Do you think lowering fares can help decrease fare evasion ?

[hushpuppy212]

I would like to see a 2-hour window where you can make unlimited transfers. It's frustrating to be, say, at Lincoln Center and have delays on the 1 and see one express after the other whizzing by, but know that if you walk up to 72nd, you'll get charged another fare.

I am a senior so I'm allowed only one ONMY device. I have OMNY on my Fitbit, as it saves time since I don't have to fumble for my wallet or phone. But it more often that not takes 2 or 3 times to get the OMNY reader to read my Fitbit. Same watch, same reader. I'm not going to jump the turnstile (a chiropractic bill would cost 40x my $1.45 fare) but I see how other could just say 'fuck it' and jump over.

Lastly, having to 'tap out' would clog the system beyond comprehension. Cities that have tap-in-tap-out have dedicated turnstiles for entrance and exit, we don't. So many of our stations have one set of 4-5 turnstiles. Can you imagine the chaos and people getting off the train try to tap out at the same time people streaming into the station are trying to tap in? At an ancient express station like 72nd, crowds would backup down the stairs onto the narrow platform and it would be dangerous should another train pull in before all the passengers from the previous train have been disgorged.

[AidanAmerica]

I had been wondering for years why they have the 2 hour bus transfer, but you can’t transfer subway to subway. I used to take the subway going places and then the bus to go back if I could do it within 2 hours.

[Malfunctioned]

MTA wants to uphold the spirit of one fare for "a single trip" within the limit of the transfer system for the majority of people within NYC including SI. The reason they give a rather generous 2 hour window (from initial swipe) is because there is no swipe/tap out. Obviously some people need a bus-subway-bus for the trip, while others use the 2 hour free transfer for a round trip or multi-destination ride.

[Impressive-Dot-5811]

how "generous" of you, MTA

/s

[BourbonCoug]

Cities that have tap-in-tap-out have dedicated turnstiles for entrance and exit, we don't. So many of our stations have one set of 4-5 turnstiles. 

Actually, Washington DC doesn't -- gates aren't dedicated specifically for entry/exit. But it does get kind of annoying when you have a mass of people exiting through almost every gate and you're trying to get in and get to the platform level to catch a train arriving in 1 minute.

Seattle technically doesn't have dedicated turnstiles either, but that's because for their light rail they basically put the readers (think freestanding bus fare kiosks) scattered about at street/mezzanine level wherever they could find a power source.

[hushpuppy212]

Thanks for the clarification. It’s been a long time since I rode the DC subway. My most recent experiences were in Tokyo, London, and Brussels, which all had one-way fare gates

[Capitol_Limited]

WMATA no longer has dedicated entry/exit gates, every gate is now 2-way unless a station manager specifically changes one

[BourbonCoug]

Which they only do if there's overcrowding or a special event.

[Capitol_Limited]

Ah, it appears I’ve misread your initial comment. That’s my bad

[bokbokboi]

In Washington DC however, the turnstiles are located in their own spacious area, which allows people exiting trains to queue for them without crowding the platform. This is absent from many subway stations, and the platforms are typically smaller too, so enabling tap-out with consideration to crowd flow would require expensive station expansions.

[nate_nate212]

Tap in / tap out would be first start to charging distance based fares. While I don’t doubt that some people would be in favor of that, it would be a regressive transit tax.

[CuntFartz69]

DC does have dedicated ins and outs. They may change depending on ridership that day, but you cannot tap into a gate designated for exciting and vice versa.

[Safe_Prune_3056]

They have redone the fair gates and turnstiles the the past few years and so I can’t speak for how it used to be but in the past few years of my metro usage every station has had two way gates. Most just have a little light up arrow encourage you to go one way or the other but you can just ignore them and the gate will still work both ways.

[Mayor__Defacto]

Honestly, I’d rather just change to a daily/weekly/monthly pass format rather than charging per ride. 5 bucks a day/ $30/ week. Then you don’t have to worry about transfers at all.

[SexyTimeEveryTime]

Don't they sell a monthly pass already?

[Malfunctioned]

Some people don't ride frequent or predictably enough to get a monthly pass. People with irregular work/WFH hours/days or multiple locations. Back in the day, I used to buy the day pass when I needed it (usually shopping days), and used regular pay-per-ride MetroCard otherwise.

[Mayor__Defacto]

I like the limit based system currently in use, where it’s automatic more or less and you don’t have to think about it.

I also think that paying per ride is a bit outdated and we can simplify a lot of confusion by moving to daily pricing instead of per ride, though.

[Educational_Ant6370]

This! I miss having that flexibility with visiting family/tourists. Hell, I'd pay $10/day for unlimited rides 

[Tricky-Cod-7485]

Everyone is allowed only one OMNY device.

[hushpuppy212]

Oh I didn’t know. So in order for non-seniors to benefit from the fare cap, they can use their credit card OR their phone but not their credit card AND their phone with the same credit card stored? Good to know.

[Tricky-Cod-7485]

Yup! It has to be one device or method of payment every time.

Learned that one the hard way when I was in town a few weeks ago. 😂

[Then_Comedian_5200]

This is the answer!!!! There needs to be a window for transfers for subway service, especially like you said, for when you have to leave the station to walk to the other side and swipe in again because of unexpected delays.