09-03-2019, 10:09 PM
(09-03-2019, 09:38 PM)plam Wrote:(09-03-2019, 09:09 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: The effect however, is that some people see far more than a 3% increase, to be honest, I'm surprised though, I would have figured tickets and passes would make up enough of the fares that they would be almost exactly 3%.
FYI, if fuel costs tracked a 3% increase, given the high of 1.34 in 2012, gas prices would have reached almost 1.70 this summer. Instead we're paying 1.13. Just for context.
I guess I'm usually privileged enough to be able to use tickets and passes rather than cash fares. Especially with EasyGO I don't need to do cash fares.
As we discussed when the debate was BRT vs LRT, operators are a significant part of the cost structure, and I wouldn't be surprised if salaries increased by 3%.
Even with the fare card, the cash outlay to use tickets isn't huge, most people who regularly take transit would probably not use cash, but it would be interesting to see a breakdown of the different fare products.
As for labor costs, I'm sure you're right...in fact, I'm sure costs increased much more than 3% this year. But our fares should not necessarily be coupled with the cost of providing the service...this is never the case with transportation (almost nobody knows how much parking costs, even the people building it often have no idea of the real cost), and it's only sometimes the case with utilities where we pay fees directly. Our water utility was under priced for years and years, and only now is coming back to a position of proper funding...to much screaming and crying I'll add. And we don't know what ridership will do anyway.... Long way of saying, I don't think it should matter what salaries do when it comes to setting fares.