<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by HeHateY:
Um, you'll get a 20% bonus, that's $2.00 and that gets you one ride these days on the NYCMTA.
But yeah, it's still a great deal easier than buying the ticket on BART. Of course BART fares are more equitable in that they are charged based on distance, something the NYCMTA would love to be able to do on their subway.</font>
Washington, DC does the same thing. It's not equitable, it's stupid.
Even in NYC, the farebox is not the primary source of revenue. Taxes pay the bulk of costs (similar to roads).
If you make the ticket purchase too complicated, you will piss off people, and some of them won't come back. It's ironic that in NYC, where usage of public transport is virtually required, buying just one fare is very simple -- it's $2.00, period.
Amtrak has the same foolish thinking with their long distance train pricing. A ticket on a short route (e.g., San Antonio to Ft. Worth) is very cheap. A ticket going a long distance is very expensive.
The result is the few people who take long distance trains short distances save money on a trip they were going to take for fun anyway, and few people are riding long distances because it's cheaper to buy an airline ticket.