IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/epplan/v32y2009i4p360-368.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Analyzing equity impacts of transit fare changes: Case study of Alameda-Contra Costa Transit, California

Author

Listed:
  • Nuworsoo, Cornelius
  • Golub, Aaron
  • Deakin, Elizabeth

Abstract

Many public transit agencies consider increasing fares when faced with budget shortfalls. This paper analyzes the Alameda-Contra Costa (AC) Transit District's five alternative fare proposals introduced for public discussion in March 2005. The proposals combined fare hikes, base fare reductions, eliminations of free transfers, and discontinuation of periodic passes. Using the agency's 2002 on-board survey data, the study assessed the impacts of individual fare proposals on different subsets of riders and evaluated if they were equitable; and estimated potential fare revenues, using alternative price elasticities to estimate changes in ridership due to changes in price. The analysis revealed that proposals that increased the cost of transfers or eliminated unlimited-use passes produced dramatically unequal impacts on certain riders. Proposals for flat fares per ride were found to be least equitable, even when the base fare was lowered, because lower income riders, youth, and minorities made more trips and transferred more frequently than their more affluent counterparts. Proposals that maintained existing pass instruments and allowed transfers for small fees were the most favorable. The paper demonstrates the utility of on-board surveys and details an approach that could be widely used for evaluation of equity in public transit and other areas.

Suggested Citation

  • Nuworsoo, Cornelius & Golub, Aaron & Deakin, Elizabeth, 2009. "Analyzing equity impacts of transit fare changes: Case study of Alameda-Contra Costa Transit, California," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 360-368, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:epplan:v:32:y:2009:i:4:p:360-368
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149-7189(09)00053-6
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Deakin, Elizabeth & Harvey, Greig & Pozdena, Randall & Yarema, Geoffrey, 1996. "Transportation Pricing Strategies for California: An Assessment of Congestion, Emissions, Energy. And Equity Impacts," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt723002kt, University of California Transportation Center.
    2. Taylor, Brian D., 1991. "Unjust Equity: An Examination of California's Transportation Development Act," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt7h13774d, University of California Transportation Center.
    3. Kenneth Button & Erik Verhoef (ed.), 1998. "Road Pricing, Traffic Congestion and the Environment," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 940.
    4. Tsur, Yacov & Dinar, Ariel, 1995. "Efficiency and equity considerations in pricing and allocating irrigation water," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1460, The World Bank.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Canham, Sarah L. & Donovan, Morrison & Rose, Jeff & Jones, Shannon & Garcia, Ivis, 2023. "Transportation needs and mobility patterns of persons experiencing homelessness following shelter decentralization," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    2. (Giancarlo) Falcocchio, John C. & Malik, Awais & Kontokosta, Constantine E., 2018. "A data-driven methodology for equitable value-capture financing of public transit operations and maintenance," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 107-115.
    3. Shaowu Cheng & Qian Gao & Yaping Zhang, 2016. "Evaluating the Impacts of Bus Fare on Social Equity Based on IC Card Data in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(10), pages 1-15, October.
    4. Verbich, David & El-Geneidy, Ahmed, 2017. "Public transit fare structure and social vulnerability in Montreal, Canada," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 43-53.
    5. Wang, Siqin & Liu, Yan & Corcoran, Jonathan, 2021. "Equity of public transport costs before and after a fare policy reform: An empirical evaluation using smartcard data," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 104-118.
    6. Bureau, Benjamin & Glachant, Matthieu, 2011. "Distributional effects of public transport policies in the Paris Region," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 745-754, September.
    7. Xiaohong Chen & Xiang Wang & Hua Zhang & Jia Li, 2014. "The Diversity and Evolution Process of Bus System Performance in Chinese Cities: An Empirical Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(11), pages 1-17, November.
    8. Brown, Anne, 2022. "Not all fees are created equal: Equity implications of ride-hail fee structures and revenues," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 1-10.
    9. Lachapelle, Ugo & Boisjoly, Geneviève, 2023. "Breaking down public transit travel time for more accurate transport equity policies: A trip component approach," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    10. Zhao, Pengjun & Zhang, Yixue, 2019. "The effects of metro fare increase on transport equity: New evidence from Beijing," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 73-83.
    11. Simic, Vladimir & Gokasar, Ilgin & Deveci, Muhammet & Karakurt, Ahmet, 2022. "An integrated CRITIC and MABAC based type-2 neutrosophic model for public transportation pricing system selection," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    12. Arranz, José M. & Burguillo, Mercedes & Rubio, Jennifer, 2019. "Subsidisation of public transport fares for the young: An impact evaluation analysis for the Madrid Metropolitan Area," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 84-92.
    13. Xiaoshu Cao & Huiling Chen & Feiwen Liang & Wulin Wang, 2018. "Measurement and Spatial Differentiation Characteristics of Transit Equity: A Case Study of Guangzhou, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-17, April.
    14. Rubensson, Isak & Susilo, Yusak & Cats, Oded, 2020. "Is flat fare fair? Equity impact of fare scheme change," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 48-58.
    15. Sadhu, S.L.N. Sarma & Tiwari, Geetam, 2016. "An activity pattern – destination land use choice model of low income households of informal settlements – Case study of Delhi," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 265-275.
    16. Farber, Steven & Bartholomew, Keith & Li, Xiao & Páez, Antonio & Nurul Habib, Khandker M., 2014. "Assessing social equity in distance based transit fares using a model of travel behavior," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 291-303.
    17. Zhou, Jiangping & Zhang, Min & Zhu, Pengyu, 2019. "The equity and spatial implications of transit fare," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 309-324.
    18. Aliaksandr Charnavalau & Elżbieta Jadwiga Szymańska & Grzegorz Czapski, 2022. "The Impact of Transport Exclusion on the Local Development of Biała County," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-23, May.
    19. Jiechao Zhang & Xuedong Yan & Meiwu An & Li Sun, 2017. "The Impact of Beijing Subway’s New Fare Policy on Riders’ Attitude, Travel Pattern and Demand," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-21, April.
    20. Brown, Anne, 2021. "Not All Fees are Created Equal: Equity Implications of Ride-hail Fee Structures," OSF Preprints cpsqu, Center for Open Science.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nuworsoo, Cornelius & Deakin, Elizabeth & Golub, Aaron, 2008. "Equity Impacts of Transit Fare Proposals: A Case Study of AC Transit," Journal of the Transportation Research Forum, Transportation Research Forum, vol. 47(3).
    2. Gregory Thompson & Jeffrey Brown & Torsha Bhattacharya, 2012. "What Really Matters for Increasing Transit Ridership: Understanding the Determinants of Transit Ridership Demand in Broward County, Florida," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 49(15), pages 3327-3345, November.
    3. Hu, Zhineng & Chen, Yazhen & Yao, Liming & Wei, Changting & Li, Chaozhi, 2016. "Optimal allocation of regional water resources: From a perspective of equity–efficiency tradeoff," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 102-113.
    4. Julie Bulteau & Thierry Feuillet & Sophie Dantan & Souhir Abbes, 2023. "Encouraging carpooling for commuting in the Paris area (France): which incentives and for whom?," Transportation, Springer, vol. 50(1), pages 43-62, February.
    5. Romain Petiot, 2004. "Parking enforcement and travel demand management," Post-Print hal-02422664, HAL.
    6. Barter, Paul A., 2005. "A vehicle quota integrated with road usage pricing: A mechanism to complete the phase-out of high fixed vehicle taxes in Singapore," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 12(6), pages 525-536, November.
    7. Ngee-Choon Chia & Albert K C Tsui & John Whalley, 2003. "Taxes and Traffic in Asian Cities: Ownership and use taxes on Autos in Singapore," University of Western Ontario, Departmental Research Report Series 20035, University of Western Ontario, Department of Economics.
    8. Molle, Francois & Berkoff, Jeremy, 2007. "Water pricing in irrigation: the lifetime of an idea," Book Chapters,, International Water Management Institute.
    9. Erik T. Verhoef, 1998. "An Integrated Dynamic Model of Road Traffic Congestion based on Simple Car-Following Theory," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 98-030/3, Tinbergen Institute.
    10. Proost, S. & Van der Loo, S. & de Palma, Andre & Lindsey, Robin, 2005. "A cost-benefit analysis of tunnel investment and tolling alternatives in Antwerp," European Transport \ Trasporti Europei, ISTIEE, Institute for the Study of Transport within the European Economic Integration, issue 31, pages 83-100.
    11. Wenjia Zhang & Ming Zhang, 2018. "Incorporating land use and pricing policies for reducing car dependence: Analytical framework and empirical evidence," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 55(13), pages 3012-3033, October.
    12. Antonio Menezes & Ainura Uzagalieva, 2013. "The Demand of Car Rentals: a Microeconometric Approach with Count Models and Survey Data," Review of Economic Analysis, Digital Initiatives at the University of Waterloo Library, vol. 5(1), pages 25-41, June.
    13. Lan Mu & Chunxia Luo & Zongjia Tan & Binglin Zhang & Xiaojuan Qu, 2023. "Assessing the Impact of Different Agricultural Irrigation Charging Methods on Sustainable Agricultural Production," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-19, September.
    14. Ian W.H. Parry, 2009. "Pricing Urban Congestion," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 1(1), pages 461-484, September.
    15. Caplan, Arthur J. & Acharya, Ramjee, 2019. "Optimal vehicle use in the presence of episodic mobile-source air pollution," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 185-204.
    16. Wachs, Martin & Dill, Jennifer, 1997. "Regionalism in Transportation and Air Quality: History, Interpretation, and Insights for Regional Governance," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt0zz0d260, University of California Transportation Center.
    17. Kelly, J. Andrew & Fu, Miao, 2014. "Sustainable school commuting – understanding choices and identifying opportunities," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 221-230.
    18. Wuping Xin & David Levinson, 2015. "Stochastic Congestion and Pricing Model with Endogenous Departure Time Selection and Heterogeneous Travelers," Mathematical Population Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(1), pages 37-52, March.
    19. Kenneth Small, 2015. "The Bottleneck Model: An Assessment and Interpretation," Working Papers 141506, University of California-Irvine, Department of Economics.
    20. Elisa Borowski & Alireza Ermagun & David Levinson, 2018. "Disparity of Access: Variations in Transit Service by Race, Ethnicity, Income, and Auto Availability," Working Papers 175, University of Minnesota: Nexus Research Group.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:epplan:v:32:y:2009:i:4:p:360-368. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/evalprogplan .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.