#87 - Increasing Access while Reducing Emissions: Iowa City’s Fare Free Pilot Program

Iowa City and GovEx collaborate to solve a problem: How do you gather ridership data without fares?

--- In the latest episode of the Data Points podcast, GovEx and Iowa City staff about collaborative efforts to track bus ridership for a free-fare program aimed at reducing carbon emissions. Iowa City is a participant of the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative Data Track, a program aimed at connecting cities with coaches and data practitioners to build data skills and techniques to tackle complex challenges and improve residents’ quality of life.

---Iowa City bus ridership dropped precipitously during the pandemic and had not rebounded, leading the city to consider shifting to a free-fare program to increase ridership and help the city reach its goal of reduced carbon emissions. But, without fares to count, the city struggled to find a way to track ridership for a free-fare program to help it determine whether the increased ridership was having the desired impact. Rachel Bloom, the GovEx coach working with Iowa City, consulted GovEx data analyst Maeve Mulholland, who presented the city with a creative solution that leveraged data the city was already collecting.

--- Since moving forward with its free-fare program, the city has used data to show an increased bus ridership of 40% - compared with a 10% post-pandemic increase nationwide - and a reduction in tailpipe carbon emissions by approximately 284 metric tons. It is now using an analysis of timing and location data to gain further insight into the program and to increase equity in access to public transportation.

--- Learn more about Iowa City’s Fare Free Pilot Program

--- Learn more about GovEx

--- Learn more about the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative