09-16-2019, 10:51 AM
(09-16-2019, 09:45 AM)MidTowner Wrote: There is no child fare. There is only an adult fare and a reduced fare. Maybe there will continue to be a reduced fare for children under a certain age, but that wasn't specified.
I don't think the argument really is off-peak usage* for seniors. I personally don't really comprehend all of the discounts seniors get on various goods and services. But I would imagine that seniors are a specific segment worth pursuing (maybe with discounts) since they tend to travel off-peak. The benefit we get is revenue on the one hand, and them not driving on the other- congestion is only one negative impact of more cars on the road.
If we want to encourage off-peak ridership, we should simply charge less off-peak, rather than having weird targeted reduced fares for groups of people believed to, on average, want to travel off-peak. In particular, it’s absolutely nutty to allow seniors on for a reduced fare at rush hour. If anything fares should go up at rush hour — this is basic economics.
And more generally, yes, the seniors’ discounts are weird. What is the rational basis for this age discrimination? If it has to do with old poor people, there are poor people of every age.
On a related note, I like the idea of sending my kids on the bus to their school. There are 3 of them, and they could get on at a stop a couple of blocks from our house, ride for 10 minutes, and get off at the traffic light right in front of their school. Unfortunately, 3 monthly passes would cost $225 per month. The loan payment on my very nice hybrid electric is only $650. Of course there is also maintenance, etc. but given all the other uses to which the car is put that are not easily replaced by transit, we’ll be driving them for the foreseeable future.