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Old 02-13-2009, 01:31 PM   #1
fredr123
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Default Calgary Transit: Debating eliminating free-fare zone

http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/...76456-sun.html

Citing problems providing a safe ride for everyone, the City is pondering eliminating the downtown free-fare zone. Polls, apparently, suggest riders and transit workers don't feel safe on the train at night as it seems to be home to a lot of illegitimate users.
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Old 02-13-2009, 01:33 PM   #2
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You cant eliminate it as far as I am concerned.

Cut it off at ~7pm maybe, but after that I am betting the people who are riding it are traveling out the core and would need to pay anyway.
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Old 02-13-2009, 01:37 PM   #3
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I'm all for it, I've rarely had any use for it. But if they included Vic Park, that would be a different story.
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Old 02-13-2009, 01:46 PM   #4
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You cant eliminate it as far as I am concerned.

Cut it off at ~7pm maybe, but after that I am betting the people who are riding it are traveling out the core and would need to pay anyway.
Agreed. During the day it is key for pretty much everyone downtown. But after 6:30-7:00 it is a haven for bums and druggies - its like the Bookmobile, but different.
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Old 02-13-2009, 01:46 PM   #5
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will it make a difference? i never have once been asked to show my transit ticket, i think at this point more people ride the trains for free than pay anyways
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Old 02-13-2009, 01:49 PM   #6
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Does the city at any place admit there will be a bit of a revenue increase and that they wouldn't mind that part?
A suggested $25 dollar a year fee to travel in that zone. I don't know if that would even be practical. If you're already buying a bus pass or tickets, then you wouldn't need to buy it.

How would they even begin to enforce it? We don't have enough transit cops.
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Old 02-13-2009, 02:18 PM   #7
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will it make a difference? i never have once been asked to show my transit ticket, i think at this point more people ride the trains for free than pay anyways
. I thought the entire C-Train line was a "free-fare zone".

This post does not constitue an admission that I ride the C-Train without paying...
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Old 02-13-2009, 02:23 PM   #8
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I was actually checked for proof of fare twice in the last 24 hours. I've ridden the C train on and off for 14 years, it's the first time I've ever been asked. Luckily, I didn't forget to validate my tickets.

Eliminating the free fare zone wouldn't affect me at all.
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Old 02-13-2009, 02:25 PM   #9
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I was actually checked for proof of fare twice in the last 24 hours. I've ridden the C train on and off for 14 years, it's the first time I've ever been asked. Luckily, I didn't forget to validate my tickets.

Eliminating the free fare zone wouldn't affect me at all.
What time of the day were you going though? Certainly not during rush hour
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Old 02-13-2009, 02:26 PM   #10
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What time of the day were you going though? Certainly not during rush hour
Actually, yes. This morning at 7 am, yesterday afternoon at 5:30.
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Old 02-13-2009, 02:37 PM   #11
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will it make a difference? i never have once been asked to show my transit ticket, i think at this point more people ride the trains for free than pay anyways
I read an article (will try to find the link) that CTS figures that about 97% of transit riders have a valid ticket. Basically they are at no advantage of increasing patrol for that 3%.
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Old 02-13-2009, 02:42 PM   #12
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I take transit to and from work each day ... I get checked on average once per month. Twice in the last 3 days actually. Anytime I've been part of a sweep there are only a couple of people that seem to get caught which leads me to believe that pepper's stat of transit payers = 97% to be true. I obviously have no concrete evidence besides that, but it seems about right.

The free fare zone rarely has any impact on me as I travel from south to north and north to south each day. If it helps bring in some funds to improve the NE leg and make it safer I'm all for it. My wife travels that way and it can get a little dicey after dusk.
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Old 02-13-2009, 02:45 PM   #13
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I'm sure the extra $2 or whatever wouldn't have stopped the guy from offering to sell me a gun, twice when I used to ride the train on a regular basis.
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Old 02-13-2009, 02:45 PM   #14
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Wouldn't the solution be just to patrol the downtown line more? I don't see how adding the fare will discourage vagrants from using it as a personal toilet.

Last edited by peter12; 02-13-2009 at 02:53 PM.
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Old 02-13-2009, 02:51 PM   #15
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Wouldn't the solution be just to patrol the downtown line more? I don't see how eliminating the fare will discourage vagrants from using it as a personal toilet.
I think you have things reversed. They're talking about adding the fare to what is currently the free fare downtown zone along 7th Ave.
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Old 02-13-2009, 02:57 PM   #16
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I'm all for it!

As long as they introduce fair zones across the city while they're at it!

There is no way a ride from Sunnyside to 8th street should cost the same as taking a feeder bus to Somerset and then taking the train downtown.

$2.50 to ride the train from 8th street to 3rd street? Yeah Right!
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Old 02-13-2009, 02:58 PM   #17
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No reasonable way to enforce the different fares. Pay the fare, walk, or risk the $150 ticket.
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Old 02-13-2009, 03:01 PM   #18
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No reasonable way to enforce the different fares. Pay the fare, walk, or risk the $150 ticket.
How do they enforce it on every train or bus I've ever taken in Europe?
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Old 02-13-2009, 03:03 PM   #19
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1) Like the bums are going to pay for the fare.
2) Like the bums are going to pay for the ticket.
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Old 02-13-2009, 03:04 PM   #20
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Actually they have been alot more active in checking tickets during rush-hour. Maybe they are finally catching on?!

I'm all for eliminating the free fare zone, doesn't affect me one bit.
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