No Clear Correlation Between Fare Revenue and Ridership

Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on
LinkedIn
+

In recent weeks, many MBTA riders have expressed frustration about the T’s recent fare hike. In fact, some riders are volunteering to stand on platforms and lead a conversation about what riders can do to roll back the hike. However, the T is unlikely to budge. Even when ridership declines for a period, fare revenue continues to climb.

The last three fare hikes occurred in 2012, 2014, and 2016. While all three led to a decrease in unlinked passenger trips the following year, they generated an increase in fare revenue. In fact, fare revenue increased every year from 2007-2017, with the exception of 2010. Further, the largest increase in fare revenue actually came in a year in which ridership declined. According to Pioneer Institute’s MBTAAnalysis.com, from 2012 to 2013, fare revenue increased by 19.7% even as ridership decreased by 1.6%. Moreover, when ridership grew by 7% in 2011, its largest increase between 2007 and 2017, fare revenue only rose by 2.2%. When the T implements Automated Fare Collection 2.0 and works the early bugs out of the system, even higher revenue can be expected.

While some riders feel service quality hasn’t improved enough to merit a fare increase, state law allows the MBTA to raise fares no more than 7 percent once every two years. Further, riders should be aware that in 2017 the T was the fourth largest transportation network in the United States in unlinked passenger trips, but ranked sixth in total fare revenue. 

However, the fare revenue per unlinked passenger trip increased by 60 percent between 2007 and 2017, which is nearly 20 percentage points more than its closest peer system. While a fare hike is nothing new, riders are right to demand that it correspond with improved service.

Get Our Fix the T Updates!

Related posts:

The Pioneer Institute’s Statement on the MBTA

/
The MBTA is broke and broken.  It is structurally insolvent. …

How is Keolis Fined for Late Commuter Rail Trains?

/
Your toes are numb, the faces around you sullen and the service…

MBTA Commuter Rail: New Boss, Same Problems

/
We all know that the MBTA’s commuter rail trains can be late,…

Public Statement on the New MBTA Union Contract

PIONEER INSTITUTE PUBLIC STATEMENT ON THE NEW MBTA UNION CONTRACT Yesterday,…

Study: MBTA Retirement Fund Failings a Cautionary Tale

Study Finds Poor Governance Structure, Lack of Accountability…

Study Calls for MBTA Employees to Be Transferred to State Pension System

Despite claims to the contrary, overly generous benefits, early…

MassDOT’s Cost Savings Dead End

/
In a joint press release praising the Transportation Reform…

South Coast Rail not the way to go

/
RESIDENTS OF MASSACHUSETTS’ South Coast believe their region…

Have the T’s Retirement Plans Gone Off the Rails?

Study Finds Financial Condition of MBTA Retirement Plan Deteriorated…

The MBTA’s Out-of-Control Bus Maintenance Costs

Pioneer Institute Study Highlights Overspending on MBTA Bus Maintenance A new…

New Report: Runaway Transportation Costs

/
Pioneer's new research director (former state Inspector General)…

Open the Boston taxicab “market” to competition

/
The Boston Globe's Spotlight team has done a great job uncovering…

Driving Reform: New Study on Real Solutions to Our Transportation Challenges

STUDY: TIE NEW FUNDING TO PERFORMANCE, IMPLEMENTATION OF TRANSPORTATION…

The Pioneer Plan for Massachusetts’ Transportation Needs

/
Expect more on the Pioneer Plan for Transportation in the coming…

WBUR RadioBoston debate on Guv’s Texas-sized budget and tax increases

/
A good debate with Northeastern University's Peter Enrich on…

Duking it out on NECN on the governor’s transportation plan

/
Jim Braude referees, as I duke it out with Stephanie Pollack…

$1B a Year More for Transportation?

/
Pioneer's Jim Stergios spoke with Transportation for Mass.'s Kristina Egan about MA Gov. Deval Patrick's proposal to increase transportation spending by $1 billion a year. Watch this great "Face to Face" clip via our friends at MassINC

Public Statement: We Must Address Serious Transportation Needs In Massachusetts, But the Governor’s Proposal Is Not Serious

/
Pioneer Institute Public Statement from Executive Director Jim Stergios on transportation needs in Massachusetts, and the Governor's recently released proposal.

Harris Foulkes is a Roger Perry Transparency Intern at Pioneer Institute and a rising sophomore at Amherst College studying Economics.