The Benefits of Fare Capping

As transit agencies struggle to boost their ridership and adjust to the new realities of transportation in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, some advocates are promoting fare capping as one way to support low-income riders and make transit more affordable for frequent travelers.

As Skip Descant explains in Governing, “once a rider pays the equivalency of a monthly pass — whether that takes a week or two — the remaining rides that month are free. Or, once multiple transfers on a given trip reach a certain amount, the rest of the day’s trips are free.”

According to Descant, “Fare capping is seen as not only a key piece of transportation equity but also a way to grow loyalty among riders. And the payment technology — contactless payments, mobile ticketing and other advancements — is making fare capping an easier policy lift for transit organizations.” Christian Henry, senior vice president and general manager, North America eastern region at Cubic Transportation Systems, points out that “In transportation, the convenience of open payments on phones and wearables is helping New York, but the unbanked or those without devices still need the ability to use cash with dignity and have access to the benefits of fare capping through agency-issued fare media.”

The article describes a contactless fare pilot program called the California Integrated Travel Project (Cal-ITP), which “offers technical support to all California transit agencies interested in deploying a contactless fare payment system that includes fare capping.” To date, “As part of Cal-ITP, tap-to-pay systems — which are also fare-capping systems — have been deployed on the Monterey-Salinas Transit system, Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District and Sacramento Regional Transit District (SacRT) light rail.”