District of Columbia Department of Energy & Environment
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA)
The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL)
The cost of transportation can present several challenges for Washingtonians: making it harder to get a job, maintain a job, access social services, obtain healthcare, and care for their families. Building on the District’s efforts to address cost as a barrier to transit equity—such as Mayor Bowser’s Kids Ride Free program and 2019 Free Circulator trial—the District and WMATA are conducting a randomized evaluation of free and discounted transit fares. We are looking at the impact of cost on low-income residents’ public transit use and on their economic and social well-being. The findings may help shape initiatives that make public transit more affordable to low-income residents.
Participants receiving discounts were invited to pick up their discounted SmarTrip cards at WMATA’s Transit Accessibility Center in January and February 2023. (Source: The Lab @ DC)
Why is this issue important in DC?
Low-income adults in the District are not currently eligible as a group for a discounted fare on transit. While reducing the cost of fares for low-income riders can increase public transit use and job search activity,
1
what does increased access to transit mean for residents’ quality of life? The study will help the District better understand of the potential costs and impacts before considering a wider roll-out.
What are we doing?
Our pilot program offers different levels of transit discounts to better understand how they impact mobility and well-being. In 2023, we enrolled 2,411 residents who receive utility assistance into the nine-month pilot. Those residents were
randomly assigned
to one of three groups: (1) no discount on transit; (2) a half-price discount on transit; or (3) free, unlimited trips.
We are using existing data to measure how the discounts affect the number and type of trips participants take on transit. We are also planning to analyze data on participants’ employment, income, children’s outcomes, and use of healthcare and social services. Finally, we ran a survey at the end of the summer to help us learn more about participants' well-being, whether they have trouble paying transit fares, and how often they travel by car.
What have we learned?
We expect results by spring 2024.
What comes next?
The pilot will help the District learn if price is a key barrier to transit use and how well-being changes (or doesn’t) when transit is discounted. The findings can be used to shape future policies and programs that make transit more affordable for low-income residents.
“This will definitely help with trips with my daughter this summer to the many museums and parks here in the District. It’s very much appreciated. I hope this program continues.”
What happened behind the scenes?
Transit discounts in other cities and counties have taken many forms. Some have offered half off the regular fare or weekly passes. Others have introduced a cap on how much riders pay in one week or a flat price for every trip. To better understand what might work for District residents, we went to Department of Human Services centers and asked residents directly. In August and September 2019, residents told us which discount models they liked the most. This feedback helped shape the pilot.
During our pilot period, WMATA launched its “Metro Lift” program. Metro Lift offers a half-price discount on bus and Metro to eligible households. Before Metro Lift's launch, we shared implementation lessons from our pilot with WMATA. We will continue to share insights from the pilot to help inform Metro Lift and other programs like it.