Findings aro prosented ot a comprohonsive ovaluation that was mado of an employor· based monthly transit pass pr0gram Instituted in Jacksonville, Florida. The purpose ot the demonstration, which was funded through the Service and Methods Demonstration Program of the Urban Mass Tramportation Administration, was to assass tho. impacts that relult when transit passes are sold, distributed, and promoted by employers to. their employees. Throe affected groups wero examined-employers, employeos, and the transit operator. Enrolling 30 firms to particlpato in tho S11lo of transit passes was accomplished very successfully and efficiently by having staff members with first-ha· nd knowledge of the local business community schedule a personal meeting with the chiof executive officer at each firm. Howevor, the monthly transit pass, which was initially priced at little or no discount comr> ored with cash fores, was not purchased by many employees who use tho bus mainly for commuting purposes. However, by Instituting a modest $2.00 discount in tho pass price end encouraging employers to provide addltlonol subsidies, the nu, nber of passes sold increased from an average of 120 to more than 1000 por month at the end ol the fim year. By tho eighlcenth month of the program, one-third of the employers were selling the pass ate discount to their employees. While the employer-promoted pass program resulted in somo new transit riders (about 20 percent of th· e purchasers had previously used other modes), morn than 60 percent of the pass purchasers were already rogu. lar bus commuters. Revenues lost because of the program were small (about 0.3 percent of regular monthly revenue I since 75 percent of the employees use the transit pass only for commuting.

The concept of selling and distributing transit passes th (ough employers is the logical outgrowth of two trends that have emerged over the past decade. The first is the ra1;> id growt. h (or renewed growth) in transit operators' use of transit fare prepayment (TFPJ instruments, such as transit passes that are valid for trips taken over a specific period such as a calendar month. In early 1970, relatively few transit agencies in the United States offered regular transit riders the use of monthly transit passes. However, a recent face survey completed by the American Public Transit Association (APTA) revealed that curren. tly about two-thirds of the. transit systems surveyed sell some type of pass. The monthly pass is the most popular,..: urrently being offe. ed for sale by 51.9 percent of the. surveyed systems (.! _, l)•