PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Some big cities in the U.S. are experimenting with eliminating mass transit fares to encourage more people to ride. Boston is piloting three free bus routes; Washington, D.C., buses will be free starting in July; and Kansas City’s entire system is fare free.
“I like to always remind people that there’s nothing that’s free. Someone is paying,” says SEPTA’s budget director, Erik Johanson.
Would free fares work in Philadelphia? Not right now, he said.
“That’s something that we’re not shutting the door on, but it’s also a difficult conversation when we’re already saying that we have a fiscal cliff coming from an operating budget standpoint when federal COVID relief runs out.”
That’s a little more than a year away.
SEPTA gets 21% of its revenue from the farebox, and Johanson says ridership has only rebounded to 60% of pre-COVID levels. He says, when other cities offer free fares, they are using public subsidies to make up that difference.
“It becomes difficult to both give up the revenue from the trips and subsidize the increased expenses associated with providing the additional service required once the demand goes up.”
Related
He points to SEPTA’s Key Advantage program, which allows employers to buy discounted passes to offer as a perk to employees.
For those Key Card holders, the rides are free.
“It’s a different approach, right? It’s not making the service itself free, but making it feel free to more and more people who are riding.”
Johanson says SEPTA is expanding the program to include more employers.