Trying to cut down on your subway and bus fares? Stop eating pizza.
There are, it would seem, eight million half-baked theories to chronicle New York life. The Pizza Connection is one of them. As explained by columnist Clyde Haberman in today’s New York Times, this is one that has been around since the Koch administration.
Mr. Haberman points out that a slice of pizza near the offices of the Gray Old Lady can run as much as $2.25. (It has been that high at Di Fara for a couple of years—and well worth it. But we digress.) If history guides the future, the $2 base fare may soon be a thing of the past. Many have heard this theory before—red army loudmouth Curtis Sliwa has often claimed it as his own.
Apparently the source we can thank for such careful observation is Eric M. Bram, a Bronx native who concocted the rising-fare recipe in 1980. At the time, pizza slices were averaging 60 cents while the Metropolitan Transportation Authority was charging 50 cents per token. According to today’s report, the theory holds true going back to the early 1960s.
What we’re wondering is if you take the Bram formula and add some Adam Smith, would the quotient be a less expensive ride to work? Probably not. Subway fares are actually much simpler to explain than this quadratic equation–like mess. The city and state governments have other priorities than funding public transportation. So when the bill comes due, the MetroCard takes the hit. It would seem that there is no free lunch—especially if it’s a pizza lunch.
i too am well aware of the pizza/subway connection. i remember when fares were like $1.50 (i remember even lower, but maybe this was the first time i was making a connection) and joe's pizza upped their slice prices to $2.00, which was way more than the fare. but now fares are $2.00 too. damn those joe bastards.
I have been professing that thoery since long before 1980. I first noticed the correlation in 1967 when the fare and the price of a slice silumtaneously jumped a whopping 33% from 15 cents to 20. I've been citing the theory ever since. The Wiki article notes that the advent of the Metrocard may trumpet the demise of the pizza connection. However, I attribute it more to the energy policies of this country that encourage the growing of corn for the production of ethynol at the cost of growing wheat for flour.
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Mr. Haberman points out that a slice of pizza near the offices of the Gray Old Lady can run as much as $2.25. (It has been that high at Di Fara for a couple of years—and well worth it. But we digress.) If history guides the future, the $2 base fare may soon be a thing of the past. Many have heard this theory before—red army loudmouth Curtis Sliwa has often claimed it as his own.
3 Comments:
i too am well aware of the pizza/subway connection. i remember when fares were like $1.50 (i remember even lower, but maybe this was the first time i was making a connection) and joe's pizza upped their slice prices to $2.00, which was way more than the fare. but now fares are $2.00 too. damn those joe bastards.
Slice tien at 5:53PM on 06/22/05
Wikipedia has an article about the pizza/subway correlation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_York_Pizza_Connection
gradivus at 7:10PM on 09/24/08
I have been professing that thoery since long before 1980. I first noticed the correlation in 1967 when the fare and the price of a slice silumtaneously jumped a whopping 33% from 15 cents to 20. I've been citing the theory ever since. The Wiki article notes that the advent of the Metrocard may trumpet the demise of the pizza connection. However, I attribute it more to the energy policies of this country that encourage the growing of corn for the production of ethynol at the cost of growing wheat for flour.
Ciao,
Professor Paulie Gee
pauliegee at 7:38AM on 09/25/08