CHAPTER 5

Providing Access and Mobility

Transit agencies provide access to essential services and mobility for patrons, including those experiencing homelessness. Unhoused populations are part of the larger category of low-income and mobility-disadvantaged riders; transit may be their primary mode of transportation. These riders rely heavily on transit to access shelter, essential services, and jobs and for other day-today needs. Transit agencies play an important role in aiding their ability to access these resources throughout a city or region.

Transit agencies have initiated programs that benefit low-income riders, such as discounted or free fares that especially benefit the unhoused population. Transit agencies have long struggled with the issue of fare evasion; how fare compliance is handled and enforced can dramatically affect people who evade fares, in particular youth, those with low incomes, and those experiencing homelessness (Wolfgram et al. 2022).

This chapter discusses how transit fare programs and access to essential services can aid unhoused riders and can be an important aspect of a transit agency’s efforts to address homelessness.

5.1 Access to Essential Services

Transit agencies play an important role in connecting people to important destinations and essential services. Providing connections to jobs, school, housing, shelter, food, services, and other locations for housed passengers and people experiencing homelessness is the mission of a transit agency. As cities are trying to plan citywide and multiple-agency responses to address homelessness, considering the mobility needs of unhoused passengers is important to ensure that people can access services and important destinations across the city.

Through outreach efforts, transit agency staff often work with local homeless shelters and homelessness service organizations to connect people experiencing homelessness to needed services and to find them temporary shelter or supportive housing. Transit agencies such as WMATA provide a resource guide to employees to help them connect unhoused individuals to city support services. Transit ambassadors, outreach staff, and public safety officers are focused on getting people the help they need. Some transit agencies help transport people experiencing homelessness to shelters and other services at no charge. For example, BART works with San Francisco International Airport to provide transit passes for unhoused individuals at the airport terminal at late hours. This program minimizes the number of unhoused riders stranded at the airport and provides options for these individuals to go to other locations where shelter is provided.

Some transit agencies provide free or discount transit passes to nonprofit organizations or they partner with service organizations to provide free trips to and from specific services, such as to health care clinics. One such program is TriMet’s Fare Assistance Program, which is described in

more detail in next section. Another example is Austin’s Transit Empowerment Fund, which has provided seven million trips for individuals accessing education, employment, health care, and social services since its establishment in 2011 (Transit Empowerment Fund n.d.). RTD’s longstanding Nonprofit Program allows nonprofits to purchase fares at a 50% discount to distribute to their clients (Regional Transportation District n.d.).

Public transportation agencies and local governments have piloted partnerships with private transportation companies such as Uber and Lyft to help bridge gaps in areas where destinations such as grocery stores and medical and social services are out of reach of regular transit lines. Partnerships with local governments, transit agencies, and nonprofit organizations enhance access to existing transit networks and improve mobility options through low-income programs, free/discounted trips to grocery stores, and late-night services.

Across the nation, partnerships with transportation network companies (TNCs) exist or are being developed to maximize transit funding, to expand access to transit and the reach of transit systems, and to improve mobility and deliver turnkey transportation solutions. Many of these efforts are demonstrations or pilots and tend to fit into the following categories: first-mile/last-mile service, on-demand/complementary services, off-hour or late-night service, and paratransit services. While these programs or pilots do not specifically focus on people experiencing homelessness, some of the programs have had discounts for low-income individuals obtaining rides to essential services and fresh food locations and grocery stores. TCRP Research Report 204: Partnerships Between Transit Agencies and Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) provides a review of partnerships between transit agencies and TNCs in the United States (Curtis et al. 2019). The report also presents a partnership playbook that offers step-by-step guidance to transit practitioners interested in pursuing partnerships with TNCs. APTA’s Transit and TNC Partnerships webpage highlights new and developing TNC and transit partnerships around the country (American Public Transportation Association n.d.). Creating a relationship with a TNC to provide riders in need and low-income individuals, including people experiencing homelessness, access to essential services or shelters can be a beneficial support service, especially for smaller transit agencies.

If shelters or authorized camping locations do not have access to transit, individuals may choose not to stay at these locations, defeating their purpose and goals. In Rohnert Park, CA, a park-and-ride lot adjacent to Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit line was opened to allow 30 spots for overnight camping. This site includes porta-potties, hand-washing stations, and regular trash/debris clearings. Although not meant to be a permanent solution, the site allows individuals access to transit and a safe location to camp.

By engaging in ongoing conversations with city partners, homelessness support service providers, and housing providers, transit agencies can determine the location of key places in their service areas that people need to travel from or to, such as authorized or established camping locations, essential services, homeless shelters, and service providers. Providing service to these locations can help community partners and city agencies assist individuals in need and move individuals into more stable, permanent, and affordable housing.

5.2 Transit Fares

5.2.1 Low-Income, Discounted, and Free Programs

Public transportation agencies have been providing reduced or free transit fares for low-income riders for years (Volinski 2012). While these programs do not specifically target the unhoused population, they reduce the barriers to using transit and therefore support mobility and aid in connecting people experiencing homelessness and other vulnerable populations with

social services. These programs can also reduce conflicts related to fare compliance by ensuring that more riders can obtain fare cards.

These fare initiatives often provide free or reduced transportation passes to qualifying individuals under a certain income bracket:

• Los Angeles County Metro offers the Low-Income Fare is Easy (LIFE) program, a state-funded grant providing monthly fare subsidy benefits and transportation assistance to low-income households whose income meets federal HUD guidelines. LIFE benefits are loaded on a TAP card and are valid across participating transit agencies (Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority n.d.a).
• TriMet offers a series of fare programs that offer broad eligibility; one allows residents with income of less than double the federal poverty level to save up to 72% on regular transit fares. The program allows proof of qualification through participation in a variety of state, federal, and local programs, such as the Oregon Health Plan/Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and HUD housing vouchers (TriMet n.d.a.). TriMet also provides free or reduced-cost transit tickets to eligible 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations to distribute directly to people in need or in emergency crises. These organizations help distribute individual tickets and can directly enroll individuals in the TriMet program (TriMet n.d.b.). TriMet’s program is partially funded by Oregon’s statewide transit payroll tax.
• MARTA recognizes that transportation is a significant barrier for many individuals experiencing homelessness in Atlanta in finding and maintaining employment and accessing vital resources needed to become self-sufficient and economically independent. To assist in meeting their transportation needs, MARTA has launched the Transportation Assistance Program for the Homeless for qualified 501(c)(3) nonprofit agencies and government entities serving homeless clients. The Transportation Assistance Program provides 50% off Breeze round-trip and 7-day tickets to eligible organizations to purchase for homeless recipients.
• SEPTA and the School District of Philadelphia ensure transportation to school for students experiencing homelessness by providing transit passes (School District of Philadelphia n.d.).

Some U.S. cities are exploring eliminating fares for all riders or specific qualified populations (Tu 2022). Both Kansas City Area Transportation Authority/Ride KC (Kansas City, MO) and Intercity Transit (Olympia, WA) have recently eliminated fare collection for all transit services. The Intercity Transit 5-year zero-fare demonstration project aims to make collecting fares easier and faster, to reduce delays, and to increase access for riders (Intercity Transit n.d.).

Two TCRP reports contain more in-depth discussions of the topic of fare-free transit. TCRP Synthesis 101: Implementation and Outcomes of Fare-Free Transit Systems provides an overview of the state of the practice in 2012 (Volinski 2012). More recently, the potential broader societal benefits of eliminating fare payments, in whole or in part, have been examined. TCRP Research Report 237: Evaluation Framework for Fare-Free Public Transportation provides a framework to evaluate fare-free public transportation, addressing the benefits and costs and the trade-offs that should be considered when eliminating fares (Kirschen et al. 2023). The report also provides case studies of how fare-free transit has been evaluated or implemented at 23 transit agencies.

Implementing transit fare subsidy programs for low-income and discounted fares that can benefit unhoused individuals can be difficult due to financial constraints, administrative complexity, concerns about revenue loss, challenges in gaining political and stakeholder support, and data verification obstacles. Depending on the scale of these programs, there can be significant hurdles to them, such as limited budgets, the need for sustainable funding sources, and the complexity of administering eligibility criteria and verification processes. Despite these challenges, transit agencies are working toward innovative solutions and partnerships to make free and discounted fares and fare subsidies more accessible and equitable for extremely low-income individuals.

5.2.2 Fare Compliance

Fare compliance and evasion have long been serious concerns for transit agencies (Kirschen et al. 2023). Many transit agencies are developing new ways to verify and enforce fare payment and are taking new approaches to increasing fare compliance. However, there are community concerns around enforcement that must be considered, including recognizing the influence of discrimination and systemic bias (Kirschen et al. 2023). Potential conflicts around the use of police in fare enforcement should also be considered. Too often, people experiencing homelessness are associated with law-breaking, particularly fare evasion (Greenberg and Rosenheck 2008, Wolfgram et al. 2022). It is important to consider the impact of enforcement on this population, and especially of criminal penalties.

As awareness of the potential for bias and discrimination toward vulnerable populations grows, transit agencies are rethinking and reevaluating their fare compliance policies, programs, and procedures. Many transit agencies and transit and social justice advocates express concern that citations criminalize poverty and homelessness, and they encourage a better alignment of penalties for fare evasion with the severity of the offense (Wolfgram et al. 2022; Transit Center 2021). Reducing fare evasion penalties or enforcement, especially if someone is clearly in need, can help build understanding between public transportation staff members and the public, reduce negative encounters that have the potential to escalate, and help keep people experiencing homelessness out of the criminal justice/debt systems. Seattle’s Sound Transit reduced its fare evasion fines and does not refer people to district courts until they have committed a minimum of five offenses (Lindblom 2022).

TCRP Research Report 234: Measuring and Managing Fare Evasion highlights new programs and efforts to decriminalize fare evasion and provide enforcement diversion to minimize interactions with the court system (Kirschen et al. 2023). The report highlights three approaches:

• Decriminalize fare evasion, issue civil instead of criminal citations, and process citations through civil instead of criminal courts (e.g., RTD, Sound Transit, WMATA).
• Decriminalize fare evasion and adjudicate fare evasion through an administrative review and resolution process rather than through the court system and subject only to an administrative penalty (e.g., BART, King County Metro, LA Metro, MBTA, SFMTA).
• Implement a diversion program, which may involve decriminalizing fare evasion, to give cited fare evaders the option of resolving a citation directly with the transit agency within a defined period before the citation is transmitted to the courts (e.g., San Diego MTS, TriMet). For King County Metro and TriMet, options include enrolling in low-income fare programs in lieu of paying a fine.

Transit agencies are exploring the role of discretion in issuing citations for fare evasion. Agencies have adopted different policies regarding the discretion given to fare enforcement personnel to assess each situation and decide whether to cite an individual or to issue a formal or informal warning. Policies on discretion range from zero tolerance to lenience. Zero-tolerance policies are intended to ensure that fare violations are handled consistently. More lenient policies give fare enforcement personnel flexibility to assess a situation and determine how best to handle it (Kirschen et al. 2023).

5.3 Summary

The activities within each response category are summarized in the following subsections in three ways—first by stakeholders, then by staff implementers, and then by how difficult an activity would be to implement.

Table 8. Addresses stakeholder needs and concerns by response category.

Table 9. Key implementing staff by response activities.

Table 10. Ease of implementation by response activity.

5.3.1 Addressing Stakeholder Needs and Concerns

Core stakeholder groups affected by implementation strategies include people experiencing homelessness, housed transit riders, and transit agency staff. Each group has needs related to and concerns about homelessness, and each group may benefit from different responses. In Table 8, the activities are identified as responding to the needs and concerns of stakeholder groups.

5.3.2 Key Implementing Staff

Effective implementation depends on identifying the right staff members to make the activities work. Table 9 identifies the staff type that would be best positioned to implement the given activities.

5.3.3 Ease of Implementation

Policies, programs, and strategies have varying levels of ease of implementation. Table 10 shows approximate levels of difficulty of implementing activities, from easy to difficult.