Evaluating University Transit Pass Programs
Donald C. Shoup
Department of Urban Planning
University of California, Los
Angeles
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1656
Funded
by Year 12 Research Grant
Fare-Free Public Transit at Universities: An
Evaluation
Abstract
Universities and public transit agencies in the
United States have together invented an arrangement—called Unlimited
Access—that provides fare-free transit service for all students (and, on some
campuses, faculty and staff as well).
Unlimited Access is not free transit, but is instead a new way to pay
for it. The university pays the transit agency for all rides taken by eligible
members of the campus community. This
paper evaluates the results of UCLA’s Unlimited Access program. Bus ridership
for commuting to campus increased by 56 percent during BruinGO’s first year,
and solo driving fell by 20 percent.
Because these startling results were achieved in a city famous for its
addiction to cars, they suggest that Unlimited Access will work almost
anywhere.
Table of
Contents
BRUINGO 2
EVALUATION METHODOLOGY 3
HOW DID BRUINGO AFFECT FACULTY/STAFF COMMUTING? 4
HOW DID BRUINGO AFFECT STUDENT COMMUTING? 6
FARE ELASTICITIES 6
HOW DID BRUINGO AFFECT PARKING DEMAND? 8
BRUINGO ALSO SERVES MANY NON-COMMUTE TRIPS 9
MEASURING THE COST AND BENEFITS OF BRUINGO 10
THE COST OF BRUINGO 10
THE BENEFITS OF BRUINGO 10
Reduced
fare payments 11
Reduced
parking demand 12
External
benefits 14
COMPARING THE BENEFITS AND COSTS OF BRUINGO 14
DIFFICULTY IN PREDICTING RIDERSHIP AND COST 15
CONCLUSION 16
REFERENCES 21
ENDNOTES 23
Publications
Jeffrey Brown, Daniel Baldwin Hess, and Donald Shoup, “Fare-free Public Transit at Universities: an Evaluation,” forthcoming in the Journal of Planning Education and Research.
Brown,
Jeffrey, Daniel Baldwin Hess, and Donald Shoup,
"BruinGo: An Evaluation," March 5, 2003.