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A fare is the fee paid by a passenger for use of a
public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...
system: rail, bus,
taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice ...
, etc. In the case of air transport, the term
airfare An airfare (otherwise known as a fare) is the fee paid by a passenger for air transport and is made up of the charge for a passenger to fly from an origin to destination and includes the conditions, rules and restrictions for travelling on the airfa ...
is often used. Fare structure is the system set up to determine how much is to be paid by various passengers using a transit vehicle at any given time. A linked trip is a trip from the origin to the destination on the transit system. Even if a passenger must make several transfers during a journey, the trip is counted as one linked trip on the system.


Uses

The fare paid is a contribution to the operational costs of the transport system involved, either partial (as is frequently the case with publicly supported systems) or total. The portion of operating costs covered by fares - the farebox recovery ratio - typically varies from 30%-60% in North America and Europe, with some rail systems in Asia over 100%. The rules regarding how and when fares are to be paid and for how long they remain valid are many and varied. Where the fare can generally be predicted (such as fixed fare systems) fare is usually collected in advance; this is the usual practice of rail and bus systems, who usually require the payment of fares on or before boarding. In the case of taxis and other vehicles for hire, (where the total fare will not be known until the trip is completed) payment is normally made at the end of the ride. Some systems use a hybrid of both, such as a rail system which requires prepayment of the minimum fare, and collecting amounts above the minimum (if the net cost of the trip exceeds the minimum fare) at the end of the trip. Some systems allow free transfers: that is to say that a single payment permits travel within a particular geographical zone or time period. Such an arrangement is helpful for people who need to transfer from one route to another in order to reach their destination. Sometimes transfers are valid in one direction only, requiring a new fare to be paid for the return trip.
Penalty fare A penalty fare, standard fare, or fixed penalty notice is a special, usually higher, fare charged because a passenger using public transport did not comply with the normal ticket purchasing rules. It should not be confused with an unpaid fares n ...
s are fares issued for passengers without valid tickets;
standard fare A standard fare is a higher than normal fare issued to passengers caught without a ticket. The system is used by public transport in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Standard Fares are not the same as Penalty Fares which are used on certain Natio ...
is a term with similar meaning. In the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, certain
train operating companies A train operating company (TOC) is a business operating passenger trains on the railway system of Great Britain under the collective National Rail brand. TOCs have existed since the privatisation of the network under the Railways Act 1993. The ...
, such as South Western Railway and
Southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...
, have revenue protection inspectors who can issue penalty fares to passengers who travel without a valid ticket. This is currently a minimum of £20 or twice the single fare for the journey made. In Canada, the Toronto Transit Commission charges $500 for people evading the $3 fare.


Types of fare structure

Public transportation fares are organized under various kinds of fare structures which price the service based on criteria such as distance traveled, demand for the service, and time of day.


Flat fare

The simplest fare structure is a
flat fee A flat fee, also referred to as a flat rate or a linear rate refers to a pricing structure that charges a single fixed fee for a service, regardless of usage. Less commonly, the term may refer to a rate that does not vary with usage or time of us ...
with a fixed price for a given service. For example, the Los Angeles Metro charges $1.75 for a standard single ride on its buses or rail services. A flat fee may be charged for a single ride, or for an unlimited number of rides within a single time period such as 90 minutes, a day or a week.


Zone-based fare

Zoned-based fare systems charge a traveler a price that depends on the number of geographically determined fare zones that are expected to be traversed in a given trip. Examples include the London Underground ticketing system and the integrated ticketing system of transportation authorities such as the
Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg The Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg (VBB) is a transport association run by public transport providers in the German states of Berlin and Brandenburg. It is a private limited company owned jointly by the states of Berlin and Brandenburg (with ...
or the Autoritat del Transport Metropolità in the Barcelona metro area.


Transfer fare

Transfer fare systems charge a fare depending on previous trips. Timed transfers and pre-booked combined transfers are examples of that.


Distance-based fare

Some transportation systems charge a fare based on the distance traveled between the origin and destination stations or stops of a service. Such a system may use an
exit fare An exit fare is a method of collecting ridership fees, or fares, from a transportation system, where the fee (or part of the fee) is collected from passengers upon reaching their destination. Examples Exit fares were used on the subway lines of ...
at the destination station in order to correctly charge the customer based on the distance traveled. Examples include the
Beijing Subway The Beijing Subway is the rapid transit system of Beijing Municipality that consists of 25 lines including 20 rapid transit lines, two airport rail links, one maglev line and 2 light rail lines, and 463 stations. The rail network extends acro ...
and the San Francisco Bay Area's BART system.


Subscription fare

Certain transportation systems have subscription passes that provide an advantage over paying fares individually.


Variable fares

Certain services, often long-distance modes such as high-speed trains, will charge a variable fare with a price that depends on complex factors such as how early the ticket is bought or the demand for the service. A prominent example is airline ticketing. Other examples include high-speed rail services such as Eurostar and regional buses such as
Megabus Megabus may refer to: *Megabus (Europe), a low-cost coach service with services in Europe owned by ComfortDelGro. *Megabus (North America) Megabus, branded as megabus.com, is an intercity bus service of Coach USA/Coach Canada operating in the eas ...
.


Fareboxes

A farebox is a device used to collect fares and tickets on streetcars, trains and buses upon entry, replacing the need for a separate conductor. Nearly all major metropolitan transit agencies in the United States and Canada use a farebox to collect or validate fare payment. The first farebox was invented by Tom Loftin Johnson in 1880Sheridan, Michael J. - ''Johnson Farebox Company History''
/ref> and was used on streetcars built by the St. Louis Car Company. Early models would catch coins and then sort them once the fare was accepted or "rung up". Later models after World War II had a counting function that would allow the fares to be added together so that a total per shift could be maintained by the transit revenue department. In many cases, fareboxes retain the cash in a secure manner with the driver having no access; this increases security as well as reducing employee fraud. Fareboxes did not change again until around 1984, when fares in many larger cities reached $1.00 and the first dollar-bill-accepting farebox was put into service. In 2006, new fareboxes had the capability of accepting cash, credit, or smartcard transactions, and issuing day passes and transfers for riders.


Fare formats

Common fare formats include: *
Cash In economics, cash is money in the physical form of currency, such as banknotes and coins. In bookkeeping and financial accounting, cash is current assets comprising currency or currency equivalents that can be accessed immediately or near-imm ...
- bills or coins *
Token coin In numismatics, token coins or trade tokens are coin-like objects used instead of coins. The field of token coins is part of exonumia and token coins are token money. Their denomination is shown or implied by size, color or shape. They are oft ...
s *
Ticket Ticket or tickets may refer to: Slips of paper * Lottery ticket * Parking ticket, a ticket confirming that the parking fee was paid (and the time of the parking start) * Toll ticket, a slip of paper used to indicate where vehicles entered a tol ...
s * Credit/Debit * Contactless card


See also

*
Free travel pass A free travel pass is the privilege of a certain class of passengers to use a public transport service without paying a fare or presenting a ticket. They may need to present an identification card produced by their employer or other sponsoring orga ...
* Manual fare collection *
Proof-of-payment Proof-of-payment (POP) or proof-of-fare (POF) is an honor-based fare collection system used on many public transportation systems. Instead of checking each passenger as they enter a fare control zone, passengers are required to carry a ticket, pa ...
*
Ticket Ticket or tickets may refer to: Slips of paper * Lottery ticket * Parking ticket, a ticket confirming that the parking fee was paid (and the time of the parking start) * Toll ticket, a slip of paper used to indicate where vehicles entered a tol ...
* Ticket systems on public transport * Toll bridge *
Toll road A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road (almost always a controlled-access highway in the present day) for which a fee (or ''toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented ...
*
Train pass A transit pass (North American English) or travel card (British English), often referred to as a bus pass or train pass etc. (in all English dialects), is a Public transport#Ticket systems, ticket that allows a passenger of the service to take eit ...
* Train ticket *
Transit pass A transit pass (North American English) or travel card (British English), often referred to as a bus pass or train pass etc. (in all English dialects), is a ticket that allows a passenger of the service to take either a certain number of pre-purch ...
*
Smart card A smart card, chip card, or integrated circuit card (ICC or IC card) is a physical electronic authentication device, used to control access to a resource. It is typically a plastic credit card-sized card with an embedded integrated circuit (IC) c ...
* Zero-fare *
Integrated ticketing Integrated ticketing allows a person to make a journey that involves transfers within or between different transport modes with a single ticket that is valid for the complete journey, modes being buses, trains, subways, ferries, etc. The purpose o ...


References

{{Authority control Public transport fare collection Pricing