Pathway to a Comeback: Student Transit Passes Can Drive Ridership and Equity in Post-Pandemic California

Farzana PhD Khatun, Susan PhD Pike and Jean-Daniel PhD Saphores

Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series from Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis

Abstract: This study investigates free and reduced fare pass programs (FRFPs) for K-12, post-secondary, and college students across California since the COVID-19 pandemic and their role in ridership recovery. A survey of 67 transit agencies, including 34 with established FRFPs, indicates that most of them maintained their FRFPs between fiscal years 2018-2019 and 2022-2023, showcasing agencies' resilience despite financial uncertainty. LA Metro's GoPass enrolled over 241,000 students and generated 1.2 million monthly boardings, inspiring similar initiatives. Post-pandemic, K-12 FRFPs saw significant expansion, improved funding, and a surge in ridership across participating agencies. These findings underscore the positive influence of fare-based incentives on student mobility and attendance.

Keywords: Engineering; Transit passes; Free fares; Discount fares; Elementary school students; High school students; Ridership; Incentives; School trips; Travel surveys (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-07-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-tre
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/4nt902kh.pdf;origin=repeccitec (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cdl:itsdav:qt4nt902kh

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series from Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Lisa Schiff ().