How are we making public transit more equitable and accessible for the future?

Transit agencies are looking at who they serve and how they are doing it—and the results are eye-opening

This week on Comfort's Corner we continue the important discussion on the future of transit with our special newsmaker guest is Julie Timm of the Greater Richmond Transit Company (GRTC). Julie gives us a fascinating look into how the transit fare system is--or isn't--fair.

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Julie's segment comes from her talk at our most recent Virtual ThinkTransit Conference and dives into not just a philosophical discussion about fares, but a data-driven analysis of who her riders are and what the economic impact on riders is when they have to pay fares. Some of the most interesting facets of her analysis of GRTC's main, fixed-route bus lines:

• Ridership dipped during the pandemic but is almost back to pre-pandemic levels.
• The people riding the buses are primarily low-income households from predominantly African-American neighborhoods.
• Many of the people using these routes are essential workers and others who couldn't telecommute like white-collar workers could.
• Bus riders often pay cash fares or use one-day passes--the most expensive way to ride transit.

Following Julie's segment, Paul talks about his own vision for the future of transit, dovetailing into the questions Julie is addressing. Are we planning transit for the people who need it most? Are we excluding people from some areas when we try to make routes more efficient?

Paul reflects on Robbie Makinen's ThinkTransit keynote (you can listen to Robbie's keynote on Transit Unplugged) and Robbie's challenge to all of us to find our "why", and for Paul that "why" is to help people experience all life's opportunities. How do we do this? We give them affordable access to transit so they can get to the places they need to go.

Paul continues this thread talking about our keynote on day three of ThinkTransit with Phil Verster of Metrolinx, Erinn Pinkerton of BC Transit, and Alex Wiggins of New Orleans Transit (this keynote is also available on Transit Unplugged), which connects more of the pieces of Paul's vision of equality and access to transit. Paul is working with Alex Wiggins on this crucial issue for the transit industry.

Many people ask, "Why now? What's taken so long for transit agencies to look at these questions?" And from Paul, it's when ridership dropped in the pandemic, agencies started to look at a new success metric--customer satisfaction. Digging into that, and then looking at ridership, agencies started to see how people were really using their systems. I think for many places it was eye-opening. Julie's own experience looking at their data at the GRTC brought to light insights like it's employers and universities who pay for 7-day or month passes, not the riders. And not collecting fares, that could save well over a million dollars a year (granted there would still be a >$5 million shortfall if GRTC stopped collecting fares entirely). Putting the data pieces together makes a compelling story and one that supports Julie's thinking that GRTC should explore moving from being B2C (or business to consumer/rider) to B2B where the companies who benefit from having riders dropped at their doors pay into the system.

This Comfort's Corner episode is more than just an update on transit news or updates from Elea and Mike, it's a thought-provoking 40 minutes that I think will get you thinking and maybe asking yourself how your agency is meeting the needs of its riders.

You might also like to read Paul's vision for the Future of Transit that was part of an ABA Busworld webinar. Many of the ideas Paul discusses in that article are in this episode, but also some additional threads like technology and hitting the reset button on the whole transit industry.

Don't forget to subscribe to Transit Unplugged on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Google Podcasts.