tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3947607097668387126.post6580498210259062961..comments2024-03-28T14:43:46.573-04:00Comments on Franklin Matters: CommonWealth Magazine: "Calculating the right price for commuter rail"Steve Sherlockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13070688297607895943noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3947607097668387126.post-70837894086541823762022-05-01T10:57:37.763-04:002022-05-01T10:57:37.763-04:00This is not a discussion of cost it is a discussio...This is not a discussion of cost it is a discussion of price. The prices of commuter rail fares generally do not reflect the actual cost of the service, which is heavily subsidized by taxpayers and by other fare payers and has been for generations. In general, the only portion of the MBTA system in which the fare prices approximately match the cost of delivering the service has been diesel buses. All other parts of the system are subsidized. This is in part due to a failure to engineer a complete system. Probably no public transit system in a similar sized metropolitan area has so many different and incompatible subsystems (trolleys, 3 kinds of rapid transit rail, two distinct and disconnected commuter rail systems, electric "trolley buses", boats, etc.). Similarly, fixed routes have with few exceptions been "inherited" from 19th century transit corridors that do not necessarily match present-day needs. Until planners address these issues the MBTA will always be a bottomless financial pit.Alan Earlshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14167446647837154545noreply@blogger.com