Fare, free, or something in between?

This synthesis offers information as to the impact, cost, advantages, and disadvantages of implementing systemwide fare-free policies in various transit systems. Information was gathered through the documented results of research done on case studies of fare-free experiments, and from active transit professionals with first-hand knowledge of the results of other fare-free demonstrations implemented by a variety of transit systems around the United States. Based upon the findings of this synthesis, it is concluded that a fare-free policy might be appropriate for smaller transit systems in certain communities, but is ill-advised for larger transit systems in major urban areas because experience shows that in larger systems, a tremendous amount of criminal activity, as well as a sharp increase in ridership, caused higher maintenance costs, labor costs, and operational costs and drove away existing riders.