Date: June 24, 2021
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Edward F. King, Director, Department of Transportation Subject: Contactless Fare Pilot
Introduction
On July 12, 2021, the Department of Transportation, Big Blue Bus (BBB) Division will begin a six-month pilot of a completely contactless fare payment system. BBB customers will be able to pay their fare using either the regional TAP fare payment system or mobile ticketing. Cash, tokens, and paper magnetic fare cards will not be accepted on board on a pilot basis.
Customers will have a variety of options for obtaining TAP fares, and cash-paying customers who are unbanked and/or non-smartphone users will be able to replenish their TAP balances using ticket vending machines available along every BBB route, at Blue: The Transit Store, or at the nearly 900 retail TAP vendor locations located across the county. Smartphone users will be able to choose between the TAP app, or two different BBB-specific mobile ticketing apps (Transit and Token Transit), depending on their preferences.
Background
Prior to 2015, all BBB customers paid their fare with either cash (coins, bills, and tokens), or paper magnetic fare cards that were inserted or swiped in the fare box.
These two fare systems have significant downsides for both customers and BBB, and BBB has sought to promote other fare payment solutions as a result.
Information Item
Cash fare payment is much slower on average than contactless fare payment. For example, on a trip dedicated exclusively to the cash payment process, forty people boarding a bus trip with cash fares can add up to 13 additional minutes. These delays cause slower service that decreases ridership, increases costs, and makes transit less attractive. Additionally, cash and the farebox are known vectors for disease transmission for customers, operators, and those assigned to count and process cash. Finally, farebox maintenance and cash counting incur significant costs for BBB.
While paper magnetic fare card boardings are faster than cash boardings, and they eliminate the process of counting cash, customers are still required to touch the farebox when paying. Paper magnetic fare cards also suffer three additional negative traits when compared to contactless fare payments: (a) magnetics have a high failure rate; (b) magnetics are not integrated into TAP (the regional fare system for Los Angeles County) prohibiting the provision of discount interagency transfers; and (c) magnetic cards are not account-based so fare media cannot be recovered if the pass is lost or stolen.
Discussion
Since the adoption of the regional TAP fare system using radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology in 2015 and mobile ticketing using smartphone apps in 2017, BBB has encouraged customers to move away from using cash and paper magnetic fare cards to pay their fares, and instead to use these two new “contactless” fare payment systems. The advantages of TAP or mobile fare systems are overall faster travel times, fully contactless payment (no touching of high-touch surfaces), access to regional interagency discount fares, lower fares, and convenience. Since the introduction of each system, BBB has worked to continuously improve the availability, access, and convenience of the fare products.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly half of customers had already migrated from cash and paper magnetics to contactless fare payment over the five years since the introduction of TAP. There was a willingness by many customers to switch due to the cumbersome burden of having to carry exact change for the bus. To encourage other customers to try contactless fares, BBB discounted the base fare on TAP to $1.10, providing a savings of $0.15 from the cash $1.25 base fare. Mobile ticketing was integrated with real-time bus arrival information via the Transit app, adding to the convenience. Just prior to the pandemic, fare payment by contactless fare media (TAP and mobile ticketing) accounted for 47% of all boardings.
As a result of the pandemic, starting on March 20, 2020, fare collection was not enforced on BBB to slow the spread of COVID-19 and to distance customers from the operator by having them enter and exit through the back door only. The pandemic led BBB staff to reexamine strategies for shifting customers more quickly to contactless fare media. Additionally, a plan was created to pilot the elimination of cash and paper magnetic fare card usage altogether after the planned resumption of fare collection. This plan was referenced in the FY2021 budget staff report to Council on June 23, 2020.
During the period of COVID-19 fare suspension, several measures were taken to encourage the use of contactless fares when fare collection resumed in February 2021.
• BBB purchased ticket vending machines for two key BBB transit hubs, where the machines had not previously been made available.
• Staff worked closely with Santa Monica College to shift their pass holders from paper magnetic fare cards to contactless fares, moving 11% of pre-COVID ridership to contactless fares in the process.
• The base fare on TAP and mobile ticketing was further reduced from $1.10 to $1.00, and a new lower Senior/Disabled/Medicare (S/D/M) fare of $0.40 was introduced on TAP and mobile ticketing (versus $0.50 cash). • S/D/M customers were enabled to “self-declare” eligibility for a reduced fare mobile ticket, rather than having to go to the Transit Store to certify eligibility prior to obtaining the discount.
• Staff worked with the TAP program to create a new 90-day eligible S/D/M fare card on TAP so that senior and disabled visitors would continue to enjoy discounted transit fares, without having to apply for a regional discounted fare eligibility card from TAP.
• Staff began to issue bilingual Low Income Fare is Easy (LIFE) program applications at the Transit Store. LIFE, funded by Los Angeles County, provides free fares to low-income people using contactless fares (TAP). • Paper magnetic fare product sales were suspended, and systems and policies were created that allow customers who have unused paper magnetic cards to exchange them for an equivalent contactless fare.
• Staff created a digital searchable map of all physical locations where customers can add Stored Value to a TAP card, specifically so that unbanked customers could easily and conveniently find a place to obtain TAP fares. A bilingual printed version of this resource is available for added access. • BBB hired a contactless fare Customer Service Assistant (CSA) to work specifically on assisting vulnerable and federally protected populations in adapting to contactless fares. In conjunction, a reservation system was introduced to facilitate one-on-one customer education appointments with the new CSA in addition to walk-in appointments.
• A bilingual multi-media outreach campaign communicating how to access contactless fares and extolling their benefits to passengers was developed and implemented.
• An outreach consultant has been hired to conduct more than 2,000 hours of bilingual in-person customer education on board BBB routes and at high-volume bus stops.
With the reintroduction of fare collection, staff sought to quickly convert as many customers as possible to contactless fares prior to the beginning of the contactless fares pilot on July 12, 2021. In support of this goal, beginning April 19, 2021, BBB began to distribute a free 30-Day pass to any customer who pledged to use contactless fares. These passes are available on a free TAP card through the Transit Store and on mobile ticketing through the Token Transit and Transit mobile app ticketing platforms. There is a limit of one promotional pass per customer and the passes are available only through July 22, 2021. There is no cost to participate, and no one is excluded.
The introduction of this program to distribute free passes is an opportunity to engage BBB customers in a dialogue regarding the benefits of contactless fares, and to address any concerns or questions. Cash usage started to decline within the first two weeks of free pass distribution and continues to decline as of this writing.
The Contactless Fare Pilot
The Contactless Fare Pilot is set to begin on July 12, 2021 and will run for six months. BBB has created the following goals for the project:
• Convert 85% of customers to contactless fares prior to the start of the pilot. • Raise awareness of available fare discounts to 90% among seniors, disabled, youth, and transfer customers.
• Raise participation in the LIFE (Low Income Fare is Easy) to 10% of BBB customers.
• Trim 15,000 hours of fare payment time from existing schedules annually, which can then be reinvested in running buses more frequently. • Increase average bus speed by 1 mile per hour with the elimination of cash fare payment.
• Save approximately $93,000 annually on cash handling cost reimbursements to the General Fund.
• Save approximately $274,000 annually in reduced farebox and cash handling equipment repair costs.
• Receive a favorable rating from more than 90% of passengers during the pilot regarding contactless fares and their implementation.
Title VI Analysis and Mitigations of Negative Impacts
The proposal to pilot an exclusively contactless fare system was analyzed for Title VI impacts in April 2021, using data collected in March 2021 by an outside surveyor (Maroon Society) from 550 BBB customers on board the BBB system. There were no negative disparate impacts or disproportionate burdens on protected populations as defined by the Federal Transit Administration. However, it was noted that while the impacts did not meet the federally prescribed thresholds, the survey provided additional demographic insights and offered opportunities to further lessen the challenges of adaptation to contactless fares.
Among the key findings of the survey were the following:
• The BBB system ridership now has a higher incidence of low-income status than was noted pre-pandemic.
• Prior to March 2020, people 24 years old and younger had made up 27% of ridership. However, with colleges, universities, and high schools closed, that percentage had sunk to 10%.
• BBB customers are now living in more concentrated areas of high poverty than in the past.
• BBB customers are also more likely to live in concentrated areas of recent past COVID-19 infection.
• Large numbers of both Seniors and Interagency Transfer customers are not taking advantage of their available fare discounts, due to either unawareness or confusion about the fare systems.
• A large percentage of contactless fare customers use ticket vending machines at train stations and bus transit centers to reload their TAP fare cards. • A majority of customers prefer to purchase single rides rather than a 1-Day, 7- Day, 30-Day, Annual, or 13 Ride passes.
Equity and Fairness
Using the information gleaned from the survey and the Title VI analysis, BBB is working with vulnerable populations to address concerns, remove barriers, and to create communications and programs that empower all users to embrace contactless fares.
• All communications regarding the pilot are delivered in English and Spanish and across a wide variety of platforms.
• With more than 900 TAP vendor/reload locations countywide, phone and online options, BBB is intent on making contactless fares work for all customers, especially those who are unbanked.
• The savings in travel time will be of significant benefit to all customers and allow BBB to offer more service, more efficiently.
• The opportunity to bypass cash and contact with the farebox and the associated health risks will be a benefit to both customers and staff.
BBB is committed to caring for the most vulnerable through this process and learning as we go, to ensure a fair and equitable system that benefits everyone.
Timeline (calendar year)
2020
Q4
2021
Q1
2021
Q2
2021
Q3
2021
Q4
$1 Regular & $0.40 S/D/M
contactless fare
Free 30-Day pass to contactless
users
Title VI Evaluation of change to
fares
Pilot period of contactless fares only
Survey of customers regarding pilot
2020
Q4
2021
Q1
2021
Q2
2021
Q3
2021
Q4
Public hearings
Final recommendation to council
regarding fare structure
Summary
BBB will survey passengers during the contactless fares pilot and will hold public hearings this fall to gather information on customer experience. In late fall, staff will return to Council with recommendations for a long-term fare structure and new fare policy, updates to fare media, and the future of contactless fares.
Prepared By: Tim McCormick, Manager of Planning and Performance