4 ms·

About 8 years ago there were a few house ads in the cars that were effectively gaslighting riders. It was one of the craziest things I'd ever seen as a consumer

About 8 years ago there were a few house ads in the cars that were effectively gaslighting riders. It was one of the craziest things I'd ever seen as a consumer -- borderline antagonistic. The agency, and the workers to some extent, can be pugilistic when criticized. http://cdn.journalism.cuny.edu/blogs.dir/176/files/2010/03/fare_ad.jpg http://cdn.journalism.cuny.edu/blogs.dir/176/files/2010/03/f...

sushisource 9y ago
For those of us who aren't familiar with the price history what's the lie here?
- biggc 9y ago
  They're comparing a single-ride fare to a monthly-pass fare. A single ride fare cost $2.00 in 2008[1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_transit_fares#Fare_history https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_transit_fares#Fa...
- ryankupyn 9y ago
  The MTA is comparing single-ride fares with "effective" cost per ride of a then-$81 30 day pass, which they amortize over around 70 rides, which is a bit high for the average person in my experience (though not ridiculous). It might be more accurate to compare the single-ride fare then with the single-ride fare at the time the photo was taken, which was either $2.00 or $2.25 (the price changed in 2009, I think).
  - megy 9y ago
    Did they have multi-day passes back then? It might be reasonable to compare the cheapest options available then.
    - bogomipz 9y ago
      They did not. You actually bought metal subway tokens that you dropped into a coin slot on the turnstile. See: https://untappedcities.com/2011/07/06/subway-tokens-a-dose-of-nostalgia/ https://untappedcities.com/2011/07/06/subway-tokens-a-dose-o...
  - rangibaby 9y ago
    I surprised that they don't have a commuter ticket system. In my city the commuter ticket price is calculated to be somewhat cheaper than return fare*20 as well as being a tax deductible.
- JackFr 9y ago
  The obvious part of the lie to me is that they would raise fares to increase revenue, and claim that because of the 30-day and 7-day discounts you wouldn't be paying any more. Huh? How are you going to increase revenue if no one is paying more.
  - CPLX 9y ago
    Tourists. We have quite a few of them here.
beguiledfoil 9y ago
How is this gaslighting? Transportation costs have done a reasonable job of not growing faster than inflation...
bogomipz 9y ago
Right and if they ran that ad today, 10 years later the single ride fare has more than doubled @ $2.75 a ride on a $131 dollar monthly pass. Twice as much for worse service.

sushisource 9y ago

For those of us who aren't familiar with the price history what's the lie here?

biggc 9y ago
They're comparing a single-ride fare to a monthly-pass fare. A single ride fare cost $2.00 in 2008[1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_transit_fares#Fare_history https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_transit_fares#Fa...
ryankupyn 9y ago
The MTA is comparing single-ride fares with "effective" cost per ride of a then-$81 30 day pass, which they amortize over around 70 rides, which is a bit high for the average person in my experience (though not ridiculous). It might be more accurate to compare the single-ride fare then with the single-ride fare at the time the photo was taken, which was either $2.00 or $2.25 (the price changed in 2009, I think).
- megy 9y ago
  Did they have multi-day passes back then? It might be reasonable to compare the cheapest options available then.
  - bogomipz 9y ago
    They did not. You actually bought metal subway tokens that you dropped into a coin slot on the turnstile. See: https://untappedcities.com/2011/07/06/subway-tokens-a-dose-of-nostalgia/ https://untappedcities.com/2011/07/06/subway-tokens-a-dose-o...
- rangibaby 9y ago
  I surprised that they don't have a commuter ticket system. In my city the commuter ticket price is calculated to be somewhat cheaper than return fare*20 as well as being a tax deductible.
JackFr 9y ago
The obvious part of the lie to me is that they would raise fares to increase revenue, and claim that because of the 30-day and 7-day discounts you wouldn't be paying any more. Huh? How are you going to increase revenue if no one is paying more.
- CPLX 9y ago
  Tourists. We have quite a few of them here.

beguiledfoil 9y ago

How is this gaslighting? Transportation costs have done a reasonable job of not growing faster than inflation...

bogomipz 9y ago

Right and if they ran that ad today, 10 years later the single ride fare has more than doubled @ $2.75 a ride on a $131 dollar monthly pass. Twice as much for worse service.