Regional Rail (RUR) & North-South Rail Link (NSRL)

fattony said:
I don't ride CR often, but that doesn't sound right at all. You mean it costs the same to ride 1 stop into Worcester as it costs to ride from there all the way to South Station? I don't think so.

EDIT: In fact, I just checked that on the MBTA CR app and you are quite mistaken.
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What he's saying is that it costs the same to go from Worcester to SS as it does to go from SS to Worcester, regardless of time.
 
LIRR uses the exact same system as the MBTA (paper tickets + mobile app) and has no issue with off-peak pricing.
 
Peak period trains are already noted on the schedule. That would be a great starting point.

They are pretty close to the exact runs on which we'd want to have peak fares. Some tweaks would be needed, but it's pretty close to spot on.
 
The weekend commuter rail revenue acutally grew when the MBTA implemented the cheaper fares. I wouldn't be surprised if the same thing happens with off peak fares.

If a family of four wants to go to a Bruins game from Lowell, leaving on an inbound train in the afternoon and a late night train, that's an $80 fare. At that point it's cheaper to drive. But if you make it cost competitive with driving, you would increase ridership a good bit.

On the other hand this would cost $40 with inter-zone fares (or weekend fares) and would definitively encourage more people to use it off peak.
 
tysmith95 said:
The weekend commuter rail revenue acutally grew when the MBTA implemented the cheaper fares. I wouldn't be surprised if the same thing happens with off peak fares.

If a family of four wants to go to a Bruins game from Lowell, leaving on an inbound train in the afternoon and a late night train, that's an $80 fare. At that point it's cheaper to drive. But if you make it cost competitive with driving, you would increase ridership a good bit.

On the other hand this would cost $40 with inter-zone fares (or weekend fares) and would definitively encourage more people to use it off peak.
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Absolutely and that's why they are planning on implementing them. However the executive decision has been made at a high level that its not worth implementing until post-AFC2.0 its too much work to put into a fare system that is being retired in the next 12 months.
 
HelloBostonHi said:
Absolutely and that's why they are planning on implementing them. However the executive decision has been made at a high level that its not worth implementing until post-AFC2.0 its too much work to put into a fare system that is being retired in the next 12 months.
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Im sorry but that is hot bullshit.
 
There are plenty of "AFC2.0" fare structure changes that could be implemented without AFC2.0 (e.g., CharlieCard acceptance on the Fairmount Line, off-peak Commuter Rail rates, even back door CharlieCard readers on the Green Line, etc.) but the powers-that-be have kicked the can down the road on all of them until after AFC2.0 is implemented.

It's dumb, but it is what it is.
 
JumboBuc said:
There are plenty of "AFC2.0" fare structure changes that could be implemented without AFC2.0 (e.g., CharlieCard acceptance on the Fairmount Line
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I'm curious how this would work? Handheld readers for the current CharlieCards I've heard are notoriously unreliably due to the offline nature of the system. Could have done fare gates... But without south station thats difficult
 
HelloBostonHi said:
I'm curious how this would work? Handheld readers for the current CharlieCards I've heard are notoriously unreliably due to the offline nature of the system. Could have done fare gates... But without south station thats difficult
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Option 1 would be to use the bus fare machines. They appear to work fine on buses.

Option 2 is the PoP system that was installed on the D line and used for like a week. You tapped on the platform, and got a paper receipt you could show upon request.

Which again, proves the claims that PoP requires AFC 2.0 to be 100% bs. They literally bought and installed PoP machines!
 
jklo said:
You can get a Zone 1A monthly pass for the same price as the Subway one. It's only an issue if you don't know that exists.
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Yeah, I know, I always get a Zone 1A pass. But I also hang out on archBoston.

Zone 1A Charlie on Fairmount only works if you have a monthly pass, not if you pay by ride. And even if you do get a monthly pass, getting a Zone 1A pass is much more of a hassle than just putting a standard monthly pass on a Charlie Card (for example, you can't get a Zone 1A Charlie Card from a fare vending machine and I believe the only way to buy one is ahead of time online).

Plenty of people don't buy monthly passes and only pay per ride. And of the people who do buy monthly passes, plenty don't order them ahead of time online. And also of the people who do buy passes, plenty don't understand how Zone 1A works.

The thought process that says "it's not an issue if there is a possible workaround that savvy people with money get" is the root of too many public policy failures to count.

HelloBostonHi said:
I'm curious how this would work? Handheld readers for the current CharlieCards I've heard are notoriously unreliably due to the offline nature of the system. Could have done fare gates... But without south station thats difficult
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The technology has existed for years to fix the handheld readers without entirely blowing up the entire fare system (i.e., "AFC2.0"). The way is there but the will isn't.
 
tysmith95 said:
All the Greenbush line did is reduce the amount of people taking the Hingham Ferries.
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And spurred some 2019 TOD eventually: https://www.emjcorp.com/greenbush-station-drew-company/
Greenbush-Station-2018-04-07-Site-Conceptual-Plan-1-50-Concept-G.png
 
tysmith95 said:
Sounds like a paper to try to rationalize the recent fare increases
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I mean its literally just survey results from a like three question survey to try and figure out why NON-riders aren't riding the trains and what they can do to make them more appealing and is from a team that I can personally verifiably say had nothing to do with the fare increase proposal but sure whatever you think

Just remember Commuter Rail Vision is being done by an outside consultant that has no cards in the game when it comes to fare increases.
 
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