Metro Jacksonville

Hasselt,  Belgium, Was at the center of a political firestorm when they were faced with building a third "Outer Beltway," or finding a way to offer commuters a choice without the billion dollar costs of a new highway. After much handwringing the local transit authority decided to go with a new idea, Fare Free Transit. The results are stunning:

QuoteFor a year, they expanded their transit system. They added routes (from 3 in 1996 to 11 in 2007), buses and trams, more stops, bus-only lanes, and more frequency (from 18,000 service hours in '96 to 95,000 in 2007). Then, on July 1st, 1997, they took out the fare boxes. Ridership jumped 783% that first day, 900% that first year, and 4 years later it was up 1223% and continues to climb. Becoming Fare-Free got residents and visitors alike onboard, while the planned increase in capacity kept them coming back.

Bus fares might give off a warm fuzzy feeling to more fiscally conservative citizens, who believe logically enough that bus fares actually offset their costs. THEY DON'T. There have been very few studies of this fact but when the subject of fare collection was studied in relation to costs it was discovered that rarely does the collection process even cover the costs to collect said fares!

But even some from the conservative far right get it.  In northeast Utah for example, an anti-tax sentiment in the early 1990s didn't inhibit Logan from making a bold move. Responding to resident's voiced frustrations with mobility options, the city assembled a Citizens Committee to explore transportation alternatives. None of the ideas generated, of course, could be put into motion for free. With city coffers tapped, the Committee went to residents to measure their commitment, placing a city tax initiative on the 1990 ballot. The overwhelming majority vote made mobility a priority. The Logan Transit District was born. Today, LTD operations are fueled by the sales tax that the community invests in itself.  SEE: http://www.cvtdbus.org/news/farefreepolicy.php

"The Simpson-Curtain rule", specifies that "Revenue for any system drops when ridership dips or when fares are increased." So if revenue goes down when fares are increased, then if fares are zero, revenue must be infinite; not exactly, but the benefits of fare free are myriad. The Simpson-Curtain Rule sets fare elasticity at -0.3%, so a 10% decrease in fares should result in a 3% increase in ridership, or put another way at 50% increase in fares should easily get JTA a 15% drop in  ridership. Not unlike the US Postal Service, just how many fare increases and curtailments of services can the system withstand before it becomes irrelevant?

A FDOT study found that fare free success should be measured by system wide cost-per-rider. When Austin, Texas, experimented with 15 months of free fares their cost per rider fell from $2.51 to $1.51, then slowly climbed back and stabilized at $2.18. The Texas city also had no costs for fare based labor or recovery.

This same FDOT study also found that the average automobile owner felt that any tax increase that benefited mass transit was unfair to them, and that many Florida auto owner didn't realize that their auto trips were already heavily subsidized. Fare free transit was found to mean that significant numbers of automobile owners (choice riders) would be encouraged to ride mass transit since it would not cost them any more.

True to Florida political doublespeak, the FDOT study then flips its findings and discloses that going fare free doesn't lure these choice riders out of their cars. It goes on to say that the main reason why fare free won't work in Florida is because many more people will ride, young people were specifically mentioned, then they'll get rowdy and mean, they'll cause vandalism and damage far beyond any savings found in the elimination of the fare based system.

When Vancouver, BC, was recovering from a 4 month labor lock out they rebounded with a 3 day period of fare free bus service. During the fare free period passenger traffic soared and the general public flocked to the transit system. The fare free days were remarkable in another way too, the buses had no trouble staying on schedule. There was no bunch up of the passenger ques while waiting for the coins to drop.

Island Transit in Washington State has been a remarkable success, growing from a tiny rural transit operation into a full fledged mass transit system.

The Island Transit Board of Directors feels that charging a fare is contrary to the mission of Island Transit. Typically, for smaller or rural transit systems, collecting a fare generates virtually no usable revenue because of the costs associated with the collection of the fare!!! In addition, the farebox imposes an unnecessary inconvenience which is detrimental to ridership, and therefore contrary to the mission. Island Transit is pre-paid with a local Sales Tax of 9/10ths of 1% on every dollar spent in Island County. SEE: http://islandtransit.org/#farefree

For the economists there are also many reasons to go fare free. Having a fare, any fare, requires a basic fixed cost of collection. Many medium size transit systems have found the cost of collecting is too high a percentage. Accounting costs, printing transfers and passes, selling and collecting. These people could be working on cleaning and security. Large transit systems such as JTA actually have more fixed fare related costs, but they put them in another accounting bucket: security. Do you see all those stainless steel turnstyles and all the iron caging and fencing around the Skyway to prevent fare avoidance. They cost a bundle.

OCKLAWAHA

According to the System Performance Measures JTA published in the TU today, they are only collecting 18% of their costs through fares.  Given an adequate tax base, why not?  Oh, wait, this is Jacksonville, that is likely to cut off a major source of JTA's current funding by not extending a gas tax.  This is Jacksonville that just enacted a (likely permanent) moratorium on the mobility fee that could fund street cars and other transit options.

Never mind.

At this point, I have no problem with them charging a fare.  I'd just like to see existing services modified and operated more efficiently.

I really like the fare free idea.  I wish they would try it for at least 6 months.  Any guess as to how much would it cost?

Now I do believe the skyway should be fare free.  The turnstiles and fare machines have been faulty for years anyway.

QuoteBroken Turnstile Gates, Fare Machines Allow Travelers To Pass Through

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Passengers on the Jacksonville Transportation Authority Skyway are getting by without paying the fare because the turnstile gates are not working properly, a Channel 4 investigation has revealed.
Many people know about the problem and have taken advantage of it by not paying the 50-cent fare to ride the Skyway.

Channel 4's Jim Piggott watched Tuesday as five people walked through without paying.
"You did not pay to go through. Is there a reason why?" Piggott asked one mom with her child.
"I did not have no change," she said.

Most everyone who didn't pay had an excuse. Some just walked away when confronted, and some wondered why Channel 4 cared.

"You don't have to pay?" Piggott asked one passenger.

full article: http://www.news4jax.com/news/29582075/detail.html

If you look at it purely from a financial standpoint, if we could delay a road improvement project by 5 or 10 years on an arterial road by increasing bus ridership with free fares, we would be way ahead.  The problem is that I don't have the numbers to back that statement up.  Who does?  Or am I wrong?

I can already hear the counter-argument:  that road project is creating jobs!  Never mind that we are closing libraries and laying off the police force to pay for them.

Quote from: thelakelander on October 25, 2011, 08:23:19 PM
Now I do believe the skyway should be fare free.  The turnstiles and fare machines have been faulty for years anyway.

QuoteBroken Turnstile Gates, Fare Machines Allow Travelers To Pass Through

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Passengers on the Jacksonville Transportation Authority Skyway are getting by without paying the fare because the turnstile gates are not working properly, a Channel 4 investigation has revealed.
Many people know about the problem and have taken advantage of it by not paying the 50-cent fare to ride the Skyway.

Channel 4's Jim Piggott watched Tuesday as five people walked through without paying.
"You did not pay to go through. Is there a reason why?" Piggott asked one mom with her child.
"I did not have no change," she said.

Most everyone who didn't pay had an excuse. Some just walked away when confronted, and some wondered why Channel 4 cared.

"You don't have to pay?" Piggott asked one passenger.

full article: http://www.news4jax.com/news/29582075/detail.html

OMG, their response is comical:

QuoteAt JTA, we are disappointed that sometimes people evade the fare collection system on the Skyway. Fare evasion is an issue that all transit agencies face and staffing every turnstile to enforce fare collection is cost prohibitive and impractical. We have a live video monitoring system to help reduce fare evasion. Skyway staff monitor the fare gates during service hours by video, and ask fare evaders to return to the turnstiles to pay the fare via the station speakers. Regrettably, this process doesn't catch everyone, but to do otherwise is too expensive.

We occasionally have coin jams in the turnstiles. Once notified, we respond and repair the same day. Scheduled maintenance for the Skyway turnstiles is four days per week.

Riiiight. "Occasionally". These people that jump the turnstiles are probably frequent riders & KNOW that the stuff isn't going to work. Its going to be something thats not working, you can bet on that. The change machine, the turnstile not registering the coins you put in it, the handicap door jammed closed, etc, so they just walk though. What, does JTA expect these people to waste their time & do the same old out-of-order dance everytime they come through?? If JTA wants people to pay, then they should, you know, give them the ability to actually pay.

You're a fucking joke, JTA. Plain & simple. And the clueless morons (who I guarantee never use transit in this city) posting on that story are even bigger ones. How dare they berate these people.

I am going to go out on a limb and make a wild prediction.  Starting January, the skyway will be free...

I agree that Bus Fares should be free to the taxpaying individual of Jacksonville.
I enjoy riding several routes,but can't stand waiting at Main street for a connection. (Suck up the fumes while you wait..)
I am not playing Devil's Advocate here..merely stating the obvious.

What will the (fill in the blank here..OK "Homeless") do when they can ride around town for free?
Will this become an "Air Conditioned" time killer for some people?
Think about it.

I'm totally fine with haveing JTA fares lowered or made free....but we'll have to identify a new revenue source.

and when (if) people start riding the bus in droves and service gets increased, costs go up and even more revenue would have to be found.

Free might be an interesting experiment.

If it's true that the fares collected fall short of even paying the cost of fare collection then there is no real reason to collect fares in the first place.

Folks who drive to work do so because it is ever so more convenient and ON TIME compared to the current routes and service. This would continue even if the bus rides were free. Not one person, except as an experiment on their own, would give up their cars for public transportation until service is PROVEN to be consistent, on time, protected, moderately comfortable and with sufficient headway and transfer capability. You might think that saving the $50 per month parking fees coupled with fare-less public transportation would be a selling point but if you can't rely on the service or it doesn't go where it's needed it's totally useless.

Quote from: Ernest Street on October 25, 2011, 09:30:50 PM
What will the (fill in the blank here..OK "Homeless") do when they can ride around town for free?
Will this become an "Air Conditioned" time killer for some people?
Think about it.

They already do that on the skyway.  But it is usually only one or two.

Quote from: Ralph W on October 25, 2011, 11:43:40 PM
Folks who drive to work do so because it is ever so more convenient and ON TIME compared to the current routes and service. This would continue even if the bus rides were free. Not one person, except as an experiment on their own, would give up their cars for public transportation until service is PROVEN to be consistent, on time, protected, moderately comfortable and with sufficient headway and transfer capability. You might think that saving the $50 per month parking fees coupled with fare-less public transportation would be a selling point but if you can't rely on the service or it doesn't go where it's needed it's totally useless.

As part of the 'free' experiment they should focus on improving service to certain employment centers, such as Southside/Gate Parkway.  Basically, do what Lakelander has been suggesting to consolidate the routes.  The idea, if I understand correctly, is instead of providing poor unreliable service to all areas, provide fast reliable service to areas that need it the most.  It would promote more compact development in these areas.

Quote from: Ralph W on October 25, 2011, 11:43:40 PM
If it's true that the fares collected fall short of even paying the cost of fare collection then there is no real reason to collect fares in the first place.

yes it is true...JTA farebox recovery is around 20%....the general recovery rate for bus systems around the country (not rail) is less than 30%.

but that 20% still helps out the bottom line...so if the system is free, how do you propose to make up the lost revenue.

now one example (used in Tally and Gainesville) is to give students "free" rides...but note that UF, FSU, FAMU, Sante Fe College, and Tallahassee Community College pay the transit systems on an annual basis to provide the service...and then turn around and charge students a transportation fee to cover their costs.

Skyway should be free.  $1.50 would be okay for the buses if transfers are brought back.   

Quote from: Charles Hunter on October 25, 2011, 07:47:12 PM
According to the System Performance Measures JTA published in the TU today, they are only collecting 18% of their costs through fares.  Given an adequate tax base, why not?  Oh, wait, this is Jacksonville, that is likely to cut off a major source of JTA's current funding by not extending a gas tax.  This is Jacksonville that just enacted a (likely permanent) moratorium on the mobility fee that could fund street cars and other transit options.

Never mind.

I saw that yesterday in the paper also.  Very good information and data.  I cannot find it online ANYWHERE!  It was listed as a Public notice in the paper and was formatted as a table with around 20 measureables comparing last year to this year.

Can someone please find this and post???

Quote from: tufsu1 on October 26, 2011, 08:19:50 AM

Quote from: Ralph W on October 25, 2011, 11:43:40 PM
If it's true that the fares collected fall short of even paying the cost of fare collection then there is no real reason to collect fares in the first place.

yes it is true...JTA farebox recovery is around 20%....the general recovery rate for bus systems around the country (not rail) is less than 30%.

but that 20% still helps out the bottom line...so if the system is free, how do you propose to make up the lost revenue.

now one example (used in Tally and Gainesville) is to give students "free" rides...but note that UF, FSU, FAMU, Sante Fe College, and Tallahassee Community College pay the transit systems on an annual basis to provide the service...and then turn around and charge students a transportation fee to cover their costs.

If the cost of administering the fare system is $100 and the income (recovery) from the fares only covers $20 of that cost then the rest of the cost ($80) is derived from some other source of revenue and is a drain on the bottom line.

Removing the fares and thus the administrative system, frees up that $80 for some other use, such as providing the bus shelters, more buses per route, a few more drivers for those buses.

It isn't just about the cost of collecting the fare....that's actually a very small part.

Transit operations costs includes admistraive expenses, bus driver salaries/benefits, vehicle maintenance, fuel, insurance, etc.

From Ock's first post:

"Bus fares might give off a warm fuzzy feeling to more fiscally conservative citizens, who believe logically enough that bus fares actually offset their costs. THEY DON'T. There have been very few studies of this fact but when the subject of fare collection was studied in relation to costs it was discovered that rarely does the collection process even cover the costs to collect said fares!" Emphasis added.

Relying on the above information I do not read into it that bus fares contribute 20% to the overall revenue stream to be used for all operations but only to the collection of said fares which leads to the conclusion that fares pay for 20% of the cost to collect fares and is 80% short of that goal.

Therefore, if the collection of fares costs 80% more than it takes in to operate the collection system, the system costs the JTA money from the bottom line and should be eliminated to free up that money for increased operations.

I'm sure you can spin it that way...after all, the driver is needed to collect fares right?  So his salary/benefits are part of those costs....and if you just got rid of the fares, you wouldn't need the driver  ;)

Seriously, right now the system has collection boxes....it doesn't even seem remotely possible that fare collection is equal to or greater than 20% of overall bus system operational costs.

Perhaps Ock can better explain what he meant

The theory here is that JTA is in a potentially fatal tailspin. Imagine you are in Mike Blaylocks shoes, you have great public pressure to either expand or maintin service levels in spite of soaring costs. You must find a way to raise more money to keep the wheels turning. The apparent solution is to immediately raise fares, politicians and the public are demanding accountability for your actions. So up go the fares and down goes the ridership at the rate of 3.8% for every 10% increase in fares. JTA ridership plunges 19% which means at best, you haven't gained any ground and at worst, you have reached the tipping point and started spiraling downward.

A recent study found that even in the nations largest systems the cost of fare collection is about 22% of the fares collected. King County Metro Transit, in Seattle, the nations #6 largest bus fleet operator (Jax is #76) in the country conducted a study that found it cost them $8 million dollars a year to collect fares. A similar cost in Jax would be enough to buy 18 new buses. In New York City, nations #1 transit fleet operator, the cost of fare collection is $200,000,000 per year. 

Jacksonville recently received a grant for a $4,430,000 Fare Collection System to install modern fare collection equipment in bus fleet (which BTW was the single largest grant to Jacksonville for transportation in this round of Recovery Act funds ) Within the time frame of this year, JTA was among the winning proposals, chosen from among 274 TIGER III applications from across the U.S, $4 million dollars to buy 8 new hybrid buses.

I suspect that JTA being a medium sized system might squeeze out a small positive cash flow from the fare box, but as they continue to shrink the system, that isn't going to remain the rule. Based on the triple didgit advances of systems that have gone fare free, I'd like to see JTA adopt a 50% fare cut as a test of the theory. Give it a couple of months and see how revenues are holding up. Other possibilities would be $1.50 and the farebox issues an ALL DAY bus pass... HA! But then we'd probably need another grant for fare collections. I honestly believe a cut would result in MORE revenue and ridership and that a fare increase in a system that is already bare bones is the wrong direction to go.

OCKLAWAHA