From the fringes to the mainstream and back? The geography of pandemic-driven evolution of fare-free public transport in the United States

The article examines the surprising uptake of the fare-free public transport (FFPT) policy in the United States during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. While sanitary lockdowns led to a drastic reduction of mobility, safe public transport (PT) services had to be maintained to cater for “essential workers”. To achieve this, many urban transit agencies (TAs) adopted FFPT. To examine where PT became fare-free during the pandemic, we built and analysed a new dataset based on information from nearly 400 urban TAs across the US. Our findings indicate that two-thirds of the public TAs in urban areas opted to suspend fare collection amid the pandemic, with the analysis uncovering 73 cases of full FFPT on top of the 29 that had existed before the pandemic. FFPT emerged in areas with diverse demographic and economic profiles. Localities with higher Democratic Party support were more likely to abolish fares and sustain the suspensions, while larger transit agencies with substantial vehicle fleets tended to resume fare collection sooner. These findings highlight the complex factors influencing the adoption and duration of FFPT programmes in response to the pandemic, and underscore the adaptability of PT policies in the response. In sum, we observe that FFPT has shifted from the policy margins to the mainstream, having transformed from a highly controversial measure to a widely accepted strategy. Although the number of FFPT cases decreased significantly after the initial waves of the pandemic, it nonetheless remained much higher than pre-pandemic levels, with 40 TAs continuing to offer fare-free services. • This study examines fare-free public transport (FFPT) policy as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. • Municipalities and counties where FFPT was adopted are diverse in terms of their demographic and economic characteristics. • The political context played a crucial role in FFPT adoption across U.S. municipalities and counties. • Greater Democratic electoral support was linked to both adopting FFPT and maintaining fare suspension longer. • Transport agencies with a larger fleet size were quicker to resume fare collection.