Zonal and honeycomb fare patterns

This is a variation of the graduated fares structure, but simplifying the application through using coarse graduation and longer fares stages. In a mono-centric urban area, the fares stages are set in orbital bands or zones around the central business district. In a poly-centric urban area, such bands are subdivided radially in a honeycomb pattern in order to recognize and charge for their diverse travel patterns.

Such a fare structure is easier to understand and administer, though some accuracy in matching the price of the service to its cost of provision is lost. Further the structure can increase the cost of journeys having to include an interchange but without continuing travel authority, though this impact can be mitigated by careful positioning of zone boundaries through (or well away from) the principal passenger interchange nodes in the network. Wide zonal boundaries can also be employed such that stops closely positioned in the boundary area can be included in either zone for the purpose of fares computation where this would reduce the resultant charge.