ijgordon

So according to the BART website and QuickPlanner, it looks like the fare from SFO to Downtown SF (Embarcadero) will be increasing from $5.35 to $8.10 on July 1st (assuming no strike...). That's a whopping 50% increase. Is this correct?!?

ijgordon

OK, I just found some more detail here:

• Increased fares 6.1% effective July 1, 2009 (this CPI-based fare increase was previously scheduled for January 2010)
• Increased lowest priced fare from $1.50 to $1.75
• Raised the surcharge on trips to and from San Francisco International Airport from $1.50 to $4.00

I guess it's the surcharge that causes it. Backing out the $1.50/$4, it is only a 6.1% increase in the underlying fare.

I suppose $8 isn't a terrible deal.

Eastbay1K

Yes it is. It now costs low-paid airport employee commuters nearly an extra hour (after taxes) each day just to get to work.


60-some cents a mile for public transit seems a bit steep. Add the up to 20 minute wait for a train, and this one could backfire.

rjque

Combined Bart/Muni fare for me and many other San Franciscans is going to be $19.00 (round trip). Park SFO is about $25 for a three day weekend, with coupon. Driving just became a much easier choice.

DukieDrew

Millbrae - SFO now is $4.00 from $1.50. Factor this in with the fact that you get to wait for a transfer in San Bruno instead of the direct train that we spent billions on a while back.

At least with the $5 Airtrain in NYC, those come maybe every 5 minutes?

allset2travel

I am with you.
I thought public transportation was suppose to force people out of their cars

ijgordon

Yes, but then you need to get to the Airtrain -- either by (1) Subway: $2 extra, frequency of about every 3-10 minutes depending on time of day (20 min very late night), or (2) Long Island Railroad: $3.50-8.00 extra to Manhattan, same 3-10 minutes or so most of the time, possibly another $2 for subway transfer to/from Penn Station.

My "$8 isn't bad" comment was made with the cost of getting to a New York City airport by rail in mind. Per above, to JFK is $7-15, and to EWR is about $15. Both require at least two separate trains. To SFO a one-train ride is possible for many.

But I guess comparing to cities where the subway goes direct to the airport, I assume the cost is lower (e.g., DCA, BOS, CHI).

Palal

I am voting with my feet and BOYCOTTING BART to SFO until this madness seizes!

rjque

It usually works better when it entices people out of their cars, but most people who live here don't understand that.

mikew99

I'm from back East and have made many, many attempts to make public transit work for me in California, but I'm getting tired of trying. It would be poetic irony if the increase in fares drove more people to drive to the airport and BART revenues actually fell as a result!

Which is just what I did (ParkSFO w/coupon) on my recent trip to NYC for the Brooklyn Reality Tour. Parking at BART Millbrae would have saved me about $11, but I'm starting to see value in the secure parking and frequent, 24-hour shuttles that drop me right at my terminal without having to change trains twice.

Eastbay1K

Well, with the latest round of BART and MUNI increases, it will cost 2 of us approximately $23 (up from $20) to go roundtrip into SF if we are going somewhere where we need to take both transit systems. This is for an approximately 14 mile (OW) trip. This is also after a short drive to the BART station. Getting home at night takes at least an hour (and inbound, about 45 minutes). As it is, we don't go often now. If I really want to take public transit the whole way, it is another $3.50 RT each for the AC transit bus for the mile-plus to BART (and those fares are going up, too) so it would be $30 to be "good green citizens." This, to go 14 miles.

(Edited) - Just checked the AC Transit website - fares are going up, too. It will be $4 RT each, for a total of $31.

briankoenig

The fare increases certainly suck. At least they tried to stick at least most of the burden to tourists (judging by the steep SFO surcharge).

However, I think this is better than cutting down on trains and going back to the Summer of '06 where the wait between trains in the outer parts of the system could be 18 minutes. Or, continuing to operate it at a loss and increase our budget deficit.

Also, wait until gas is $4.00/gallon again and the BART/drive comparison will make more sense.

If we really want to cut our state budget deficit, we have to price services at something closer to their actual cost. For daily workers using SFO BART for commuting, they should implement a special pass that refunds the $4 surcharge.

tjl

If three or four daily workers at SFO cabpooled to Millbrae or San Bruno to take BART, would it cost them more or less than each of them paying the $4 airport surcharge to take BART from SFO?

Similarly, if SFO employees were using Caltrain to Millbrae + BART to SFO, how would the economics work if they cabpooled between Millbrae and SFO instead of taking BART?

Eastbay1K

You didn't catch that off-peak is going back to 20 minutes?

rjque

Not really. SFO is not far from the City of SF proper. Certainly not far enough such that $1 per gallon will ever make a deciding difference in taking public transit.