Comments on: DART Fare Hearing http://www.arounddesmoines.com/dart-fare-hearing/ Blogging Des Moines Iowa Mon, 24 Jan 2011 04:41:36 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 By: Richard Christie http://www.arounddesmoines.com/dart-fare-hearing/comment-page-1/#comment-4239 Richard Christie Tue, 25 Mar 2008 17:31:31 +0000 http://www.arounddesmoines.com/dart-fare-hearing/#comment-4239 I like this part: “Currently, people age 60 can pay the reduced fare. Seniors between age 60 and 65 who currently pay the reduced fare would be grandfathered in and not be required to pay full fare. Federal law requires senior citizens be allowed to ride during off-peak hours at half price. The new fare proposal would allow seniors also to ride at half price during peak hours (i.e., morning and afternoon commute times)." This is the best deal in DM since $1.19 double cheeseburgers at the downtown Burger King and their $.35 senior drink. I just turned 60 and got my pass to be "grandfathered in". I'll see my commute cost drop from $35 to $21. The savings will help to offset the increasing cost of my wife’s automobile commute. The ridership of the bus is often criticized. I ride the bus daily and there is almost a full bus by the time that it arrives downtown and again when I return home. If the bus is not full it is not the fault of DART, it is simply the fact that most people commute to a 9-5-ish type job. Even though there are fewer busses during other hours many of them still run nearly empty. Perhaps the solution is to have some of the routes during non-peak hours changed to serve new routes in the metro area, especially those that connect with medical and shopping facilities. Links to travel outwards from our shopping centers and connect back to established routes would allow more people better service. I think that DART is doing an excellent job and that the community would benefit even more with greater funding and newer vehicles. I like this part:
“Currently, people age 60 can pay the reduced fare. Seniors between age 60 and 65 who currently pay the reduced fare would be grandfathered in and not be required to pay full fare. Federal law requires senior citizens be allowed to ride during off-peak hours at half price. The new fare proposal would allow seniors also to ride at half price during peak hours (i.e., morning and afternoon commute times).”

This is the best deal in DM since $1.19 double cheeseburgers at the downtown Burger King and their $.35 senior drink. I just turned 60 and got my pass to be “grandfathered in”. I’ll see my commute cost drop from $35 to $21. The savings will help to offset the increasing cost of my wife’s automobile commute.

The ridership of the bus is often criticized. I ride the bus daily and there is almost a full bus by the time that it arrives downtown and again when I return home. If the bus is not full it is not the fault of DART, it is simply the fact that most people commute to a 9-5-ish type job. Even though there are fewer busses during other hours many of them still run nearly empty. Perhaps the solution is to have some of the routes during non-peak hours changed to serve new routes in the metro area, especially those that connect with medical and shopping facilities. Links to travel outwards from our shopping centers and connect back to established routes would allow more people better service.

I think that DART is doing an excellent job and that the community would benefit even more with greater funding and newer vehicles.

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