Poor Old Charlie

It's too expensive to be poor in this country.

This post is about being shocked by an increase in busfare.

Which I realize sounds a teensy bit like overreacting. I mean, in light of all the ways this country finds to screw the poor, a rise in busfare doesn't really rate.

But the way the transit system here raised their rates is absolutely symptomatic of the structural and institutional strategies by which the poor get shafted in this country (and then blamed for it).

Consumer economics are getting increasingly Costco-ized. Costco (and other big box stores) offer deep discounts to people who can afford to buy in bulk and who have cars in which they can haul their loot away.

That is to say, the deep discounts go to the people who don't really need a deep discount.

Ditto groceries stores. I remember going to a lecture once given by an anthropologist who studied urban garbage. He noted that the garbage in poorer neighborhoods contained more food items from expensive mom n' pop stores and convenience stores. His conclusion was that poor people were poor managers of money. I guess he didn't notice that in lots of these neighborhoods, there aren't any grocery stores within walking distance. The more expensive stores, with the least wholesome items, are often all that's available. So you have to overpay for Beef-a-Roni and then get harangued about being irresponsible and single-handedly causing the obesity epidemic.

Ditto banks. For someone with access to banks, it's almost inconceivable that someone would actually pay 10% of their paycheck to a check-cashing place. But if you can't afford a minimum balance or your can't get away during 9-5 (and banks are scarce in poor neighborhoods), well, you're (once again) screwed.

Ok, back to my bus shocker (it's SHOCKING):

It's been advertized for the past month or so that the fares would go up from 90 cents to $1.25 after January 1st. Now, that's an almost 40% increase, but ok. There hasn't been a rate hike in several years--it's probably time (the fares are really pretty reasonable compared to elsewhere).

BUT, I get on the bus this morning to discover that it's $1.50 if you are paying cash. The subway fare went up 45 cents with a pass, but 60 cents if you pay cash. That's a 67% increase. They have new scannable cards one can buy to avoid the cash penalty. If you can figure out where to get them. There haven't been any signs at all indicating where one can get them.

And, of course (and as always), it's cheaper yet to get a pass. So if you can afford to lay out your transportation budget all at once (passes are only available at the beginning and end of the month), ok. If not, guess what? You're screwed. Not everyone can afford the $60-$120 cost of a transit pass at the beginning of the month. To put it in perspective, if you make minimum wage, that's between one and a half and three 8hour shifts a month. And anyone who doesn't know how much $25/month can mean has never been really poor.

So the folks who can least afford the fare increase are the ones who will be paying the most of it.

Good old Costco-logic.

But it gets worse. Because they hadn't told anyone that there would be a cash penalty, no one was prepared (which caused huge delays and lots of yelling and the bus drivers), so now people get stuck essentially paying double fares for today if they get a pass. And you can't just get a pass anywhere. So the people who have the least time and mobility are again the least able to access the savings.

But it gets worse. How did I find out where one can buy the passes? Well, I went online. If you don't have a computer and internet access? Guess what? You're screwed.

Now, I understand that this cash penalty amounts to no more than a $25 a month increase (75 cents twice a day, five days a week). To most of us, an extra $25 a month isn't going to make or break us. For someone making minimum wage, though, that's more than half a days work. These are also the folks who have to make the most exchanges, because the poor and blacker the neighborhood, the less likely it is to be well served by public transportation. This is the downside, I guess, to a transit system that is used equally by rich and poor--service tilts richward.

The way the increase was implemented amounts to a poverty tax--it gets displaces the bulk of the fare hike onto those who are most vulnerable. And it is symptomatic of the increasingly regressive systems (both public and private) we have for extracting the maximum amount of cash out of the poor.

Poor Old Charlie--I don't think he's ever gonna get off that dang old train. I hope his wife made lots of sandwiches...

UPDATE: It gets worse. They no longer give transfers if one in pays cash. So if you need to take two buses to work, you're really screwed. A day's transportation, which a week ago cost $1.80 now costs $6.00.

Update update: major props to the bus driver today who brought along a stack of cards and tried to explain to people how to use them.