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At $0.62 per mile (what the IRS claims is the average operating cost of driving), I think that for one passenger, even tickets on the NEC at current prices are cheaper than driving (not to mention that most of the highways serving the NEC are toll roads.) Once you add a passenger, the calculus changes (also the per-passenger mile emissions and fuel economy get a lot better, too). One thing that mitigated that to some degree that they used to have was "Family fares." Dad paid full price, Mom paid half price, and the kids went at quarter price. Such a thing could take up a lot of seats that could be sold at full price, but it might be a way to fill empty trains. But I'm not sure that lower fares would make enough of a difference increasing ridership to a point that it has any effect on emissions. I think you'll need both carrots and sticks if you want to be serious about doing that.
At $0.62 per mile (what the IRS claims is the average operating cost of driving), I think that for one passenger, even tickets on the NEC at current prices are cheaper than driving (not to mention that most of the highways serving the NEC are toll roads.) Once you add a passenger, the calculus changes (also the per-passenger mile emissions and fuel economy get a lot better, too). One thing that mitigated that to some degree that they used to have was "Family fares." Dad paid full price, Mom paid half price, and the kids went at quarter price. Such a thing could take up a lot of seats that could be sold at full price, but it might be a way to fill empty trains.
But I'm not sure that lower fares would make enough of a difference increasing ridership to a point that it has any effect on emissions. I think you'll need both carrots and sticks if you want to be serious about doing that.
