T fare special cases
Dec. 14th, 2006 10:23 pmThis came out of a question I answered on mbta. Let's say you're trying to get from the Museum of Science to Medford Square in the new fare regime; your plausible choices include taking the T to Davis or Sullivan and then a bus, two busses from Lechmere, or commuter rail to Malden or West Medford and a bus. It turns out that for a bus-plus-subway trip, the cheaper fares and free transfer together make not using a CharlieCard cost twice as much!
Route | Cash fare | CharlieTicket fare | CharlieCard fare | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
87/88 bus Lechmere to Davis, then 94/96 bus | $1.50 bus + $1.50 bus | $3.00 | $1.50 bus, free transfer | $1.50 | $1.25 bus, free transfer | $1.25 |
Subway to Davis, then 94/96 bus | $2 subway + $1.50 bus | $3.50 | $2 subway + $1.50 bus | $3.50 | $1.70 subway, free transfer | $1.70 |
Commuter rail to West Medford, then 95 bus | $1.70 zone 1A CR + $1.50 bus | $3.20 | Stored-value cards not accepted on commuter rail |
...but remember, the new system has fewer special cases, so it's simpler!
Route | Current fare | CharlieTicket fare | CharlieCard fare |
---|---|---|---|
Davis to Kendall | $1.25 | $2.00 | $1.70 |
Davis to Braintree | $2.50 | $2.00 | $1.70 |
Chestnut Hill to Reservoir | $3.00 | $2.00 | $1.70 |
Reservoir to Chestnut Hill | Free | $2.00 | $1.70 |
Chestnut Hill to Braintree | $4.25 | $2.00 | $1.70 |
See? The new system is perfectly simple. Just so long as you don't think about how you're paying. Or transfers. I think "not thinking of any of the corner cases even a little" is the current bane of my existence.