Comparing fare schemes in major metro systems

Comparing the way fares work in the major metro transit systems.

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Here are my working notes on a brief comparative survey of major urban rapid transit systems and their fare schemes.

I've always loved the fact that New York has a flat fare system, and compared it with moral superiority to the Washington DC metro, which charges riders based on distance ridden and has a somewhat cumbersome tap system for both entering and exiting the system. This has always felt to me like a kind of regressive income tax that hurts poorer riders, who often have to travel farther to commute to the city center from the more affordable housing in the outer neighborhoods.

But as I've started to look into comparing metro systems, I've learned that the truth is more interesting. While none of the metros I've gotten through have the same per-fare rates as DC, most of them have some kind of zoned fare table. I've learned that charging for distance doesn't automatically make fares bad for low-middle class riders. Guangzhou's Metro has my favorite fare system I've come across, with an intuitive "1 more yuan every X km" system, and the top tier of 40km would get you well out on Long Island from Times Square, for half the fare.

So I'm still building this list, but my thoughts right now are that maybe zone-based pricing helps ensure that we are recapturing costs in line with rider miles, not just riders. And it's about reducing costs and reducing opportunities for grift so that the rider fare is low class-friendly even at its most expensive tier.

The top 25 transit systems by ridership (Wikipedia):

  1. Shanghai Metro 2834.69M riders (2020)
    • A zoned distance-based fare system
  2. Tokyo Metro 2757.4M riders (2019)
    • A distance range-based fare system
    • 168 yen for local (< 6km) trips - $1.31
    • 199 yen for 7-11km - $1.56
    • 242 yen for 12-19km - $1.89
    • 283 yen for 20-27km - $2.21
    • 314 yen for 28-40km - $2.46
  3. Guangzhou Metro 2415.60M riders (2020)
    • 2 yuan < 4km - $0.30
    • 3 yuan < 8km - $0.45
    • 4 yuan < 12 - $0.60
    • 5 yuan < 18km - $0.75
    • 6 yuan < 24km - $0.90
    • 7 yuan < 32km - $1.05
    • 8 yuan < 40km - $1.20
    • Oh and they have a day pass for 20 yuan - $3.00
    • or a damn 3-day pass for 50 yuan - $7.50
  4. Beijing Subway 2292.65M riders (2020)
  5. Seoul Metropolitan Subway 2127.2M riders (2020)
  6. Chengdu Metro 1800M riders (2021)
  7. Delhi Metro 1790M riders (2019)
  8. Shenzhen Metro 1626.73M riders (2020)
  9. Moscow Metro 1618.2M riders (2020)
  10. Cairo Metro 1314M riders (2015)
  11. New York City Subway 1311.3M riders (2021)
    • Flat fee $2.75 USD ticket, unlimited subway transfers. No bus transfers.
    • Some fare schemes to encourage digital "OMNY" payment such as free bus transfers, free rides after 12 weekly OMNY-paid rides.
  12. Tokyo Toei Subway 1174.9M riders (2019)
  13. Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway 1155.8M riders (2020)
  14. Wuhan Metro 1012.70M riders (2021)
  15. Mexico City Metro 935.2M riders (2020)
  16. Osaka Metro 870.4M riders (2016)
  17. Chongqing Rail Transit 839.75M riders (2020)
  18. Tehran Metro 820M riders (2018)
  19. Nanjing Metro 801.34M riders (2020)
  20. São Paulo Metro 763.6M riders (2020)
  21. Paris Métro 753M riders (2020)
  22. Singapore Mass Rapid Transit 738.4M riders (2020)
  23. Xi'an Metro 731.04M riders (2020)
  24. Taipei Metro 695.7M riders (2020)
  25. Berlin U-Bahn 596M riders (2019)
  26. Hangzhou Metro 582.41M riders (2020)