1 STAFF REPORT
DATE: August 13, 2024
TO: Justin Hess, City Manager
FROM: Patrick Prescott, Community Development Director VIA: David Kriske, Assistant Community Development Director BY: Karen Pan, Transportation Services Manager
Nick Burant, Administrative Analyst II
SUBJECT: Adoption of a Resolution Approving a BurbankBus Free Fare Program for Burbank Middle and High School Students and Approving BurbankBus’s Participation in the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s GoPass Program
RECOMMENDATION
Adopt A RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BURBANK APPROVING
A BURBANKBUS FREE FARE PROGRAM FOR BURBANK MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS, APPROVING BURBANKBUS’S PARTICIPATION IN THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY’S GOPASS PROGRAM, AND AMENDING ARTICLE I, SECTION 7 OF THE FISCAL YEAR 2024-25 CITYWIDE FEE SCHEDULE.
BACKGROUND
On June 4, 2024, Council appropriated $40,410.00 of Transportation funds1 for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024-25 Budget to assist Burbank Unified School District (BUSD) in participating in the Los Angeles Metro GoPass (GoPass) Program. The GoPass Program provides unlimited fare-free access to Metro and other participating transit agencies for all students in participating Los Angeles County school districts. Council also directed staff to partner with BUSD to implement free fares for middle and high school students to ride BurbankBus.
DISCUSSION
As per Council’s direction, staff contacted BUSD Administration and shared Council’s request to partner on the GoPass Pr ogram along with program requirements, estimated annual cost, and the City’s subsidy offer. While BUSD is appreciative of the City’s support
1 Funds are budgeted in the South Coast Air Quality Management District Fund, Fund 106
COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT
2 and monetary contribution, they indicated that there is not enough interest from parents and students to participate in the GoPass Program. Additionally, the estimated annual cost and administrative effort to participate would be challenging for BUSD at this time.
Proposed BurbankBus Free Fare Program for Burbank Students While BUSD declined to participate with the City in GoPass , additional transportation options for students can still be provided. The City can further expand the accessibility of public transportation to all Burbank middle and high school students (includes both BUSD and private schools) by offering free rides on BurbankBus to those who display a valid student identification card. At any point where a student is no longer enrolled at a Burbank middle or high school, their school identification would no longer apply for free fares on BurbankBus and they would pay the $1.00 per ride bus fare.
To implement the proposed program, adoption of the proposed resolution (Resolution) is required to modify the FY 2024-25 Citywide Fee Schedule to include free BurbankBus fares for eligible middle and high school students (Attachment 1). It would also require minor operational changes to ensure transit operators recognize valid school identification presented as fare. If approved, the program would be effective August 14, 2024.
Proposed GoPass Program with BurbankBus
BurbankBus can participate as a transit agency to allow participating Burbank GoPass students to ride BurbankBus for free, even if BUSD declines to participate for Burbank students. This means that BurbankBus, through GoPass, would allow students from any Los Angeles County school that participates in GoPass to ride BurbankBus for free. To become a participating local transit agency, staff would contact the Metro TAP office to program GoPass onto the BurbankBus TAP fare readers. Fares from GoPass riders would be free, but some r evenue can be generated from GoPass based on a formula where Metro reimburses each transit agency for a percentage of each participating school district’s ridership. If BurbankBus were to accept GoPass, the City could see reimbursements from Glendale Unified and Los Angeles Unified students who might ride BurbankBus. Staff anticipates these reimbursements to be low based on low student ridership.
Staff anticipates that both transportation programs would be a nominal cost to the City because offering free fare to students would mean forg oing the revenue currently received from students who ride BurbankBus now. Additionally, there is no fee charged to BurbankBus by Metro for participating in the GoPass system as accommodating BurbankBus only requires Metro to make programmatic changes to the BurbankBus tap system fare readers.
Burbank Student Transit Access Alternatives to GoPass
Student Reduced Fare Program
Even though BUSD will not be participating in the GoPass Program, Metro currently has a student program, the Student Reduced Fare Program. Any student in Burbank can apply for a reduced fare TAP card today (https://www.metro.net/riding/fares/students-k- 12/). The application requires proof of enrollment from their school. Once approved, the card is mailed to the student. Student fare is $0.75 per ride, capped at $6.00 per week, which is a maximum of $312.00 per year. As a point of comparison, regular TAP fare is 3 $1.75 per ride, capped at $5.00 per day and $18.00 per week, which is a maximum of $936.00 per year. However, this fare is only good on Metro, and is not available at any of the participating non -Metro GoPass transit agencies, nor is it available on BurbankBus (although Council may choose to reduce BurbankBus fees for Burbank students, as proposed in this report).
Outreach Efforts
If approved, staff will work with BUSD to promote these transportation options to students and parents throughout the school year and summer . This includes taking advantage of the schools' multiple communication channels such as school websites, newsletters, social media, posters and flyers, and phone voice messages. Additional engagement efforts may include connecting with Parent Teacher Associations and attending Back to School nights. City marketing channels, including the City website and social media will also be utilized to convey key messaging about how to ride BurbankBus, safety tips when riding public transportation, and information about the bus routes and schedules.
Implementation of BurbankBus’ participation in GoPass will take approximately two months as this requires coordination with Metro to program the City’s existing TAP card readers located on the buses.
Transportation Commission Feedback
Staff presented to the Transportation Commission on July 24, 2024. The Transportation Commission requested to extend the BurbankBus Free Fare Program to all Burbank public and private middle and high school students, which is reflected in this report and the Resolution. The Transportation Commission voted in favor of moving forward with both programs.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This staff report has no potential for resulting in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change to the environment and falls outside the definition of a “project” under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and is therefore not subject to CEQA pursuant to Section 15378 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. This is a transit service program that changes the bus fare for specific groups to ride BurbankBus for free.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact to the General Fund for both programs. BurbankBus fixed-route transit service is currently budgeted in Proposition C Local Return Fund. The cost to implement the Free Fare Program and the GoPass Program Participation would be nominal (estimate of $3,750) and would consist of the fare revenue currently collected from student riders who would instead ride for free under these programs. While the City would see a slight revenue reimbursement from Metro for participation in GoPass , staff anticipates that this revenue would be very low without BUSD participation because the proportional student ridership from GoPass student participants would be extremely low relative to other GoPass transit operators. The $40,410 in funding approved by Council to support BUSD’s participation in the GoPass program will remain in the FY 2024- 25 adopted budget and will be evaluated for opportunity for use to support similar related transportation programs.
4 CONCLUSION
Staff recommends adopting the Resolution to approv e both the BurbankBus Free Fare Program for Burbank middle and high school students and BurbankBus’s participation in the Los Angeles Metro GoPass Program, and to amend the FY 2024- 25 Citywide Fee Schedule to account for these free fares . Both programs would provide f ree access to public transportation for youth in the Los Angeles region.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment 1 – Resolution
Attachment 2 – May 21, 2024 Budget Discussion Paper Regarding Metro GoPass