Connection time needed at 69th St Terminal?

JeffK wrote:

sccaflagger74 wrote:I've managed to get around DC, Boston, London, Paris, and Amsterdam with no problems.

And I can add LA, Atlanta, Toronto, Montréal, Madrid, Stockholm and Dresden to that list.

I guess SEPTA really banks on people overpaying.

But do you know whether or not you were overpaying in those cities too?
Many of those cities have visitor passes that cost more than what local residents pay. You aren't necessarily steered to the cheapest option there either.

Matt Mitchell
[has regular commuter passes from The Hague and Berlin, among other cities]

Matt wrote:But do you know whether or not you were overpaying in those cities too?

I considered that possibility before posting (as well as riding). The fare structures in most other cities are much less complex than SEPTA's so it is easier to determine what's most cost-effective. The transit systems are also more forthcoming about information. For example, the TTC's fare guide is prominently posted in stations as well as being reproduced in city guides and (at the time I was there) even the phone book. Their information center rep went out of her way to compare costs for us and actually recommended that I not buy a farecard for my kids in favor of cheaper children's tokens.

SEPTA offers so many options that it would not be practical to post them or provide a full verbal explanation.

Ja, ich habe eine ,,City-Card'' von Dresden ...

och jag har Stockholmskortet

JeffK wrote:

sccaflagger74 wrote:If I'm not mistaken I can get a transfer for the el for rare occasions when I need to go into the city.

That's true, but you should try to find something in writing that shows what the charge is, in case the cashier isn't familiar with the transfer policies. The C-C pass is rarely used for travel into the city and it's possible they wouldn't know the rules. There was a time when I worked in the 'burbs using a C-C pass, and I don't want to think about a couple of clashes I had with cashiers and operators who insisted that the pass was invalid in the city.

Memo to Faye M. & Co.: - you shouldn't need Algebra II and a User Manual to figure out how much it costs to ride a bus or trolley!!

Ha! I figured it out in 8th grade!

The Cate(r)nary Type wrote:Ha! I figured it out in 8th grade!

Yup, I was (still am) good at math and heavy-duty analytical stuff too. That's why they pay me to play with computers all day, I guess. But the point is not how much those of us here who are math and science geeks can figure out. It's things like the following (and before anyone jumps on me with explanations, I know the history/politics behind the answers; I'm just writing rhetorically!)

> Why can you pay your fare at one time when you're inbound from the suburbs, but have to pay the same amount split into two pieces when you're going outbound?

> Why does a CTD monthly pass cost more than a month of individually-paid fares?

> Why don't the TVM's take any bills printed after 1996?

> Why isn't there a cost-effective zoned pass for people who commute to the suburbs on transit lines, as opposed to the RRD?

etc., etc., etc.

The average person out there isn't into doing arithmetic each month just to figure out how much to pay or what "instrument" to buy. IMHO determining optimal costs and calculating convenience metrics is a job for an economics or O.R. course, not a subway ride.