Free Public Transit: Fare-free system's ridership, 12 consecutive months of double digit growth

Friday, June 21, 2019

Fare-free system's ridership, 12 consecutive months of double digit growth

Ridership on Breckenridge’s free public transportation system exploded in May with a 39.5% increase compared to May 2018, based on figures included in a memo produced by town staff.
Overall, that equates to almost 48,000 rides for the month compared with just over 34,000 in May 2018. It puts the town’s transportation system at more than 600,000 rides year-to-date, a 17.7% increase compared with the same time frame last year.
According to town staff, this marks the 12th consecutive month of double-digit growth for the Free Ride system.

https://www.summitdaily.com/news/local/breckenridges-free-public-transit-system-sees-nearly-40-jump-in-may-ridership/

Free is Cheaper

How is free transit cheaper? Don't you have to make up for lost fare revenue? The answer is that your city will save so much money in other areas, and quality of life will improve so much that you will get back much more than the lost fares. Some examples are listed below. If you want to see specific numbers, see our spreadsheet here.

Increased return on investment. Public transit involves large fixed costs. When fares are gone, there are more riders per vehicle, getting more value from the investment.
Reduced parking costs. With free transit, fewer people will park downtown. City parking authorities can cost $180 million a year, paid by fines, which are just a tax on customers and delivery services.

Reduced traffic congestion. Studies have shown that the time lost in traffic costs urban economies hundreds of millions of dollars.
Less money exported for gasoline. A medium sized city can export 1 million dollars a day in gasoline money for cars. Free buses will reduce this considerably.
Better quality of life, priceless. In Hasselt, Belgium, when fares were removed, people in hospital started receiving more visitors.