FREE-FARE TRANSIT: SOME EMPIRICAL FINDINGS. ABRIDGMENT

This paper presents comparative results from two free transit demonstrations funded by the Urban Mass Transportation Administration. In Denver and Trenton, one-year experiments with off-peak free transit began early in 1977. The analysis here is based on survey and ridership-count data collected as part of the demonstration evaluation process. Aggregate ridership increases of about 50 percent were observed at both sites following the elimination of fares. The majority of the additional trips would have otherwise been made by non-bus modes, though roughly 15-25 percent would not have been made at all without free fare. Transit-dependent groups, including the elderly, the poor, and the carless, were less responsive to fare elimination than were nondependent groups. Neither demonstration had a measurable impact on automobile use. At both sites increased ridership led to modest and generally localized deteriorations in service quality. (Author)