In the Seattle region, King County Transit, Sound Transit, and other regional agencies have partnered to launch a first in the nation program that prices fares based on household income. It addresses the growing equity concerns surrounding transportation and income inequality. The program also helps the region achieve greenhouse gas reduction goals by improving access to transit. One additional benefit being realized by the agencies is unexpected cost savings.
fare payment
To improve transit in U.S., improve regional coordination: Lessons from across the pond
Recent work out of Virginia Tech compares approaches in large metropolitan regions in Europe and the U.S., seeking to identify best practices for improving regional transit service. The case studies in the report provide insight into where transit in U.S. metropolitan areas may learn from the European examples and improve practice. Although the U.S. circumstances may differ from the European case studies in the particulars, lessons from the experience of building successful systems in Europe can help U.S. metro regions improve the usefulness of regional transit.
SEPTA leads the way in fare collection technology
SEPTA’s new fare collection system, New Pavement Technologies, transitions SEPTA from being the last large transit agency in the U.S. using tokens to the agency with the most broad-reaching contactless fare system.