Next Door to BC, the Bus Is Free
Fare-free transit on Whidbey Island is a 20-year success story.
[Editor's note: This is the second in a five-part series funded by you, the readers who donated to a Tyee Fellowship for Solutions-oriented Reporting. To find out more about Tyee Fellowships, click here. To learn more about the series' author, Dave Olsen, go here. Or listen to the audio interview with Olsen by Katherine Gretsinger.]
Have you ever imagined a world where riders of public transit pay no fares, the atmosphere on board every bus is calm and friendly, and all buses not only have bike racks and are wheelchair accessible, but are completely free of advertisements?
Do you want to experience the real thing? Then come along on my visit to Whidbey Island in Northwest Washington State. After all, the journey is half the fun, right?
First, I rode my bike into downtown Vancouver and took TransLink's 351 to White Rock. The fare: $4.50.
Just over an hour later, I got off the bus, got on my bike and rode five kilometres across the border to Blaine's City Hall. Crossing the border was surprisingly easy, despite the non-existent facilities for cyclists (I guess "terrorists" don't ride bikes). After a yummy Mexican-American meal, I was ready for Whatcom County's (WTA) new commuter service.
WTA's 70X bus took me to downtown Bellingham in just less than an hour. The fare: 75 cents.
In Bellingham, I transferred onto a Skagit County bus called the 80X. The fare: 75 cents. Another hour later, I was at Skagit Station in Mt. Vernon, Washington, right beside the train station. Island Transit bus 411W was gleaming in the light as it waited for us to arrive. No advertising anywhere on this immaculately clean shuttle-type bus. The fare: nichts, nada, zilch-o!
Welcome aboard!
The operator was the first of many I would meet who personified Island Transit's philosophy: friendly folks putting people first. Their management team told me that skills such as driving, dispatching, office administering or maintaining vehicles can be learned. But the people skills are the special ones that make their entire system shine.
Island Transit operations manager Frank Vande Werfhorst had alerted the driver that I needed a ride beyond the last stop so Mark became my tour guide as well as the operator of my bus. I had a look at their Harbor Station in Oak Harbor, which is a deluxe passenger waiting area with three spacious shelter/huts that keep the wind and rain out and provide a water fountain and telephone. The station includes a well-equipped office where drivers can eat and rest between runs. I couldn't believe it was 10 years old, it looked so new.
I was dropped right in front of my bed & breakfast and would have felt embarrassed for the service if this evening wasn't so frosty and dark.
The next day, the real fun began. I met their executive director, Martha Rose, and many of her staff while I came to understand the miracle that they've created over the past 20 years. Despite the pressure to conform, the pressure to make users pay, and the pressure from conservative politicians at all levels, Island Transit has been fare-free from day one and is proudly so today.
Here are some numbers to compare what Island Transit did last year to what BC Transit accomplished in the Regional District of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island.
| Island Transit (includes vanpool) | BC Transit in Nanaimo | |
|---|---|---|
| Service Population | 79,252 | 92,300 |
| Ridership | 1,101,711 (902,793 for buses; 198,918 for vanpools) | 2,317,763 |
| Service Kilometres | 4,548,706 (2,804,721 for buses; 1,743,984 for vanpools) | 2,263,992 |
| Service Hours | 71,031 (all buses) | 94,333 |
| Vehicles in Service | 56 buses; 101 vans | 31 buses |
| Operating Budget | $8,392,677 ($0 from fares; all from a 0.6% sales tax collected in Island County) | $6,906,910 ($3,065,488 from fares) |
The first thing that sticks out for me is ridership. Every operator I saw in the Island Transit system counted every passenger that boarded and filled out a tracking sheet at the end of every run and shift. I trust their numbers.
Compare this method with the one used in Nanaimo. Steve New, the senior vice president for the Municipal Systems Program of BC Transit, explained the count for Nanaimo this way: "Revenue passengers are those who pay a fare once, do not include transfers, calculated from sample surveys of passengers by fare category, tariff product sales data and reported revenue." I've never seen these surveys being conducted despite riding Nanaimo buses weekly for years. I've never seen a full bus in Nanaimo, either.
Back on Whidbey Island, the Island Transit buses that meet (and wait for) the ferry to and from Everett, Washington were full in the mid afternoon while the commute-hour times packed multiple buses.
A multi-modal paradise
All of Island Transit's buses are bike rack equipped and wheelchair accessible and have been for many years. TransLink in Vancouver promised that all buses would be bike-rack equipped by 2005, but many still operate without racks today (the new trolleys don't allow bikes on their racks at night!).
Power of Free Transit
"Free transit changed the [Amherst, Massachusetts] region for the better. Students, teens, and the elderly were able to move much more freely through the region. Some ascribed the resurgence of Northampton, Massachusetts, at least in part, to the availability of free transit. Fares in that region would have provided such a small percentage of capital and operating costs that their loss was made up for by contributions by the major institutions to benefit: the five colleges in the region.
"In our region the process has already, in its way, begun with the success of the U-Pass system for UBC and SFU. Other large institutions can and should negotiate inclusion. In this way we can have a step-wise process to fare free (as distinct from totally free) transit."
--Professor Patrick M. Condon, UBC James Taylor chair in Landscape and Liveable Environments, Design Centre for Sustainability at UBC
For folks with disabilities, Island Transit also offers a Para-transit service with door-to-door service. This is often achieved by using their regular buses which can deviate up to 3/4 of a mile from the regular route.
Their bike-and-ride lots even feature beautifully-roofed racks for locking your bike, and are located at the entrance of every one of their car park-and-ride lots.
Recently, Island Transit replaced their two-bike racks to racks holding three. TransLink claims three-bike racks are unsafe and told me they won't use them. On Island Transit buses as well as WTA and Skagit County buses, I put my bike in all three positions and didn't experience any problems.
Even better, if the racks get full on Island Transit, the operator will allow the fourth or more bike to come on board, as long as there is room. Operators aren't allowed to do this in the Lower Mainland or Nanaimo.
I've been passed up too many times to count, both in Vancouver and in Nanaimo, when there were two bikes already in the rack. Once, in Nanaimo, a driver tried to drive away with my bike after refusing to allow me to get my panniers from the bus stop. He even looped around after that, passing me by without a single bike on his bus rack. I reported this immediately and followed up with repeated requests, but a year later the driver's supervisor finally responded that the matter was closed. No explanation and no promise to prevent a similar event in the future.
Getting around is definitely better on Whidbey Island.
Safe space on wheels
One of the many side-benefits to fare-free systems is that they create another safe public space. Martha Rose, Island Transit's Executive Director since 1988, told me about how a book club was formed on one of their buses.
That runs counter to the prejudices some people have about fare-free transit. On my trip down to Whidbey Island, the WTA bus operator kept telling me how homeless people would sleep on fare-free buses and how the unwashed would drive away the regular riders. (I guess he assumed homeless folks or people who don't shower as often as he does don't qualify as regular riders.)
Tyee Interview
Listen to audio: Kathryn Gretsinger interviews Dave Olsen about the reasons for making transit free.
That operator's pessimism is not uncommon among transit officials clinging to the status quo. "If there is no fare charged, vandalism might be unmanageable. I believe there must be some payment, no matter how low, so that there is respect for the service, the system, and our fellow passengers." So stated a staff person for GO Transit in Toronto. The problem is his view is based on pure conjecture, and fear of the unknown.
Such warnings certainly didn't pan out on my trip to Whidbey Island.
Island Transit has developed a simple and seemingly effective policy around dealing with behaviour that is unruly, or disturbing to others: "The operator is the captain of their own ship." This is backed up by a state law regarding unlawful bus conduct. A bothersome rider first gets a written warning. The next time, his or her riding privileges are revoked. These privileges are only restored after completing a Rider Privilege Agreement. Although this procedure is undoubtedly more easily implemented in a smaller system, its fairness was obvious and its effectiveness seemed irrefutable.
And unlike the transit systems in Nanaimo and Vancouver, Island Transit has further protected their employees by installing a camera system in every vehicle. The big brotherness of it is acknowledged, but the safety of their operators simply takes priority.
"Show me another transit system in Washington State," said Island Transit operator Odis D. Jenkins, "where the teenagers more often than not say 'thank you' when they get off."
Penny pinching
Island Transit is not immune from funding struggles. In 1999, State Initiative 695 eliminated the motor vehicle excise tax as a source of revenue for transit systems, taking away 60 per cent of Island Transit's funding at the time. They've since more than doubled their 1999 operating budget by doubling the local sales tax collected (60 cents, up from 30 cents, for every $100 spent in Island County). The district could legally increase the sales tax by another 0.3 per cent, or 30 cent per $100 spent, if and when local voters are asked to approve it.
Currently, the maintenance/administrative "barn" Island Transit uses is stretched beyond thin. There is one washroom for over 90 employees. There are two maintenance bays for 56 buses and over 100 vans. The desperate need for a new maintenance facility is made more urgent by their new, soon-to-be delivered 40 foot buses, which won't fit into the existing bays. These new buses are needed because their 35 foot buses are filled to capacity.
The brain trust behind Island Transit really looks at the big picture. They were the first in Washington State to reuse their oil by installing a waste oil burner and in so doing, reduced their heating costs dramatically. They recycle all of the water they use to clean their vehicles, which is a critical resource on any island in the Pacific Northwest. And recently, many of their bus shelters were outfitted with solar-powered lighting systems.
One of the many things we could learn from Island Transit is how they've worked with the Washington State Ferry system to prioritize walk-on, cycling, and vanpool travelers. Buses meet every ferry (at a half hour frequency from 4:40 a.m. to 11 p.m.), drop their passengers within steps of the ferry, load ferry travelers and depart the terminal before any car traffic starts to unload. Vanpools load and offload the ferry first and are guaranteed never to wait even one sailing.
Blessedly ad-free
Not one Island Transit bus, shelter, or van had advertising on it. Not inside, not outside. Although they could be promoting themselves in these spaces, it was refreshing and liberating to not have this public space consumed by private corporations. I couldn't remember the last time I was able to lift my head up while traveling on any public transit vehicle without closing my eyes. And I knew instantly when an Island Transit bus was coming!
Actually, why do transit systems anywhere allow advertisements for cars and trucks? BC Transit and TransLink both claim they make money from advertising, but how many customers/clients/riders have they lost because of it? If you bought a car, would you allow the manufacturer to plaster the inside with ads? Do you think grocery stores would accept ads on their grocery carts from other grocery stores?
Returning home was as easy as getting down to Whidbey Island except now I was used to stepping off and on buses at will with no worries about fares or transfers. It simply seemed archaic to see fare boxes, and worse, to try to find the correct change. The operator on the Island Transit bus that took me -- for free -- to Mt. Vernon didn't know I was a reporter but chatted with me the entire way, nonetheless.
This transit island definitely has a different approach to life, and it's one I'd like to live.
Tomorrow, we'll look at Belgium to explore the fare-free system that has changed the face of transit in many European cities and towns.
Related Tyee stories:
- Jane Jacobs Jars Our Memories
For all our technical advances, says the noted thinker, we're forgetting a lot of crucial stuff. - John Baird, Light Rail Killer
Did Tories' new enviro minister undercut a big light rail project to settle a political score? A Tyee special report. - Greenwashing Gateway
P3 firms are no fools. To make profit, Port Mann traffic must surge.
![[Tyee]](http://thetyee.cachefly.net/ui/img/ico_fishie.png){kind=small}
fpass
06-07-2007
Great article! I'm glad I
Great article! I'm glad I donated to the fund.
On a tangential note, why doesn't Translink operate a bus across the border to connect with Whatcom Transit? It is possible from a legal standpoint, as Windsor Transit in Ontario runs a bus into downtown Detroit. Imagine being able to get from downtown Vancouver (or Nanaimo, Victoria, or Sechelt, if you add a ferry) to Seattle or Tacoma entirely on public transit!
Grumpy
06-07-2007
Want to learn about modern public transport?
If anyone wants to learn about modern public transport philosophy. please read Prof. of Urban Transport, Carmen Haas-Klau's Bus or Light Rail. making the right choice, Vols. 1 & 2 and Future of Urban Transport. Only after these internationally acclaimed studies, will one get a grip of the problems and solution for public transport.
I strongly recommend Mr. Olsen and Mr. Beers read these studies and refrain from the 'free fare' debates, until they begin to understand the problems.
The main concern of transit planners in Europe is to design a new transit system that will attract the motorist from the car and buses have proven not to be a solution. Nor are metro's like SkyTrain.
Stephen Rees
06-07-2007
a bus across the border
Translink did study this for quite a while. The easiest way to do it would have been to have the buses loop either side of the border crossing and have passengers walk across. This is simply because of complex jurisdictional issues. But that means space being set aside for bus loops and the border authorities have much more pressing and important issues to worry about than a short walk for bus passengers. And for Translink, there are much higher priorities for additional service than people who live or work "abroad" - and therefore do not pay taxes to support the system.
Dave2
06-07-2007
Good Question
"how many customers/clients/riders have they lost because of [advertising]?
Honestly, how many potential customers are there that _could_ take the bus/sktyrain to work but would rather drive just because of the advertising? That number must be statistically insignificant.
Grumpy
06-07-2007
Looser cruisers
One item not addressed is that, for many, buses are 'loose cruisers' and the vast majority of people will not take a bus!
All free transit would do is give current riders a free ride, not attract new ridership. Sad fact is we have career bureaucrats and career academics pontification on transit, yet very few understand the problems involved.
Providing better transit is not an engineering nor a planning problem, it is a transit problem. We do not give degrees in urban transportation, nor is there a faculty of urban transportation.
Here lies the problem, a lot of well meaning people, who think they know the solutions fail to solve the ongoing transit debacle. The notion of 'free' transit would not attract the motorist from the car, thus a 'free' transit system would slowly deteriorate from lack of competitive forces; it would indeed be a 'looser cruiser' of huge proportions.
Question:
What do you want your transit to accomplish?
werdnagreb
06-07-2007
Expensive
Great article! Really enjoying this series so far, but there's something that you neglected to discuss.
The Island Transit seems very expensive. It has less than half the number of riders than BC transit does and yet its budget is 1.5 million more. Why does it cost so much more to operate?
snert
06-07-2007
You're missing the point Grumpy
Free transit is all about providing incentive to use the systems available. There is nothing to indicate that "light rail/bus" would do that all by itself. It may be a more cost effective system but if I am not going to ride a bus or take the WCE or Skytrain then why the hell would I ride light rail.
From Wiki on Grenoble
"The city center is famous for its complex system of one-way streets, the grid-lock on which adds to the local air pollution. The motorway system into the city is particularly poorly designed, with backups many miles long occurring frequently. In summer, pollution alerts further increase congestion by reducing speed limits."
Looks like the transit system really works well.
rac
06-07-2007
Agreeing with Grumpy
I'll do something unusual here and concur with Grumpy at least for now.
While certainly fares are a bit high and the increase does not make much sense, the issue in this region is lack of buses and trains because of on-going provincial underfunding of transit. Getting rid of fares right now would create havoc. Look what is happening on the B-line.
Lets double or trip the number of buses, create an LRT network in the Valley and then look at free fares.
While the u-pass did increase transit ridership, it only decreased car use by around 3% (I think). Most of the increase came from people who were walking, cycling and car-pooling switching to transit. If this is the case for free fares, the GHG emissions aren't going to be reduced by that much.
Fares generate around $250 million dollars (I think). If this money was available from the government, I'm not sure if free transit would be my first choice. How about free (or cheaper) housing or free food. Both housing and food are more essential to life than transit. Not sure if the sales tax in Whitby is on food but if it was it would be ironic that food is subsidizing transit.
Michael
06-07-2007
More deregulation instead
Instead of shoveling more money at transit, why don't we deregulate? We should allow private contractors to bid on bus lines and compete on efficiency and customer focus.
I am sure some of the readers remember the seventies when long distance call cost an arm and leg and service levels were non-existent. Deregulation has brought us a vibrant telecommunications industry of unimaginable service levels. The same with the airline industry before the introduction of blue sky legislation. Prices have tumbled and safety levels have stayed the same and even improved. Why can't we do the same for mass transit?
Much of the author's complaints about our bus system are the result of bureaucratic inertia: it is safer and easier to do nothing than to do something. Competing private bus operators would provide more customer focus instead of protecting-your-butt focus.
Grumpy
06-07-2007
Grenoble
'snert' - Grenoble has been a great success and a show case for modern light rail. It was the endemic auto congestion that compelled city politicians to built LRT, as a metro (SkyTrain/RAV)was much too little for much too much cost.
Grenoble proved the concept of the low-floor car (a LRV with a floor height 350 mm above the rails), bringing a high standard of public transit to the mobility impaired.
Carrying only 50,000 persons a day when it first opened in 1987, the Grenoble LRT now carries well over 230,000 passengers per day on two lines. A third line is now under construction. The modal shift from car to transit is well over 50%! The problem with Grenoble, as with most R/T systems is that ridership comes from about 300 metres radius around each station or stop (TransLink claims 1 km radius for RAV!) and the trick is to affordably build more and more lines.
Remember, LRT is not a panacea, unlike claims for RAV and SkyTrain, but with a proven modal shift, unlike SkyTrain, Grenoble's LRT is a hallmark of a successful LRT system.
Grumpy
06-07-2007
What do you want your transit to do?
Here is the mistake that Olsen, et al, make about urban transit: Fares alone will not attract the motorist from the car. Higher fares only discourage the transit dependent from using transit.
Free transit in Vancouver would be a disaster and hugely expensive. Trick is to provide a high quality of public transport at an affordable price.
Free transit may encourage more use of the transit system by existing transit users, but it will not attract the all important motorist from the car. So why bother.
Again I stress, the free fares issue is a none issue, presented by people with little or no knowledge of the subject. You want to to improve public transit here are some ideas that were shot down:
1) Making our bus lines conform to European bus-stop distances 500 to 700 metres instead of 200 to 300 metres.
2) Instead of a $2.4 billion RAV, extend the Oak street trolley service to #3 Rd. & Steveston Hwy. Cost $300 million.
3) LRT from Downtown Vancouver to Steveston, via Arbutus. Cost $800 million.
4) LRT from UBC to BCIT via Broadway. This would replace completely all bus services on Broadway. I was told by someone in the 'trade' that this could run at a profit! Cost $800 million, could be built with private funds.
5) Extend the Hastings trolleys to SFU. Cost $200 million
6) Extend the Kingsway trolley to New West minster. Cost 200 million.
The previous transit improvements, in total costing as much as RAV, would probably attract many more new customers than RAV.
Michael
07-07-2007
Why does LRT make sense?
With a 70 percent pop growth forecast for Vanouver and a 100 percent pop growth forecast for Richmond, how does LRT between the two city centres make sense? With agricultural land reserve to one side and water to the other, we don't have the room. We are not Calgary, thank god. How about this. If we really wanted to save money on RAV, we could have reversed the heritage designation for Cambie boulevard and built on top.
Moosebeer
07-07-2007
Pay for Public Transit...are you kidding?
The one thing that motivates most people is money. Heck, it is evident in some of the posts. Many of you don't want to see people getting a "free-ride". Do you know that most of the people who take transit are poor, elderly, or handicapped? I think it is disgusting that we ask these unfortunately individuals to pay a fare to get to their doctor's appointment or to their minimum wage job.
Grumpy
07-07-2007
From the Seattle PI - free bus fares
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/transportation/322858_freebus07.html
Moosebeer
08-07-2007
We must start using public transportation
I believe this thread is a little off topic. Rather than discussing the merits of fare-free public transportation which is to increase ridership, it has shifted towards costs and who is going to pay for it.
We need to find ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions immediately and getting people to use public transportation is one of the ways to acheive those goals.
It is not a question of whether we can afford it, it is a question of can we afford not to do it?
Jay Currie
09-07-2007
Great idea and workable
Grumpy is right about people in cars: they are not going to get out of their cars unless and until they begin to bear the full cost of their road use, traffic congestion, pollution and, if you believe in this sort of thing, CO2 emissions. Of course, actually pricing car travel correctly would lead to a revolution in the burbs which, while amusing to contemplate, would strike horror in any politician hoping for election and a shot at government.
However, it would make great sense to take those costs and give them to the carless in the form of free or radically reduced transit passes. One way to do this is to send every British Columbian who does not have a car registered to his or her address a yearly transit pass. (And, yes, some people will cheat and yes this is rough justice for folks who live in East Elbow and need a car to live - I can live with that.)
People who chose not to own a car - a group of which I am a proud member - or who cannot afford to own a car - a group whose membership I enter and exit depending on the month - receive no benefit but pay for roads and the like just the same. They breathe the pollution and, if they are riding the bus, have to put up with the traffic congestion. They deserve a break.
paddy74
10-07-2007
lower fares would increase the appeal..
I must say, I am first and foremost a driver. I travel for work, I am all over the city. On my days off I try to look for opportunity to park the car, but even driving a full size truck the cost of a two zone transit pass is not very economically appealing. At $4.50 I can pretty much drive my truck for the same price, and let's face it, your own vehicle is almost always more convenient. I am only factoring gas, not insurance and maintenance, but for me the added convenience of having a vehicle to stow belongings, have complete freedom of schedule (the transit schedule can often be limiting as well, especially when unplanned adventures arise) makes transit far less appealing. As far as I'm concerned the only attractive option is the skytrain, since it is not limited to roads and the usual traffic congestion. Although, the LRT system rarley links up to my destination, and still involves the most unappealing bus service previously mentioned.
snert
10-07-2007
Don't pat yourself on the back too hard.
Jay Currie
People who chose not to own a car - a group of which I am a proud member - or who cannot afford to own a car - a group whose membership I enter and exit depending on the month - receive no benefit but pay for roads and the like just the same. They breathe the pollution and, if they are riding the bus, have to put up with the traffic congestion. They deserve a break.
You might hurt yourself.
Car owners pay their way, more than their way, they probably contribute significantly to your way as well.