Analyzing Equity Impacts of Transit Fare Changes: Case Study of Alameda-Contra Costa Transit, California

Many transit agencies, faced with budget shortfalls, must consider increasing fares. This paper analyzes the case of the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit). In March 2005, AC Transit put forth five alternative fare proposals for public discussion. The proposed fare structures included combinations of fare hikes, base fare reductions, eliminations of free transfers, and discontinuation of periodic passes. Using data from the agency’s 2002 on-board survey, the paper assessed the impacts of the various fare proposals on different subsets of riders and evaluated the equity of each proposal. The paper also estimated the fare revenues resulting from each proposal, using alternative estimations of price elasticity to estimate changes in ridership due to changes in price. The analysis reveals that fare policies that increase the cost of transfers or eliminate unlimited-use passes produce dramatically unequal impacts on various groups of patrons. Proposals for flat fares per ride were found to be the least equitable of the fare policies, even when the base fare was lowered, because lower income riders, youth, and minorities make more trips and transfer more frequently than their more affluent counterparts. Proposals that maintained existing pass instruments and allowed transfers for small fees were the most favorable. The case study demonstrates the utility of on-board transit survey data in analyzing the effects of proposed fare changes and illustrates an approach that could be used by other transit agencies to evaluate fare options.

• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Golub, Aaron
  • Deakin, Elizabeth
  • Nuworsoo, Cornelius Kofi
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 85th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2006-1-22 to 2006-1-26
• Date: 2006

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: CD-ROM
• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: 22p
• Monograph Title: TRB 85th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers CD-ROM

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Budgeting; Fare and toll prepayment; Fares; Public transit; Revenues; Smart cards; Surveys; Transfers; Transit authorities; Transit riders
• Identifier Terms: Alameda Contra Costa Transit District
• Geographic Terms: Alameda County (California)
• Subject Areas: Finance; Passenger Transportation; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01020272
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 06-2802
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Mar 3 2006 11:08AM