Effects of deferred payment and fare manipulations on urban bus ridership

Abstract

152 Ss were exposed to various economic incentives designed to promote bus ridership and to corresponding reductions in automobile driving. The frequency of bus riding and the number of miles driven were recorded during 3-wk baseline, 4-wk treatment, and 2-wk follow-up periods. Following baseline, Ss were randomly assigned to one of the following conditions: (a) no treatment control; (b) credit only, where credit slips allowed Ss to board the bus without paying and be billed the full fare later; (c) credit plus inverted fare, where Ss were billed for half the fare if they rode the bus frequently: (d) credit plus differential fare, where Ss were billed for half the fare if they rode the bus during off-peak hours; and (e) free tickets, where Ss were not billed for bus rides. Results show that the groups did not differ in bus ridership during baseline or follow-up periods. In contrast, during treatment, Ss in the credit plus inverted fare and the free-tickets groups displayed significant increases in ridership. (13 ref) (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)