by jamesinclair
One thing really bothers me.
Theyre cutting the bus between Philly and Six Flags. In the grand scheme of things, insignificant (and off topic on this forum!).
But please, hear me out.
They justify it by saying the bus only carries 5 people per hour and requires a $10 subsidy.
But hold up. Its a route that makes one outbound trip in the morning, and one inbound in the evening. Passengers per hour, as a metric, makes zero sense. 99.99% of the passengers that go out bound return inbound. In fact, they only sell rountrip tickets. The bus is also express. You cant get on or off along the way. Youre either going to Six Flags, or youre not.
A better metric is % of seats occupied. From what I saw last week, it was around 80%. (I took the bus to Six Flags from Newark)
Further, as a leisure route, why couldnt they raise the fare individually on this line higher than on other lines? Riders have a higher tolerance for the fare because theyre going for fun. If there is a $10 subsidy....raise the fare $10? Is that not more preferable than cutting the line?
And lets not even get into reaching out to Six Flags for a subsidy on their end.
So why am I talking about this bus on a rail forum? Because if NJ Transit is using these absolutely ridiculous metrics, and making zero effort to decrease the subsidy, how are we supposed to trust them on their other points?
Of course, this is the same agency that sets local bus fares at prices that require nickels, which nobody wants to carry...
Theyre cutting the bus between Philly and Six Flags. In the grand scheme of things, insignificant (and off topic on this forum!).
But please, hear me out.
They justify it by saying the bus only carries 5 people per hour and requires a $10 subsidy.
But hold up. Its a route that makes one outbound trip in the morning, and one inbound in the evening. Passengers per hour, as a metric, makes zero sense. 99.99% of the passengers that go out bound return inbound. In fact, they only sell rountrip tickets. The bus is also express. You cant get on or off along the way. Youre either going to Six Flags, or youre not.
A better metric is % of seats occupied. From what I saw last week, it was around 80%. (I took the bus to Six Flags from Newark)
Further, as a leisure route, why couldnt they raise the fare individually on this line higher than on other lines? Riders have a higher tolerance for the fare because theyre going for fun. If there is a $10 subsidy....raise the fare $10? Is that not more preferable than cutting the line?
And lets not even get into reaching out to Six Flags for a subsidy on their end.
So why am I talking about this bus on a rail forum? Because if NJ Transit is using these absolutely ridiculous metrics, and making zero effort to decrease the subsidy, how are we supposed to trust them on their other points?
Of course, this is the same agency that sets local bus fares at prices that require nickels, which nobody wants to carry...