IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ioe/doctra/531.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The impact of fare-free public transport on travel behavior: evidence

Author

Listed:
  • Owen Bulla
  • Juan Carlos Muñoz
  • Hugo Silva

Abstract

Fare-free public transportation has recently gained attention from policymakers and has been proposed as a measure to reduce pollution and road congestion in several cities around the world. We investigate the impact of fare-free public transport on travel behavior by randomly assigning a pass to workers in Santiago (Chile) that allowed them unlimited travel for two weeks. The main impact of fare-free public transport is a 21% increase in the total number of trips made during off-peak periods. Two-thirds of the effect occurs during weekday off-peak periods and is mostly explained by a 24% increase in trips made by public transport. We find no evidence of mode or period substitution and that the effect on public transport trips is entirely explained by trips that use the subway.

Suggested Citation

  • Owen Bulla & Juan Carlos Muñoz & Hugo Silva, 2019. "The impact of fare-free public transport on travel behavior: evidence," Documentos de Trabajo 531, Instituto de Economia. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile..
    • Handle: RePEc:ioe:doctra:531
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.economia.uc.cl/docs/doctra/dt-531.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mogens Fosgerau & Kenneth Small, 2017. "Endogenous Scheduling Preferences And Congestion," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 58, pages 585-615, May.
    2. Mohring, Herbert, 1972. "Optimization and Scale Economies in Urban Bus Transportation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 62(4), pages 591-604, September.
    3. Ian W. H. Parry & Kenneth A. Small, 2009. "Should Urban Transit Subsidies Be Reduced?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(3), pages 700-724, June.
    4. Leonardo J. Basso & Hugo E. Silva, 2014. "Efficiency and Substitutability of Transit Subsidies and Other Urban Transport Policies," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 6(4), pages 1-33, November.
    5. Glaister, Stephen & Lewis, Davis, 1978. "An integrated fares policy for transport in London," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 341-355, June.
    6. Sergio Jara-Díaz & Alejandro Tirachini, 2013. "Urban Bus Transport: Open All Doors for Boarding," Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, University of Bath, vol. 47(1), pages 91-106, January.
    7. Rizzi, Luis Ignacio & De La Maza, Cristobal, 2017. "The external costs of private versus public road transport in the Metropolitan Area of Santiago, Chile," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 123-140.
    8. Simon Franklin, 2018. "Location, Search Costs and Youth Unemployment: Experimental Evidence from Transport Subsidies," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 128(614), pages 2353-2379, September.
    9. Hugo Silva, 2019. "The Mohring Effect," Documentos de Trabajo 529, Instituto de Economia. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile..
    10. Oded Cats & Yusak O. Susilo & Triin Reimal, 2017. "The prospects of fare-free public transport: evidence from Tallinn," Transportation, Springer, vol. 44(5), pages 1083-1104, September.
    11. Kristina Shampanier & Nina Mazar & Dan Ariely, 2007. "Zero as a Special Price: The True Value of Free Products," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(6), pages 742-757, 11-12.
    12. Proost, Stef & Dender, Kurt Van, 2008. "Optimal urban transport pricing in the presence of congestion, economies of density and costly public funds," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 42(9), pages 1220-1230, November.
    13. De Witte, Astrid & Macharis, Cathy & Mairesse, Olivier, 2008. "How persuasive is 'free' public transport?: A survey among commuters in the Brussels Capital Region," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 216-224, July.
    14. Mogens Fosgerau & Kenneth Small, 2017. "Endogenous Scheduling Preferences And Congestion," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 58(2), pages 585-615, May.
    15. Hidalgo, Dario & Huizenga, Cornie, 2013. "Implementation of sustainable urban transport in Latin America," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 66-77.
    16. Börjesson, Maria & Fung, Chau Man & Proost, Stef, 2017. "Optimal prices and frequencies for buses in Stockholm," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 9(C), pages 20-36.
    17. Abou-Zeid, Maya & Ben-Akiva, Moshe, 2012. "Travel mode switching: Comparison of findings from two public transportation experiments," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 48-59.
    18. Jara-Díaz, Sergio R. & Munizaga, Marcela A. & Greeven, Paulina & Guerra, Reinaldo & Axhausen, Kay, 2008. "Estimating the value of leisure from a time allocation model," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 42(10), pages 946-957, December.
    19. Batarce, Marco & Galilea, Patricia, 2018. "Cost and fare estimation for the bus transit system of Santiago," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 92-101.
    20. Kurt Van Dender, 2003. "Transport Taxes with Multiple Trip Purposes," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 105(2), pages 295-310, June.
    21. Small, Kenneth A., 2012. "Valuation of travel time," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 2-14.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bull, Owen & Muñoz, Juan Carlos & Silva, Hugo E., 2021. "The impact of fare-free public transport on travel behavior: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    2. Tirachini, Alejandro & Proost, Stef, 2021. "Transport taxes and subsidies in developing countries: The effect of income inequality aversion," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 25(C).
    3. Jara-Díaz, Sergio & Fielbaum, Andrés & Gschwender, Antonio, 2020. "Strategies for transit fleet design considering peak and off-peak periods using the single-line model," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 1-18.
    4. Hörcher, Daniel & Tirachini, Alejandro, 2021. "A review of public transport economics," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 25(C).
    5. Hörcher, Daniel & De Borger, Bruno & Seifu, Woubit & Graham, Daniel J., 2020. "Public transport provision under agglomeration economies," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    6. Asplund, Disa & Pyddoke, Roger, 2020. "Optimal fares and frequencies for bus services in a small city," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    7. De Borger, Bruno & Proost, Stef, 2022. "Covid-19 and optimal urban transport policy," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 20-42.
    8. Martin W Adler & Federica Liberini & Antonio Russo & Jos N. van Ommeren, 2021. "The congestion relief benefit of public transit: evidence from Rome," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 21(3), pages 397-431.
    9. Coulombel, Nicolas & Monchambert, Guillaume, 2023. "Diseconomies of scale and subsidies in urban public transportation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 223(C).
    10. Hirte, Georg & Tscharaktschiew, Stefan, 2018. "The impact of anti-congestion policies and the role of labor-supply margins," CEPIE Working Papers 04/18, Technische Universität Dresden, Center of Public and International Economics (CEPIE).
    11. Tscharaktschiew, Stefan & Reimann, Felix, 2021. "On employer-paid parking and parking (cash-out) policy: A formal synthesis of different perspectives," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 499-516.
    12. Börjesson, Maria & Fung, Chau Man & Proost, Stef & Yan, Zifei, 2018. "Do buses hinder cyclists or is it the other way around? Optimal bus fares, bus stops and cycling tolls," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 326-346.
    13. Vigren, Andreas & Pyddoke, Roger, 2020. "The impact on bus ridership of passenger incentive contracts in public transport," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 144-159.
    14. Hörcher, Daniel & De Borger, Bruno & Graham, Daniel J., 2023. "Subsidised transport services in a fiscal federation: Why local governments may be against decentralised service provision," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 34(C).
    15. Börjesson, Maria & Fung, Chau Man & Proost, Stef & Yan, Zifei, 2017. "Cycling tolls and optimal number of bus stops: the importance of congestion and crowding," Working papers in Transport Economics 2017:10, CTS - Centre for Transport Studies Stockholm (KTH and VTI).
    16. Brough, Rebecca & Freedman, Matthew & Phillips, David C., 2022. "Experimental evidence on the effects of means-tested public transportation subsidies on travel behavior," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    17. Börjesson, Maria & Eliasson, Jonas & Rubensson, Isak, 2020. "Distributional effects of public transport subsidies," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    18. Xuto, Praj & Anderson, Richard J. & Graham, Daniel J. & Hörcher, Daniel, 2021. "Optimal infrastructure reinvestment in urban rail systems: A dynamic supply optimisation approach," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 251-268.
    19. Guillaume Monchambert & Stef Proost, 2019. "How Efficient are Intercity Railway Prices and Frequencies in Europe?: Comparing a Corridor in Belgium and in France," Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, University of Bath, vol. 53(4), pages 323-32-347.
    20. Pyddoke, Roger & Lindgren, Hanna, 2018. "Outcomes from new contracts with “strong” incentives for increasing ridership in bus transport in Stockholm," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 197-206.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ioe:doctra:531. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Jaime Casassus (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iepuccl.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.