Gapers Block links to this story about the CTA increasing fare prices starting January 1. It won't affect me at all, because I have one of these Chicago cards that automatically charges fares to my credit card (or at least I think that's how it works). Still, it's pretty upsetting to see Chicago still doing it's best to stick it to the poor. There are, it turns out, many people who do not have credit cards or bank accounts, and therefore can't use the Chicago card. These folks will now have the privilege of paying an extra 25 cents per ride.
Now maybe the folks at the CTA think they're giving people an incentive to switch to the Chicago card. The problem is they haven't provided options for people who don't have access to a line of credit, which means these people will have no choice but to pay the higher rate. As a further insult, they're putting fare card machines in Currency Exchanges around the city, but these machines will not sell the Chicago Card. It's very possible this policy is the result of a compromise (was somebody lobbying to have the Chicago Card available at Currency Exchanges?), but it ends up looking more like a targeted revenue push against those with the least financial and infrastructural resources.
I don't think price discrimination based on method of payment is tolerated in the private sector, and I certainly can't think of any case where it's both tolerated and linked inversely (as here) to people's ability to pay. Wouldn't that just create a public relations firestorm? Why doesn't it here?
You don't see it as much as you used to, but for a long time gas stations had a different price for cash and credit.
Of course, in that case, the credit card users paid more than the cash customers.
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