A Process for Transit Fare Structure and Fare Level Analysis: Case Study at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
In spite of improved access to transit travel data and academic advancements in analytical methods, many U.S. transit agencies continue to rely heavily on professional judgment and rules of thumb to analyze the impacts of potential changes in fare structures and fare levels. There are a variety of relevant academic resources, such as demand modeling techniques and market segmentation strategies, but there is little practical guidance on applying them. The authors propose a high-level process bridging these literatures by which transit agencies can improve their capabilities for analyzing fare structures and fare levels before conducting time-sensitive analyses: define fare products, summarize and classify, segment the market, and model demand. We particularly emphasize the value of defining existing and potential future fare products by their attributes and identifying the different pricing strategies they represent. The authors provide illustrations or recommendations related to each step of the proposed process using the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) as a case study
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Supplemental Notes:
- This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AP030 Standing Committee on Public Transportation Marketing and Fare Policy. Alternate title: Process for Transit Fare Structure and Fare Level Analysis: Case Study at Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
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Corporate Authors:
500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC United States 20001 -
Authors:
- Stuntz, Andrew
- Attanucci, John
- Salvucci, Frederick P
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Conference:
- Transportation Research Board 96th Annual Meeting
- Location: Washington DC, United States
- Date: 2017-1-8 to 2017-1-12
- Date: 2017
Language
- English
Media Info
- Media Type: Digital/other
- Features: Figures; References;
- Pagination: 16p
- Monograph Title: TRB 96th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Case studies; Fares; Market assessment; Policy; Pricing; Transit operating agencies
- Identifier Terms: Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
- Uncontrolled Terms: Fare structure; Market segmentation
- Subject Areas: Finance; Operations and Traffic Management; Policy; Public Transportation;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01626006
- Record Type: Publication
- Report/Paper Numbers: 17-02457
- Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
- Created Date: Feb 15 2017 5:03PM