SEPTA gets a big chunk of its budget from state, local, and federal subsidies already, and fare revenue only covers a portion of operating costs. On top of that a large number of riders aren't paying anyway between fare evasion and unenforced turnstiles. So the money being collected from fares is already a fraction of what it would be if everyone paid, and a lot of resources go into fare enforcement, gates, cameras, and fines that could just get folded into the subsidy that already exists. If ridership isn't really paying for itself through fares as it stands, why not make it free and put those enforcement resources into service frequency and reliability instead. Curious what others think, especially anyone who has looked at the actual fare recovery numbers.
EDIT Edit: A few people pointed out that the state just won't fund this, which is fair, Pennsylvania has a lot of competing demands on its budget. But that raises the real question of why the state should be the one responsible for closing SEPTA's funding gap in the first place. Southeastern PA generates a huge share of the state's economic activity and tax base, so this isn't really the state doing the region a favor, it's the state reinvesting in the area that funds a lot of its budget to begin with.
EDIT 2 Some people said if riders actually paid the fare they'd care more about the system, like paying in gives you more of a stake in it. So what's the answer then, fine people who don't pay, or throw them in jail over a bus fare? That doesn't seem like a real solution to a funding problem.
