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@Michael

You're correct on the whole can't make money lowering fares. This is evident from Metro's own elasticity estimates. Let's take a look at the tape... http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm11.htm#_Toc161022586 Those elasticities (.3) suggest that dropping fares would not increase overall revenue. Sorry guys!

@Redline SOS
While I feel for you, I don't believe you need to live in the suburbs. There are plenty of neighborhoods in the city that if you and all your friends chose to live in would be much better off and would not require you to pay any more. A bad neighborhood is only bad because you and other good people like you aren't in it for it to be safe. You are correct that being the first is altogether risky, but if no one is entertaining the possibility, you'll be stuck in the suburbs no matter what. Subsidizing housing in already great neighborhoods is not an efficient use of funds.

@ All the customer service types.
Transportation is a commodity. I'm sorry that this customer service is the issue for you, but it's all about price. If the Metro were free, they could be the biggest dicks in the world and way more people would ride. There would also be some people who would still pay to drive. The Metro isn't worth it to them at any price. This works the other direction as well, although as I said, the conversion is not, generally, to driving at peak periods. That's one of the reasons demand is so inelastic.

by Matt on Feb 25, 2010 4:02 pm • link • report

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