Although several studies of system-wide, free-fare experiments have suggested that such programs do not stimulate sustained ridership gains and actually result in revenue losses, the possibility remains that targeted, route-specific free-fare programs could stimulate ridership without significant disruption on individual routes. Studies of service information dissemination also suggest that this may be an effective means of stimulating ridership and revenues. In this paper, the effects on ridership of distributing (a) route-specific service information only and (b) information with free-ride coupons to residential areas bordering three high-ridership urban bus routes are described. In addition to one premeasure and two postmeasures ofridership on the routes, surveys of riders on the routes and of allcoupon users were undertaken. The experimental design controlled externalities affecting ridership. Neither the information alone nor the coupons caused significant ridership gains. most coupon users were existing high-frequency, transit-dependent riders. few new riders were gained, and existing riders did not significantly increase their frequency of bus use. Survey findings also suggest that with direct-mail promotions, it is not sufficient to target areas bordering bus routes, as many current and potential riders may not live in theseadjacent areas. This paper appeared in transportation research record no. 1144, transit management, marketing, and performance. For covering abstract see irrd no 818469.
Abstract