Off-Peak Fare-Free Transit: Mercer County, New Jersey

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Off-Peak Fare-Free Transit: Mercer County, New Jersey . U M T A-M A-06-0049-80-3 He DOT-TSC-UMTA-82-1 1 8.5 .A37 merit no 701100 DOT- ISS T5C- ation UMTA- otion 32-1 Off-Peak Fare-Free Transit: Mercer County, New Jersey Final Report March 1982 DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION SEP , i30d LIBRARY I UMTA/TSC Project Evaluation Series Service and Methods Demonstration Program NOTICE This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the Department of Transportation in the interest of information exchange. The United States Govern- ment assumes no liability for its contents or use thereof. NOTICE The United States Government does not endorse pro- ducts or manufacturers. Trade or manufacturers’ names appear herein solely because they are con- sidered essential to the object of this report. 0 - Technical Report Documentation Page 1. Report No. 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient's Catalog No. UMTA-MA- 6 - 0 04 9 8 0 -3 Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date March 1982 OFF-PEAK FARE -FREE TRANSIT: MERCER COUNTY, NEW JERSEY 6. Performing Organization Code DTS-243 8. Performing Organizotion Report No. 7. Author^s) DOT-TSC-UMTA-82-l David L. Connor 9. Performing Orgoniration Name end Address 10. Work Unit No, (TRAIS) DeLeuw, Gather & Company* UM227/R2676 165 West Wacker Drive 1 1 . Controct or Gront No. Chicago IL 60601 DOT-TSC-1409 13. Type of Report and Period Covered 12. Sponsoring Agency Nome and Address Final Report U.S. Department of Transportation Urban Mass Transportation Administration October 1977-March 1980 Office of Planning, Management and Demonstrations Office of Service and Methods Demonstrations Id. Sponsoring Agency Code Washington DC 20590 UPM-30 15. Supplementary Notes U.S. Department of Transportation Research and Special Programs *Under contract to: Administration Transportation Systems Center Cambridge MA 02142 16. Abstract The Mercer County Fare- Free Demonstration was a test of the effects of eliminating transit fares system-wide on the Mercer Metro bus system during off-peak hours. This report summarizes the analyses and presents the findings of the evaluation of the demonstration's impacts. Mercer County, New Jersey, includes Trenton, the state capital, as its major urban- ized area and numerous suburban residential concentrations. Local public transpor- tation in the country was almost solely provided by Mercer Metro. The demonstration encompassed a 12 -month period during which fares were eliminated during off-peak hours on the bus system's local routes. The evaluation data principally consisted ol passenger surveys, general population surveys, special group surveys, and ridership counts conducted before, during and after the fare elimination. The evaluation was designed and conducted to explore the effects of the fare elimin- ation on the transit operator, the riding public, the genfTJl IJUpulun-, aua^ the loca business community.^ Evaluation__ issues were concerned wit :hip I volumes, passenger characteristics, transit operations, i p ibIBAN®^?^ipp]i^0 fv^n atti tudes, effects on commercial activities, and public respoise to the fare elimination SEP ^ library 17. Key Words 18. Distribution Statement Fare-Free Transit DOCUMENT IS Demonstration Projects AVAILABLE THROUGH SUPERINTENDENT Pricing incentives OF DOCUMENTS Mercer County U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON Off-Peak Transit Promotion DC 20402 19. Security Classif. (of this report) 20. Security Classif. (of this page) 21. No. of P ages 22. Price UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED 184 Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) Reproduction of completed page authorized ! 1 ! I I 3 Technical Report Decumontotion Peg* 1. Report No. 2. Governmant Accattion No. 3. R*cipi*nt'i CotaloQ No. UMTA-MA- 06- 004 9- 80- PB 82-207119 4, Titia ond Subtitia 5. Raport Data March 1982 Off-Peak Fare-Free Transit; 6. Parforming Organ! tatjon Cada DTS-243 Mercer County, New Jersey. 8. Parforming Organ! zotian Raport Na. 7. Author'*) D.L. Connor DOT-TSC-UMTA-82-1 9. Parforming Orgon!zat!on Noma and Addras* 10. Work Un!t No. (TRAIS) DeLeuw, Cather & Company* MA-06-0049 165 West Wacker Drive 11. Contract or Grant No. Chicago, Illinois 60601 DOT-TSC-1409 13. Typa of Rapart and Par!od Covarad Addrais 12. Spon*or!ng Agancy Noma and Final Report U.S. Department of Transportation Oct. 1977 - Mar. 1980 Urban Mass Transportation Administration 400 Seventh Street, S.W. 14. Span*ar!ng Agancy Cada Washington, D. C. 20390 URT-30 15. Supplementory Notes U.S. Department of Transportation Transportation Systems Center *Under contract to: Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142 16. Abstract The Mercer County Fare-Free Demonstration was a 12-month test program of the effects of eliminating transit fares system-wide on the Mercer Metro bus system during off-peak hours. (Mercer County, New Jersey, includes Trenton and numerous suburban residential areas.) This report summarizes the analyses and presents the findings of the demonstration's impacts. This evaluation was designed and conducted to explore the effects of the fare elimination on the transit operator, the riding public, the general populace, and the local business community. Evaluation issues were concerned with impacts on ridership volumes, passenger characteristics, transit operations, public awareness and attitudes, effects on commercial activities, and public response to the fare elimination. The evaluation data mainly consisted of passenger surveys, general population surveys, special group surveys, and ridership counts conducted before, during, and after the fare elimination. The major conclusion reached by the evaluators of the demonstration was that free-fare is probably more valuable as a tool for transit promotion than as a full-time transit pricing strategy. This report contains a bibliography and charts related to data collection, ridership, trip-making, etc. A related report is titled Findings of Preliminary Analyses of the Trenton Off-Peak Fare-Free Tansit Demonstration, January 1979 (PB 298893, A04). 17. Kay Word* Mercer Metro Bus System 18. Di*tribut!on Statamant Fare-Free Evaluation Available to the Public through the Demonstration Ridership National Technical Information Service, Bus System Public Attitudes Springfield, Virginia 22161. Trenton Demonstration Passenger Off-Peak Fare-Free Pricing Incentives 19. Security Clofsit (of this report) 20. Security Clossif. (of this page) 21. No. of Poget 22. Price Unclassified Unclassified 182 AO 9 Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) Reproduction of completed poge authorized '^^'' i'--A t,- ' «v. ^)"&.:-V: M' >- •;« II''. ''" . ,-tf\ '• ^'•:. .• ' '-k'*,,. t WV;'<' - -•• .'• .: .;- -IK: . .. ,. '- .//(f I' /\i|r^ ,, t j/i"'' ' •.• . 1'. , V-'.' w: ' ' , : . jf ;V.,?r<v .' --• . -.1 • ,• '.., VV -..VJ 'mt- r -i \:i' ftf ^,i'‘ <1 : :.«;, a,:»v‘t'vv a ' '- ' ' • . • . < . Jw •.'.'!''m: ,; ,i / ' : -i ' U IS ; ‘' r' ',' '""'^4 -{ V- ^ !.J.U oU j. !' ; . 4. ) :; ! I- t.i' ; '!• •- ',' • ,,'V-' ; HI ^-.- .’:u,' ;.-o0- i .. *> • 4 ;;: ; n- ,v?:i '^l:t ** 'l. i i-\ 5 i • y,^;itV’ » S :» \rS. ' ' • ’Iff.. ~y-i ^i/'i B . 1 1 1 ; PREFACE This report presents findings of the evaluation of the Mercer County (New Jersey) systemwide off-peak fare-free transit demonstration. The demonstration began on March 1, 1978 and continued for 12 months, ending on February 28, 1979. The project included investigation of the effects of eliminating off-peak fares on ridership, transit operations and costs, user characteristics, public attitudes, and regional travel. The project was sponsored under the Urban Mass Transportati on Administration's (UMTA) Service and Methods Demonstration (SMD) program, under authorization from Title II of the National Mass Transportation Assistance Act of 1974. The evaluation was conducted by DeLeuw, Cather & Company for the Transportation Systems Center (TSC) of the U.S. Depart- ment of Transportation under Technical Task Directive DOT-TSC- 1 409-03 . The principal author of this report was David Connor, with technical assistance provided by Robert Knight. Acknowledgement is due to several people for their assistance and cooperation during the demonstration project and the evaluation period: Messrs. Lawrence Doxsey and A. H. Studenmund, Technical Monitors - Transportation Systems Center; Mr. Roland Quigley (and staff). Director of Operations - Mercer Metro; Mr. Richard Hollinger (and staff). Bureau of Operations Research - New Jersey Department of Transportati on Dr. Vincenzo Milione, SMD project manager - UMTA. Acknowl- edgement is also due to several DeLeuw, Cather & Company staff members for their assistance in the evaluation: Ms. Sherrill Swan; Mr. Gordon Shunk; Mr. Paul Ong; and Mr. Robert Donnelly. 1 1 !1 ‘S « < e t i iVi s * 1 s K » a'c I .1 { H .it 1® • S 1 _ S ». .. Iliti llii Hi Hitii 5 ; ? l« ~ .S C3 S « n ^ 1 S.. 8 8 o e m ^ o ® ft • l.fi fils 1 i| i § f i;: ft f w w if . o i ill 1 1 ! ! 1 1; ml ill Bill < » I S t E S i 2 E E E FACTORS a m Ef CONVERSION |T T|T T|T T|T T|T T|T T|T T|T T|T T|T T|T T|T T|T T|T T|T T|T T|T T|T METRIC 8 7 8 ft 4 3 3 1 iikIim E ft u u Ee J§ E E EE M 1 « m ini • r ft ft i: 1 S ? f ]1 • • ft 1 . I! J > : • a if • it ill a a u w Efl^ mi E i w u u K• 2 m_ c Z 9 0» w 5 8 . S 8 «a 9> « S • « « • ^ rig d - ^ d d d M o * • do * ««goddmdd 2 tH 3 -^ -I- m O < ^ 3 » < M > < IM s o. S • • • • IM — • ; • ^ fi s ? ? * • 6 w s *5 I : ; , . 5 s ; S III} IHii Hr III 5 ? a 1 s « -5 £ "s*fc Vi 3 s »ll „ sale? 1 V TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 The Fare-Free Transit Concept T 1.2 Objectives of the Demonstration 2 1.3 Issues for Evaluation 4 1.3.1 Travel Behavior 4 1.3.2 Transportation Supply and Costs 4 1.3.3 Secondary Effects
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