City of Lawrence

Public Transit

TO:	Dave Corliss, City Manager
FROM:	Cliff Galante, Public Transit Administrator
CC:	Diane Stoddard, Assistant City Manager Cynthia Boecker, Assistant City Manager
DATE:	June 13, 2008
RE:	Passenger Fare Free Transfer Proposal

Please place the following item on the City Commission agenda for consideration at their June 24, 2008 meeting:

Approve staff and PTAC recommendation to accept passenger fare free transfer proposal submitted by University of Kansas regarding (1) Accepting transfers from both City T fixed route service and KU on Wheels fixed-route service to access both services seamlessly; (2) Accepting any Lawrence Transit System bus pass on any KU fixed-route bus; and (3) Accepting a KUID to access any T fixed-route bus.  The goal of passenger fare free transfer proposal is to increase coordination between the City and University transit systems to improve mobility within the community by making access to each service more user-friendly and seamless to transit patrons.  If approved, this proposal would become effective Monday, August 18, 2008 the start of the KU Fall Semester.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

At the June 5, 2008 Public Transit Advisory Committee (PTAC) meeting staff discussed with committee members a proposal received by the University of Kansas (KU) regarding passenger transfers between University and City transit systems. Based on the proposal submitted, both staff and PTAC members were unanimous in their recommendation to adopt the proposal submitted since it advances coordination efforts between the two transit systems where transit patrons of both services benefit by having increased and seamless access to each service improving mobility within the community.

What advanced this proposal at this time was the University adopting a fare free universal access program for all students, faculty and staff to access all University of Kansas transportation services. 

Staff, PTAC and KU understand that this proposal is likely to not be revenue neutral and each system might experience a small decrease in fare box revenue.  It is difficult to predict the financial impact of the proposal for the City due to KU transit patrons accessing T service paying through a variety of means, via fares when boarding the bus, monthly passes, and discounted semester passes since those reduced fares are counted and reported together with other eligible riders who also receive reduced fares based on their age, disability or student status. Since fares and bus pass revenue currently represents less than 10% of the City transit system’s total operating budget and the overall financial impact would be minimal, both staff and PTAC believe that the City Commission should consider approving this proposal since this would be important step towards the ultimate goal of merging transit systems.