Previous Chapter: 2 Literature Review and Agency Outreach
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Suggested Citation: "3 Data Assembly and Analysis." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Sustaining Zero-Fare Public Transit in a Post COVID-19 World: A Guide for State DOTs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/27927.

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CHAPTER 3

Data Assembly and Analysis

This chapter summarizes the data that were assembled and used to inform the development of the practitioners’ tool. The data were gathered from the NTD, TCRP reports, agency reports, and agency staff. Data from 22 agencies in Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington were summarized in tabular form. Of these 22 agencies, 13 offer full fare-free transit services, and nine offer partial fare-free transit services. The partial fare-free transit services include socially limited, spatially limited, and temporally limited policies, including discontinued/scaled-down full fare-free policies that were introduced as a temporary response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

To facilitate comparisons between the study agencies, agency profile data were gathered from the NTD for 2019. Table 2 summarizes these data. When available, quantitative benefits and costs of the fare-free policies were gathered. Table 3 summarizes these data.

Where possible, additional measures were calculated. The paratransit cost as a percentage of annual OPEXs (OPEXs = operating expenses) was calculated by dividing the increased annual costs due to paratransit demand by the operating expenses, as follows:

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The estimated annual cost per new rider was calculated by summing the annual foregone revenue, annual fare collection savings, and capital fare collection savings (assumed to be distributed over a period of 10 years), and dividing by the product of the annual unlinked passenger trips (UPTs) and the ridership increase as follows:

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The benefit–cost ratio was calculated by dividing the sum of the annual fare collection savings and the capital fare collection savings (assumed to be distributed over a period of 10 years) by the annual foregone revenue as follows:

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Table 4 summarizes the available data for each of these additional measures.

Page 23
Suggested Citation: "3 Data Assembly and Analysis." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Sustaining Zero-Fare Public Transit in a Post COVID-19 World: A Guide for State DOTs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/27927.

Table 2. Summary of 2019 NTD agency profiles across study agencies.

Agency Type/Policy Type Annual Unlinked Passenger Trips (UPTs) Annual Operating Expenses (OPEXs) Farebox Recovery Ratio OPEXs per UPT
Bus Demand Response (Paratransit)
Rural/full 200,000–800,000 $3.3–$6.8 million 0%–3% $3.63–$13.02 $20.29–$48.15
Urban/full 600,000–12.4 million $4.2–$99.6 million 6%–28.7% $5.06–$12.69 $27.58–$51.57
Urban/partial 1.7–366 million $18.1 million–$1.8 billion 13%–49% $4.29–$18.13 $31.77–$69.11

Table 3. Summary of fare-free policy quantitative benefits and costs across study agencies.

Agency Type/Policy Type Increased Ridership Percentage Fare Collection Savings Annual Foregone Revenue (2019 Dollars) Annual Increased Cost Due to Paratransit Demand
Annual Capital
Rural/full 10.7%–32% $10,000–$48,000 $37,000–$611,000 $29,000–$390,000 NA
Urban/full 20%–40% $16,000–$935,000 Up to $5.8 million $640,000–$8.9 million $795,000–$1.2 million
Urban/partial 12%–35.6% $0–$2.2 million $0–$431,000 $1.6–$28 million $420,000–$7.8 million

Note: NA = not available.

Table 4. Summary of key additional measures for fare-free operations across study agencies.

Agency Type/Policy Type Paratransit Cost as Percentage of Annual OPEXs Estimated Cost per New Rider Benefit–Cost Ratio
Rural/full NA $0.75–$1.41 0.10–0.42
Urban/full 1.2%–5.29% $1.62–$3.35 0.04–0.10
Urban/partial 0.02%–2.52% $0.05–$4.10 0.00–0.12

Note: NA = not available.

In the following series of tables (Table 5 to Table 8), the qualitative benefits, costs, and additional measures summarized previously are shown in greater detail. Table 9 lists the sources used to develop the benefits, costs, and additional measures tables. A full list of sources is included in the References section.

Page 24
Suggested Citation: "3 Data Assembly and Analysis." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Sustaining Zero-Fare Public Transit in a Post COVID-19 World: A Guide for State DOTs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/27927.

Table 5. Detailed 2019 NTD agency profiles for the study agencies.

Policy Type Agency Location Agency Type 2019
Annual UPTs Annual OPEXs OPEX Percentage from Fares/Direct OPEXs per UPT
Para-transit Bus
Full Advance Transit Windsor Co., VT/Grafton Co., NH Rural 758,025 $3,338,559 0% $48.15 $4.03
Green Mountain Community Network Bennington Co., VT Rural 200,154 $3,555,912 0.70% $24.90 $8.58
Green Mountain Transit (rural) Chittenden Co., Capital District, Mad River Valley, Stowe/Lamoille, Franklin/Grand Isle Region, VT Rural 428,622 $6,434,345 1.60% $32.72 $8.55
Marble Valley Regional Transit District Rutland Co., VT Rural 806,778 $6,848,347 2.70% $23.51 $3.63
Rural Community Transportation Northeast Kingdom/Lamoille Co., VT Rural 264,752 $4,982,305 0% $23.69 $6.88
Southeast Vermont Transit Windham/Southern Windsor Co., VT Rural 445,702 $4,306,434 3% $30.12 $7.71
Tri-Valley Transit Addison/Orange/North Windsor Co., VT Rural 282,751 $5,143,346 2.10% $20.29 $13.02
VTrans (rural agencies) Rural VT Rural NA NA NA Variable NA
Chapel Hill Transit Chapel Hill, Carrboro, University of North Carolina, NC University town 6,641,553 $19,964,823 3.30% $45.15 $2.57
KCATA Greater Kansas City, MO Urban 12,409,231 $99,663,654 10.90% $41.12 $7.28
Link Transit Chelan/Douglas Co., WA Urban 1,036,007 $15,031,915 6.10% $45.80 $12.69
Intercity Transit Olympia, WA Urban 4,736,809 $44,575,341 15.60% $51.57 $7.35
Alexandria Transit Alexandria, VA Urban 3,996,676 $21,708,129 28.70% $27.58 $5.06
City of Fairfax Transit Fairfax, VA Urban 601,813 $4,208,277 27.00% NA $6.99
Partial Ride On Montgomery Co., MD Urban 20,596,520 $124,622,335 16.90% NA $6.05
Utah Transit Authority Salt Lake City, UT Urban 44,578,161 $311,049,152 15.90% $52.17 $7.46
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Boston, MA Urban 366,716,896 $1,866,447,835 46.70% $69.11 $4.29
Regional Transportation District Denver, CO Urban 5,207,476 $870,018,988 23.40% $45.20 $5.40
Green Mountain Transit (urban) Chittenden Co., Capital District, Mad River Valley, Stowe/Lamoille, Franklin/Grand Isle Region, VT Urban 13,831,126 $20,958,905 13% $31.77 $5.11
Arlington Transit Arlington, VA Urban 2,917,849 $18,134,248 22% $50.86 $5.26
Loudon County Transit Loudoun Co., VA Urban 1,708,121 $18,177,156 47.70% $55.23 $12.03
OmniRide Prince William Area, VA Urban 3,813,055 $39,927,120 49% NA $18.13
Fairfax County Connector Fairfax Co., VA Urban 8,334,449 $85,469,022 13.40% NA $10.25

Note: NA = not available.

Page 25
Suggested Citation: "3 Data Assembly and Analysis." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Sustaining Zero-Fare Public Transit in a Post COVID-19 World: A Guide for State DOTs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/27927.

Table 6. Detailed fare-free policy quantitative benefits for the study agencies.

Policy Type Agency Location Type of Agency Increased Ridership Percentage Fare Collection Savings
Annual Capital
Reported Value Report Year 2019 Estimate
Full Advance Transit Windsor Co., VT/Grafton Co., NH Rural 32.0% $73,854 $611,070 2023 $542,630
Green Mountain Community Network Bennington Co., VT Rural 11.7% $10,300 NA NA NA
Green Mountain Transit (rural) Chittenden Co., Capital District, Mad River Valley, Stowe/Lamoille, Franklin/Grand Isle Region, VT Rural 15.1% $10,000 NA NA NA
Marble Valley Regional Transit District Rutland Co., VT Rural 10.7% $48,000 NA NA NA
Rural Community Transportation Northeast Kingdom/Lamoille Co., VT Rural NA NA NA NA NA
Southeast Vermont Transit Windham//Southern Windsor Co., VT Rural 19.9% $31,000 $37,000 2023 $32,856
Tri-Valley Transit Addison/Orange/North Windsor Co., VT Rural 11.8% $50,000 $50,000 NA NA
VTrans (rural agencies) Rural VT Rural 11.5% $150,000 NA NA NA
Chapel Hill Transit Chapel Hill, Carrboro, University of North Carolina, NC University town 54.5% NA NA NA NA
KCATA Greater Kansas City, MO Urban 40.0% $935,000 NA NA NA
Link Transit Chelan/Douglas Co., WA Urban 20.0% $57,000 NA NA NA
Intercity Transit Olympia, WA Urban NA NA NA NA NA
Alexandria Transit Alexandria, VA Urban 21.0% $123,000 $5,833,333a 2021 $5,489,166
City of Fairfax Transit Fairfax, VA Urban NA NA $5,833,333a 2021 $5,489,166
Partial Ride On Montgomery Co., MD Urban 20.0% $2,200,000 NA NA NA
Utah Transit Authority Salt Lake City, UT Urban 35.6% $1,276,000 NA NA NA
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Boston, MA Urban 20.0% NA NA NA NA
Regional Transportation District Denver, CO Urban 12.0% $16,000 NA NA NA
Green Mountain Transit (urban) Chittenden Co., Capital District, Mad River Valley, Stowe/Lamoille, Franklin/Grand Isle Region, VT Urban 18.6% $36,000 NA NA NA
Arlington Transit Arlington, VA Urban NA NA $5,833,333a 2021 $5,489,166
Loudon County Transit Loudoun Co., VA Urban NA NA $5,833,333a 2021 $5,489,166
OmniRide Prince William Area, VA Urban NA NA $5,833,333a 2021 $5,489,166
Fairfax County Connector Fairfax Co. VA Urban NA NA $5 833 333a 2021 $5 489 166

Notes: NA = not available; aValue reflects total reported fare collection savings of $35 million allocated equally across six agencies (Northern Virginia Transportation Commission 2021).

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Suggested Citation: "3 Data Assembly and Analysis." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Sustaining Zero-Fare Public Transit in a Post COVID-19 World: A Guide for State DOTs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/27927.

Table 7. Detailed fare-free policy quantitative costs for the study agencies.

Policy Type Agency Location Agency Type Annual Fregone Revenue Annual Increased Cost Due to Paratransit Demand
Reported Value Report Year 2019 Estimate
Full Advance Transit Windsor Co., VT/Grafton Co., NH Rural NA NA
Green Mountain Community Network Bennington Co., VT Rural $34,000 2024 $29,342 NA
Green Mountain Transit (rural) Chittenden Co., Capital District, Mad River Valley, Stowe/Lamoille, Franklin/Grand Isle Region, VT Rural $117,000 2024 $100,971 NA
Marble Valley Regional Transit District Rutland Co., VT Rural $131,000 2024 $113,053 NA
Rural Community Transportation Northeast Kingdom/Lamoille Co., VT Rural Alw ys fare free Always fare free
Southeast Vermont Transit Windham/Southern Windsor Co., VT Rural $108,000 2024 $93,204 NA
Tri-Valley Transit Addison/Orange/North Windsor Co., VT Rural $63,000 2024 $54,369 NA
VTrans (rural agencies) Rural VT Rural $453,000 2024 $390,939 NA
Chapel Hill Transit Chapel Hill, Carrboro, University of North Carolina, NC University town $250,000 2001 NAa NA
KCATA Greater Kansas City, MO Urban $8,960,000 2019 $8,960,000 $1,200,000
Link Transit Chelan/Douglas Co., WA Urban $640,000 2019 $640,000 $795,500
Intercity Transit Olympia, WA Urban $207,000 1990 NAa NA
Alexandria Transit Alexandria, VA Urban $3,750,000 2022 $3,431,250 NA
City of Fairfax Transit Fairfax, VA Urban $1,100,000 2019 $1,100,000 NA
Partial Ride On Montgomery Co., MD Urban $19,100,000 2019 $19,100,000 $1,400,000
Utah Transit Authority Salt Lake City, UT Urban $31,935,000 2023 $28,358,280 $7,829,000
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Boston, MA Urban $3,800,000 2022 $3,477,000 $420,000
Regional Transportation District Denver, CO Urban $15,207,272b 2023 $13,504,058 NA
Green Mountain Transit (urban) Chittenden Co., Capital District, Mad River Valley, Stowe/Lamoille, Franklin/Grand Isle Region, VT Urban $1,920,000 2024 $1,656,960 NA
Arlington Transit Arlington, VA Urban $3,700,000 2019 $3,700,000 NA
Loudon County Transit Loudoun Co., VA Urban $9,600,000 2019 $9,600,000 NA
OmniRide Prince William Area, VA Urban $11,200,000 2019 $11,200,000 NA
Fairfax County Connector Fairfax Co., VA Urban $10,900,000 2019 $10,900,000 NA

Notes: NA = not available; a Information was outdated; b Value reflects July/August only.

Page 27
Suggested Citation: "3 Data Assembly and Analysis." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Sustaining Zero-Fare Public Transit in a Post COVID-19 World: A Guide for State DOTs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/27927.

Table 8. Detailed key additional measures for fare-free operations for the study agencies.

Policy Type Agency Location Agency Type Paratransit Cost as Percentage of Annual OPEXs Estimated Cost per New Rider Benefit–Cost Ratio
Full Advance Transit Windsor Co., VT/Grafton Co., NH Rural NA NA NA
Green Mountain Community Network Bennington Co., VT Rural NA $0.81 0.35
Green Mountain Transit (rural) Chittenden Co., Capital District, Mad River Valley, Stowe/Lamoille, Franklin/Grand Isle Region, VT Rural NA $1.41 0.10
Marble Valley Regional Transit District Rutland Co., VT Rural NA $0.75 0.42
Rural Community Transportation Northeast Kingdom/Lamoille Co., VT Rural NA NA NA
Southeast Vermont Transit Windham/Southern Windsor Co., VT Rural NA NA NA
Tri-Valley Transit Addison/Orange/North Windsor Co., VT Rural NA NA NA
VTrans (rural agencies) Rural VT Rural NA NA NA
Chapel Hill Transit Chapel Hill, Carrboro, University of North Carolina, NC University town NA NA NA
KCATA Greater Kansas City, MO Urban 1.20% $1.62 0.10
Link Transit Chelan/Douglas Co., WA Urban 5.29% $2.81 0.09
Intercity Transit Olympia, WA Urban NA NA NA
Alexandria Transit Alexandria, VA Urban NA $3.29 0.04
City of Fairfax Transit Fairfax, VA Urban NA NA NA
Partial Ride On Montgomery Co., MD Urban 1.12% $4.10 0.12
Utah Transit Authority Salt Lake City, UT Urban 2.52% $1.71 0.04
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Boston, MA Urban 0.02% $0.05 0.00
Regional Transportation District Denver, CO Urban NA NA NA
Green Mountain Transit (urban) Chittenden Co., Capital District, Mad River Valley, Stowe/Lamoille, Franklin/Grand Isle Region, VT Urban NA $0.63 0.02
Arlington Transit Arlington, VA Urban NA NA NA
Loudon County Transit Loudoun Co., VA Urban NA NA NA
OmniRide Prince William Area, VA Urban NA NA NA
Fairfax County Connector Fairfax Co., VA Urban NA NA NA

Note: NA = not available.

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Suggested Citation: "3 Data Assembly and Analysis." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Sustaining Zero-Fare Public Transit in a Post COVID-19 World: A Guide for State DOTs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/27927.

Table 9. Sources for the benefits, costs, and additional measures tables.

Agency Source
Advance Transit Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans). (2023). Report on Impacts of Zero-Fare Transit Service in State Fiscal Year 2024. The Vermont House and Senate Committees on Transportation.
Green Mountain Community Network
Green Mountain Transit (rural)
Marble Valley Regional Transit District
Rural Community Transportation
Southeast Vermont Transit
Tri-Valley Transit
VTrans (rural agencies)
Chapel Hill Transit Northern Virginia Transportation Commission. (2021). Zero-Fare and Reduced-Fare Options for Northern Virginia Transit Providers. https://novatransit.org/uploads/studiesarchive/Zero-Fare%20and%20Reduced-Fare%20White%20Paper%20Final%202021-08-30.pdf.
KCATA Mid-America Regional Council. (2022). Transit Zero Fare Impact Analysis. Kansas City Area Transportation Authority. https://www.marc.org/transportation/plans-and-studies/transit-zero-fare-impact-analysis.
Link Transit Hodge, D. C., James, I., Orrell, D., and Strauss, T. R. (1994). Fare-Free Policy: Costs, Impacts on Transit Service, and Attainment of Transit System Goals. Washington State Department of Transportation. http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/research/reports/fullreports/277.1.pdf.
Intercity Transit Hodge, D. C., James, I., Orrell, D., and Strauss, T. R. (1994). Fare-Free Policy: Costs, Impacts on Transit Service, and Attainment of Transit System Goals. Washington State Department of Transportation. http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/research/reports/fullreports/277.1.pdf.
Alexandria Transit Northern Virginia Transportation Commission. (2021). Zero-Fare and Reduced-Fare Options for Northern Virginia Transit Providers. https://novatransit.org/uploads/studiesarchive/Zero-Fare%20and%20Reduced-Fare%20White%20Paper%20Final%202021-08-30.pdf.
Alexandria Transit Company (ATC). (2022, December 14). DASH Free Fares Program Annual Report–2022 [Presentation to the ATC DASH Board of Directors]. https://www.dashbus.com/.
City of Fairfax Transit Northern Virginia Transportation Commission. (2021). Zero-Fare and Reduced-Fare Options for Northern Virginia Transit Providers. https://novatransit.org/uploads/studiesarchive/Zero-Fare%20and%20Reduced-Fare%20White%20Paper%20Final%202021-08-30.pdf.
Ride On IBI Group. (2021). Ride On Zero & Reduced Fare Study. Montgomery County Department of Transportation. https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/DOT-Transit/Resources/Files/Ride%20On%20Zero%20and%20Reduced%20Fare%20Study%20Report%20Final.pdf.
Utah Transit Authority Utah Transit Authority. (2022). Fare Free February Final Report. https://rideuta.com/-/media/Files/Rider-Info/Free-Fare-February/FFF_Report_FINAL_Apr2022.ashx.
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority City of Boston. (2023). City of Boston Fare Free Program: Mid Program Report. https://content.boston.gov/sites/default/files/file/2023/03/Fare%20Free%20Mid%20Program%20Report.pdf.
Regional Transportation District Regional Transit District. (2023). Zero Fare for Better Air: 2023 Evaluation Report. https://cdn.rtd-denver.com/image/upload/v1701363542/2023_ZFBA_Evaluation_Report_2023.11.27_54_mukmbl.pdf.
Green Mountain Transit (urban) Vermont Agency of Transportation. (2023). Report on Impacts of Zero-Fare Transit Service in State Fiscal Year 2024. The Vermont House and Senate Committees on Transportation.
Arlington Transit Northern Virginia Transportation Commission. (2021). Zero-Fare and Reduced-Fare Options for Northern Virginia Transit Providers. https://novatransit.org/uploads/studiesarchive/Zero-Fare%20and%20Reduced-Fare%20White%20Paper%20Final%202021-08-30.pdf.
Loudon County Transit
OmniRide
Fairfax County Connector
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Suggested Citation: "3 Data Assembly and Analysis." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Sustaining Zero-Fare Public Transit in a Post COVID-19 World: A Guide for State DOTs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/27927.
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Suggested Citation: "3 Data Assembly and Analysis." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Sustaining Zero-Fare Public Transit in a Post COVID-19 World: A Guide for State DOTs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/27927.
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Suggested Citation: "3 Data Assembly and Analysis." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Sustaining Zero-Fare Public Transit in a Post COVID-19 World: A Guide for State DOTs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/27927.
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Suggested Citation: "3 Data Assembly and Analysis." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Sustaining Zero-Fare Public Transit in a Post COVID-19 World: A Guide for State DOTs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/27927.
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Suggested Citation: "3 Data Assembly and Analysis." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Sustaining Zero-Fare Public Transit in a Post COVID-19 World: A Guide for State DOTs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/27927.
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Suggested Citation: "3 Data Assembly and Analysis." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Sustaining Zero-Fare Public Transit in a Post COVID-19 World: A Guide for State DOTs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/27927.
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Suggested Citation: "3 Data Assembly and Analysis." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Sustaining Zero-Fare Public Transit in a Post COVID-19 World: A Guide for State DOTs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/27927.
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Next Chapter: 4 Scenario Development and Analysis
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