CASE STUDY | City of Vancouver Reduced Fare Transit Pilot – Benefits Beyond Cost

This case study by Austin Lui and Jill Zacharias unpacks how the City of Vancouver’s Reduced Fare Transit Pilot offers significant benefits for residents living in poverty.

The pilot aimed to answer the following questions, among others:

• Will access to free or reduced-fare transit reduce instances of time poverty?
• Will access to free or reduced-fare transit increase access to opportunities that help residents out of poverty?
• How has a person’s social determinants of health changed because of access to free or reduced-fare transit?

Read the case study to learn about key takeaways, as well as survey and interview data from the 100 participants in the pilot project.

Take your learning further:

• Read about a transit project in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia
• Hear from BC-based Mayor of New Westminster Jonathan Cote on transit as a federal issue
• See the case study on Social Innovation and Community Economic Development in Vancouver