Date created: | Last Updated:

Category: Project

Description: The cost of transportation presents a number of challenges for low-income Washingtonians: making it harder to get a job, maintain a job, access social services, obtain healthcare, and care for their families. Building on the District’s other initiatives to address cost as a barrier to transit equity, such as the Mayor’s 2019 Free Circulator bus trial and Kids Ride Free program, the District and WMATA are conducting a randomized evaluation of free and discounted transit fares. We will look at the impact of cost on low-income residents’ public transit use and overall well-being. The findings may inform initiatives that make public transit more accessible to low-income residents.