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Sponsor: SB1

Exploring Transportation Mode Choice and Participation in LA Metro’s “GoPass” Program Among Los Angeles Community College Students

Status

In Progress

Project Timeline

September 25, 2023 - June 30, 2025

Principal Investigator

David Brownstone

Sponsor, Program & Award Number

SB1 // STRP Faculty Research: 2024-32
(Also see the UC ITS page)

Areas of Expertise

Public Transit, Shared Mobility, & Active Transportation

Team Departmental Affiliation

Economics

Project Summary

While automobile traffic and freeway congestion have returned to pre-COVID levels, transit agencies continue to face declining ridership, staffing shortages, and service reductions. In the fall of 2021, LA Metro introduced the GoPass Fareless Initiative, offering free transit access to students in grades K-14 within eligible school and community college districts in Los Angeles County. The program's eligibility is determined by the community college district, which can opt in by paying a nominal cost-sharing fee of $3 per enrolled student per year. Students in districts that opt in can participate by acquiring a free pass and registering it with LA Metro. However, only about 15% of Los Angeles Unified School District students and 10% of Los Angeles Community College District students choose to participate in GoPass. The project has two main objectives: (1) to analyze the factors affecting enrollment, while controlling for socio-economic characteristics, and (2) to determine whether GoPass enrollment leads students to choose more sustainable modes of transportation. To achieve these goals, the researchers will survey students at the nine campuses in the Los Angeles Community College District. These campuses represent the majority of the community college population in Los Angeles County. The survey will gather information on employment, household composition, and non-academic travel activities. It will also ask participants about the availability of household vehicles, bicycles, and other transportation options to understand the factors that influence students' transportation choices. The researchers will then use the data to model GoPass participation and overall mode selection among the population of community college students.

An Overview of Free and Discounted Transit Fare Programs in California: What Did COVID Change?

Status

In Progress

Project Timeline

January 1, 2024 - June 30, 2025

Principal Investigator

Jean-Daniel Saphores

Sponsor, Program & Award Number

SB1 // STRP Faculty Research: 2024-50
(Also see the UC ITS page)

Areas of Expertise

Public Transit, Shared Mobility, & Active Transportation

Team Departmental Affiliation

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Project Summary

In this study, the research team will survey transit agencies in California to investigate the performances of their free and reduced transit fare pass programs, the impact of COVID-19 on these programs, and conduct an in-depth analysis of selected free and reduced transit fare pass programs. In 2019, the researchers explored the availability of these programs by conducting a survey of California transit agencies; the data were obtained from 59 transit agencies. This study will extend that 2019 work. This project will involve first surveying California transit agencies, starting with the 59 agencies who answered the 2019 survey. The team will investigate if their 2019 programs are still offered, if they were changed, and inquire if new programs were created (or are being considered). The researchers will inquire about the reasons for initiating each program, eligibility criteria, funding sources, ridership, and financial impacts. The work will also include in-depth analysis of at least five free and reduced transit fare programs. Finally, to promote public transportation through fare-based incentives, the investigators will create an online dashboard with information about all known free and reduced transit pass programs in California. This study will help evaluate the evolution of free and reduced transit fare programs during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Related Publications

policy brief | Dec 2025

Free and Reduced Transit Fare Programs in California Increased After COVID-19–But Can it Last?

Read more

Agent-based Modeling of the Impacts of Shared/Connected Mobility on Transit Systems and Potential Synergetic Options

Status

In Progress

Project Timeline

January 1, 2019 - December 31, 2019

Principal Investigator

r-jayakrishnanR. (Jay) Jayakrishnan

Project Team

Sunghi (Sunny) An, Dingtong Yang, Daisik (Danny) Nam, Eduardo Marino Fernandez

Sponsor, Program & Award Number

SB1 // STRP Faculty Research: 2019-34
(Also see the UC ITS page)

Areas of Expertise

Intelligent Transportation Systems, Emerging Technologies, & Big Data Public Transit, Shared Mobility, & Active Transportation

Team Departmental Affiliation

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Project Summary

Cities of the future demand a paradigm shift with the emerging and rapidly changing landscape of autonomous vehicles, shared mobility, connected vehicle technologies, and systems integration. System modeling is a necessary tool to study various policy alternatives due to the increasing complexity of future travel options. Unlike traditional top-down approaches for transportation planning, current and future transportation systems require more detailed representation of the various entities that interact with one another in ways that may or may not be collaborative, and whose collective behavior can lead to many possible outcomes both good and bad. This project will develop a comprehensive agent-based framework for system modeling (termed Autonomicity) for a collection of city contexts with the associated networks, demand-generation modules, supply-side details, business models, vehicles, goods and travelers that encompass the full spectrum of mobility in a future city. Associated research projects can use the Autonomicity framework / model to study specific topics, such as, the effects of ride-sharing systems or autonomous vehicles on the transit systems, or the system-wide effects of user-side subscription services from Transportation Network Companies (TNCs).

Analyzing the Impact of Land Use and Socio Demographics on Micro Transit

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

July 1, 2024 - September 30, 2024

Principal Investigator

Michael HylandMichael Hyland

Project Team

Tim Wang

Sponsor, Program

SB1 // PRIME

Team Departmental Affiliation

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Related Publications

presentation | Oct 2025

Analyzing the Impact of Land Use and Sociodemographics on Microtransit

Read more

CARB Activity- and Accessibility-Based Framework for Mobility Equity Evaluation

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

July 1, 2024 - September 30, 2024

Project Team

Daniel Lyons, Grayson Gallegos

Sponsor, Program

SB1 // PRIME

Data-Driven Analysis of Implications of HOV to HOT Lane Conversion

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

July 1, 2024 - September 30, 2024

Principal Investigator

Jooneui Hong

Project Team

Alex Wang, Wenlong Jin

Sponsor, Program

SB1 // PRIME

Team Departmental Affiliation

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Related Publications

presentation | Oct 2025

Automatic Identification of Week-to-Week Stationary States

Read more

Compiling Challenges in Advanced Air Mobility Implementation

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

June 22, 2025 - August 31, 2025

Principal Investigator

Jacqueline (Jacquie) Huynh

Project Team

Alex Bergman

Sponsor, Program

SB1 // TRIP

Areas of Expertise

Intelligent Transportation Systems, Emerging Technologies, & Big Data

Team Departmental Affiliation

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Related Publications

presentation | Oct 2025

Compiling Barriers in Advanced Air Mobility Implementation

Read more

Large Language Models for Demographic Analysis of LA 2028 Mobility Investment

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

June 22, 2025 - August 31, 2025

Principal Investigator

Elisa BorowskiElisa Borowski

Project Team

Miles Shaffie

Sponsor, Program

SB1 // PRIME

Areas of Expertise

Intelligent Transportation Systems, Emerging Technologies, & Big Data Public Transit, Shared Mobility, & Active Transportation

Team Departmental Affiliation

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Related Publications

presentation | Oct 2025

LA 28x28: My Experience

Read more

Quantifying Accessibility Benefits from Small-scale Mobility Investments

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

June 22, 2025 - August 31, 2025

Principal Investigator

Michael HylandMichael Hyland

Project Team

Erin Boshers

Sponsor, Program

SB1 // TRIP

Areas of Expertise

Public Transit, Shared Mobility, & Active Transportation

Team Departmental Affiliation

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Related Publications

presentation | Oct 2025

Quantifying Accessibility Benefits from Small-scale Mobility Investments

Read more

Community Knowledge Exchange for Future Advanced Air Mobility Integration

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

June 22, 2025 - August 31, 2025

Principal Investigator

Jacqueline (Jacquie) Huynh

Project Team

Saathvika Ajith

Sponsor, Program

SB1 // TRIP

Areas of Expertise

Intelligent Transportation Systems, Emerging Technologies, & Big Data

Team Departmental Affiliation

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

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Recent Posts

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