Metrobus Transit Study.pdf - City of St. John's

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St. John’s Transportation Commission (Metrobus) 2011 Market Assessment and Strategic Directions Study – Part D: Strategic Directions transit fares to a $1.00 during three Friday’s in August. This led to the highest ridership in August over recent years. While such marketing campaigns should be continued, deep fare discounts are not recommended as a basis for setting fares. A fare reduction would attract some increased ridership, however, the system needs to achieve a sustainable revenue to cost ratio to maintain effective operations. Several studies have found that level of service is a much higher determinant of ridership than fare pricing (in technical terms, service elasticity is much higher than fare elasticity for transit systems). Therefore, the focus on ridership growth should be on service improvements rather than reduction in fares. The affordability issue, particularly for seniors, was brought up during the public consultation process. There are various approaches to ‘affordability’ which should be further explored. Typically, municipal transit services are set up to operate as a ‘business’ in recognition of the significant expenditures required for capital assets, staffing, and operations and the large municipal investment involved. Fare concessions for specific demographic groups such as seniors are typically modest discounts recognizing that the recipients are likely off-peak travellers which may cost the system somewhat less to service than adult peak period travellers. However, applying large discounts to generic groups such as seniors, assumes all members of that group have affordability issues which is increasingly not the case. The effect of lower fares for one category is that other users must pay more if the system R/C target is to be achieved. Thus the impact of a significant discount for all seniors will be felt by other users and the situation will only accelerate given the aging population projections for the Metrobus service area. It is recommended that the issue of ‘transit affordability’ continue to be a subject for the Department of Health & Community Services. Targeting assistance to those in need, capturing the voluntary generosity of service clubs and individual donors, and determining appropriate levels of municipal direct or matching support is a sensitive task that requires this experienced judgement. Transit certainly provides a vital social service but it is best operated as a transportation business with social policy decisions (such as large fare subsidies) left to others. 14.3 Extended Transfer Policy Transfers are typically issued to passengers traveling from one bus route to another to continue travel in one direction and have a time restriction for use (e.g. 30 minutes). A transfer strategy that is more customer-friendly and increases transit use is the concept of an extended time transfer, which allows a passenger for a single fare to have a brief stop over or travel to and from a destination for trips of short duration. A transfer would only need to be day and time specific and not linked to a route or travel direction. Extended time transfers also reduce the number of fare and transfer disputes and are more easily understood by the public. The extended transfer provides an added convenience for passengers and a benefit for merchants and should not significantly impact the main ridership base (work and school trips). Typically it might allow someone to make a short evening or mid-day shopping trip on a single fare and encourage occasional users to become regular transit users. An extended transfer of 90 minutes should have minimal impact on revenue and is a preferred strategy to having lower off peak fares which can be challenging to administer. It also facilitates commercial activity at transfer points and helps deal with affordability issues. It will allow people to shop briefly after work without paying a second fare and be well received by users and merchants. The extended transfer should also increase usage in low demand periods. Dillon Consulting Limited Page 92
St. John’s Transportation Commission (Metrobus) 2011 Market Assessment and Strategic Directions Study – Part D: Strategic Directions Recommendations: 1. Metrobus should continue to expand the M-Card system and introduce more outlets, technology improvements, and pricing strategies to develop higher ridership and compatibility with parking payment systems; 2. Metrobus should move to a single cash fare to simplify ridership reporting and operations; 3. Metrobus should continue to encourage the Department of Health & Community Services to address issues of affordability regarding transit fares; and 4. Metrobus adopt an extended time transfer policy of 90 minutes. Dillon Consulting Limited Page 93
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Metrobus Market Assessment and Stra
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APPENDIX B CNA Student Survey and R
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Student Profile/Transit Use 1. Are
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Non Transit Users Off Campus 1. How
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Non Transit Users On Campus 1. What
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3. How do you normally pay for your
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Transit Users 1. What other trips d
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Universal Student Transit Pass One
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Introduction Metrobus is evaluating
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Student Profile/Transit Use 1. What
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Non Transit Users Off Campus 1. How
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Non Transit Users On Campus 1. What
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3. How do you normally pay for your
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Transit Users 1. What other trips d
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Universal Student Transit Pass One
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Introduction Metrobus is evaluating
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2. Main type of business activity:
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Relationship to Transit 1. Does you
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8. Would you CONSIDER participating
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Survey Completion Thank you for you
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APPENDIX E Onboard Passenger Survey
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Tell us about yourself and your tra
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APPENDIX F Peer Review Municipaliti
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APPENDIX G Off-Street Terminal Desi
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Metrobus Transit Study.pdf - City of St. John's

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