1. Mobility Management: Do you save money by allowing paratransit customers to ride free on fixed-route?
CalACT Conference
April 2019

2. Background
SamTrans is a mid-size transit agency in the San Francisco Bay Area
SamTrans has offered free fixed-route rides to paratransit customers for many years
Started to issue magnetic stripe ID cards
Analysis of a partial data set
Sequoia Station

3. Ridership numbers Monthly Average for CY 2018
Free trips on SamTrans: 42,362
Paratransit trips: 29,135
Difference: 13,227
Paratransit customers take a lot more trips on fixed-route than on paratransit

4. Rides per person
Paratransit customers riding SamTrans fixed-route took a average of trips per month in CY 2018
A recent SamTrans bus survey shows 81% of fixed-route customers ride at least 3-4 days per week.

5. Use paratransit or just fixed-route?
Of paratransit customers riding fixed-route, 73% did not ride paratransit at all in the same month.

6. Paratransit ridership patterns
For paratransit customers who rode BOTH fixed-route and paratransit
Average fixed-route trips per month:
Average paratransit trips per month: 9.57

7. Do they ride paratransit less than the average customer?
Average number of rides per month (of those using paratransit in a specific month)
All paratransit customers:
Paratransit customers
who also ride fixed-route:
Difference

8. Eligibility category Conditional 38% 14% Temporary 3% 8%
Rode SamTrans with Paratransit ID Redi-Wheels Only
Conditional 38% 14%
Temporary 3% 8%
Trip-by-trip 22% 8%
Unrestricted 37% 70%

9. Paratransit trips – trip distance
All paratransit customers:
Paratransit customers
who also ride fixed-route: 8.76
Difference

10. Are the same people riding each month?

11. Other demographics
Compared to overall paratransit customers, paratransit customers who use their paratransit ID card to ride fixed-route
Customers are more likely to be ambulatory
Their trips on paratransit have a higher percentage of “demand” trips
Their trips on paratransit are slightly more likely to be no-shows or late cancels
Their trips on paratransit are slightly more likely to be cancelled in general

12. Anecdotal Information
Eligibility office reports requests for “the free bus pass”
Bus Operators report a few irregularities

13. Do we save money?
Yes.
If 10% of trips by paratransit customers who ride fixed-route are mode shifting from paratransit to fixed-route, we save money.
Does the policy actually encourage customers to mode-shift or would these trips have been taken on fixed-route anyway?

14. Thank you
Tina Dubost
SamTrans