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In the US, public transit can't make major changes, in big part, because they're very beholden to the unions. Here in the Philadelphia metro, tickets for the t

by hodwik 11y ago

In the US, public transit can't make major changes, in big part, because they're very beholden to the unions. Here in the Philadelphia metro, tickets for the train are sold by SEPTA ushers (cash only) who walk up and down the aisle of the train. It's been shown numerous times that a major portion of the cost of running the trains are these ushers, but the union blocks every attempt to move all sales to ticket kiosks. In fact, labor costs now make up $898,340,000 of SEPTA's $1,259,764,000 budget, but time and again any move to lower that cost is blocked outright.

rayiner 11y ago
I used to commute from Wilmington to Philadelphia on SEPTA. It's fucking insane. The infrastructure is actually pretty nice. Good new trains, express tracks, etc. But they don't even have ticket vending machines like Amtrak/Metro North/etc. You have to wait in line for a human cashier.
smacktoward 11y ago
This anecdote says more about Philadelphia than it does about American public transit in general. The metro system here in DC, for instance, has automated ticketing kiosks that allow payment both by cash and credit card, as well as smartcard commuter passes that can be reloaded at stations or online. My experience with NYC's subway is more limited, but it seems to offer a similar range of conveniences.
- Symmetry 11y ago
  Philadelphia is particularly bad in terms of labor costs and DC is particularly good. Most US subways don't do ticketing the way that Philadelphia does but they do often put more people on trains than they need.
- hodwik 11y ago
  DC Metro is still crushed under the weight of their (~10,000 person strong) staff. DC Metro, while having an annual total ridership of 115 million less than the Philadelphia system (330.1 million vs. 215.3 million trips), has a personnel cost ($1.3 Billion of their $1.8b total operating cost) greater than the total cost of the Philly system (with 9,000 person staff). You're missing the point if you're only looking at the specifics of ticketing kiosks.

by hodwik 11y ago

rayiner 11y ago

I used to commute from Wilmington to Philadelphia on SEPTA. It's fucking insane. The infrastructure is actually pretty nice. Good new trains, express tracks, etc. But they don't even have ticket vending machines like Amtrak/Metro North/etc. You have to wait in line for a human cashier.

smacktoward 11y ago

This anecdote says more about Philadelphia than it does about American public transit in general. The metro system here in DC, for instance, has automated ticketing kiosks that allow payment both by cash and credit card, as well as smartcard commuter passes that can be reloaded at stations or online. My experience with NYC's subway is more limited, but it seems to offer a similar range of conveniences.

Symmetry 11y ago
Philadelphia is particularly bad in terms of labor costs and DC is particularly good. Most US subways don't do ticketing the way that Philadelphia does but they do often put more people on trains than they need.
hodwik 11y ago
DC Metro is still crushed under the weight of their (~10,000 person strong) staff. DC Metro, while having an annual total ridership of 115 million less than the Philadelphia system (330.1 million vs. 215.3 million trips), has a personnel cost ($1.3 Billion of their $1.8b total operating cost) greater than the total cost of the Philly system (with 9,000 person staff). You're missing the point if you're only looking at the specifics of ticketing kiosks.