The RTL announced its fare table on Friday (and Presse Canadienne recopied it).
The big thing here is a reduction in the single fare rate to encourage more occasional use. In exchange, transit users paying cash won’t be issued a transfer and would have to pay for each individual leg of their trip unless they get a smart card or their new “disposable” Solo card (is advertising something as disposable really such a great idea in this eco-conscious world?).
Considering how “very occasional users” usually pay cash and are unaware of where the ticket offices are, this is bound to inconvenience tourists, visitors from other transit zones and anyone else who isn’t a regular or semi-regular user of public transit in Longueuil.
| 2008 | 2009 | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single fare | $3.25 | $3 | -7.7% |
| Single fare (reduced) | $2 | N/A | Elimination of fare* |
| 6 tickets (regular) | $15.50 (6x$2.58) | $16.10 (6x$2.68) | +3.9% |
| 6 tickets (reduced) | $9.25 (6x$1.54) | $9.60 (6x$1.6) | +3.8%** |
| Monthly pass (regular) | $76 | $79 | +3.9% |
| Monthly pass (reduced) | $45 | $47 | +3.4% |
*Single tickets will no longer be available in reduced form. All passengers will be required to pay $3 cash, regardless of age. Solo passes are available in groups of no less than six tickets.
*Both the RTL press release and the Presse Canadienne cut-and-paste (and, of course, all the websites that republished it) have this backwards, which would result in a reduction.
The good news is that the RTL is confident it will meet the 8% increased ridership challenge set by the Quebec government by the end of 2009 (the deadline is 2011). Transit authorities who meet the 8% increase target get a gajillion dollars from the government, and a cookie.
Still waiting on AMT fares for 2009, but the RTL release hints that the TRAM 3 pass will go up by 3.5%, which means the $105 regular Zone 3 pass would go up to $108 or $109 a month.
As a South Shore resident, I make a habit of not using the RTL. The system is complete and utter garbage and is extremely overpriced (especially when compared to Montreal and its more comprehensive network). It is also irritating that it costs less for me to get into Montreal from the South Shore than costs to get to the Longueuil terminus.
The RTL costs a bit more, but I don’t mind paying for convenience. For me to get to the Brossard terminus to go downtown, it would take a transfer and a lot more time than just going to Longueuil.
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It’s completely ridiculous; imagine someone who loses their bus pass or just can’t find it Saturday morning who has to get to work; since there’s no ticket seller at the house they need to spend $6 just to get into Montreal.
For a system built on mandatory transfers hors-pointe they’re really going to be screwing people. I like how kids are going to get especially screwed by this, since they better remember to have recharged their OPUS card or else they have to pay $3 for each bus they take that morning.
It’s almost as if they’re telling people to not bother taking the bus if they’re not a regular user of the system because they’re not welcome. In any case, I expect mass pandemonium at least during the first few weekends of 2009 followed by some sort of transfer being given out by February 2009, and I wouldn’t want to be working any off-rush routes if I were an RTL driver in January. Try explaining to the 74 year old that they have to pay $3 all of a sudden and they don’t get a transfer for their second bus at Panama… idiotic in the extreme.
I suppose that forcing cash users to pay for each leg is a way of “increasing” readership? One user taking 2 buses will then be counted twice…