I see three possible scenarios:

1. Do nothing–budget gimmickry will push the problem beyond the next election cycle
2. Some combination of fare hikes and service cuts which would actually balance the MTA budget according to the current constraints under which it operates, which by many could be seen as, or lead to, a “collapse”
3. Congestion pricing/bridge tolls

Of the three, I think #1 is by far the most likely to happen. The other two scenarios have powerful foes at every level of government and on both sides of the aisle.

By: Alon Levy

Alon Levy — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 14:06:36 +0000

Are you saying this out of familiarity with all other major subway systems? Or are you just assuming that if the New York railfan community hasn’t heard of the deferred maintenance in Berlin or Paris or London, then it didn’t happen?

The same goes for the conductor issue. Look at what’s done in subway systems of comparable age before you pronounce New York globally unique. Paris has a few curvy platforms, for instance.

By: Marc Shepherd

Marc Shepherd — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 13:40:09 +0000

One big difference — and I’m sure there are others — is that those other cities do not have to contend with a system that was starved for investment and maintenance for decades.

Most of the NYC subway lines cannot operate safely without a conductor. The union opposes this even on the lines where it is possible, but even if that problem were solved, it would not solve the current financial crisis, which runs much deeper than that.

By: Older and Wiser

Older and Wiser — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 06:30:05 +0000

I agree with Nesta. Charge whatever fare it takes to make the MTA independent of every one of our dysfunctional layers of government. Once that independence is established, any subsequent outside funding can be applied to reducing fares after the fact. In other words, put the onus and responsibility for politically popular below-cost fares where it belongs.

By: Alon Levy

Alon Levy — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 04:41:27 +0000

The subways have 1 operator and 1 conductor, which is 1 more than in virtually every other subway system in the world, and 2 more than in some.

By: Benjamin Kabak

Benjamin Kabak — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 04:11:30 +0000

All over the country, the public has shown that they do not like tax increases, to the point where states are seriously cutting services that they can’t pay for.

The only way the state could give the MTA all the money some transit buffs want is massive deficit spending, but that would ultimately lead to collapse.

I take great exception to this charge. The way the state could give the MTA the money it needs is by enacting congestion pricing or East River Bridge tolls. Not only would the MTA get funded, but the state would be better capturing the negative externalities of driving as well. It’s basically inevitable.