The Cost of Fare-Free Public Transit in the COVID Economy: Looking into the Case of the EDSA Carousel Bus System in the Philippines Ivan Harris Tanyag University of the Philippines, Diliman (
[email protected]) Abstract Transportation costs in public transit are usually fixed to provide mobility to the largest segment of the public. Subsidies are also provided in the form of discounts to students, the elderly, and persons with disabilities. Operators are subjected to follow a fare matrix based on the travel distance between two points. Subsidizing the full transportation costs would require the government to allot funding to cover the operation costs. Businesses may also provide free transit, though most of their operation is funded through corporate sponsorships. Only a few cities in the world currently operate on this scheme, most likely due to the resistance against fare-free public transit policies (FFPT). In the Philippines, this was introduced in a newly-built bus rapid transit (BRT) throughout the Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA), one of the major thoroughfares in Metro Manila during the onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic. This paper analyzes the contributory effect of an FFPT in the country's economy through a cost-benefit analysis. As most of the stations throughout the bus line are found in central business districts across the region, it has incentivized workers who heavily depend on public transit. It has also increased the level of mobility throughout the area, thus increasing the household consumption made. However, it has affected other public transit in the area, such as the Metro Rail Transit (MRT-3), whose operation also relies on government expenditures.