This past June, Washington, DC’s 79 Express Metrobus route hit the road as usual, but with a distinct change: no cash fares accepted. The cashless pilot program, set to run for six months on the limited-stop 79 route, is just another example of how technology is altering the transportation industry.
In the wake of significantly reduced ridership over the past few years, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) is in the beginning stages of a major bus overhaul, and cashless boarding is a big component of the plan. But it’s not without controversy.
How much does cashless fare payment improve bus speeds?
Metro is following in the footsteps of Transport for London (TfL) and San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (Muni) in San Francisco, which have eliminated cash fares altogether and reportedly seen a decrease in dwell time.
“Dwell time” is the time a bus spends idling while riders pay their fare. According to research from TransitCenter and the National Association of City Transportation Officials (which WMATA cited when making the case for the cashless route), about one-third of buses’ travel time is spent dwelling. Proponents of cash-free bus systems claim that dwell time can be vastly reduced when riders simply have to swipe or scan their card instead of dealing with cash.
However, that’s only part of the story, and Metro’s cashless system isn’t quite the same as those in San Francisco and London. For example, both Muni and TfL have all-door boarding and primarily operate in bus-only lanes.
And, as DC Metro riders found out firsthand in August, dedicated bus lanes could speed up commute times – but do nothing without enforcement. The pop-up bus lane on Rhode Island Avenue NE, put in place during the temporary Red Line shutdown, was a failure as many drivers simply ignored the lanes.
For a major metro area where daily bus and train ridership numbers are around 600,000, the number of dedicated bus lanes in Washington D.C. is arguably abysmal. There are only 12.5 miles of dedicated bus lanes in the region.
Does cashless decrease people’s access to buses?
Controversy over cash-free business models is nothing new in D.C. The same month that the 79 Express went cashless, at-large city councilmember David Grosso introduced the Cashless Retailers Prohibition Act of 2018. The bill, co-sponsored by five of Grosso’s peers, would prohibit retailers from not accepting cash or charging different prices depending on the form of payment used.
Grosso claims that cashless businesses effectively discriminate against people with low incomes, many of whom are “underbanked,” meaning that they have limited access to mainstream financial services. According to Grosso, young people, immigrants, elderly, and disabled individuals are at the greatest risk of being left behind by cash-free businesses.
Proponents of cashless business models, however, say that the benefits outweigh any potential inconveniences. Everyone will benefit from more efficient commute times, and those without credit cards or bank accounts can simply use cash to load their SmarTrip cards at Metro station kiosks or the more than 400 retailers across the area that partner with the WMATA.
And despite the controversy surrounding the cashless model, there’s no denying that it does indeed speed up bus routes. The National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) released a report in 2017 illustrating the benefits of off-board fare payments and all-door boarding.
Muni saw a 37 percent dwell time reduction after implementing all-door boarding and proof-of-payment (PoP) fare control on its vehicles beginning in 2012, according to the NACTO report. PoP is effectively an honor system, where passengers have a ticket, pass, or other proof of paid fare in hand when boarding. Transit operators or agents randomly check passengers for PoP. Further, Muni buses have become 42 percent more in tune with scheduled arrival and departure times following the policy changes.
Are cash-free fares inevitable?
Some proponents believe that going cashless is simply the next step in the evolution of commerce, which started with bartering and trading shells, precious stones, and metals. The first electronic fund transfer occurred in 1860, and credit cards were introduced in 1951.
Following the first contactless payment in 2005 and the subsequent launch of Bitcoin and other virtual currencies, an entirely cashless payment model appears to be on the horizon in a variety of industries, including transportation. Within the transportation demand management realm, the widespread use of virtual currency could make transit more efficient and secure.
Final takeaway
Cashless economies are a major player in the digital currency revolution, and Metro’s cashless buses are the latest step towards widespread implementation of digital-only business models in DC and across the country. WMATA is already considering expanding its cashless pilot program to additional limited-stop bus routes. But, as we have seen, cashless buses are just a small piece of the mobility puzzle — additional bus lanes and all-door boarding should be implemented alongside the cash-free model.
Photo by Sam Kittner for Mobility Lab.