City of Terre Haute to launch fare free bus and paratransit services in 2025

The city of Terre Haute, Ind., will begin offering fare-free rides on its fixed-route bus service and ADA paratransit service in 2025. This decision is a part of the city’s efforts to promote efficiency, economy and equity within the community. 

The city is working to reduce delays and improve service reliability by spending less time handling fare collections, waiting for passengers to find exact change, or verifying discounted fares. This will mean fewer disruptions, smoother operations and more timely service. This decision does require the city to allocate funds from its gaming revenue.  

In 2022, the city bus service collected just under $100,000 in fares, notes Terre Haut Mayor Brandon Sakbun. This covered only three percent of the total operating cost. Even with a slight increase in fare revenue in 2023, fares still covered less than five percent of the city’s operational costs. Mayor Sakbun says this highlights that the current fare structure is not only ineffective, but it also creates a financial barrier for those who rely on public transportation the most. 

“We understand that people are facing increasing economic pressures—rising grocery costs, housing and childcare expenses,”  Mayor Sakbun said. “If we can eliminate one financial barrier for our residents without raising taxes, then we believe it’s our responsibility to do so. We hope this project is the first of many that will make life easier and more affordable for our residents.” 

Mayor Sakbun continued, “We also want to recognize the impact this will have on our local non-profits. We’ve had conversations with organizations like Mental Health America, Reach Services, the Loyal Veterans Battalion and others. Many of these groups currently spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars annually to purchase bus passes for their clients. By eliminating fares, we’re relieving that financial burden from our residents and our non-profit partners. This will allow these organizations to redirect those funds back into their critical services, such as mental health and homelessness outreach.” 

The city is focusing on three key goals with this fare-free initiative: 

1. Increased ridership: The city notes it has already seen a positive impact on ridership during its monthly fare-free days. In 2023, ridership on those days increased by over 50 percent compared to average days.  
2. Improved service quality: The city will continue to gather feedback from riders through surveys and work with its transit team to enhance service quality based on that feedback. 
3. Data-driven decisions: The city will be tracking key metrics, such as ridership numbers and miles traveled, to gauge the success of the program. It will also be working with the Metropolitan Planning Organization to conduct an operational analysis study to explore ways to further improve public transportation infrastructure. 

Prior to changing routes and times, ridership and total mileage must increase. This is due to state and federal funding formulas. This presents a situation where the city must use the resources it has to improve the rider experience while subsequently planning for the future.