Assessing the Impact of a Policy Experiment: Fare-free Paratransit for People with Disability?

Keywords: equitable mobility, fare-free paratransit, people with disability, policy initiative, vulnerable populations
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract

Abstract

In the U.S., the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has protected the rights of people with disability for over 30 years. Nevertheless, multiple assessments of ADA’s impact, based on lived experiences, show that those with disability are still not having their travel needs met. Generally, supplying paratransit is more expensive for agencies compared to regular transit. This incentivizes organizations to save costs through stringent eligibility and route coverage criteria, thus limiting some cohorts and locations which must otherwise be served under ADA. Consequently, we hypothesized that there is suppressed demand for paratransit.
The Regional Transportation District (RTD), which is the transit agency for the Denver Metropolitan Area, had a fare-free month on all services including paratransit during August 2022. We asked: Did fare-free August reveal latent/suppressed demand for paratransit trips? If yes, what does this policy change indicate for fare design by time and location?
Using RTD data from before, during, and after the policy experiment, we examined shifts in the daily frequency of paratransit at the Zip code level by focusing on the trip start. We relied on a hierarchical linear model with random effects by Zip code to account for locational variation. We found an increase in paratransit demand, during the fare-free month that continued after, even after controlling for weather and other factors. Our findings support the argument to make paratransit deeply subsidized or fare free all year round, at least during the morning peak and mid-day and on days with inclement weather.