Peace and Environment News* September 2002
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Peace and Environment News * September 2002 |
by Steffan Hammonds
With the huge improvements to subway and bus service in the last decade and discounts introduced for riding it, mass transit in New York City is now used less frequently as a way to go to work than it is to go everywhere else in the city: shopping, eating, to the beach or to see your grandmother in the Bronx, writes Randy Kennedy (www.nytimes.com/2002/06/20/nyregion/20TRAN.html). Kennedy quotes Bruce Schaller, a consultant on urban transportation issues, as saying "The shift (to mass transit) helps explain why transit ridership has continued to increase in 2002 despite falling employment in New York City in the last year."
The introduction of the Metrocard in 1994 is seen as the strongest motivator moving people back to transit. In addition, discounts began to be offered in 1998.
Now, according to New York City transit officials, 40 per cent of MetroCard users buy one-day, 7-day or 30-day unlimited cards, which can reduce the price of their trips to significantly below the $1.50 fare if used frequently. Mr. Schaller believes that the unlimited cards have transformed the mental calculations New Yorkers make when they think about mass transit, especially for discretionary trips. This has been considered a major public policy victory in New York, undoubtedly good for the environment and one that other cities are trying to emulate.
Steffan Hammonds is a member of the PEN Editorial Committee.
Converted September 8, 2002 - Lg
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