RTD issues final 'Zero Fare for Better Air' report

The Regional Transportation District of Denver yesterday submitted to Colorado state officials the agency's final report for the Zero Fare for Better Air (ZFBA) program results from August.

The report found that transit ridership increased systemwide that month, though it’s unclear whether the clean air initiative is the primary cause, RTD officials said in a press release.

The program did not have any significant impact on operations and the transit agency was able to respond to increased demand without incurring significant costs. However, the "impacts of the initiative on air quality are difficult to quantify, as there was no baseline provided," RTD officials said.

In partnership with the Colorado Energy Office, ZFBA is a statewide initiative designed to reduce ground-level ozone by increasing the use of public transit. RTD reduced fares to zero on all services in August as part of the pilot, since that month is typically the state’s "high ozone" season, RTD officials said.

Colorado's Ozone Season Free Transit Grant Program provides funding to recover up to 80% of lost fare revenue and other incurred costs in 2022 and 2023. The total cost associated with ZFBA was $10.3 million, about $9.3 million of that being fare losses.

"The data that were gathered provide a snapshot into various potential and experienced impacts across the agency’s services, all of which will help RTD garner a better understanding of customer behavior and how to approach future zero fare periods that extend beyond a day or two," said RTD General Manager and CEO Debra Johnson.

For the July-to-August period, the report shows that RTD:

• achieved an overall increase in ridership of 22%, and a 36% increase from 2021;
• an increase in average weekday daily ridership of 19.9%, and a 32.4% increase year over year; and
• an increase in light-rail and commuter-rail ridership of 15.1%, and a 12.1% increase year over year.

Additionally, ridership growth observed during the pilot continued into September, despite the resumption of fare collection, agency officials said.