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Exit fare


An exit fare is a method of collecting ridership fees, or fares, from a transportation system, where the fee (or part of the fee) is collected from passengers upon reaching their destination.

Exit fares were used on the subway lines of the early MBTA in Boston, Massachusetts, as a cost-cutting method to be able to collect increased fares without having to upgrade fare collection equipment at station entrances. The perceived unfairness of this system (what to do with a passenger who can't pay the exit fare?) prompted Boston politician Walter A. O'Brien to commission the protest song "M.T.A.", which later became a hit song by the Kingston Trio.. The last of the subway exit fares were eliminated from the Boston rail transit lines on December 4, 2006, with the implementation of the CharlieCard. However, some of the MBTA's trackless trolley routes that use left-side boarding in the Harvard Bus Tunnel have exit fares because fares cannot be collected during boarding.

In New York City, this system is used on the AirTrain at John F. Kennedy International Airport. The system uses an exit fare to distinguish between intra-airport trips, which are free, and connections to the subway and commuter rail, which are not. The IND Rockaway Line charged a double fare south of Howard Beach Station which entailed the deposit of two tokens for those entering along the line or one token on exit for those arriving from other parts of the system. The unpopular double fare was abolished in 1975.

Exit fares are also charged on the Staten Island Railway at St. George Terminal and Tompkinsville station, because the primary function of the railway is to transport commuters on Staten Island to/from the Staten Island Ferry terminal at St. George. Commuters heading to Manhattan via the ferry pay upon exiting the train at St. George in the morning, and upon entry at St. George in the afternoon. Exit fares are charged at Tompkinsville because it is also within walking distance of the ferry terminal. Before exit fares were charged at Tompkinsville, one could avoid paying the exit fare at St. George by exiting at Tompkinsville and walking to the ferry terminal. By charging entry and exit fares at St. George and Tompkinsville, the other stations on the Staten Island Railway can be run at far lower cost, without any fare collection equipment or station employees present.


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