A major US city is about to eliminate bus fares. It could work here, too
North Carolina cities want more people to ride the bus. It’s good for the environment — and maybe for traffic — and a robust bus service also can help with bigger equity issues in Charlotte and Raleigh. So how can cities get people on board? Make it free.
At least one mayor U.S. city seems ready to do so. On Wednesday, Kansas City moved a step closer to becoming the first large U.S. city to eliminate bus fares. There, the City Council’s Transportation Committee passed a resolution directing the city manager to pursue eliminating fares within the city limits. The measure has the support of Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas and likely would be a political winner in a city that values public transportation.
The same is true in Raleigh and Charlotte, where transit is among the next big pieces of the economic equity puzzle. That’s why Charlotte City Council members took an early step this week toward bringing light rail to more of the city with the approval of a $50 million design contract for a line from west Charlotte to the southern suburb of Matthews. Meanwhile, Triangle officials are digesting a critical report on the failure of the Orange-Durham light rail project — an autopsy that has some wondering if and how the region can pick up the pieces and try again on light rail.
In both regions, new tracks are at least several years away — and that’s if questions are answered in Charlotte on how the $3 to $4 billion Silver Line price tag will be paid. Those are answers worth pursuing, as Charlotte’s Blue Line has shown the development and transit promise light rail offers.
Until then, however, city officials should consider following Kansas City’s lead.
It woudn’t be cheap. K.C. officials estimate that eliminating fares will cost the city about $8 million annually, money that will have to come from additional revenue. The same would need to be true in Raleigh and Charlotte, where transit authorities don’t have the capacity to handle that big of a blow to the budget. That cost would not just include the loss of fare revenue, transit consultant Jarrett Walker told the editorial board this week. Eliminating fares also would result in an increase in ridership and crowding, which would bring new expenses. “You can say that is a nice problem to have, but it can still be very expensive,” Walker says.
Still, the benefits could be transformative for some. Eliminating fares makes public transportation more accessible to lower-income residents, giving them more options for a ride to work or school and opening up greater employment opportunities over a wider geographic circle. Increased bus ridership also could pull more cars off the road, which is environmentally friendly and perhaps slightly helpful with congestion.
Smaller cities, including Chapel Hill, already have fare-free transportation for most bus routes, and larger cities including Denver and Salt Lake City discussed eliminating fares during recent elections. Some cities have alternately pursued policies toward reducing or simplifying fares, including robust discounts for low-income riders and capping fares so that people who can’t afford the upfront cost of a weekly or monthly pass don’t pay more than riders who can.
Eliminating bus fares shouldn’t be a substitute for light rail plans in Charlotte, and it shouldn’t be a consolation for light rail disappointments in the Triangle. It could, however, be an effective path toward confronting equity and economic mobility issues in North Carolina’s largest urban regions. Raleigh and Charlotte officials should explore it.
This story was originally published November 14, 2019 at 1:47 PM.