Free City Bus Service

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MrFSS

MrFSS

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Free bus service: Is it viable?

Island Transit (Washington State) makes it work, but larger urban areas have tried and failed.

Full Story: LINK
 
I recall that the concept was tried in Trenton, NJ in the mid to late 1970's by Mercer Metro, the operator of the local service back then (before NJ TRANSIT took over). They only ran the free trips during off peak hours; during the rush hours you still had to pay full fare. But what they found was a tendency for inner city problems, such as gangs, to extend from the streets themselves onto the buses. The rise in crime that they saw, and the resulting loss of paying passengers even during the paid periods, resulted in the free rides being dropped and reinstatement of fares during all operating hours.
 
I know Glenwood Springs Colorado has "free" bus service for tourists. The RFTA (Roaring Fork Transit Authority) is the name. You do have to pay if you take there bus to Aspen. I will be in GSC this July so I will find out more about it.
 
The RFTA (Roaring Fork Transit Authority) provides free service to everyone in Glenwood Springs CO. You have to pay for transit if going to nearby towns such as Aspen CO. It cost my girlfriend and I plus her two kids (1 adult and 1 child) $46.00 RT to ride to Aspen. Aspen is not an easy place to find a spot to park a vehichle and if you park a car valued under $100,000.00 anywhere, the locals may put there nose up in the air and wonder aloud, "who's letting all the riff-raff in!" :D The trip took 1hr and 40 min to get there, but renting a car in GSC was more expensive and then you have the headache of trying to find parking. If you take the CZ to GSC, you can get around pretty much on foot if your in shape, then you can take the RFTA if you need to and its free until you want to take it to surrounding areas. Its still priced pretty well and you really don't need a car there and it helps keep expenses down. The train station is centrally located and near all of the attractions of GSC.

Al
 
Portland Oregon has what is known as "Fareless Square". Essentially all MAX trains, Buses, and the Portland Street Car are FREE in most of the downtown area. Fortunately, the Amtrak Station is included in this very large "Square".
 
Aloha

If you are Over ?? and are here long enough you can get a pass to the Buss system so all rides are free.
 
Chattanooga, Tennessee has had "free" shuttle bus service in it's core downtown area for more than a decade. The shuttles are low floor electric buses and operate an 18 hour daily schedule. During peak times, the headway is as little as five minutes anywhere along the route. This service has been operated and expanded without additional cost to the city taxpayers as it is funded by the operation of the citie's two major parking facilites-one at the north end of the route and the other at the south end. Both buildings have commercial retail space leased on the ground floor-the south garage has small, higher end retail shops and the north garage features a seven screen movie theater. The reciepts from the rent and parking income covers the entire cost of the operation.

Basically, the designers of the system employed transit oriented development to fund the total cost of operations. Their foresight was key not only to the success of the shuttle system but the redevelopment and transformation of Chattanooga's downtown. When my folks first moved there more than twenty years ago, downtown was dead on the weekend. Go downtown on a Saturday night now and you're lucky to find a parking space within a block of the restaurant or pub!
 
Seattle also has a ride free zone downtown:

Seattle Metro

I've used it twice - once to get to a Mariners/Red Sox game at Safeco Field, then the next day to take a tour of the brewery across the street from the stadium. If you look at the site, note the bicycle rules.

A post above noted the Portland free zone, and in my experience that comes in handy too.

BTW, I took a look at the Chattanooga electric buses. Guess I was expecting trolley buses a la San Francisco or Vancouver, and busted out laughing at the reality:

Chattanooga Electric Shuttle

Not to denigrate them - whatever works. They're just funny looking.
 
Blacksburg Transit has free bus service for anyone affiliated with Virginia Tech (which is the overwhelming majority of people, and it was very, very rare to see a "local" on the BT), as the system is heavily subsidized by the university. You could argue that it's not really "free", since we're all paying for it in part with our tuition money.
 
San Joaquin and CC conductors will give you free transit transfers for a number of connecting bus lines, including AC transit (east bay). You can also buy a $10 BART ticket for $8 onboard. They do not have tickets for SF Muni however.
 
EmpireBuilderFan1976 said:
Portland Oregon has what is known as "Fareless Square". Essentially all MAX trains, Buses, and the Portland Street Car are FREE in most of the downtown area. Fortunately, the Amtrak Station is included in this very large "Square".
Click to expand...
As of January 3, 2010, Fareless Square will be eliminated for bus passengers. It resulted in too much fare evasion. (Passengers would get on early in FS, ride through it, and get off without paying.)

Light-rail and streetcar services will continue to provide free rides in the downtown area. Fare inspectors check passenger fares outside of the free-ride area.
 
Joel N. Weber II said:
WhoozOn1st999 said:
BTW, I took a look at the Chattanooga electric buses. Guess I was expecting trolley buses a la San Francisco or Vancouver, and busted out laughing at the reality:
Chattanooga Electric Shuttle

Not to denigrate them - whatever works. They're just funny looking.
Click to expand...
What technology does that use? Lead acid batteries?
Click to expand...
I have no idea, but after clicking the link I have to admit I chuckled about the appearance of the buses. A good service though, they just might want to work on cosmetics for the next order.
 
awalker1829 said:
Chattanooga, Tennessee has had "free" shuttle bus service in it's core downtown area for more than a decade. The shuttles are low floor electric buses and operate an 18 hour daily schedule. During peak times, the headway is as little as five minutes anywhere along the route. This service has been operated and expanded without additional cost to the city taxpayers as it is funded by the operation of the citie's two major parking facilites-one at the north end of the route and the other at the south end. Both buildings have commercial retail space leased on the ground floor-the south garage has small, higher end retail shops and the north garage features a seven screen movie theater. The reciepts from the rent and parking income covers the entire cost of the operation.
Basically, the designers of the system employed transit oriented development to fund the total cost of operations. Their foresight was key not only to the success of the shuttle system but the redevelopment and transformation of Chattanooga's downtown. When my folks first moved there more than twenty years ago, downtown was dead on the weekend. Go downtown on a Saturday night now and you're lucky to find a parking space within a block of the restaurant or pub!
Click to expand...

You beat me to it! (I am a native Chattanoogan and yes the city was dying at one time)

It seems to work well. Note that Chattanooga does have "regular"' bus service as well, to the suburbs, that is.

But this is great for the tourist since it makes sort of a circle of the downtown tourist attractions. But a major attraction it leaves out is the Lookout Mountain Incline, a one mile trip up Lookout Mountain. Google Lookout Mountain Incline..

Local people use it too. For example, you can hop it at lunchtime and go several blocks away to eat lunch if you wish.
 

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