Memorandum

Date       August 20, 2015

TO           Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization

FROM      Karl H. Quackenbush
CTPS Executive Director

RE            Work Program for: MBTA Youth Pass Program Evaluation and Title VI Fare Equity Analysis

Action Required

Review and approval

Proposed Motion

That the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization, upon the recommendation of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, vote to approve the work program for the MBTA Youth Pass Program Evaluation and Title VI Fare Equity Analysis presented in this memorandum

Project Identification

Unified Planning Work Program Classification

Technical Support/Operations Analysis Projects

CTPS Project Number

14348

Clients

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority

Project Supervisor: Laurel Paget-Seekins

CTPS Project Supervisors

Principal: Annette Demchur

Manager: Steven Andrews

Funding

Future MBTA Contract

Impact on MPO Work

The MPO staff has sufficient resources to complete this work in a capable and timely manner. By undertaking this work, the MPO staff will neither delay the completion of nor reduce the quality of any work in the UPWP.

Background

At the beginning of state fiscal year 2015, following an eight-month public process, the MBTA launched a one-year pilot program of a Youth Pass, a program that essentially broadens the customer base of the existing seven-day student pass to more young people who live and travel in the region. The Youth Pass is valid on the same modes as the existing LinkPass: local buses, the Silver Line, and the heavy and light rail systems. A Youth Pass costs $26 for a monthly pass and $7 for a seven-day pass. For the pilot program, the MBTA will partner with the four participating municipalities—Boston, Chelsea, Somerville, and Malden—which will administer the program by accepting payments and distributing the passes. The pilot program is open to residents of those four municipalities who are between the ages of 12 and 18 and who do not currently receive a student pass. Residents of these municipalities who are between 19 and 21 years old may purchase a Youth Pass if they meet certain need-based criteria.

The MBTA will analyze the results of the Youth Pass pilot program in terms of costs, benefits, and administrative feasibility to assess the long-term sustainability of the Youth Pass program. The MBTA will take responsibility for investigating the effects of the program on the participants (for example, improved access to jobs, education, and other opportunities) and assessing the feasibility of having municipal partners administer the program. CTPS will evaluate the effect of the program on MBTA fare revenue and operations.

The MBTA, as a recipient of federal funds through the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), is required to comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The FTA, in its guidance to subrecipients for carrying out their Title VI obligations, requires transit providers to conduct a fare equity analysis to determine whether proposed fare changes would have a discriminatory impact based on race, color, or national origin. In addition, although low-income populations are not a protected class under Title VI, the FTA requires transit providers to determine whether low-income populations would bear a disproportionate burden (or benefit, in the case of fare decreases) from proposed changes. CTPS will conduct the required fare equity analysis of the proposed Youth Pass program.

Objectives

This project has two objectives:

1. Estimate the impact of the Youth Pass pilot program on MBTA fare revenue and operations
   
   
2. Conduct a Title VI fare equity analysis of the proposed Youth Pass program to examine whether the Youth Pass would create a disparate impact on minority populations or a disproportionate accrual of benefits to non-low-income populations

Work Description

Task 1  Estimate the Impacts of a Full-Scale Youth Pass Program on MBTA Fare Revenue and Operations and Provide Technical Support to the MBTA

CTPS will use information about the spending and travel behavior of Youth Pass pilot program participants to estimate the impacts of a full-scale Youth Pass program. It will analyze the impacts of the Youth Pass pilot program in two stages, and will prepare two memoranda, one for the initial analysis, using data collected before the pilot program begins and data collected during the first few months of the pilot program, and one for the final analysis, using all available data—data collected before and during, the pilot program. Each of these memoranda will summarize the spending and travel behaviors of the youths who participate in the pilot program and the projected revenue and operational implications of implementing a full-scale Youth Pass program.

For both memoranda, CTPS will analyze the spending behaviors exhibited by the program participants before and during the pilot period. For the first memorandum, staff will use data collected during the pre-pilot phase and during at least the first three months of the pilot program, and for the second memorandum, staff will use data collected before and during the pilot program, to determine whether the program affects the participants’ spending behaviors, and if so, how much. CTPS will also assess the travel behaviors exhibited by the program participants during the same time period to determine if the program affected the participants’ travel behaviors, and, if so, how much. To the extent possible, CTPS will also determine if the program participants’ travel might have negative implications for MBTA operations by looking at factors such as the participants’ ridership levels during peak and off-peak periods. The analyses will also estimate the impacts of a full-scale Youth Pass program on the MBTA’s fare revenue and on the net cost to the MBTA.

The first memorandum will be prepared after the program has been in place for at least three months. It will include an analysis, based on the first few months of the pilot program, of the potential impacts of a full-scale Youth Pass program. Conducting the initial analysis early in the Youth Pass pilot program will provide the MBTA with an early estimate of the impacts of a full-scale Youth Pass program.

The second memorandum will be prepared a few months before the end of the 12-month pilot period, after CTPS has conducted a final analysis of the potential impacts of a full-scale Youth Pass program. Providing the MBTA with a final analysis prior to the conclusion of the pilot program will provide the MBTA with the information they will need to decide whether or not to extend the pilot program, and, whether or not to establish a full-scale program with or without extending the pilot program.

Following the submission of the final memorandum, CTPS will remain available to provide technical support and to respond to questions about the products of this task.

Products of Task 1

• Two memoranda

Task 2  Conduct a Title VI Fare Equity Analysis of a Full-Scale Youth Pass Program and Provide Technical Support to the MBTA

CTPS will use the demographic information provided by the Youth Pass pilot program participants to estimate the financial impacts of the Youth Pass on each of four groups of riders (minority, nonminority, low-income, and non-low-income). CTPS will apply the MBTA’s Disparate Impact and Disproportionate Burden Policy to evaluate whether minority and/or low-income riders are disproportionately less likely to use the Youth Pass and if there are any disparate impacts on minority populations or disproportionate accrual of benefits for non-low-income populations. CTPS will complete the fare equity analysis by January 1, 2016, as FTA requires a fare equity analysis for any fare reduction lasting longer than six months.

Following the submission of a memorandum that summarizes the fare equity analysis, CTPS will remain available to provide technical support to the MBTA and to respond to questions about the analysis.

Product of Task 2

• Memorandum on the results of the fare equity analysis

Estimated Schedule

It is estimated that this project will be completed 14 months after work commences. The proposed schedule, by task, is shown in Exhibit 1.

Estimated Cost

The total cost of this project is estimated to be $70,000. This includes the cost of 25.6 person-weeks of staff time and overhead at the rate of 98.88 percent. A detailed breakdown of estimated costs is presented in Exhibit 2.

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