The program is funded by the Sonoma County general fund and will assist the Supervisors and Sonoma County Transit in determining the affect a free fare program has on ridership, traffic reduction near college campuses and community response to the program.
BYU has been working with The Ryde, a private company that uses natural gas for its buses. Currently, the shuttle is a paid service. When the system is expanded next fall, the service will be free to student riders with university identification.
The agency’s bus drivers recently reported a rash of passengers pretending to be caretakers so they can get a free ride, and in some cases, they’d get off a different stop then the person they were allegedly assisting.
Houston Metro has provided free public transit during general elections since 1992. Ridership during voting periods, however, generally increases by a mere 1%
The university will pay Metro RTA $1 per ride. All regular Metro RTA routes are included in the program, which runs through Aug. 2015 with an option to renew
President David Skorton is considering a request from the University Assembly to increase its subsidies to Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit, to avoid cutting free bus passes for first-year students. However, Cornell’s Transportation Services department is facing a $700,000 annual budget deficit.
A chapter of the Disabled American Veterans raised $5,000 to buy rail passes for disabled veterans after noticing that many take Tri-Rail to VA hospitals for treatment. That prompted agency board members to start a program that would make Tri-Rail trips free for all disabled veterans in Broward, Palm and Miami-Dade counties.
For the fourth consecutive day, regional trains, the Paris subway and bus system, the Vélib’ bike-sharing program and Autolib’ car-sharing service have been free.
Some transit officials support the proposed program to provide free services to low-income seniors and people with disabilities, which would reduce the agency’s revenue by $4 million to $6 million annually.
More than 20% of students rode the buses before the contract ended in June after students voted to cut the fee for full-time students.