Nicole Bishop Class Pass Effectiveness May 9 2005 Cost Effectiveness of the Class Pass Nicole Bishop Abstract The AC Transit Class Pass at UC Berkeley an unlimited access pass to the Alameda County public transportation system is provided to students of the University for a mandatory fee This study examines the costs and benefits of the Class Pass system Student focus groups and data from student surveys were used to determine student attitudes and modal choices Emissions statistics average operating costs and parking data for cars and buses as well as the change in amount and route of buses since the institution of the Class Pass are also used in quantifying the benefit to students AC Transit the community and the environment Results show that the monetary cost to the student body as a whole is greater than the average student benefit but because of varied student attitudes an increase in the mandatory fee could affect willingness to pay An overall benefit to AC Transit as a result of guaranteed income is shown but is somewhat diminished by illegal Class Pass sales The benefits to the environment and community are generally positive because of decreases in car use with no significant increases in number of buses resulting in fewer emissions Implications of the study indicate that the Class Pass may be more beneficial if it was an optional fee where only users would pay for the service p 1 Nicole Bishop Class Pass Effectiveness May 9 2005 Introduction The AC Transit Class Pass was instituted for UC Berkeley students in 1999 Heagerty and Tanphanich 2003 It is one of many unlimited access programs being implemented by universities across the country Brown et al 2001 providing students with the unlimited use of the buses in Alameda County as part of student fees Currently for a mandatory fee of 37 20 per semester 34 20 in 2001 and 2002 the student receives a Class Pass sticker for their ID card The system was instituted as a service to the students and because of the success of similar systems at other schools One of the principle reasons many schools establish such systems is to provide incentive for using the public transportation system and thereby minimize the use of personal transportation by students in urban areas without the infrastructure to support a large quantity of vehicles Brown et al 2001 While generally hailed as a success because 88 of the students voting in the referendum 30 9 of students voted to implement the pass in 2001 http bearfacts berkeley edu election results html the costs and benefits of this fixed fee have not been studied This study examines the transportation outcomes of the Class Pass to determine whether or not this fee is benefiting the groups that it is affecting including UC Berkeley students AC Transit the surrounding community and the environment The validity of unlimited access systems has been studied at UCLA Brown et al 2001 and the success of systems has been studied at many universities Brown et al 2003 Panayotova 2000 Daggett and Gutkowski 2002 EPA 2003 Transportation Research Board 2003 Garder 2002 These studies have revealed a positive impact for these universities and communities UCLA s program was considered a success based on the change in commuter ridership with a decrease in commuting by 20 and an increase in student bus use by 56 Parking demand was also taken into account with the waiting list decreasing by over 1000 students Brown et al 2003 Non commute rides costs and benefits to Blue Bus UCLA s transit system and the benefits to the community were also taken into account in the study Because each campus and transportation system is unique whether or not the unlimited access system is efficient for a particular school has to be studied individually The extent of the transportation system other modal options i e biking driving or walking layout of the school and attitude of the students can all affect the success of an individual program While surveys of whether or not the students are generally satisfied with the Class Pass system have been implemented there has been no study assessing whether the system is achieving decreased p 2 Nicole Bishop Class Pass Effectiveness May 9 2005 driving to campus or reducing the cost of attending college which have been used as criteria for assessing unlimited access programs Brown et al 2001 or how the surrounding community and environment are affected These are questions that will be examined in my analysis of the cost effectiveness of the Class Pass In analyzing the costs and benefits of the Class Pass I expect that there will be some similarities and differences between Berkeley and other schools such as UCLA Some possible differences can come from the attitudes of students the infrastructure of the transportation system or the topography of the campuses The preferences at UCLA were not looked at but the steep incline at UC Berkeley increases the probability of students using the bus for short distances I expect Berkeley to be similar to UCLA in costs and benefits to AC Transit and benefits to the community because these would not be highly different as a result of the topographical differences On the other hand I expect to see a difference in the commuter and non commuter rides because of the campus layout and community I expect that there are fewer commuters in Berkeley and that more people now take the bus for short distances in place of walking or biking because of the incline of our campus After instituting the pass increased ridership by students prompted AC Transit to expand and improve its system Cole 1999 however a large portion of the rides are non commuter survey 2001 Many students would choose the cheaper and more environmentally friendly options of walking or riding bikes to substitute the bus system if the Class Pass was not a mandatory fee survey 1997 Rodriguez and Joo 2004 suggest that development of transit systems needs to take into account modal choices of the users finding that the infrastructure influences which mode is preferred They found that preferences for biking and walking decrease in sloped areas which could explain the increased use of the AC transit system when it became a mandatory flat fee However an increase in use of the bus without a corresponding decrease in car use would render the program less successful If the service is being underutilized or is being used primarily in place of walking or biking the student fees could be subsidizing an unjustified
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