(A) Today, there is no comprehensive regional policy regarding interagency fare products or the allocation of interagency fare revenue. The existing interagency fare products and revenue allocation schemes are established and governed by a series of intergovernmental agreements executed between the Service Boards, without RTA being party. These agreements have provided the region’s transit customers with five fare products (Table 1 below) that can be used for travel on two or more service boards.
Table 1: Interagency Fare Products | ||||
Product | Agencies | How it Works | Cost | Revenue Allocation* |
Table 1: Interagency Fare Products | ||||
Product | Agencies | How it Works | Cost | Revenue Allocation* |
30-day pass | CTA and Pace | Unlimited rides on CTA and Pace | $86 ($35 reduced) | Sold by CTA and Pace. CTA provides Pace 13,300 full fare and 1,000 reduced fare passes annually to sell. Pace keeps revenue from sales (up to $1,180,000). CTA pays Pace additional $500k. |
LinkUp | CTA, Metra and Pace | Unlimited rides on CTA (weekday peak periods only), Metra and Pace during valid month | Cost of Metra monthly + $45 | Only sold by Metra. Metra pays CTA $38.25 per LinkUp sold. Metra pays Pace $6.75 per LinkUp sold. |
Joint 7-day pass | CTA and Pace | Unlimited rides on CTA and Pace | $28 | Only sold by CTA. CTA pays Pace $5 per pass sold. |
PlusBus | Metra and Pace | Unlimited rides on Metra and Pace during valid month | Cost of Metra monthly + $30 | Only sold by Metra. Metra pays Pace $30 per PlusBus sold. |
Stored value | CTA and Pace | Pay-as-you-Go | N/A | Only sold by CTA. CTA pays Pace $2 ($1 reduced) per trip initiated on Pace. |
*CTA cost reimbursement, which is paid by Pace for 30-day pass, joint 7-day pass and stored value, is not represented. | ||||
(B) Customers can use the same stored value fare media to ride CTA and Pace, as well as purchase two time-delimited passes for travel on those agencies (seven-day and 30-day). Metra monthly pass holders can purchase two different add-on products for unlimited rides on CTA and Pace, or Pace only.
(C) Revenue generated from the sales of the time-delimited CTA/Pace passes and the Metra monthly add-ons are allocated to the agencies using fixed percentages or dollar values that are multiplied by the number of products sold, or made available for sale. The distribution of stored value revenue from CTA to Pace is determined by the number of trips initiated, not taken, on Pace. These revenue allocation schemes do not follow industry best practices and can result in agencies not being adequately compensated for the rides taken on their system.
(D) In accordance with the legislation, RTA staff set out to develop a proposed regional interagency fare policy that addressed interagency fare products and revenue allocation. Staff began the policy development process by reviewing the existing interagency fare agreements, conducting a literature review and engaging industry experts and peer transit agencies. This background research resulted in the following key findings.
(1) The Service Board currently offer a variety of interagency passes and transfer fares that meet the needs of many transit customers in the region. However, there are currently no interagency fare products or transfer fares offered to customers that transfer between CTA/Pace and Metra, unless they purchase a Metra monthly pass. There are also no time-delimited passes (i.e., one-day, seven-day, monthly) offered for unlimited rides on all three agencies that do not have time restrictions.
(2) Intergovernmental agreements are typically the way interagency fare policies are established and revenue allocation is governed.
(3) Interagency revenue allocation schemes are often based on ridership. In the Chicago region, most interagency fare revenue allocation is based on the number of units sold.
(4) Fare collection methods and technology impact the implementation of certain policy alternatives. Systems that do not have electronic records for each ride generally lack the data necessary to allocate revenue based on ridership.
(E) (1) Staff then engaged RTA senior staff and a group of stakeholders (stakeholder group considered of representatives from CMAP, Active Transportation Alliance, DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference, Northwest Municipal Conference, South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association, Lake-Cook Transportation Management Association, SOUL and RTA’s Regional Citizens Advisory Board) from across the region to identify the goals and objectives that the proposed regional interagency policy should address.
(2) Based on the research findings and feedback from these groups, the following policy goals and objectives were established:
(a) Goals:
1. Encourage interagency travel;
2. Enhance interagency product offerings; and
3. Ensure financial fairness related to interagency fare revenue allocation.
(b) Objectives:
1. Increase overall transit ridership;
2. Increase overall regional fare revenue;
3. Increase number of interagency transfers; and
4. Allocate revenue equitably.
(F) With a framework for the proposed regional interagency fare policy established, RTA developed a set of policy principles that would achieve the goals and objectives. These principles form the basis for the proposed regional interagency fare policy.
(Res. MET 13-06, passed 2-15-2013)