PATRONAGE EFFECTS OF FREE-FARE TRANSIT

Data from the free transit demonstration in the Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania area following the recovery from hurricane Agnes in 1972 suggest that the offering of free transit will immediately attract significant numbers of additional patrons, with the percentage patronage increase dependent on the current average fare of the particular transit system. Based on the analysis reported in this article, patronage increases due to free fare, with service and other factors remaining constant, range from 13 percent for a system with 10 cents average fare per boarding passenger to 86 percent for a system with 50 cents average fare. A typical transit system, with a average fare in the 30- to 35- cent range, could expect ridership to immediately increase 50 percent with the institution of free fare.