sr-062811-3s~;tyor .City Council Report
Santa Monica
City Council Meeting: June 28, 2011
Agenda Item:
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Stephanie Negriff, Director of Transit Services
Subject: Big Blue Bus Unlimited Ride Transit Pass Program with the University of
California Los Angeles
Recommended Action
Staff requests that the City Council approve the negotiated rates of $0.86 per trip for
non-express service and $1.69 per trip for express service for the Big Blue Bus transit
pass program with the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) BruinGo! effective
August 29, 2010.
Executive Summary
Big Blue Bus currently has an agreement with UCLA to provide unlimited bus access to
student, staff, and faculty members utilizing the BruinGoi transit pass program. Under
this agreement the BBB charges UCLA a "negotiated rate" for each passenger boarding
made by a UCLA identification card holder. The negotiated rate is based on UCLA rider
demographics, transit use patterns, and the current fare structure as approved by
Council on April 27, 2010. The negotiated rate for non-express comes to $0.86 per
boarding and the Line 10 Express rate would be $1.69. New rates would be effective
August 29, 2010 and the payment billings are retroactive to this date: The anticipated
increase in annual revenue is $250,000.
Background
The Big Blue Bus transit pass program with UCLA called BruinGo! was the first of its.
kind in the nation when implemented in September of 2000. The goal of the program
was to reduce the demand for parking at UCLA campus. Under this program, any UCLA
student, faculty or staff member may board a Big Blue Bus and swipe their "Bruin"
identification card in the farebox. The card has a magnetic stripe encoded with an
1
identification number which is read and then recorded by the farebox. After the initial
implementation of the program, 50 percent of all students in walking distance of a direct
line to campus took transit compared with 35 percent before BruinGo!. Faculty and staff
who live inside the Blue Bus service area made 134 percent more daily bus trips and 9
percent fewer drive-alone trips to campus after BruinGO! began (Brown, J.; Hess, D.;
Shoup, D. 2003). From the first year to the third year of the program, UCLA passenger
hoardings increased 40 percent from 1.4 million to 2 million. At that time, the program
year consisted only of fall, winter and spring quarters but has since become effective-all
year long. Big Blue Bus increased service frequency on all five routes leading to
campus and created a new route, Super 12, following the most direct route between
campus and the Palms neighborhood which has the highest concentration of UCLA
students.
Discussion
The last time Council approved a negotiated rate for the UCLA BruinGo! program was
on February 28, 2006, when rates were set at $0.69 for non-express and $1.67 for
express service. On April 27, 2010 Council approved a fare restructuring for
implementation .effective August 29, 2010. Staff analyzed more recent demographic
data of BruinGo! program participants and determined that the new negotiated rate. per
passenger would be $.86 for non-express service and $1.67 for express service
The negotiated rate is the average fare revenue Big Blue Bus would have received from
each boarding by a UCLA passenger had there been no BruinGO! pass program.
Demographic and transit use data of UCLA BruinGo! program participants, collected
between April 24th and June 5th, 2010 as part of the line-by-line analysis, were used to
determine average fare per passenger for non-express and express service taking into
account discounted fare structure for eligible riders . Based on the survey sample,
UCLA passengers fall into the three fare categories: under 19 years of age, regular, and
seniors over 62 years of age combined with people with a disability. Passengers in
these three categories are then segregated into the types of fare medium they would
buy if they choose the most economical solution for their transit use.
The negotiated rate for non-express service comes to $0.86 per boarding compared
with $0.69 before the. most recent fare restructuring, an increase of 25 percent. The
negotiated rate for Line 10 Express boardings comes to $1.69, an increase of only two
cents. The negotiated rates are consistent with the fare structure approved by Council.
On October 26, 2010, Council authorized the City Manager to enter into an agreement
with UCLA and other entities for the purpose of implementing transit services. Staff is
currently finalizing an agreement with UCLA for the BruinGo! program for the period
July 1, 2011 thru June 30, 2014.
Financial Impacts & Budget Actions
The proposed rate change will increase annual revenues by $250,000 at account
41642.402000. Revenues in the amount of $250,000 for FY2011-12 have been included
in the FY 2011-13 Proposed Budget at account 41642.402000.
Prepared by:
Paul Casey, Senior Transit Programs Analyst
roved:
Step anie Negriff v(,~ ""~~
D're~tor of Transit Servic
Forwarded to Council:
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Rod Gould
City Manager