I like the idea of making the base fare 2 zones of travel. It ensures that anyone living along a zone border is not made to pay extra for crossing that line. It also keeps the base fare sufficiently high to discourage relatively short transit trips that can be taken by bicycle. As such, I'd also keep zone boundaries fairly small (for instance between Spadina and Parkside south of Bloor)
This could just as well be calculated using a base fare+fare by distance system, although for simplicity's sake, a zone system could be favorable.
I agree. It's definitely a balancing act when it comes to fare zone sizes. Too big, and the difference in cost between a 1 and 2 fare zone trip is huge. Too small, and the map becomes complicated as heck (as I showed above).
I think the way to approach it is that local transit routes pass through no more than 2 fare zones, that way boarding a bus you know exactly what the fare will be, so basically tap on only. Rapid transit is much easier to get tap on and off to work. Again, I'm a believer in the refund model, so tapping onto a rapid transit route would initially charge you the maximum fare for that route, and then you would tap off when exiting and get refunded whatever part of that max fare that you didn't use.
Another thing that I tried to do where possible is to have a rapid transit line along a particular corridor (Hurontario, Eglinton, etc) be the fare zone boundary as well. That way that line is simultaneously in both fare zones. So if someone takes a bus from either side of Eglinton (north or south) up/down to Eglinton, and then end at a destination along Eglinton, it only counts as 1 fare zone. It's only when the passenger actually crosses Eglinton that a 2 zone fare is applied.
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