Did Bus Fares Increase?

[MilHojas]

The Secretary of Transportation made the announcement on TARIFA DE COLECTIVOS.

Tarifas de transporte público AMBA 2024 a partir del 12 de agosto

### Tarifas para colectivos | Distancia | Con SUBE registrada | Tarifa Social | Con SUBE sin registrar | | :-----------------: | :-----------------------------: | :--------------: | :------------------------------: | | 0-3 km | $ 371,13 | $ 167,00 | $ 590,10 | | 3-6 km | $ 413,44 | $ 186,04 |...

www.argentina.gob.ar

 

[jantango]

I took a bus tonight from CCK to Moreno & Alberti. The driver charged me the fare for 3-6 km which is $413.44. Drivers don't have any system that calculates the actual distance before charging the fare, so they just guess the distance and charge accordingly. I checked the Como Llego map for the number of blocks for the trip. I discovered it was 29 blocks. so I should have been charged $371,13. It's not a big difference. The fare is still very inexpensive for those of us who live on dollars. But the transportation secretary sets new fares for the bus companies to charge without actually using the established fares. I call it a guessing game.

I am posting this for anyone who is interested in comparing the distance and fare to the new schedule. If you take the same bus every day to the same destination, you should be charged the same fare by every bus driver. That isn't always the case after 25 years of riding the buses in BA.

When spring weather finally arrives in November, I'll be walking to and from concerts.

 

[elhombresinnombre]

I took a bus tonight from CCK to Moreno & Alberti. The driver charged me the fare for 3-6 km which is $413.44. Drivers don't have any system that calculates the actual distance before charging the fare, so they just guess the distance and charge accordingly. I checked the Como Llego map for the number of blocks for the trip. I discovered it was 29 blocks. so I should have been charged $371,13. It's not a big difference. The fare is still very inexpensive for those of us who live on dollars. But the transportation secretary sets new fares for the bus companies to charge without actually using the established fares. I call it a guessing game.

I am posting this for anyone who is interested in comparing the distance and fare to the new schedule. If you take the same bus every day to the same destination, you should be charged the same fare by every bus driver. That isn't always the case after 25 years of riding the buses in BA.

When spring weather finally arrives in November, I'll be walking to and from concerts.

It would be interesting to understand the mechanism the bus companies use for calculating distance and whether or not the driver just sticks their finger in the air to work out which way the wind is blowing and takes a guess.

I must have way too much time on my hands. Fascinated by your experience I've been playing with maps. One of the possible bus routes is indeed 29 blocks but have you noticed that all the city blocks are different sizes? If you measure the blocks against the scale on Como Llego many of them are 20-50% bigger than 100m and the Como Llego suggested distance of over 3.5km seems believable. What doesn't seem believable is that using the grid on Google Maps seems about the same yet Google seems to think the distance is over 7km. I've long ago given up trusting Google's answers for anything.

 

[jantango]

I have come to the conclusion that the bus drivers have no idea of the distance each passenger is traveling, so they charge a higher tariff when a passenger doesn't question or disagree. I suggest checking the distance online and then advising the driver who will disagree and try to convince you that he knows what he is talking about. He doesn't.

Friday night I took the 23 to Florida for a concert at Centro Naval. I told the driver that I thought the distance was less than 3K. He disagreed and charged me for 6-12 KM. I never pay that anywhere. During the ride I counted the blocks and then told him the total was 34. The drivers make money for the companies by overcharging unsuspecting passengers who don't know the exact distance they are traveling.

Como Ilego calculates the distance when you select WALKING. Here is an example of the distance I traveled last night on the 84 when I was overcharged for 3-6km.

 

[elhombresinnombre]

I have come to the conclusion that the bus drivers have no idea of the distance each passenger is traveling, so they charge a higher tariff when a passenger doesn't question or disagree. I suggest checking the distance online and then advising the driver who will disagree and try to convince you that he knows what he is talking about. He doesn't.

Friday night I took the 23 to Florida for a concert at Centro Naval. I told the driver that I thought the distance was less than 3K. He disagreed and charged me for 6-12 KM. I never pay that anywhere. During the ride I counted the blocks and then told him the total was 34. The drivers make money for the companies by overcharging unsuspecting passengers who don't know the exact distance they are traveling.

Como Ilego calculates the distance when you select WALKING. Here is an example of the distance I traveled last night on the 84 when I was overcharged for 3-6km.

As I think I have said before, many city blocks are non standard sizes. I know the data panel on the left of that page says 2.8km but making a very crude measurement using the scale in the bottom left corner, I make the journey around 4km. They ought to be the same but they clearly are not. Which one is right?

 

[retiredbanker]

Public transportation on Argentina is ridiculously cheap IF you live on U.S. dollars or if you're not classified as poor.

 

[jantango]

I've lived in CABA since the peso was equal to the dollar, and coins were used to pay the fare on buses.

The fact is that the tariffs are established according to the distance by the Secretary of Transportation. They are meaningless unless the bus companies order their drivers to respect the fares established and then charge all passengers accordingly.

It's not a question of money for me. It's about charging the corresponding tariff for the distance traveled for all passengers. The drivers have no way to calculate the distance (which should be built into the machine), so they play a guessing game when charging the fare. I wrote about traveling eight blocks and challenged the fare the driver wanted to charge me. It was immediately reduced. That was when I decided that I will walk for the exercise.

Tomorrow the city will be at a plaza in my neighborhood to handle the paperwork for new DNIs and consumer complaints. I am going to mention my experiences being overcharged on buses.

 

[elhombresinnombre]

Tomorrow the city will be at a plaza in my neighborhood to handle the paperwork for new DNIs and consumer complaints. I am going to mention my experiences being overcharged on buses.

I'd be fascinated to read the outcome from this. Will it be a shrug? An enthusiatic offer to do something about it which comes to nothing? An actual concrete proposal to put right what is wrong? Do let us know.

I've made my feelings about subsidies on public transport known before: most civilised societies find public transport subsidy is economically and socially essential but I feel that CABA gets it wrong on so many levels. Some cities and small countries have made public transport free of charge, paid for through taxation and the economic growth that committed and long term investment provide. Others charge higher but affordable fares. The recent hikes in charges in CABA seem to me nether to do one thing or another. The current charges are simply not enough to make more than a modest contribution to running the network and yet because I see no serious efforts to raise more people out of poverty the fares have become even further out of reach of the precariat than before.,