MTA: 1 in 10 Muni riders are freeloaders
In what will surprise nobody at all, the MTA has found in a recent study that “nearly 10 percent” of Muni riders don’t pay. With a 10% fare evasion rate, the potential annual revenue from stricter enforcement could be as much as $17 million per year – not enough to do away with the annual deficit, but enough to prevent more service cuts. (We are strong supporters of stricter fare enforcement, along with extending parking meter hours, which will also help prevent service cuts.) SFist is also discussing this today.
Update: Supervisor Dufty has scheduled a hearing on fare evasion as well as crime on Muni.
Update 10/22: The Examiner has an editorial on the subject.
well timed release just ahead of proposed cuts, eh? so when the driver instructs us to board rear and no one checks my Fast Pass, do I count as a fare evader? lies, damn lies, and statistics. But for those who like numbers, 25% driver absenteeism, 8 TCs not out from Potrero account not roadworthy this AM. So did the drivers who might have driven those broken vehicles make up for their absent brethren?
Muni riders are freeloaders (and I am one of them). Automobile drivers pay the fare. Instead of increasing parking meter hours Muni should raise the fare.
It is not so much the meters but the outrageously expensive tickets for an expired meter. It far exceeds the cost of garage parking. It is easy to lose track of time if socializing at a coffee shop or visiting a restaurant. It would not be so bad there was garage parking as an alternative. But there are no parking garages in my neighborhood commercial district and more than 40% arrive by car.
Even if there were NO GHG/pollution issues around cars, there just isn’t enough real estate to waste so that everyone can drive everywhere. Think about which buildings in your neighborhood commercial district you would like to demolish to build all this parking. Then think about which buildings need to go so the streets can be widened for all these drivers. If you tear down enough destination buildings, the driving/parking issue will disappear along with economic activity. And most cell phones have an alarm function so losing track of time is obsolete.