Abstract
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority created in October 2021 the largest free transit pass pilot program to-date. Known as GoPass, it serves K-14 students in Los Angeles County, the most populated county in the United States. GoPass has three main goals: regain ridership lost during COVID-19, provide reliable transportation to students, and explore seamless payment options. We examined the characteristics of the students who enrolled in GoPass and compared them to census data to assess opportunities for additional growth. To understand GoPass usage, we estimated a generalized spatial regression model that explains boardings aggregated by census tract because detailed usage data is unavailable. Our explanatory variables include socioeconomic variables, crime, the social vulnerability index, and built environment characteristics. Our results confirm the presence of strong spatial effects. Average direct impacts show that census tracts with more African Americans and Asians, more transit stops, mixed land use, and more participating schools accessible within 30 minutes by transit have more GoPass boardings. Conversely, GoPass boardings decrease with more property crime, more multi-family & non-residential units, and a higher population density. A better understanding of the characteristics of GoPass users and of GoPass usage is important for LA Metro to improve this program, and more generally for transit agencies interested in creating similar programs.