An Equitable Sound Transit Fare Structure.

The November 15^th meeting video of the Sound Transit and Board continued with what had been presented earlier to the Executive Board on November 2^nd.  It followed a “Public Hearing on Proposed Link Fare Structure” where a question was raised about using “zone-based” fares.  The response being, “they had not been considered out of direction by the board to consider flat fares”.  

 

The afternoon briefing was a recap of fare-related work in 2023 and details of the staff recommendation on fare structure.  That their fare guiding framework was:

 

We serve passengers with a fare structure that is regionally integrated to encourage transit ridership through equitable and simple pricing, and financial stewardship.

 

That a key takeaway was:

 

No other agency in the region uses a distance-based fare structure.”  

 

That flat fare considerations included:

 

All trips would be the same fare.

 

Passengers would no longer have to tap off when completing their trip.

 

That the initial staff recommendation for the December 15^th Board was:

 

Staff will recommend a flat fare structure on Link.

 

Thus, Sound Transit’s version of” “equitable and simple” is charging someone traveling from Capital Hill to Westlake the same as a rider from Lynnwood. While a flat fare is “simple”, most would believe “equitable” fares should be based on the cost of providing that service. Especially for what Sound Transit proudly proclaims as the "largest transit system expansion in the country". 

 

While other cities use flat fares based on routes into the city, Sound Transit exacerbates the distance problem with fares for routes through the city.  The rider from Lynnwood could continue to SeaTac with no increase in fare.  Thus, Sound Transit’s choice for flat fares is apparently due to concern that with a “distance-based fare” the Lynnwood commuter wouldn’t tap off at Westgate.

 

Sound Transit could avoid the tap-off problem with an equitable combination of flat fares and distance-based fares.  A flat fare could be used along routes from UW, Mercer Island, SeaTac and eventually Ballard and West Seattle into the DSTT.   The fare would reflect the cost of both into and out of DSTT with no fares collected in tunnel, avoiding the need to  identify and pay to reach their return destination.  

 

Commuters outside that “flat fare” region would pay a fare based on the distance into the city.  Each Link station having a posted fare reflecting the cost of the route to and from the DSTT.  Doing so avoids the “inequity” of those traveling from Northgate having to pay the same fare as those from Lynnwood or beyond.  Again, a result of Sound Transit’s largest transit system expansion in country.

 

Flat-fare area commuters wanting to go beyond UW, Mercer Island, or SeaTac would pay fares on the return trip to reflect the cost from and to DSTT.  Distance-based commuters wanting to go beyond DSTT to SeaTac or Bellevue would pay fares to reflect cost of to and from on their return.  

 

The bottom line is Sound Transit needs to recognize that an “equitable” fare structure in the "largest transit system expansion" in the country requires a combination of flat fares and distance-based fares. The two fare structures avoid the “inequity” of the flat fare payers having to subsidize the distance-based commuters. Especially since ST3 would have never been approved without the 70% support from those in the flat fee area.