DIFFERENTIAL TIME-OF-DAY TRANSIT-FARE POLICIES: REVENUE, RIDERSHIP, AND EQUITY

This paper examines the financial, ridership, and equity implications of premium rush-hour fares of seven transit systems in New York State. Using 1973 data and demand equations that establish a relation between fare and ridership calculations are made to estimate changes in ridership and revenue in each of the cities for various peak and off-peak fare combinations. Graphs are plotted for each of the cities to determine the fare combinations that maximize ridership without decreasing revenue more than 5 percent and still improve equity. The results showed that, in all of the cities studied, no differential fare combination increases both revenue and ridership simultaneously. Certain combinations improve equity while increasing either ridership or revenue with a less than 5 percent loss in the other. In Albany-Schenectady-Troy, Rochester, Syracuse, and Binghamton, combinations that increase passengers at the expense of a less than 5 percent decrease in revenue are attractive because of their flexibility. In New York City and Buffalo, combinations that increase revenue rather than passengers are attractive because no fare combination would increase passengers more than 5 percent without a loss of 15 percent or more in revenue. /Author/

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1977/625/625-011.pdf
• Record URL:
  https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=DIFFERENTIAL+TIME-OF-DAY+TRANSIT-FARE+POLICIES%3A+REVENUE%2C+RIDERSHIP%2C+AND+EQUITY&author=D.+Hartgen&author=D.+Weiss&publication_year=1977
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• Supplemental Notes:
  • Publication of this paper sponsored by Committee on Public Transportation Planning and Development. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved
• Authors:
  • Hartgen, David T
  • Weiss, David L
• Conference:
  • 56th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board
  • Location: Washington District of Columbia, United States
  • Date: 1977-1-24 to 1977-1-28
• Publication Date: 1977

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 43-48
• Monograph Title: Transit planning and operations
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 625
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Economics; Equity; Fares; Forecasting; Peak periods; Public transit; Revenues; Ridership; Transportation; Urban areas
• Subject Areas: Economics; Finance; Planning and Forecasting; Society; Transportation (General);

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00168070
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309026504
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Jan 30 1981 12:00AM