The city has consistently opposed fare increases on local routes because of their concern for captive riders. A number of low-income citizens testified that they would be forced to restrict their bus usage if a fare increase was implemented. Fare Structure Experts and public officials agree that transit prices should be set to enhance both equity and efficiency, but they have widely varying opinions about how to achieve these objectives. On efficiency, most people agree that the fares should be set to get the incentives right, but this vague statement does not lead to a clear pricing policy. It is difficult to apply this principle to bus fares, however, because the marginal cost of a rider is not well defined.
Some experts insist that the marginal cost of rider is close to zero.
Once a bus stops at a given stop, it costs next to nothing for that rider to get on and travel to his destination. This rider may slow down every other rider by a small amount and add a small amount to congestion on the bus but will add an insignificant amount to the operating costs of the bus. The only significant marginal cost arises when a bus is packed, as it often is during Southwest County's rush hour, so that the small time and crowding impact on each rider is added up over a large number of riders. One local expert, Professor Simon Wilkins of Southwest University, estimates that the time delay and added crowding that each rider imposes on other riders during rush hour can be valued at about 50 cents. Other experts believe that this approach to marginal cost is too abstract to be sensible.