Can discounted transit improve mobility and well-being for lower-income residents?

Last registered on March 30, 2023
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Can discounted transit improve mobility and well-being for lower-income residents?
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0011028
Initial registration date
March 27, 2023

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
March 30, 2023, 3:36 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information

Primary Investigator

Name
Katherine Gan
Affiliation
The Lab @ DC
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Roxanne Oroxom
PI Affiliation
The Lab @ DC
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Jack Crum
PI Affiliation
The Lab @ DC
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Alyssa Huberts
PI Affiliation
The Lab @ DC
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Danielle Moore
PI Affiliation
The Lab @ DC
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2022-09-30
End date
2024-01-31
Keywords
Other
Additional Keywords
Transportation
JEL code(s)
R40; L98
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
The cost of transportation can present challenges for low-income Washingtonians: making it harder to get a job, maintain a job, access social services, obtain healthcare, and care for their families. Building on the District’s efforts to address cost as a barrier to transit equity—such as Mayor Muriel Bowser’s 2019 Free Circulator trial and Kids Ride Free program—the District of Columbia government and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority are conducting a randomized evaluation of free and discounted transit fares. We will measure the impact of transit cost on low-income residents’ mobility, employment, and well-being. The findings may help shape initiatives to make public transit more affordable to low-income residents.
External Link(s)
Registration (and full Pre-Analysis Plan) on OSF

Registration Citation

Citation
Crum, Jack et al. 2023. "Can discounted transit improve mobility and well-being for lower-income residents?." AEA RCT Registry. March 30. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.11028-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

Partner

Name
Department of Energy and Environment
Type
government
URL
https://doee.dc.gov/
Name
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
Type
private_company
URL
https://www.wmata.com/
Name
District Department of Transportation
Type
government
URL
https://ddot.dc.gov/

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
LIFT study-specific SmarTrip cards—Metro's payment technology for bus and rail—were programed with 9 months of the relevant discounts, then provided to residents according to their assigned group. Residents assigned to get no discounts on transit did not get a SmarTrip card from LIFT. Regardless of their assigned group, everyone who applied to LIFT and was deemed eligible will get a $25 Visa gift card. Residents in the treatment groups were directed to pick up their LIFT study-provided SmarTrip cards at WMATA’s Transit Accessibility Center from January 27 through February 24, 2023. In-person pick-up was the sole way for residents in the two treatment groups to get their study-provided SmarTrip cards until the end February 2023. We set the deadline for the pick-up period based on the expected pace of pickup; based on budget, our goal was for no more than 500 LIFT SmarTrip cards to require mailing (which was more time and resource intensive). For the cards remaining after the pickup deadline was passed, we mailed the cards to study participants on March 13, 2023.

The discounts will work when participants pay their fare on Metrobus, Metrorail, DC Circulator, and other regional bus partners in Maryland and Virginia. Those regional bus partners include Arlington Transit (ART), the City of Fairfax-University Energysaver Bus System (CUE), the Driving Alexandria Safely Home (DASH), the Fairfax Connector, TheBus in Prince George’s County, and Ride On buses in Montgomery County.
Intervention Start Date
2023-01-18
Intervention End Date
2023-10-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
1) Average number of public transit trips taken per month as measured by administrative data from SmarTrip cards
2) Proportion of months during the study that an individual was employed
3) Self-reported transportation security at the end of study: Survey-based index of six questions related to transportation security
4) Self-reported overall well-being at the end of study: Survey-based responses to the Cantril Ladder
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
LIFT offers two different levels of transit discounts to low-income DC residents. We have enrolled 2,411 eligible residents and randomly assigned them to one of three groups: 1) free, unlimited trips; 2) a half-price discount on transit; or 3) no discount on transit.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
0 clusters
Sample size: planned number of observations
2,411 individuals
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
588 individuals were assigned to receive free unlimited trips; 783 individuals were assigned to receive half-price discounts; and 1,040 individuals were assigned to receive no discounts.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
University of Maryland, College Park IRB
IRB Approval Date
2022-09-12
IRB Approval Number
1954637-1
Analysis Plan

Analysis Plan Documents

LIFT Pre-Analysis Plan 2023

MD5: 6045b8d65fbd7aab6baae4be28c8be84

SHA1: f9eb3968c363bfcb7d626063223957f8fdedfd1e

Uploaded At: March 23, 2023