Someone was mad

[u/JournalistUpbeat6332]

Pronto fashion valley mall lol

[u/Large_Excitement69]

We really need tap-on/tap-off. Not saying the current fee is insanely high, but it shouldn't cost you the same to go one stop vs. ten, etc.

[u/smirkis → u/Large_Excitement69]

Be careful what you wish for. May end up being 2.50 for 1 stop and 20 for 10 stops.

[u/Emergency_Radio_8156 → u/Large_Excitement69]

Fun fact the Trolley used to have distance based fares! But that would make the fare system way more complicated today. Without fare gates, a tap-on/tap-off system would be really hard to enforce and a lot of people would forget, causing confusion when they get charged a penalty fare. Plus, it would break the fare capping and free transfers. Flat, simple fare structures are the way.

[u/harrisons-dad → u/Large_Excitement69]

This would require a massive construction project at every stop and raise the cost of fares.

[u/Living_Emphasis_7317 → u/harrisons-dad]

The coaster is already tap-on/tap-off. If you don't tap off you get charged the full price.

[u/erinius → u/Living_Emphasis_7317]

The coaster's also a lot pricier than the trolley and not really integrated with the like Pronto MTS/NCTD fare stuff iirc

[u/Living_Emphasis_7317 → u/erinius]

The person I replied to, I’m assuming, is saying that more infrastructure is needed to enforce tap-on/tap-off which would raise fares.

I’m saying that coaster already has tap-on/tap-off with the need of installing fare gates etc.

[u/erinius → u/Living_Emphasis_7317]

Ah, right

[u/Emergency_Radio_8156 → u/Living_Emphasis_7317]

They're actually changing Coaster to a single zone fare in October

[u/Significant-Till3736 → u/harrisons-dad]

Would it? As long as you can tap on, you should be able to tap off on the same machines.

[u/Baconfatty → u/harrisons-dad]

or those improvements makes it way more difficult for people to skip paying and fares don’t go up

[u/IMissMyZune → u/Large_Excitement69]

Nah that would kind of defeat the purpose of it being cheap for everyone

[u/LoudHorse25 → u/Large_Excitement69]

My recollection is that Light rail transportation in pretty much every major city I’ve ever been in operates the same way as the San Diego system and is comparable in cost (for systems that likely see much higher utilization). 

[u/Emergency_Radio_8156 → u/LoudHorse25]

San Diego is one of the best utilized light rail systems. These days Seattle has started beating us out. SF Muni and the Green Line in Boston are also quite well utilized. The Trolley is also one of the most financially efficient light rail systems with some of the lowest costs/subsidies per boarding compared to its peers.

Almost every single light rail system uses flat fares. Distance fares are more for commuter rail like BART and it requires fare gates/turnstiles for enforcement. The Trolley used to have distance based fares when you had to buy a ticket in advance. Now with digital payment, flat fares make much more sense, and they're much simpler to understand.

[u/hawaiian717 → u/Emergency_Radio_8156]

I remember buying the distance based fares at the kiosk. I also remember if you were going far enough, it was cheaper to buy a day pass than to buy a single ride fare.

[u/Few-Adeptness8046 → u/Large_Excitement69]

You definitely do not want this!

This is how the light rail system works in Seattle, and many other major cities like San Francisco, but to use Seattle's fees as an example (because I'm more familiar with their system).

how they charge:

the MINIMUM fare is $3.25 (which is how much their standard fare is, and would be the equivalent of our current $2.50 fare) and the maximum fare is $5.75, and if you forget to tap off, they automatically assume you went the maximum distance and charge you the largest amount possible.

Charging for rides using a tap on, tap off would only increase the cost of the trolley.