The effects of free public transit on travel behaviour

Last registered on October 23, 2023
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
The effects of free public transit on travel behaviour
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0011858
Initial registration date
October 18, 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
October 23, 2023, 9:28 AM EDT

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

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
Jesper Akesson
Affiliation
The Behaviouralist
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2022-08-01
End date
2024-08-31
Keywords
Behavior, Other, Welfare
Additional Keywords
Transportation
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
In this randomized experiment, we study the effects of free public transit on travel behaviours by randomly offering university students a free, all-agency transit pass (called the Clipper Baypass). We randomly assigned students from three American universities (n = 106,104) to either the control or the treatment group. The experimental design allows us to measure the effect of offering the new passes by comparing ridership for all students who received the offer and all who did not.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Akesson, Jesper. 2023. "The effects of free public transit on travel behaviour." AEA RCT Registry. October 23. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.11858-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2022-08-01
Intervention End Date
2024-08-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Our primary outcomes include the number of trips taken per student, the time taken to travel from home to campus, the time spent on travelling per day, the time spent on each travel mode, whether students agree with making the BayPass available to all after the pilot, whether students agree with recommending taking public transportation to their friends or guest, the cost incurred without discounts per student and per trip, and the amount of savings per students. We also plan to elicit students' willingness to pay (for the Baypass for treatment students and for the subsidised university-issued passes for control students) using the BDM mechanism administered through a survey as a main outcome.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Our secondary outcomes include the number and proportion of trips taken during peak and non-peak hours, the number and proportion of trips taken with top operators, the number of trips taken with the free agency, the number of transfer trips from the free agency, the number of transfer trips to the free agency, whether students have taken at least one trip, the share of students who have heard of the BayPass, the share of students who have received the BayPass, the share of students who exclusively use university-issued OneCard/Clipper Card for public transportation, the share of students who often use fare products other than the Clipper Card, whether students live on- or off-campus, whether students have regular access to vehicles/bicycles/scooters, whether students found each travel mode to be appealing, and whether students intend to use public transportation often.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
All secondary outcomes were pre-registered to the best of our ability and comprehensive at the time of registration. However, as the trial is being conducted in collaboration with partners (i.e., BART/MTC) and includes four survey waves, the evaluation is evolving and there may be new research questions or outcomes emerging from the partners. The list of secondary outcomes may not be finalised until the final survey is conducted.

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Students are randomly assigned to either the control group or the treatment group. Students in the treatment group are offered a free, all-agency transit pass (called the Clipper Baypass). The randomization allows us to measure the effect of offering the new passes by comparing ridership for all students who received the offer and all who did not. In addition to administrative data, there are four survey waves being conducted over two years to collect additional data.
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
n/a
Sample size: planned number of observations
106104 students
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
78104 control students and 28000 treated students who were offered the Clipper Baypass
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number
Analysis Plan