People like free stuff. It’s a fact of life.
And it’s a fact San Diego took a huge gamble on this past Tuesday (October 2nd) by making all public transportation free for one day.
San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) and Metropolitan Transit System (MTS), the county’s regional transit agency, waived all fares to encourage people to “try transit.” Across the county, riders were greeted by transit officials and entered to win a one-year unlimited transit pass and other giveaways.
Rob Schupp, director of marketing and communications for MTS, said that the idea of Free Ride Day was “born out of both necessity and opportunity.” Schupp said that while San Diego formerly was an outlier in the national trend of declining transit ridership, the region’s aggressive Climate Action goals requires all 18 cities in the county, as well as major employers, to encourage residents to switch from driving alone to transit commutes.
Schupp was encouraged by the support from local government. “We had every city and mayor issuing proclamations and pushing transit messaging.”
While Free Ride Day would result in between $75,000 and $125,000 in lost revenue, Schupp hopes that the initiative will educate people on how taking transit can save them money, time, and become an enjoyable part of their day. MTS partnerships with transportation organizations such as Lyft and Uber provided users $5 off trips originating or ending at a trolley stop, and electric-scooter company Bird gave away free helmets and ride credits to Free Ride Day participants.
This isn’t the first time a transit agency has temporarily eliminated fares to encourage residents to try its service. In December of 2016, Paris made all public transit free following a significant spike in pollution. Earlier this year, Seoul deployed a similar strategy to tackle the country’s growing pollution problem.
Photo of the MTS Trolley by Paul Sullivan via Creative Commons.