‘Arithmetic machine’
courtesy of ‘marc kjerland’
If the proposed changes to the WMATA fare structure take effect as planned, how much more are you looking at in daily fees to ride the rails on our aging transport system? The Post’s Kat Downs and Jacqueline Kazil have built a calculator to help you figure it out. I ran a few of my favorite routes through the calculator, and here’s what I found:
Van Dorn Street to Farragut West (my first commute)
Options: Peak of the Peak, Parking, 10 trips/wk
Per Week Increase: $12.50
Per Year Increase: $650.00
Per Week Parking Increase: $2.50
Per Year Parking Increase: $130.00
Total Yearly Increase: $780.00
Ballston-MU to Metro Center (Arlington to DC)
Options: Regular, 10 trips/wk
Per Week Increase: $4.00
Per Year Increase: $208.00
Total Yearly Increase: $208.00
Shady Grove to Metro Center (Far Maryland to DC)
Options: Peak of the Peak, Parking, 10 trips/wk
Per Week Increase: $5.00
Per Year Increase: $260.00
Per Week Parking Increase: $2.50
Per Year Parking Increase: $130.00
Total Yearly Increase: $390.00
Columbia Heights to Capitol South (Intra-DC)
Options: Peak of the Peak, 10 trips/wk
Per Week Increase: $4.00
Per Year Increase: $208
Total Yearly Increase: $208.00
Rhode Island Ave to Navy Yard (Ballpark Commute)
Options: Reduced, Parking, 4 trips/wk
Per Week Increase: $0.40
Per Year Increase: $20.80
Per Week Parking Increase: $1.00
Per Year Parking Increase: $52.00
Total Yearly Increase: $72.80
That’s a sizeable boost in fares over the previous totals, and that’s definitely going to affect the “parking calculus” that goes into one’s consideration of whether to commute by rail or car or bus. It’s hard to see that this will help anyone stay off the roads without a similar hike to parking fees or gas prices.
I live and work in the District of Columbia. I write at We Love DC, a blog I helped start, I work at Technolutionary, a company I helped start, and I’m happy doing both. I enjoy watching baseball, cooking, and gardening. I grow a mean pepper, keep a clean scorebook, and wash the dishes when I’m done. Read Why I Love DC.
Great work! Thanks for putting this together.
I’m looking at a $10 per week increase for East Falls Church to Eastern Market. That’s about a 30% increase, which is more than the great screw-job of 2003 (or was it 2001?), where they hiked fares 10% at the same time they eliminated the 10% bonus when you bought $20 or more.
Then a couple of years after that they hiked fares 20%, so in all my fares have gone up about 90% in a decade.
Great work. Thanks for putting this together.
I hope this report steps out into gridlock rush-hour cyber traffic.
Fare increases like this are totally unnecessary. I would rather have a crumbling accident-prone system paid for by DC residents income and property taxes, then shared by people who use the system. According to EIA I use to pay $1.17 a gallon for gasoline in 2000 and now I pay $4.25, a 363% increase?!? Glad I walk.
If you’re paying $4.25 for gasoline, you’re doing it wrong.
The other factor that will have a huge impact in whether people keep riding metro or decide to drive is whether the transit subsidy increase is extended this fall or whether it drops back to normal levels. If it stays at its current level, there are a whole lot of government (and private) employees who won’t really be affected by rising fares.
Well, re: gas… the highest price (outside of any recent trips to CA, AK, or HI) that I’d ever seen in my US travels, sits at the Exxon on the Rock Creek Pkwy next to the Watergate… $4.85 / gal for premium… I think it was two weeks ago… yeah, we’re doing it wrong… I think the EIA is to blame for the mis-calc for this user, try the Lundberg survey.