Free transit doesn't fare well

By RACHEL GORDON
Thursday, March 08, 2007

Every major American public transit system that has tried a fare-free program quickly abandoned the initiative due to a rise in crime and rowdiness aboard buses and a mounting burden of funding operating costs.

The places where fare-free transit has taken hold are smaller, mainly rural communities, and in the downtown pockets of larger cities, such as Portland, Ore., and Seattle.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has broached the notion of abolishing fares for San Francisco's buses, streetcars and cable cars. He has asked the Municipal Transportation Agency, which operates the Municipal Railway transit system, to study the idea before he decides whether to pursue it.

"The fact is, we have among the lowest fare-collection rates of any transit agency in the country," Newsom said. "The consequence of that is we have two options: to go higher or, arguably, to look at the cost of collecting fares and go lower."

Muni, the largest transit system in the Bay Area, recovers about $138 million, or 22 percent of its annual budget, at the fare box. Nationally, the average is 34.2 percent.

Only a handful of transit systems across the country don't charge passengers. One is in the small city of Commerce near Los Angeles.

"Fare-free transit really benefits the public. People can just hop on and off the bus," said Commerce Transit Director Dan Gomez.

He said it also saves money on new fare boxes, which he said cost more than $10,000 apiece and which buses must be wired to accommodate.

Gomez said his system carries 750,000 passengers a year _ slightly more than the nearly 700,000 boardings on Muni each day.

In the 1970s, Trenton, N.J., and Denver tried a no-fare policy during off-peak hours. The last large transit agency to try it was Austin, Texas, 17 years ago. That project, which lasted 15 months, resulted in a 75 percent jump in ridership, but part of the increase was attributed to an expanded service area.

At the same time, complaints about vandalism and drunken and rowdy riders increased. At one point, three-quarters of the drivers petitioned management to start charging fares again. Ballooning operating expenses also triggered the demise of free fares, and longtime commuters complained about crowding.

"The benefits weren't worth the problems," said Joel Volinski, director of the National Center for Transit Research at the University of South Florida.

Volinski, who has studied the issue, said a handful of small agencies have successfully instituted free fares. Island County Transit, in rural Washington, is another example.

"If your mission is to get people out of their cars and improve the environment, fare-free transit is the way to go," said Martha Rose, executive director of Island County Transit, which serves island communities near Seattle.

She said her system hasn't seen any significant problems in crime.

The Big Island of Hawaii eliminated fares in 2005. The county government subsidizes the $5 million-a-year operating costs, and the federal government buys the buses. The program eased the financial burden on residents, many of whom travel up to 100 miles each way to their jobs _ a bus commute that once cost up to $12 a day.