09-04-2019, 11:32 AM
Fares were not increased in 2018 because ridership was declining amid big service disruptions (and other causes). It doesn't make sense to raise the price of something when demand for it is in decline.
The 2017 fare hikes, by the way, were relatively larger than the ones this week- 4.9% for an adult pass, 3.8% for tickets.
I also don't really think we should be aiming for inflationary increases, necessarily. Nor do I even think we should be aiming to keep up with increases to the system's cost (though, with the stated goal of increasing farebox recovery, I guess it has to be the case). The demand for transit is not inelastic, and with the goal of increasing ridership we should be thinking very carefully before raising fares- especially when costs for competing modes of transportation are not going up.
The 2017 fare hikes, by the way, were relatively larger than the ones this week- 4.9% for an adult pass, 3.8% for tickets.
I also don't really think we should be aiming for inflationary increases, necessarily. Nor do I even think we should be aiming to keep up with increases to the system's cost (though, with the stated goal of increasing farebox recovery, I guess it has to be the case). The demand for transit is not inelastic, and with the goal of increasing ridership we should be thinking very carefully before raising fares- especially when costs for competing modes of transportation are not going up.