Abstract
Despite the availability of, and benefits associated with, prepaid storedvalue fare cards, many transit riders continue to select traditional singleride or round-trip tickets for payment of their fares. At the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART), an effort was made to assess why many riders select low-value fare instruments and to evaluate potential actions to increase the share of riders buying higher-value tickets. The qualitative and quantitative research techniques utilized at BART to explore this issue are described. Focus groups were conducted to identify important decision-making factors, which were later quantified through a telephone survey. Fear of losing high-value tickets coupled with a lack of information regarding the availability of these tickets appears to limit high-value ticket sales. Some possible approaches to encouraging the purchase of high-value tickets may include a last-ride-free feature and increased awareness of the availability of discount tickets at off-site sales outlets. This study provides insight into the decision-making process of customers when purchasing stored-value tickets and can help inform the policy-making process regarding ticket systems.
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