OSTG 2023 Reimbursements

Ridership for April and May of 2023 was 12.5% than the same months in 2022. That is a continuation of the increase we've seen since the easing of pandemic restrictions, but the totals were still not back up to pre-pandemic levels. The projected growth we used in our original application was 11.72% based on Jan-April 2023 versus the same months in 2022, so the rate of growth increased over what we expected even before the Zero Fare program began.

September 2023 passenger count is 27.5% higher than September 2022. Passengers using purchased passes has increased significantly.

2023-YTD.pdf

Total ridership numbers for the program period greatly exceeded our projections. While total ridership has reduced for the month of September, it is still considerably higher than the same month last year or what would have been expected based on the year over year growth that we had been seeing in 2023 prior to the program.

2023 Total Ridership

April: 1020

May: 1186

June: 1677

July: 1992

August: 2402

September: 1506

Selected quotes from riders collected on feedback cards:

"It's a great idea, very nice not to have to worry about more expenses for awhile."

"I think is a good thing should definitely keep up with it."

"I ride the Fountain Bus 3 to 4 times a week have seen more people on it more often then normal, the bus has been fully loaded at least 3 times this month."

"I think it's great it saves us the people money especially if we don't have money I love it. I want it to go on longer Love it very much -Aleta Camargo"

"The Transit would be better if it was always free."

"Great Program I'm behind it 100% Glad someone is fighting for better air quality."

"Far easier, don't have to keep getting cashback to make change"

"I think this campaign is of great benefit to this community and any other communities that may engage in it. It greatly helps those without inexpensive and reliable transportation while encouraging people to engage in behaviors that protect the environment."

Benefits: Not having to change out fare boxes and count money was a relief for staff and allowed greater flexibility for remote dispatchers. It definitely reduced tensions between drivers and passengers over fares. We really enjoyed getting to tell people that we were participating in Zero Fares and that they didn't have to pay anything. Several passengers commented on not having to keep cash as being a positive. (We do not have any electronic purchase options.)

Challenges: We definitely had an increase in homeless passengers that caused some tension amongst the drivers. There were a couple of incidents of increased trash and mess. Some of our vehicles are 10-passenger capacity (8 seats + 2 wheelchair securement sites) so the vehicle capacity was stretched at times.