"Advocates say it's time to move beyond just the seven-day cap and offer a better, more varied fare policy that rewards different kinds of riders and more types of trips. More capped fare options encourage more New Yorkers to choose transit by expanding beyond the idea of "commute to work, commute home," but encourage use of the train or bus for trips that otherwise would be taken in a different mode, advocates told Streetsblog."
""More fare caps are good for riders, it makes sense to be free after a certain point," said Brian Fritsch, the associate director of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA, an organization pushing the MTA to adopt a daily and monthly fare cap. "We spend too much time thinking about the 'ideal office worker,' and we should be more interested in making sure that we capture the heaviest users.""
"The MetroCard, for example, offered daily and monthly unlimited versions, but its tap-and-ride replacement only offers a single counterpart: in any seven-day period, riders pay $35 for their first 12 rides, but the 13th and all rides after that in the same weeklong stretch are free. When fare capping came on the scene in 2021, MTA Chairman Janno Lieber promised that OMNY offered "the opportunity to rethink fares,""
The MetroCard gave riders daily and monthly unlimited options; OMNY's replacement uses a seven-day fare cap that charges $35 for the first 12 rides and makes the 13th and subsequent rides free within that period. The seven-day cap is now rolling rather than fixed Monday to Sunday. Proposals advocate adding more fare caps, including daily and monthly limits, to reward different rider types, capture heavy users, and encourage noncommute trips that might otherwise use other modes. Expanding fare-capping options aims to broaden transit use beyond traditional commute patterns and increase affordability for frequent riders.
Read at Streetsblog
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