REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: GREGORY A. BARFIELD, Assistant City Manager
& Director Department of Transportation
BY: CAROLINA ILIC, Planning Manager
Department of Transportation, Planning Division
JEFF LONG, Senior Transit Planner
Department of Transportation, Planning Division
SUBJECT
Title
Approve the Title VI Fare Equity Analysis for the Department of Transportation/Fresno Area Express (FAX) for reduced student fares.
Body
RECOMMENDATION
In compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, staff recommends that Council approve
the Title VI Fare Equity Analysis: Reduced Fares for Students.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Whenever FAX proposes changes to its fare or fare media, FAX is required by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to prepare a Title VI Fare Equity Analysis. The purpose of the Title VI analysis is to evaluate how the fare changes impact low-income and minority populations and identify strategies to avoid, minimize, or mitigate any disproportionate burdens, disparate impacts, or any potentially negative outcomes.
FAX is proposing a fare change that would provide reduced fares to students beginning in January 2023; students with a valid ID would be able to purchase a single ride ticket for $0.75 or a 31-day pass for $22.00. Under the current fare structure, there is no student category, and students are required to pay full fares of $1.00 for a single ride ticket or $36 for a 31-day pass. The Title VI Fare Equity Analysis concludes that the reduced fares for students do not result in a disparate impact or disproportionate burden, and mitigation measures do not need to be considered for these changes.
BACKGROUND
Background And Results
In compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the FTA requires all transit agencies that receive federal funding to monitor the performance of their systems, ensuring services are made available and/or distributed equitably. One component of ensuring compliance is performing an equity analysis for all fare changes, regardless of whether the fares are increasing or decreasing, to determine any potential impacts on minority (race, color, or national origin) and low-income populations.
As defined in the FAX 2022 Title VI Program adopted by the Council on October 13, 2022, a disparate impact exists if a fare change requires a minority population to bear adverse effects by 20 percent or more than the adverse effects borne by the general population, and a disproportionate burden exists if a fare change requires a low-income population to bear adverse effects by 20 percent or more than the adverse effects borne by the general population.
Proposed Student Fare Structure
Under the proposed fare changes, FAX would offer a new category of fares for students, adding a new single-ride fare and a new 31-day pass. Handy Ride fares are unchanged by the proposed fare structure. Table 1 details the proposed fare structure while the Kaiser Permanent Fresno grant is available for Reduced Fare riders (seniors, Medicare card holders, and persons with disabilities).
Table 1: Proposed Fare Structure
|
Fare |
Price |
|
Fixed-Route Buses |
|
|
Base Fare |
$1.00 |
|
Student* |
$0.75 |
|
Seniors, Medicare cardholders, and persons with disabilities* |
Free** |
|
Children Under 12 |
Free |
|
Military and Veterans, with valid ID |
Free |
|
Transfers |
Free*** |
|
31-Day Pass - Regular |
$36.00 |
|
31-Day Pass - Student* |
$22.00 |
|
31-Day Pass - Reduced |
Free |
|
10-Ride Card - Regular |
$9.00 |
|
10-Ride Card - Reduced |
Free |
|
Handy Ride |
|
|
Base Fare (single ride) |
$1.25 |
|
Handy Ride Pass |
$36.00 |
* Requires valid ID.
** Reduced Fare riders are currently subsidized by a $500,000 grant from Kaiser Permanent Fresno, and will remain free until the grant expires or is replaced by a new funding source
*** Transfers must be requested at time of purchase and permit unlimited transfers for up to 90 minutes.
Public Outreach on Proposed Student Fare
FAX conducted public outreach on November 7 and 8, 2022, to inform riders of the proposed student fare changes and solicit feedback. A virtual workshop was held on November 7 at 5:30 pm via Zoom. In addition, FAX held 2 pop-up events on November 8 - one at Manchester Transit Center and the other at the Courthouse Park Downtown Transit Center. The virtual workshop and the pop-up events were held in English and Spanish. Passengers expressed support for the proposed student fares.
Results of Fare Equity Analysis for Reduced Student Fares
The Title VI Fare Equity Analysis concludes that is no disparate impact or disproportionate burden caused by the proposed student fare changes and mitigation measures do not need to be considered for these changes.
The FTA’s recommended methodology for performing a fare equity analysis begins with determining the number and percent of users of each fare type and evaluating the differences between minority users and non-minority users and low-income and non-low-income users. Next, the analysis should evaluate the impacts of the proposed changes to determine if there is a disparate impact or disproportionate burden. Finally, alternatives must be evaluated, and mitigation strategies offered to prevent or mitigate any potential burden.
In this case, FAX is proposing to add a new fare category for students, rather than changing the fares within current categories. Therefore, the analysis needs to answer whether the new fare category causes a disparate impact or disproportionate burden by providing reduced fares to populations that are disproportionately non-minority or non-low income.
Analyzing the impact of reduced fares for students is complicated from a Title VI perspective. As a significant portion of those who benefit are under the age of 18, demographic data is limited. When analyzing the impact of the fare change on minority populations, some data is available. The major school district, university, and colleges in Fresno, including Fresno Unified School District, Fresno State University, Fresno City College, and Clovis Community College, all report demographic data for their student bodies, which can be compared to the demographic composition of the FAX service area. Table 2 details the demographic makeup of these schools compared to the FAX service area. American Community Survey (ACS) data was used for the service area population.
Table 2: Demographic Breakdown
|
|
Percent Minority |
Percent Non-Minority |
|
FAX Service Area |
72.4% |
27.6% |
|
Fresno Unified School District |
91.6% |
8.4% |
|
Fresno State University |
81.7% |
18.3% |
|
Fresno City College |
81.0% |
19.0% |
|
Clovis Community College |
68.2% |
31.8% |
Fresno Unified School District, Fresno State University, and Fresno City College all have a student body where the proportion of minority populations is much greater than the service area as a whole. Clovis Community College is the exception to this, but it has a much smaller student body than the others. In addition, the demographic make-up of Clovis Community College is relatively similar to the service area as a whole. As a result, the benefits of reduced fares for students will go primarily to populations that are more likely to identify as a minority than the service area, and there is no disparate impact caused by the proposed fare change.
The income analysis is more complicated. Students are a wide range of ages, and there is no reliable income data available for students as a whole. Many students are also dependents, which further complicates analysis; an individual student’s income and access to funds may or may not be reflective of their household income. It is probable that the typical student in Fresno is equally or more likely to fall below FAX’s low-income threshold of 150% of the federal poverty line than the typical person living in FAX’s service area. With the lack of available data, it can be assumed that students generally follow similar demographic patterns as the service area population as a whole, and where that pattern does not hold true, that students generally have less access to full-time, high-paying jobs than the service area population. As a result, there is no disproportionate burden caused by the proposed fare change.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
Pursuant to section 15378 of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA Guidelines), approving this Title VI Fare Equity Analysis is not a “project” for the purposes of CEQA.
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local preference is not applicable as the adoption of this Title VI Fare Equity Analysis is not an award of a contract.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no additional cost associated with the approval of this analysis. The preparation of this analysis was financed in part through a grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation, the FTA, and in part through local funds from the Fresno Council of Governments.
Attachment:
FAX Title VI Fare Equity Analysis: Reduced Fares for Students