MTR 304, Will Discounts Chart a New PATH?

Issue 304

February 12, 2001

Will Discounts Chart a New PATH?

When the toll and fare increases approved by the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey last month go into effect, PATH riders will have a financial incentive to purchase tickets in bulk. For the first time after March 25th, the purchase of a PATH Quickcard will be a way to save money and more than mere convenience. As a result, Port Authority officials expect that payment with the fare-card to balloon from today's 42% of all trips to 80%. This level would greatly reduce backups at the turnstile during rush hour and pave the way for widespread acceptance of a regional fare card, but that prediction may be too optimistic.

New York City Transit reports that subway and bus riders use the Metrocard to pay for 81% of all trips, but reasons to use a fare-card are more wide-ranging than those to be offered for the PATH. Deeper savings are available due to the Metrocard's daily, weekly, and monthly unlimited ride options.

System	Volume Discounts	Cost Per Ride	Unlimited Ride	Free Transfers
PATH	11 trips/ $15 20 trips/ $24 40 trips/ $48	$1.36 $1.20 $1.20	NONE	NONE
HBLRT	10 trips/ $13	$1.30	Monthly/$56	To/ From NJTransit buses
NYC Transit	11 trips/ $15	$1.36	Daily/ $4 Weekly/ $17 Monthly/ $63	To/ From NYC Transit subways, buses

The Metrocard also allows free transfers between buses and subways, a program that doubled fare-card usage from a meager 17% in just a few weeks when it began in the summer of 1997 (MTR #133). These discounts also caused ridership to skyrocket, adding 1.8 million more daily riders to the system over 1996. Although PATH ridership continues to burgeon, it seems unlikely that the discount will attract significant growth in ridership coming on the heels of a 50% fare increase.

Discount programs among regional transit agencies are quite diverse (see chart). Similarity in fares and discounts is not a pre-requisite for a multi-system fare-card - E-ZPass is capable of juggling payments according to varying toll structures. However, a PATH unlimited ride option would complement the other systems' programs and allow easier future coordination of inter-system free transfers and discounts.