Comments on: rounding out the fare debate

By: Oscar Grant protests miss the big picture « clubantietam.com

Oscar Grant protests miss the big picture « clubantietam.com — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 16:56:48 +0000

[...] actually more than the operating cost of a trip from, say, Fruitvale to the DTO. This means that every trip within Oakland is subsidizing a trip from the outer suburbs. Both the structure and the operation of BART is subsidizing suburbanites at the expense of the [...]

By: Oscar Grant protests miss the big picture « FutureOakland

Oscar Grant protests miss the big picture « FutureOakland — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 19:40:27 +0000

By: TransLinkInsider

TransLinkInsider — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 03:24:18 +0000

If you have a TransLink card with an expiry date of July 2004, contact the TransLink Customer Service Center (877-878-8883) to get a free replacement. The customer service center will transfer your balance.

Also, the two companies responsible for TransLink and the BART fare system, respectively, ARE working together to incorporate TransLink into BART’s faregates. This is a key piece of the TransLink systemwide rollout on BART, which will likely occur next year.

Finally, the coming rollout of TransLink on AC Transit and Golden Gate Transit is not a “trial.” It’s the full systemwide deployment. Similar to many software programs, TransLink will be pre-launched to a small group of people for a short period to make sure that there are no surprises. (The earlier Pilot Program included only limited routes and stations for the participating agencies.)

By: Doug Faunt

Doug Faunt — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 23:40:04 +0000

Thanks Bob,
I wonder if MTC sets those payment levels on the basis of transfers issued, in the long run, though?

And Bruce, is that one of the Translink pilot program cards? Or something else?
I have one with very small useage, that has an expiry date of July 2004.

By: Bob Franklin, BART Board

Bob Franklin, BART Board — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 16:04:08 +0000

In response to Doug Flant’s question on transfer payments between BART and the bus operators, here is what I found out:
Both Muni and AC Transit receive transfer payments from BART, however, the amounts for most arrangements are not based on number of transfer tickets.
BART pays AC Transit via MTC. For FY07, this is projected to be $4.6M. BART also transfers $0.4M to AC Transit as part of the Dumbarton Bridge Consortium.
In FY07, BART will also pay $4.9M to WestCat, ECCTA, CCCTA, and LAVTA, via MTC.
Under the Muni Transfer Agreement, BART pays Muni directly. For FY07, this is budgeted at $2.8M. BART also pays about $0.4M to Muni for the free Muni transfers issued at Daly City Station. This payment differs from the others in that it is tied to the number of paper transfers issued by machines in the BART paid area.

By: Bruce De Benedictis

Bruce De Benedictis — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 15:31:52 +0000

I have a friend who works for the company that makes the Translink system. He said that the company that is making the new BART fare gates is a rival, and is not cooperating to make the gates compatible with Translink.

The AC Transit Translink is very close to trials before complete implementation now, according to one of my AC Transit directors. There was still some unreliability with the wireless connection between the buses and the network to be worked out, plus training of the drivers. But I do use my trial card occasionally on AC Transit buses, and it seems to work OK.

By: Capricious Commuter

Capricious Commuter — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 07:14:47 +0000

BART/TransLink doesn’t exist at the moment. Golden Gate and AC Transit are supposed to be starting another TransLink trial, which I have been invited to participate in.

It won’t, however, include BART. The new smart cards that BART is also about to test are being touted as TransLink-ready, but connecting the fare accounts, that’s the hard part.

I haven’t been around that long, but from what I’ve seen, an end to the war in Iraq will probably come sooner than a viable multi-system fare collection system.

By: Terry

Terry — Sat, 14 Oct 2006 13:34:37 +0000

What happened to BART/TRANSLINK?

By: Doug Faunt

Doug Faunt — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 00:08:42 +0000

Where can I find out how the money flows when I pick up a Muni, AC or other discount coupon in a BART station?

By: Bruce De Benedictis

Bruce De Benedictis — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 03:20:42 +0000

I had been pushing for a higher BART Plus ticket price for a few years before AC Transit left the program. It made no sense for them to sell a $49 monthly pass when you could buy BART Plus tickets for as little as $56 per month. For that, you got $30 worth of BART rides. I assume that BART got most of that $30, but I do not know what the actual cut is. My assumption is that the other operators, mainly BART, refused to allow a fairer cut for AC Transit, so that they are the ones really responsible for forcing AC out of the system.

You can tell how much BART does to encourage other transit systems from Mr. Franklin’s comment. AC and Muni riders get a parsimonious $0.25 off their bus trip each way. On the other hand, if you drive a car to a BART station, you get a full parking space, worth at least $30,000, to use all day long. Maybe they will charge you a bit for using it, but it is much less than the $5-15 per day the interest and taxes on that money would cost if the parking were to be provided privately.