Means-based fares: an opportunity for modernization
On July 15, MTC will launch Clipper START, an 18-month pilot for a means-based fare discount program. Low-income riders will be able to get a special Clipper card that provides discounts on Muni, BART, Caltrain and Golden Gate Transit. This program is a big step forward, but there is still room for improvement.
To see why Clipper START is a big step in the right direction, compare it to the existing Muni Lifeline Pass program. San Francisco residents whose income falls below a certain threshold can get a discount on Muni's monthly pass, which allows unlimited rides on Muni's buses, light rail trains and cable cars. This is a good and aptly named program: it really is a lifeline for people who rely on public transportation to commute to work, go to the store, and generally get around the city, but can't afford the high fares. But what does it take to apply for, use, and keep a Lifeline Pass? A complex and antiquated process that places an unfair burden on the low income people the program is supposed to benefit - an unacceptable, inequitable contradiction in the tech capital of the world. .
First, you have to be eligible. The Lifeline Pass is only available to people with very low incomes: below 200% of the federal poverty level, which is $24,980 for a single person or $51,500 for a family of four. That's a shockingly low number for a city that's so expensive to live in, and many people at this income level are pushed out of San Francisco by the high cost of housing. But even if you work in San Francisco and ride Muni every day, you can't get a Lifeline Pass if you live outside the city: you have to be a San Francisco resident to qualify.
If you are eligible (and you know that the program exists!), you have to submit an application. This seems pretty simple: the application form is very short (especially compared to the 23-page application form with 6 pages of instructions for CalFresh, CalWORKS and Medi-Cal), and you just need an ID, something with your address on it, and proof of income. You can even use a Medi-Cal or SNAP/EBT card instead of a tax return. But then, you have to submit your application in person, at the SF Human Services Agency office at 170 Otis Street. You'll likely need to take time off work to do that, because they're only open during business hours (Monday to Friday, 8am-5pm).
To see why Clipper START is a big step in the right direction, compare it to the existing Muni Lifeline Pass program. (Photo by Patrick Traughber)
Once your application is accepted, you get a Lifeline ID card. Now you can ride Muni! You would be forgiven for thinking that this Lifeline card would be a Clipper card, or some other sort of smart card, but it's not. It's a simple plastic card that you show to the bus/train operator when boarding. You can't scan your card to open the fare gates at Muni Metro stations, you have to show it to the station agent and get them to let you in. And you can't load a new monthly pass onto your card at a ticket machine, you have to buy a new sticker to put on your card every month.
These stickers are available at eight locations around the city, of which five are open on Saturdays and only three on Sundays. For example, if you live in the southeastern part of the city and work during the week, your only option is to go to the Visitacion Valley pharmacy on Saturdays between 9:30am and 2pm. The stickers for each month become available only a week before the start of that month (or five days, or three, or two, depending on the location), so you pretty much only have that one Saturday. I hope you're never sick or busy on the last Saturday morning of the month.
So far, this is all pretty cumbersome for riders: Lifeline Pass holders have to apply in person during business hours, get a new sticker every month that's only available from a handful of places, out themselves as a low-income person every time they ride the subway, and still have to pay $40 per month (half the price of the regular monthly pass). On top of all this, Lifeline pass holders have to have their eligibility reverified every two years. This has to be done in person at the Human Services Agency office, during business hours, in one of three seven-day windows, depending on the first letter of your last name. For example, if your last name starts with one of the letters I-Q, you had to get reverified on March 25, 26, 27, 30 or 31, or April 1 or 2. If you don't (or can't) show up during the week-and-a-half-long period that's assigned to your last name, you won't be able to buy your monthly stickers until you get reverified.
Of course, the Human Services Agency office wasn't actually open in late March and early April, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The reverification process has been postponed for the I-Q and R-Z groups (the A-H group had already done it in late February), and the sale of the monthly stickers has been suspended. Lifeline pass holders can ride Muni for free, without needing to reverify, and without needing to buy a new monthly sticker. While that’s great for those who were already on the Lifeline program, no new applications are being accepted either, so the hundreds of thousands of people who have recently found themselves unemployed and with a low enough income to qualify for a Lifeline Pass can't get one.
It doesn't have to be this way. While the Lifeline program is cumbersome, the other programs for discounted or free transit are much easier to use. Youth and seniors can get a special Clipper card that gets them age-based discounts on Muni and many other transit agencies around the Bay Area by submitting a one-page application form and a copy of their ID by mail, email or fax. Youth from low- or moderate-income families can get free Muni by applying online, and can have it loaded onto their existing youth Clipper card (if they have one) by simply typing in the card's serial number. There's no need to show up in person at a limited set of locations during limited hours each month to get these passes, no need to reverify your eligibility every two years during a designated week to keep them, and they integrate with Clipper instead of using a sticker system. SFMTA is clearly capable of running discount pass programs with a good customer experience and 21st-century technology.
An improved Lifeline program would take applications online or by mail. It would give its customers Clipper cards, and let them buy new monthly passes at ticket machines and Walgreens stores, or online. A fairer, more equitable version of the Lifeline program would also have a higher income threshold, would be free for the lowest-income riders, and would be available to non-residents who travel to San Francisco frequently. In the short term, SFMTA and SFHSA should make the Lifeline process available online during the pandemic, and keep it that way even when their offices reopen. In the longer term, Clipper START presents an opportunity to modernize this program and make it more equitable, which is long overdue.
The Clipper START program will be an important tool for keeping public transportation accessible to low-income people in the Bay Area - but there is still room for improvement. (Photo by Adam Fagen)
Clipper START, which will launch on July 15, will have the same income threshold as the Lifeline program. As the name suggests, it will use Clipper cards, and it will accept applications online. Clipper START will provide a 50% discount not just on Muni, but also on Caltrain and on Golden Gate Transit buses and ferries, and a 20% discount on BART. Because it's a regional program, it won’t be limited to San Francisco residents, and can be used by people commuting into San Francisco from other cities.
While this is a big step forward and addresses many of the problems with the Lifeline program, it doesn't replace it: Clipper START provides discounted single rides, not monthly passes, and it's a temporary pilot program. If and when Clipper START becomes a permanent program, Muni could phase out its Lifeline pass by applying a 50% discount to monthly passes loaded onto Clipper START cards.
Or better, Clipper START could implement an accumulator pass: after a rider has paid the cost of a monthly pass in single rides, they would get free rides for the rest of the month. Accumulators are especially helpful for low-income riders, because they allow them to get the benefits of a monthly pass without having to pay a large sum up front.
The Clipper START program will be an important tool for keeping public transportation accessible to low-income people in the Bay Area. Unfortunately, for people whose income has declined with COVID, the program eligibility is based on the previous tax year, meaning that people who lost substantial work in 2020 would need to wait until 2021 to qualify.
Also, without a monthly pass option or a monthly accumulator, it'll be a missed opportunity to modernize the Lifeline Pass, and won't meet the needs of frequent riders who would pay more under a per-ride discount program than with a discounted monthly pass.
We would like to see the region build on the strengths of both programs: the simpler application process and multi-agency coverage of Clipper START, with the monthly pricing of Lifeline, but implemented as a monthly accumulator to address cash flow challenges for customers. Adding more agencies would enable low-income Bay Area residents to travel farther across the region, as many people commute to jobs across county lines on multiple agencies.
Another valuable step would be fare integration; when a 3-leg trip requires separate fares for each agency used, a 50% discount does not solve an affordability problem caused by the fragmented fare structure.
A means-based fare program with these elements would give low-income residents the ability to travel around the Bay Area and access opportunity, without needing to jump through unnecessary and antiquated hoops.
With long-term goals of affordability and higher transit ridership, there are other fundamental questions. Households with a much higher income than the current ceiling still face grave financial burdens and qualify for subsidized affordable housing at the "very low income" level. To improve affordability, it would be good to offer the program with a higher income threshold. Or perhaps an integrated fare structure would enable more ridership and greater affordability. MTC’s modeling indicates that integrated fares would result in better equity, higher ridership, and greater revenue over time.
The region’s recently-initiated fare integration study will be looking at a range of questions about how to implement fares that are more integrated and affordable. We’ll keep you posted with opportunities to weigh in.
With thanks to Patrick Traughber for making me aware of the Byzantine reverification process, which sent me down this rabbit hole in the first place; to Dave Guarino for pointing out the 23-page CDSS form; to Adina Levin for pointing me to Clipper START; and to Adora Svitak and Adina Levin for proofreading.