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 Bus Service Planning: Theory and Concepts

 
Fare Structure and Payment Options

Bus service planning encompasses not only the calculation of where and when buses will arrive, but also how much each passenger will be required to pay and how the payment will be received. Poorly designed fare schedules and fare collection procedures can be a source of significant confusion and delay.

The amount that passengers must pay for a particular trip can be calculated in several ways.

  • A city may choose to adopt a uniform fare for all routes in the transit network. While this rate structure is simple, it also penalizes those who travel short distances on the network.
  • A more equitable solution would be to adjust the fare based on the distance the user traveled on the network, but this system is prohibitively complex.
  • Many transit authorities have decided on a compromise that charges users based on the number of zones that they travel through on a given route. Travel from zone "A" to zone "E" would cost the user more than the shorter trip from zone "A" to zone "C." This system is reasonably simple and much more equitable than the uniform fare system.

Fare collection is another complicated issue, for which several solutions have been devised.

  • The driver can collect fares from each boarding passenger. While simple, this system causes large delays at every stop, as the driver must interact with each passenger as they board.
  • To reduce delay, fare collection machines that accept payment from the passengers are commonly installed near the bus door. These machines allow the bus driver to focus on driving, and accelerate the boarding process considerably.
  • Finally, fare card programs are becoming more and more common. These systems allow the transit user to purchase a magnetic card with a predetermined value. The fare is deducted when the passenger swipes the card through a reader at the bus door. This system is very efficient. In addition, it allows the transit authority to monitor the transportation habits of the cardholders by automatically recording the routes, stops, and times at which each card is used.