The Empire Strikes Back (at BruinGO)

Below is an article from the online edition of the Daily Bruin regarding the BruinGO program, a system of subsidized public transit for UCLA students and employees.

Note that the announcement reported by the Bruin is being made at the end of classes and just before exam week when students are not paying attention. There is no paper edition of the Daily Bruin at this time of year.

The UCLA transportation powers-that-be have never been happy with BruinGO, precisely because it displaces the parking empire. Prof. Donald Shoup of Urban Planning has been a leader, both in the creation of the program and sustaining it. Below is the Daily Bruin story. It basically just reports and doesn’t question. Below that is a reference to one of Prof. Shoup’s early pieces on the success of BruinGO.

= = =

Big Blue Bus and Culver CityBus fares to increase in fall: UCLA Transportation raises BruinGo! Rates to 50 cents in response to price changes

By Elizabeth Case, Daily Bruin, March 10, 2011

Santa Monica Big Blue Bus and Culver CityBus fares will increase from 35 cents to 50 cents beginning fall quarter 2011. This announcement comes just seven months after the cost-per-ride was changed from 25 to 35 cents…

Full article at http://www.dailybruin.com/index.php/article/2011/03/big_blue_bus_and_culver_citybus_fares_to_increase_in_fall/

BRUINGO! BUS FARE INCREASES

$0 BruinGo! fare in 2000

$0.25 BruinGo! fare in 2003

$0.35 BruinGo! fare in 2010

$0.50 BruinGo! fare in fall 2011

= = =

UNLIMITED BUS ACCESS: AN EVALUATION OF THE UCLA BRUINGO PROGRAM AND ITS LESSONS FOR CALIFORNIA

Donald Shoup, Department of Urban Planning, UCLA

Jeffrey Brown, PhD candidate, Department of Urban Planning, UCLA

Daniel Baldwin Hess, Department of Urban Planning, SUNY-Buffalo

The conclusions section from this chapter includes the following:

The substantial mode shifts caused by BruinGO refute the common assumption that fare-free transit cannot entice commuters from their cars in California. Among UCLA faculty and staff who live in the Blue Bus service area, bus ridership for commuting to campus increased by 134 percent, and solo driving fell by 9 percent. Among students, bus ridership increased by 43 percent, and solo driving fell by 33 percent...

Full chapter at http://www.sppsr.ucla.edu/calpolicy/Shouprev.pdf

A little imperial mood music for transportation services: