Paying bus fares

Paying bus fares.

The paying of bus fares individually by passengers as they board adds to the travel time. The bus driver is also the fare-taker, and for each boarding, each new passenger must be served by the driver to make sure the proper fare is paid. The size of the passengers boarding of course dictates how long boarding takes.


The method of payment is another critical link in the time needed for boarding buses which adds to the overall time of the trip.

-NUMBER of PASSENGERS.
At major bus stops a small crowd can easily gather waiting for their bus. At Rapid Bus stops, Rapid Buses are more rapid because they have fewer stops, the crowd can become quite substantial. A nearly empty, 55 passenger articulated bus, can have every seat filled with some people standing from boardings at one stop.

METHODS OF PAYMENT

BUS PASSES - If the passenger has a boarding pass, they come in various time lengths, one month to one-half month and so forth, the passenger displays the pass to the driver, who must examine it to make sure it is paid for the current month. This is a quick, efficient exchange, but when the pass is expired, the driver then must seek out that person, and ask for payment of the fare. This takes time out from continuing the route.

TRANSFERS - If the boarding passenger has a transfer from another bus line, this is given to the driver, and the exchange is quick, unless the pass is expired or will not work. Metro to Muni (any bus agency other than Metro/MTA) pass will work, and a Muni to Metro transfer will work, but a Metro to Metro pass won’t. The driver then must explain the situation, and this passenger then needs to pay fare.

TAP CARDS- These are purchased from the bus companies, Metro, Culver City Bus, Santa Monica Big Blue Bus, etc., and are prepaid boarding passes similar to a debit card. Any dollar amount can be put onto the card by the passenger. They are quickly swiped across a certain area of the fare box, and the fare is deducted. This is quick and efficient if there is enough money on the card. They seem to pay basic fare, but will not buy a transfer. I have tried many times to use the card to pay the fare with a transfer. If using cash for basic fare, this is one transaction; but it seems that with the TAP cards this is considered two transactions, and the fare box will not read the card for transfers. This then becomes a two step transaction-basic fare paid by the TAP card, then the transfer amount is paid by cash into the fare box, which defeats the purpose of the card-which is to do away with paying for fares by cash.

NOTE ON TAP CARD- I recently called Culver City Bus about the TAP card’s inability to pay for basic fare and an interagency transfer. I was told to call the phone number on the back of the card, which I did. These cards are issued by MTA, and the very nice phone rep was unaware that these cards will not pay for transfers. So, while they are extremely efficient for paying basic fare, they don’t do the entire job when a transfer is needed. I also found out that the card is registered to me. By giving the card number, the phone rep knew my name and phone number without asking me. For those concerned about privacy, particularly for those Jason Bourne types, the TAP card contains some information about you.

CASH-For those who ride for the first time, or not frequently enough to need to buy a monthly bus pass, the fare is paid by cash. This is the most time consuming way to pay fare. if new to the system, the boarding passenger will ask the driver the fare price. They then stumble with their cash to find the right fare amount. The fare box does not give change, so exact fare is required.

For Culver City and Santa Monica buses, basic fare is 75cents, but transfer amounts differ. For Culver City, an interagency transfer (from a Culver City bus to another agency such as Santa Monica or Metro) is 25 cents, and transfers to another Culver City bus is free. But for the Santa Monica Bus, all transfers are 50cents regardless if it is to another Blue Bus or interagency.

For Metro, basic fare is $1.25 and Metro to Muni transfers (interagency) are 30cents.

Fare boxes accept coins and bills. Anytime the fare is $1 or more, the most time consuming part of paying fare occurs, and that trying to stuff the dollar bill into the fare box. If anyone has ever tried to use a dollar bill in the vending machine, buy Lotto tickets, etc., they know that these machines are very temperamental, and will reject and spit out a bill as unacceptable as often as accepting it. When rejected, the passenger then goes through a series of gestures to try to get the bill accepted by the fare box, which acts as judge and jury.

There can be repeated attempts to stuff the bill into the slot- folding out the folded in corners, smoothing out the bill, unkringling it, to name a few moments of frustration. This is most time consuming method of fare paying. If the boarding passenger has no luck with a reluctant fare box, the driver will then step in, and work the fare box to have it accept the bill. More time wasted by the driver when they should be driving.

One solution I have come upon when paying cash is the must maligned and forgotten dollar coin. This works beautifully. If I’m paying a fare one dollar and above I just drop in the dollar coin and the other coins needed to fulfill the fare. These dollar coins are a little larger than a quarter, but heavier. There is a pleasing thunk when dropped in the fare box. The noise signifies business is done, fare’s paid.

There are now three dollar coins in circulation:
The Susan B. Anthony which is tricky because it is silver like a quartet and can be mistaken for it.
The Sacagawea Dollar which is about the size of a quarter but its bronze color is easily distinguished. But why didn’t they put her name on the coin? I’m not the greatest speller; the dictionary didn’t have her name so I did a Google search.
The new Presidents Dollar Coins which are similar in size and shape to the Sacagawea coins.

All a nice coins, and are very easy to use and work much better than dollar bills. They can also be used at fare machines, but those are only for light rail and subway. And this fare paying process is one reason why they are faster than bus: fare is paid in advance, a ticket is dispensed by the machine, and the passenger just walks on to either the light rail train or subway.

One drawback I’ve encountered with the dollar coins is that sometimes the fare boxes don’t read them. The boxes are programmed to read the deposited coins to register the correct fare is paid. One evening I had a somewhat heated exchange with a Santa Monica Bus driver who didn’t believe I paid the $1.25 fare, basic fare and a transfer with a dollar coin and a quarter. He would not believe my repeated protestations that I did not deposit two quarters. He was getting more and more upset. I held firm, and he finally allowed me to take a seat. What I now do is that before depositing fare into the box, I announce to the driver that I’m paying with a dollar coin and show it to him or her. This works.

If fare for the bus is one dollar or more, I strongly recommend the use of dollar coins.

Matthew