San Francisco: All-door boarding on buses

[marmar]

Last edited Sat Jul 14, 2012, 05:53 AM - Edit history (1)

from the Human Transit blog:


san franciso: all-door boarding on buses!


In San Francisco passengers will be able to board through any door of any city bus, as they have long been able to do on light rail and streetcars. Nate Berg has a nice piece on this at Atlantic Cities.

This could be a very big deal.

No more of the silliness pictured at right, where passengers who could all board the bus in 10 seconds instead spend a minute or two outside in the rain. No more tired exhortations to "move to the back of the bus!" because people will naturally distribute themselves evenly throughout. No more delays due to fare payment problems and disputes. Fewer angry and threatening signs, like the "stop" sign on the back door in this image.

Obviously this change requires Proof of Payment (POP) fare collection, which has been routine on most North American light rail and commuter rail for a generation (though it arrived in San Francisco relatively recently.) POP means that you're responsible for having a ticket, pass, transfer slip, etc., called a "proof of payment", and a roving fare inspector can ask you to show it at any time and nail you with a big fine if you don't have it. ...............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.humantransit.org/2012/07/in-san-francisco-passengers-will-be-able-to-board-through-any-door-of-any-city-bus-as-they-have-long-been-able-to-do-on-ligh.html

[unc70]

1. The other way is to go "fare free" like we do

Chapel Hill Transit is possibly the largest fare free transit system in the world, certainly one of the largest. It serves the towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro NC and the campus of The University of North Carolina. It went fare free for nearly all service almost 10 years ago.

The buses are for everyone, and they are free.