Youth Cruz Free: Bus Ridership Behavior Among Santa Cruz County Teens

The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically reduced transit ridership across the United States due to increased working from home and the abandonment of public transportation as a means of social distancing. Even before the pandemic, over the past 10 years transit agencies have experienced ridership declines, and this issue is now even more pertinent for transit agencies in the post-COVID era. Further, public transit’s recovery and expansion is essential to curbing transportation’s greenhouse gas emissions. In the interest of attracting more riders, Santa Cruz Metro, the sole transit agency within Santa Cruz County, has implemented a pilot program for one year to provide free rides to anyone under the age of 18. Using this pilot as a case study, this applied research project will be a longitudinal study of travel behavior among high school age teenagers, with original data collected through three surveys administered as a panel study over one year. This study will investigate the following research questions: How does the pilot program increase youth ridership in Santa Cruz during the pilot, and then up to a year after? Does this program increase the likelihood that youth will continue to use the bus into young adulthood, even in new contexts? The outcomes of this study will provide Santa Cruz Metro with a direct understanding of the impacts of the pilot program, and will be useful for transit agencies and policy makers considering larger scale free transit for youth and other groups.

• Record URL:
  https://ncst.ucdavis.edu/project/youth-cruz-free-bus-ridership-behavior-among-santa-cruz-county-teens

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $178753
• Contract Numbers:

  DOT 69A3552348319

  DOT 69A3552344814

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590

  National Center for Sustainable Transportation

  University of California, Davis
  Davis, CA  United States 

  University of California, Davis

  1 Shields Ave
  Davis, California  United States  95616
• Managing Organizations:

  National Center for Sustainable Transportation

  University of California, Davis
  Davis, CA  United States 

  University of California, Davis

  1 Shields Ave
  Davis, California  United States  95616
• Project Managers:

  Iacobucci, Lauren

• Performing Organizations:

  National Center for Sustainable Transportation

  University of California, Davis
  Davis, CA  United States 

  University of California, Davis

  1 Shields Ave
  Davis, California  United States  95616
• Principal Investigators:

  Pike, Susan

• Start Date: 20240101
• Expected Completion Date: 20241231
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Free fares; High school students; Public transit; Ridership; Surveys; Travel behavior; Travel demand
• Geographic Terms: Santa Cruz (California)
• Subject Areas: Passenger Transportation; Policy; Public Transportation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01902957
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: National Center for Sustainable Transportation
• Contract Numbers: DOT 69A3552348319, DOT 69A3552344814
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Dec 21 2023 8:18PM