Midtown Transit Center
Yeah, this is a consistent complaint I have with the public input aspects of the Wake Transit Plan. They really need to start putting together specific, non-jargony summaries every single time they ask for public input. Quick bullet points of exactly what is changing, maps when applicable, etc. I’m fine scrolling through a document like this because I take interest in the topic, but much of the general public isn’t going to want to do that.
I know they included a “News Release” button on the site, but it just downloads a Word doc with no images in it, and said doc lists the most immediate, impactful changes (GoRaleigh routes 3, 7L, 11, and 12) as “service improvements and expansion.” Doesn’t even mention that the 3 and 7L are being rerouted; I have to dig through the document for that.
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Oh yeah, it’s near impossible to follow for the average person. I’ve been on it for about 30 minutes and I think I have a feel for how it’s laid out. I’ve also used ChatGPT to summarize some long text parts for me and if you ignore the financials, it really reduces the size of the doc. Then, if you start to notice what they repeat (they say, “we are buying buses” on about 20 pages) you can condense it down even further.
Fun! 
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Do they have a site for this finalized?
I’m watching the council work session that took place yesterday. It’s all about GoRaleigh transit, the budget short fall, and proposals for bringing back fares.
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They shouldn’t bring back fares, they should just tax the citizens monthly use that revenue maybe quarter of a cent and that will help cover monthly cost, in exchange free transit.
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Anything of note you’d be willing to summarize?
I’d be fine bringing back fares as long as there are acceptable use passes. So, if someone uses the bus for work, for daily living needs, etc. then it should be fine.
The entire block outside of Taz’s was filled with kids out on summer vacation who were loitering and yelling outside of these businesses without any chaperones, parents, etc. That was a big reason that one session with business owners pleading with the city council took place. We need to make sure that doesn’t happen at that scale again this summer.
I just wanted to restate that, if someone is doing something for Raleigh. Providing business, work, etc, then I have no problem with them having the bus for free. Last summer, that wasn’t the case. The kids using it to go to the Moore Square area were actively scaring away customers from those local businesses, while also not contributing to the money the bus gets. These businesses already operate on razor-thin margins. That can’t happen again.
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I’ve definitely heard from at least three businesses down there that said that the free buses have actually hurt their business. (The only exception being back when the R-Line was around—the only one that actually brought paying customers to that block.) A pass for commuters is a good idea, as you stated.
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In Switzerland if you stay at a hotel or hostel you pay a daily tourist fee but it gives you unlimited access to the local buses and trams. Would would work here. What’s $2.50 charge when you’re already paying for a room. Heck it will event encourage tourist to use the busses.
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For what the city/county tax hitel rooms already, they should probably give the pass out for free! I like the idea. It would raise awarness of the bus system. If I get a perk I usually want to try it out.
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I was in Zurich for a conference last October and this was not a thing, at least at our hotel, and we were by the light rail right outside the city center. If it was a thing they would have saved us a lot of money paying for everyone’s transit 
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Depends on the city.
Free Transport Pass
By staying in hotel, youth hostel or at a campsite, you are entitled to receive a personal and non transferable Geneva Transport Card for free, which will allow you to use the whole public transportation system of Geneva for the length of Your stay for free. This includes buses, trams, trains, and yellow taxi-boats - Mouettes. Just ask for it upon arrival on the reception.
https://www.geneva.info/transport/card/
Interlaken
All guests staying overnight in Interlaken, Matten, Unterseen, Wilderswil, Saxeten, Gsteigwiler, Bönigen, Iseltwald, Ringgenberg, Goldswil and Niederried pay a visitor’s tax, the revenues of which are used by Interlaken Tourism to promote and create services and amenities for visitors. In return, your accommodation provider will give you a guest card that allows you to take advantage of numerous benefits. The Interlaken guest card also entitles you to free travel on public transport within Libero zone 750, which includes Iseltwald, Saxeten, Niederried and Beatenbucht.
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To summarize, very briefly, the options in front of council are:
If fares remain free, it’s business as usual. If not, we’ll have have two things take place (generally):
- New fare collection tech
- What’s the price?
In addition to however you’re used to getting a ride, we’ll also have upgraded fare collection boxes that can accept credit cards and smartphones to make a payment. Hopefully, it’s as simple as “tap and go”. This allows us to do Fare Capping where, for some users, we can cap their weekly or monthly amounts. For example, if you qualify, you only have to pay (I’m making this up) $40 a month. Once you hit that $40, the rest of the month is free.
The second point is the price, the recommendation from the Raleigh Transit Authority is to raise the price of fares by a quarter, from $1.25 to $1.50 for a one-way fare. From what I’m seeing from this as well as being on the Raleigh Transit Authority, the fare increase boils down to two main points:
- We’re going to have a big budget shortfall, estimated to be around $10 million in the next fiscal year.
- Fares are already low compared to peer cities so this just brings it more inline. See chart below.
I guess the third point is the feedback and perception that fareless operation has this negative outcome of increased loitering and safety issues around GoRaleigh Station in downtown. See earlier comments from nearby business owners. There’s certainly thinking that bringing fares back will help here. This discussion point was not mentioned in the video above.
I’ll leave this here but have some personal thoughts in my next post.
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The cost of a single way ticket in Wroclaw Poland is 4.60 zloty or $1.17. $1.50 is comparably cheap given that incomes are double here.
Related to my summary above, the Raleigh Transit Authority (RTA) voted last week 5-3 in favor of recommending the price increase for fares. In 2022, (before I was on the board) the RTA voted to recommend bringing back fares entirely. I was one of those against the fare increase.
I voted against it because of a few factors. I wasn’t satisfied with “we should raise prices because that’s what everyone else is doing”. Also, I mentioned the ~$10 million shortfall earlier. Fare collection is estimated to make about $1.8 million so the rest, $8.2 million, comes from the general fund. In a city where our budget is over $1 billion, you’re telling me we can’t find $1.8 million? We can’t even cover a quarter increase? It’s a question of priorities for me so I voted against the price increase.
NOTE: I’m not saying make it free.
Briefly, I just read so much about this two-speed economy we’re in. City staff has also made it pretty clear that a good amount, arguably a large majority of transit riders are low-income and transit dependent. So tell me, why raise prices on this group?
I’d rather see the programs for getting free rides and/or discounts expanded while fares come back for those who can pay it. The city can and should cover this cost and in a future where transit plays a bigger role in more and more resident’s lives, we should raise the priority of this so I hope that I’m supporting that kind of thing for Raleigh.
Open to your thoughts and criticisms.
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100% agreed here. Whether we like it or not, we live in a society that requires some form of transportation to participate in it. If you can’t afford a car, you’re taking the bus. The last thing I want to do is tell someone who’s taking a bus because they can’t afford a car that they need to open up their wallet.
Give that person a free bus pass for whatever they need to use it for. The only thing I’d want to have for someone to have this pass is that they have a job or are looking for one, or they’re a spouse of someone that has a job and they need a way to buy groceries, meet with friends, etc.
My primary hope is that we don’t see the busses used as a pseudo daycare like it was last summer. I’d prefer that nobody had to pay to use the bus, but sometimes the path of least resistance that is taken means we can’t have nice things.
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Here’s the link to the MBTA Bus fare website, just for another example city: Bus Fares | Fares Overview | MBTA
The fare for one ride is $1.70 or 85¢ for seniors (other reduced fare options) but riders only have the option to pay with cash or a CharlieCard.
Also, there could be an option to keep certain lines fare free. The MBTA has one line that is located in an Environmental Justice community that is free, while all of the other lines require fares. Doing this, wouldn’t come without controversy.