Staff Report #4
May 9, 2025
To All Commissioners
Re: Transfer Window Extension
Recommendation
The Commission APPROVE the extension of the transfer window from 90 minutes to 120 minutes for the months of July and August 2025.
Background
At the March 26, 2025 meeting, the Commission directed administration to report back at a future meeting on the cost and implications of extending the transfer window from 90 minutes to 120 minutes for the months of July and August. This motion was the result of discussions relating to the 2025 construction season and the limited ability to address anticipated schedule adherence concerns relating to detours during the summer months given ongoing resource issues.
Currently, riders paying the cash or ticket fare (including stored value on smart card), are provided with a 90-minute transfer which can be utilized to board another bus within that window free of charge. In many cases, riders are able to complete their errands and board a bus that returns them home within that window, making the return ride free.
Customers paying a cash or paper ticket fare are issued a transfer from the Operator upon request when boarding. The Operator cuts the transfer to indicate the period of validity of 90 minutes from the time the customer boarded. Customers boarding the next bus provide the transfer to the next Operator, who checks the time to ensure the transfer is within the valid time, and either allows the customer to board, or advised that another fare is required (if the transfer has expired). Customers paying with a smart card and utilizing the stored value option have the 90-minute transfer automatically loaded onto their card. If the card is tapped on another bus within the 90-minute window, no fare is deducted, if the tap occurs outside of the 90-minute window, a ticket fare is deducted from the card.
During the 2024 construction season, numerous customer complaints were received relating to a bus being late leading to their inability to use their transfer as it had expired. Fare disputes also occurred on board buses between the customer and Operator with respect to whether an expired transfer should be accepted given the late arrival time of the bus. The extension of the transfer window was viewed as a goodwill gesture to riders during two of the most frustrating months of construction season, and in an effort to mitigate the negative experience of being unable to utilize a transfer due to a late bus.
Should the motion set out in the report be approved, this window would be extended by thirty minutes for the months of July and August only. In order to estimate the impacts of this extension, administration utilized data from the same two months in 2024, and assessed the rate at which transfers would have been applied with a 120 minute window. The assessment indicated that an increase of approximately 1.9% in transfer use would occur should the extension be implemented. Applying the 1.9% to the budgeted ridership in the cash and ticket categories for July and August result in an estimated increase in transfer use for approximately 15,900 rides, which equates to a potential loss of revenue of $43,600. Implementing this program for the two-month period will provide actual data with respect to the impact of an extended transfer window which will be valuable insight into discussions of fare program changes going forward.
Administration has contacted the smart card vendor with respect to required changes to implement this program, but has not received a formal quotation for the work. As such, an alternative has also been considered which would require smart card riders utilizing the stored value option to simply request a transfer at time of boarding and utilize that to board the subsequent bus versus tapping their card. A final determination with respect to the manner in which the program will be rolled out will be made once a quote from the smart card vendor has been received.
The report is being tabled at this time in order to ensure adequate time for administration to prepare and launch the appropriate communication program advising customers of this program which will be effective July 1, 2025 through August 31, 2025. An update report with the final program will be provided at the June 23, 2025 Commission meeting.
Recommended by:
Mike Gregor, Director of Finance
Concurred in by:
Kelly S. Paleczny, General Manager