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| Re: Intermediate Station Fare Payment on SIRT (was:Re: Scrap pecking order with R44-SI) (305887) | |||
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Re: Intermediate Station Fare Payment on SIRT (was:Re: Scrap pecking order with R44-SI) |
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Posted by David of Broadway on Sun Sep 3 15:41:43 2006, in response to Re: Intermediate Station Fare Payment on SIRT (was:Re: Scrap pecking order with R44-SI), posted by R68A - 5200 on Sun Sep 3 13:52:04 2006. (scratches head) How could the ferry not be a money-loser under its current fare structure?The stated justification for removing the fare was that, with the anticipated transfer policy (allowing free transfer from bus to SIR to ferry to subway), almost everybody would end up riding the ferry for free, and the revenue from the few who wouldn't didn't justify the cost of maintaining fare control infrastructure. The more likely (IMO) reason was political, to thank Staten Island for its votes. I am not aware of any bus or train across the East River or Harlem River that doesn't charge a fare. Walking is not practical for most. In addition to capital costs, a ferry requires an operating staff to actually bring the ferry from one terminal to the other. It's hardly comparable to a bridge, which doesn't command nearly the same level of operating cost. Recall that the people who live on Staten Island aren't forced to live there; they choose to live there. There are positive and negative aspects to choosing to live on Staten Island, but one negative aspect to many is the high cost of travel to Manhattan. Rather than hide that cost and make residents of the other boroughs cover it, that cost should be borne by those who are responsible for it, so that they can make a rational decision about where to live. Note, also, that Staten Island has, by far, the highest median household income of the boroughs. So all of these special transportation subsidies to Staten Island residents are effectively a transfer in wealth from the (relatively) poor to the (relatively) wealthy. It's hard to justify the subsidies on efficiency grounds and it's hard to justify the subsidies on equity grounds. On what grounds are they justifiable? |
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