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From page 15... ... 15 Introduction In early 2017, the investigators conducted an on-line survey on a cross-section of transit agencies and universities with U-Pass programs. They received responses from 21 of 25 surveyed locations for a response rate of 84%. Read the entire page →
From page 16... ... 16 College Student transit pass programs Community & Agency Name (Start Year) Responder's Title Service Area Population * Read the entire page →
From page 17... ... Survey results 17 Community & Agency Name (Start Year) Responder's Title Service Area Population * Read the entire page →
From page 18... ... 18 College Student Transit Pass Programs City Institution Name (Start Year) Responder's Title Undergraduate Enrollment* Read the entire page →
From page 19... ... Survey results 19 Type of Partner Institution Twenty partner institutions (2 colleges and 18 universities) replied to the survey. Read the entire page →
From page 20... ... 20 College Student transit pass programs model (14 of 21) Read the entire page →
From page 21... ... Survey Results 21 Characteristics Respondents Agency Partner Institution Region Northeast 2 6 South 5 4 Midwest 7 4 West 5 5 Canada 2 1 Total 21 20 Service Area Very Large Metro 5 3 Large Metro 3 2 Metro 9 10 College Town 4 5 Total 21 20 Model of Operations* Self-operated 1 1 1-1 4 3 1-M 10 9 M-M 6 7 Total 21 20 Age of Programs <=10 years 4 2 11-20 years 8 9 >=21 years 8 4 Don't know 1 5 Total 21 20 Note: * Read the entire page →
From page 22... ... 22 College Student transit pass programs Notes: n (transit agencies) = 21, n (institutions) Read the entire page →
From page 23... ... Survey results 23 overwhelming majority of the responding agencies conducts operations planning on transit routes, scheduling, timetable development, and user information distribution (90%) ; collects data and evaluates the impacts of the program (90%) Read the entire page →
From page 24... ... 24 College Student transit pass programs Student Roles Students are critical to the success of the U-Pass program and at some places they are involved in the governance of the transit systems. Therefore, the investigators included a question in the institution questionnaire regarding student roles. Read the entire page →
From page 25... ... Survey results 25 Category Students Only Faculty Employees General Public Percentage (number of responding transit agencies) Read the entire page →
From page 26... ... 26 College Student transit pass programs There was considerable variation in the student status needed to use the pass. Eligibility varied as follows: • All students, including non-credit students, were eligible for the pass at 3 agencies and 3 institutions; • Only students taking credit courses were eligible at 13 agencies and 11 institutions; • Only students paying segregated fees were eligible at 2 agencies and 6 institutions; • Only students participating in state-funded programs or courses were eligible at 1 institution; • Students enrolled at least half time were eligible at 2 agencies and 1 institution; • Only full-time students were eligible at 7 agencies and 4 institutions; • Only graduate students were allowed to use the pass at 1 institution. Read the entire page →
From page 27... ... Survey results 27 Community Transit Agency Institution Name Percent Annual number Name Percent Annual number Hartford, CT Connecticut Transit–Hartford Division N/A N/A Capital Community College 60% N/A Trinity College 90-100% N/A Central Connecticut State University N/A 1,000 State College, PA Centre Area Transportation Authority (CATA) N/A N/A Pennsylvania State University 3.2% N/A Ithaca, NY Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit, Inc. Read the entire page →
From page 28... ... Community Transit Agency Institution Name Percent Annual number Name Percent Annual number Boston, MA Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) 4% N/A Harvard University N/A N/A San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys, CA Foothill Transit 7% N/A Mt. Read the entire page →
From page 29... ... Survey results 29 (40% of the agencies, 45% of the institutions) ; Dial-a-Ride/accessible paratransit (55% of the agencies, 30% of the institutions) Read the entire page →
From page 30... ... 30 College Student transit pass programs • Sun Tran in Tucson set up a modern streetcar route linking the University of Arizona to downtown Tucson and three commercial/entertainment districts and added this route into the existing U-Pass program in 2014. • As indicated by the University of Wisconsin–Madison: "In initial years of the program, few changes were made. Read the entire page →
From page 31... ... Survey results 31 • Program-specific stripe card (reported by Pennsylvania State University) ; • Student ID with pass and cash (reported by University of California Los Angeles) Read the entire page →
From page 32... ... 32 College Student Transit Pass Programs Community Transit Agency Institution Name Budget (Dollars) Name Budget (Dollars) Read the entire page →
From page 33... ... Funding Source Number of Transit Agencies Number of Institutions Federal, state, and local government 5 5 Parking fees 2 9 Fare 2 3 Public transit operator 3 2 Advertising 2 2 Private subsidy 0 0 School general fund 3 2 Student fees 13 14 Other 2 3 Note: n (transit agencies) = 17, n (institutions) Read the entire page →
From page 34... ... 34 College Student transit pass programs In some cases, users can voluntarily purchase a pass if students are not enrolled in classes (e.g., non-credit students, special program students, etc.) Read the entire page →
From page 35... ... Survey results 35 Challenges The survey also asked about the challenges faced by transit agencies and institutions (see Figures 15 and 16, respectively) Read the entire page →
From page 36... ... 36 College Student transit pass programs Performance Measures and Evaluation Sources of Performance Measures The investigators asked respondents "What kind of data do you use to evaluate the program? " As shown in Figure 17, among the 20 responding agencies and 19 responding institutions, the most commonly used performance measures are ridership data (100% of the agencies, 89% of the institutions) Read the entire page →
From page 37... ... Survey results 37 in 2010 taking 4,189,000 rides a year. We also adjusted the program so students would pay for the U-Pass in two terms but be able to use it in all 3 terms. Read the entire page →
From page 38... ... 38 College Student transit pass programs Levels of Satisfaction The survey asked the degree of satisfaction with the program. A five-level satisfaction scale was used by both responding agencies and institutions (i.e., very satisfied = 5; satisfied = 4; neutral = 3; dissatisfied = 2; very dissatisfied = 1) Read the entire page →
From page 39... ... Survey results 39 Lessons Learned An open-ended question asked respondents what they would have done differently when the program was implemented. A total of 7 transit agencies responded with comments about eligibility, smart card technology, financing, contracts and other items, as given in Table 14. Read the entire page →
From page 40... ... 40 College Student transit pass programs compatibility, simplify the contracting process, and ensure that the price of the pass is appropriate. Other suggestions included having an effective marketing program; improving administration of the pass; developing and maintaining good communications among the transit agency, students, and institutions; and better anticipating demand for the program. Read the entire page →
From page 41... ... Survey results 41 Program Design and Implementation • Eligibility: Students, faculty, and staff, or even the general public can be eligible for a U-Pass. There is considerable variation in the student status required to participate in the pass program. Read the entire page →
From page 42... ... 42 College Student transit pass programs Levels of Satisfaction • Satisfaction: In general, both the responding agencies and the institutions are very satisfied or satisfied with the U-Pass. • Unsuccessful experiences: Some respondents had unsuccessful experiences in implementing the program due to university administrator resistance, university concern about loss of parking revenue, student opposition to fee increases, lack of transit service on campus, limited resources on campus, and problems with including part-time students (fees too high for what they were willing to accept) Read the entire page →

From page 15...

... 15 Introduction In early 2017, the investigators conducted an on-line survey on a cross-section of transit agencies and universities with U-Pass programs. They received responses from 21 of 25 surveyed locations for a response rate of 84%.