Transportation Spending by Low-Income California Households ...

improving service quality rather than reducing fares. He states, “Critics
are quick to note that the delivery of higher premium services at
substantially higher fares will price poor people off transit. Although this
might be the case, such inequities can be redressed through various
‘circuit-breaker’ mechanisms, like discount passes (targeted at lowincome
users) or the introduction of travel vouchers for the poor” (p.
126). If policymakers choose to pursue high-quality service at higher
prices, care must be taken to ensure that those for whom price is a critical
issue receive support, such as discount passes or travel vouchers.
Anecdotal evidence indicates that some low-income workers at the San
Francisco-Oakland (SFO) airport could no longer afford the commute
once the BART extension to the airport replaced cheaper bus service.
Although improvements in pubic transit quality may allow some
households to replace private vehicle use with less expensive
transportation, the SFO airport example illustrates the need to provide
some sort of fare relief for the subgroup of people who cannot afford
higher quality public transit service.
The results from the data analysis (in combination with the findings
from the research literature) point to several broad strategies to cut
transportation costs for low-income families.
• Because so many low-income households in the Bay Area own
vehicles, and because vehicle expenditures are fairly high, finding
ways to reduce vehicle costs for low-income vehicle owners
could provide large benefits in terms of relief from
transportation costs.
• On the other hand, one of the most promising ways to reduce
transportation costs may be to focus on features of
transportation other than price. Improving the quality of transit
service, paratransit, and other alternative means of
transportation may enable travelers to meet their transportation
needs through less-expensive transportation modes than the
private vehicle.
• Further work should be done to identify those within the lowincome
group who may have trouble paying for transit services.
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