Visions for the GTTA

Justification for a fare card

While waiting in line to buy my November monthly GO ticket, the woman in front of me asked the agent a question.

She had purchased a ten ride ticket from Toronto to Bramalea, but for the next few days, would be riding from Brampton. She wanted to know if she could purchase some sort of fare supplement to cover the extra fare zone. If she purchased single rides from Bramalea to Brampton, she would still have to pay the $3.55 base fare, in addition to the zone surcharge, so the agent recommended she purchase single rides for the entire trip and save her ten-ride.

If we had a fare card, this woman would be able to use the fare card for either trip. She would always pay the correct fare, no matter where she was going. She would not be restricted to which lines she could travel on either.

My monthly ticket is valid from Union to Brampton, as its the trip I usually take. This journey costs $6.55 one way. On occasion, if there's a long wait between trains, I'll head up to York Mills or Yorkdale and catch the bus from there. This trip costs $6.05, which means I waste 20 cents whenever I do that. On days when I cannot get parking I drive to Bramalea and take a loss of 85 cents. The simple solution is to buy three ten-ride tickets instead of one monthly. A friend and Brampton Transit insider, "Lady Jane", does this, but what happens if she accidentally punches the wrong ticket? With a fare card, she would only have to buy one ticket and I wouldn't waste money every time I choose transit.

Interesting little tid-bit:

Boston has been introducing it's own fare card, called the Charlie Card. Charlie is character from a song who became trapped on the MTA in Boston because he couldn't afford the nickle pay-as-you-leave fare. Click here for the lyrics, which I hope brightens up your day.

Labels: daily travels, GTTA plan

posted by Andrae Griffith @ 10:19 a.m.