Assessing Equity in Transit Pricing: An Analysis of Triangle Transit
Abstract
Executive Summary
Triangle Transit seeks to answer two related questions:
• Are lower-income riders more likely than other riders to use a less efficient payment
method that contributes to overpayment?
• What policies can Triangle Transit adopt to address potential inequities between
payments by lower- and higher-income riders?
Findings
1. Triangle Transit’s poorer riders are more likely to pay with a pass than with cash.
Regression analysis that controls for other factors affecting payment type confirms
this finding.
2. Overpayment is a persistent problem among Triangle Transit users, but particularly
among cash users.
3. Though access to alternative transportation (cars) is important to employment prospects,
it is not a statistically significant predictor of overpayment. However, employment
status is closely linked to the likelihood a user pays with a pass or cash.
4. Descriptive statistics suggest that income, payment type, and transfers are predictors
of overpayment. Lower income, cash use, and higher transfer rates are positive predictors
of overpayment. Regression analysis also confirms that income and transfer are large
and statistically significant predictors of overpayment.
Recommendations
1. Triangle Transit should increase visibility of 30-day passes at highly-travelled
stops.
2. Triangle Transit should move to an electronic “Smart Card” system. As part of
this transition, Triangle Transit should reduce transfer fees for customers paying
with a “Smart Card.”
3. Triangle Transit should ask a series of new questions in the next round of its
rider survey, particularly related to payment decisions.
4. Reduce cash fares by 25 percent.
Type
Master's projectDepartment
The Sanford School of Public PolicyPermalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/3586Citation
Crowther, Adam (2011). Assessing Equity in Transit Pricing: An Analysis of Triangle Transit. Master's project, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/3586.More Info
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