>> The drive for free public
busing is speeding up in some
places.
>> There are a number of cities
that seem to be moving towards
offering 100% free service on
public buses.
That's expected to start here in
Washington, D.C. Later this
year.
One of our digital video
producers has been looking into
that and filed this report for
our website.
>> Taking the bus in Washington,
D.C. Is about to get a lot more
affordable.
Dozens of cities in America
offer free bus rides in some
capacity.
A new move could make it the
largest city in America to offer
free bus rides affecting
hundreds of thousands of riders.
>> I think it's a great thing
especially for graduate students
like me.
>> He studies at Georgetown
university and says taking
public transit is a must.
>> We don't have a lot of money.
Transportation is always a big
problem.
It's a whole burden that is
lifted in a way.
>> The D.C. City council voted
unanimously to offer free bus
rides for anyone getting on
buses in the district and to
extend a dozen popular bus
routes to include overnight
service.
A majority of D.C. Residents who
ride the bus make less than
$50,000 a year according to the
city council.
>> It's going to be like $200
that everyone is going to save
around every month.
So it's good.
>> The change will cost the city
and expected $42 million the
first year and the move comes as
part of a growing push to make
public transportation free
across the country.
Other cities have already made
their bus rides free.
The goal is to create a more
equitable public transportation
that will benefit the people who
don't have any other option.
Isabel agrees.
>> I heard when they were in
talks about that it was proposed
but I thought there was no way
it was going to go through and
then I saw that it was passed, I
was very excited.
I think it's going to make it
more accessible to everyone and
especially it will benefit those
who need it most.
>> The Boston mayor has also
fought for free transit.
The state of Massachusetts tried
out for your regional bus fares
during the holiday season only
and the city has made fares for
you on several widely used
Boston city routes.
Pushing back against critics who
say the lost revenue does not
make up for the gain in
ridership.
The D.C. Proposal is now sitting
on the mayor's desk.
If it moves forward, free bus
fares would begin in July.
>> There are still a number of
questions for cities who are
considering doing something
similar.
To get a wider view of what's
happening, we are joined by you
in the free market who studies
this field for the urban
institute.
As we heard, Washington, D.C. Is
making this move.
Can you give us a sense -- why
is it that cities want to do
this?
What's the rationale for this?
>> A few key reasons.
During the pandemic we saw a lot
of cities want to improve
service for their customers in a
way that reduced contact with
drivers.
They said board at the back of
the past, don't pay a fair.
A lot of cities got the idea and
knowledge that it was possible
to make buses free without too
much of an inconvenience.
A lot of cities around the
country are trying to increase
equity of service and make sure
the public transportation is
something that's useful for
everyone.
>> A lot of D.C. Bus riders are
people who don't make a lot of
money so this could be a real
savings for them.
She also reported that this is
going to cost do you see
something like $42 million.
Are there other benefits the
city could get for that cost?
>> The biggest benefit is going
to go directly into the
pocketbooks and wallets of
people riding the bus and that's
mostly going to be people who
live in the city of Washington
but also some people from the
suburbs.
That doesn't necessarily mean
the city is going to benefit in
terms of increased revenues but
it could benefit in terms of
higher quality of life for the
residents who live here.
>> Are there examples of cities
who tried this where the goals
were met?
>> Most of the research tells us
that when cities make public
transportation free, ridership
two up and we have seen that to
be the case in Richmond Virginia
where ridership on their transit
system has increased
substantially since the buses
were made free.
That said, there's not much
evidence that making buses free
is going to get people out of
their cars.
Those people are likely to
remain in their cars even if
buses are free.
>> If ridership goes up, is it
your sense that public transit
systems around the country that
might be considering this can
handle increased ridership?
Is there infrastructure have the
capacity to take our bodies?
-- More bodies?
>> Because of the pandemic, we
have seen a reduction in overall
in the amount of ridership on
transit systems around the
country and as a result transit
systems have a lot of space for
more riders.
They will be able to absorb the
increase in passengers for
making buses and trains free if
the numbers went up dramatically
and yes, we would absolutely
need more investment in
improving public transportation
services.
>> One of the criticisms is that
public transit has been
underfunded for a very long time
and now you are taking another
revenue stream out of it.
Does that make the systems more
sustainable in the long run?
>> From a financial perspective
we have not provided sustainable
funding for public
transportation perhaps ever in
the history of this country.
If you look at countries in
Europe and Asia, there is a lot
more commitment to making sure
everyone has access to good bus
and rail service every where
they live and that's just not
the case in the United States
because we haven't spent the
money at the federal, state or
local levels.
We might have an even bigger
financial problem if we get rid
of fair revenue.
Most of the cities that have
talked about making buses or
trains free have backed it up
with some other new revenue
source.
So for the meantime I don't
think we are going to expect a
significant drop in revenues for
transit systems.