What’s Up (or Down) with Fare Policy?

In our post-COVID world, transit fares have become a hotly debated topic. Many agencies have instituted zero-fare pilots for the entire system or specific customer segments such as youth or older adults. Other agencies, facing complex fiscal challenges, are being forced to raise fares. Join us as we tackle some really important questions from both perspectives. How are agencies funding zero-fare pilots? Are they sustainable? For agencies facing challenges, what approaches work fiscally and still encourage ridership? By talking with those who have zero-fare programs and those who have chosen to raise fares, we’ll cover trade-offs, roles, alternative funding strategies and lessons learned.

Moderator: Bill Sirois, Senior Manager – Transit-Oriented Communities, Regional Transportation District (RTD), Denver, CO
Martin Barna, Director of Planning and Marketing, Alexandria Transit Company (DASH), Alexandria, VA
John Gardner, Director, Transit Equity, Inclusion & Community Affairs, TriMet, Portland, OR
Althea Atherton, Bus Rider/Organizer, Together for Brothers, Albuquerque, NM