student free fare program update and recommendations: board transportation committee may 24, 2016

County of Fairfax, Virginia

Student Free Fare Program Update & Recommendations

Board Transportation CommitteeMay 24, 2016

Nick Perfili & Kala QuintanaDepartment of Transportation


Student Free Fare Program Update• Interagency and Interjurisdictional

Coordination– Continued FCDOT and FCPS

coordination – NEW partner: City of Fairfax CUE

• Ridership and Utilization• Survey Results and Feedback• Recommendations: School Year

(SY) 2016-17 and Future

Department of Transportation 2


Coordination• FCDOT and FCPS

– Provide program information at high school and middle school principal annual meetings

– Arrange SY 2016-17 targeted school outreach– Develop more standardized pass and permission form

distribution/maintenance process– Program and permission form availability online



Coordination• City of Fairfax CUE Bus Integration

– City of Fairfax approached FCDOT about participating; Fairfax City Council is supportive

– Supports program goals– Will provide outreach support at city schools– Will allow Fairfax Co. students to ride CUE; City of Fairfax

students to ride Connector

• CUE System Enhances Service Availability– Connections with Fairfax Connector and service proximate to

additional schools:Fairfax HS Oakton HS Woodson HS

George Mason University Paul VI



Student Participation (5 Targeted Schools)


School Passes Distributed

School Population

Percent of Students with Passes

Chantilly HS 233 2,680 9%

Edison HS 885 1,936 46%

Madison HS 98 2,109 5%

Mount Vernon HS 427 1,963 22%

South Lakes HS 943 2,430 39%

TOTAL (5 Targeted Schools) 2,586 11,118 24% (average)TOTAL (MS/HS/SS System-wide) 4,241


• Majority of pass utilization is travel to or from school

• High evening utilization, suggesting travel home from after school activities and programs

• No student behavior problems on buses• Limited crowding (reported in Reston, standard

length bus assigned to mitigate)• Limited weekend utilization continues


Student Ridership



100,000 + Student Trips in 8 months

Sep 2015

Oct 2015

Nov 2015

Dec 2015

Jan 2016

Feb 2016

Mar 2016

Apr 2016

0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 12,000 14,000 16,000 18,000 20,000

5,330

12,357

12,161

12,947

9,263

14,245

16,724

18,944

Major Holi-day and/or Snow Events

Monthly Student Ridership


Surveys: Assessing Opinions• Quantitative and Qualitative

Feedback– Students (Edison and South Lakes)– School Administration/Faculty

(Edison and South Lakes)– Bus Operators

• Results Were Consistent and Informed Recommendations




Walked School bus Connector bus Dropped off Carpool (with friend or parent)

Drove myself Other

11%

55%

14% 13%

4% 2% 1%

14%

46%

26%

6% 5% 3% 1%

TO school FROM school

Student Surveys

Current Student Travel Behavior To/From School Comparison by Mode• Student pass use is reducing vehicle trips in school

parking lots and on nearby streets



1-2 days a week15%

3-5 days a week49%Once every 2 weeks

6%

Once a month9%

Other22%

Student Surveys

Frequency of Student Pass Use



Smart Phone App (e.g. Moovit, Transit, Apple Maps) 55.4%

Fairfax Connector website (fairfaxconnector.com) 30.5%

Paper/printed schedules on the bus 26.8%

Paper/printed schedules at school 21.6%

From friends or other people 16.4%

Metro’s online regional Trip Planner 9.9%

Paper/printed schedules at another location 6.1%

Fairfax Connector Telephone Information Center (703-339-7200) 4.7%

Fairfax Connector Twitter 4.2%

Other 5.1%

Student Surveys

How Students Get Information


How Students Would Improve the Program


Extend hours 60.1%

Include Saturday 69.6%

Include Sunday 47.3%

Other 6.4%

Add GPS real-

time tracking like

WMATA buses

A better way to plan your route with Google Transit

Student Surveys


“This Connector pass is VERY convenient and

VERY helpful to me and so many other students. This makes my commute to and from school so much

simpler and has helped me so much especially

when staying after school.”

What Students Are Saying…


“Thanks for doing this! It gives me an

opportunity to stay after

school more easily without worrying about a ride home.”

“It’s helpful to my education because it

provides me with transportation when I stay after school with

my teachers to improve my expertise

on a subject.

Without the pass I would not have

transportation.”

Student Surveys


Have Administrators Noticed…


Yes85%

No5% Don’t Know

10%

An Increase In StudentParticipation At School

Administrator Surveys

Yes34%

No26%

Don’t Know40%

An Improvement In StudentTardiness or Absenteeism



Extend hours 42.9%

Include Saturday 42.9%

Include Sunday 14.3%

Other 14.3%

How Administrators Would Improve the Program

“Many of our students come from either dual income working families or single low-income working families. This makes transportation an issue for students who are involved with after school and extracurricular activities.

By having access to free transportation, our students are able to participate and be able to get home and back to their events. It also allows the students to be active participants in the school.”



“Prior to the Connector pass, I could only get students to stay after school when the late bus was offered.”

What Administrators Are Saying…


“Connector gives

our students more

flexibility in their

ability to stay after

school for clubs

and activities as

well as extra help

from teachers.”

“Connector allows students to stay late for

remediation and activities EVERY day.

Students who would ordinarily miss school

altogether end up coming tardy rather

than not at all.”

“This free pass has been a tremendous way for the community to support our youth!”



Enhanced Pass Design• Design improvement based on feedback and

to facilitate program growth– Additional identifying student information– Streamlined “flash pass” design based, in part, on

bus operator input– Duplication prevention

• SY 2016-17 implementation



Recommendations: SY 2016-17• Increase Span

– From 6 AM-9 PM (SY 2015-16) to 5 AM-10 PM• Include Saturday and Sunday

– Expands options for school activities, work & more• Parity

– Include program information with enrollment, back-to-school, and parking pass distribution system-wide

– Program information and permission forms at fcps.edu, with links from other websites, including Fairfax Connector and City of Fairfax CUE



Recommendations: SY 2016-17• Outreach

– Create program tool-kit for schools– Update PSA video (as needed); robust social media and

outreach campaign– Additional targeted outreach (passes available to all

County/FCPS MS and HS students):Fairfax HS * Jefferson HSHayfield SS Lanier MS *Herndon HS Lee HSHughes MS West Potomac HS

* Outreach: City of Fairfax CUE/transportation staff



Recommendations: Future• Include Metrobus

– Expands the program to areas of Fairfax County with Metrobus service; will have cost implications

• FCPS universal student photo ID/pass (bus pass, school library card, cafeteria account, etc.)– Eliminates the need for separate ID’s/passes– One ID/pass could support multiple county programs

(transit, public library, RECenter, etc.)– Consider integrating with next generation SmarTrip

system



Questions/Discussion


student free fare program update and recommendations: board transportation committee may 24, 2016

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