Wisconsin Legislature: Trans 3.04(8)(b)

Trans 3.04(2)(b)(b) Each participating system shall establish an average fare factor for each of the 2 weekday categories in par. (a) 1. and 2. Transit systems providing Saturday service are required to establish an average fare factor for Saturday, and systems providing Sunday and holiday service shall establish an average fare factor for those days. Revenue ridership figures shall be calculated for each special fare day during the year; special fare day passenger trip figures for one or more special fare days may not be used to project a system’s revenue passenger trip total on such days on which a survey is not taken.

Trans 3.04(3)(3) Determination of average fare factors. The average transit fare shall be established for each category of day by using a special survey procedure. The methodology for establishing the average fare factor for each category is as follows:

Trans 3.04(3)(a)(a) Weekday/school. The average fare factor for the weekday/school day category is established by accurately counting both revenue and revenue passenger trips for 5 consecutive weekdays when both public and private schools are in session. The 5 days selected shall fall within period I or period III. The actual days selected within the period shall be normal days; special downtown or other promotion days may not be included. The regular tariff schedule shall be in effect during the entire 5-day survey period. Total revenue passengers and total revenue shall be recorded for each day of the survey. The average fare factor is computed by dividing the 5-day total revenue by the 5-day total of revenue passengers.

Trans 3.04(3)(b)(b) Weekday/no school. The average fare factor for the weekday/no school category is established by counting total revenue and revenue passenger trips for 5 consecutive weekdays when both public and private schools are not in regular session. The actual days of the survey shall be normal days and shall fall within period II. Survey days may not be during the week immediately following the end of school or immediately before the opening of school. The regular non-school day tariff shall be in effect during each day of the survey period. Total revenue and total revenue passengers shall be recorded for each day of the survey. The average fare factor is computed by dividing the 5-day revenue total by the 5-day total of revenue passengers.

Trans 3.04(3)(c)(c) Saturday. The average fare factor for Saturdays is established by counting both revenue and revenue passenger trips for 2 Saturdays. One Saturday shall be selected from either period I or III and one Saturday shall be selected from period II. The total revenue from the 2 Saturdays divided by the total revenue passenger trips for the 2 Saturdays equals the Saturday average fare factor.

Trans 3.04(3)(d)(d) Sunday/holiday. The average fare factor for Sundays and holidays is established by counting both revenue and revenue passenger trips for 2 Sundays. One Sunday shall be counted in either period I or III and one Sunday shall be counted in period II. The total revenue from the 2 Sundays divided by the total revenue passenger trips for the 2 Sundays equals the Sunday/holiday average fare factor.

Trans 3.04(3)(e)(e) Special fare day. Revenue passenger trips on days when a special tariff is in effect shall be established by taking actual revenue passenger counts during the entire period in which the special tariff applies, unless the special fare is the same for all riders. If the special fare is the same for all riders, revenue passenger trips may be determined by dividing total special fare day revenues by the per-rider fare. On free fare days sponsored by the subsidizing governmental units, no revenue is recorded and no revenue passenger trips may be counted. On free fare or reduced fare days sponsored by an agency that actually pays the fare of those riding, a revenue may be recorded and the actual number of passengers counted may be included as revenue passengers.

Trans 3.04(4)(4) Procedures for counting revenue passengers using passes or other prepaid fare methods. Urban mass transit systems using the average fare factor method shall use one of the following methods to count daily, weekly, and monthly pass riders and other prepaid fare riders:

Trans 3.04(4)(a)(a) Revenue from daily, weekly and monthly passes, route guarantee revenue, contract service revenue and other revenue not paid in the farebox may be excluded from the total revenue used in calculating average fare factors for the respective service day categories. The revenue passengers using passes or other prepaid fare methods may be determined by the actual count method.

Trans 3.04(4)(b)(b) An urban mass transit system that includes revenue from pass sales and counts all pass riders in the computation of average fare factors shall allocate an appropriate amount of pass revenue to the various types of service days. An urban mass transit system shall obtain the approval of the department before using a proposed method for allocating and computing pass revenue and counting pass riders for the various types of service days.

Trans 3.04(4)(c)(c) An urban mass transit system may estimate pass ridership by multiplying the number of each type of pass sold by the average number of passenger trips taken per pass during the time period for which the pass is valid. The average number of passenger trips taken by pass riders shall be estimated at least once every 3 years by a survey method approved by the department or when a change in a system’s fare structure may significantly alter the average use of passes.

Trans 3.04(5)(5) Determination of annual revenue passenger trips.

Trans 3.04(5)(a)(a) Each transit system shall segregate its revenue according to the category of day on which it is collected. A transit system computing average fare factors for special subsystems shall segregate the revenue for each subsystem and shall use the procedures set forth in par. (b) for each subsystem. A subsystem’s total annual revenue passenger trips shall be added to the system total.

Trans 3.04(5)(b)(b) The annual revenue passenger trips for each transit system shall be calculated as follows:

Trans 3.04(5)(b)1.1. Add all weekday/school day revenue for the entire year and divide by weekday/school day average fare factor.

Trans 3.04(5)(b)2.2. Add all weekday/no school day revenue and divide by weekday/no school day average fare factor.

Trans 3.04(5)(b)3.3. Add all Saturday revenue and divide by the Saturday average fare factor.

Trans 3.04(5)(b)4.4. Add all Sunday and holiday revenue and divide by the Sunday/holiday average fare factor.

Trans 3.04(5)(b)5.5. Add all revenue passenger trips established from special fare days.

Trans 3.04(5)(b)6.6. Add all revenue passenger trips from pass user as determined under sub. (4).

Trans 3.04(5)(b)7.7. Determine annual passenger trips by adding the passenger trips calculated in subds. 1. to 6.

Trans 3.04(6)(6) Determination of transfer riders. Transfer riders shall be determined by an actual count of all passengers boarding with a transfer during the survey weeks, or by a count of all transfer slips turned in by passengers to the transit vehicle operator, or a combination of the 2 methods. The ratio of transfer passengers to revenue passenger trips shall be determined for each type of service day. The ratios shall be applied to the ridership figures derived from the average fare factors to determine transfer riders for each type of service day.

Trans 3.04(7)(7) Determination of free fare riders. Free fare riders shall be determined by an actual count of all riders boarding without payment of a cash or cash equivalent fare or for whom a fare has not been paid by another under a contract or other arrangement with an urban mass transit system. The ratio of free fare passengers to revenue passenger trips shall be computed for each type of service day. The ratios shall be applied to the ridership figures derived from the average fare factors to determine free fare rides for each type of service day.

Trans 3.04(8)(8) Special survey requirements and procedures.

Trans 3.04(8)(a)(a) Each participating transit system shall submit a survey schedule to the department 30 days before beginning any transit survey. Transit systems need not, however, obtain approval for their survey dates unless a special request is made to conduct surveys outside of the designated periods.

Trans 3.04(8)(b)(b) Transit systems that do not segregate Friday from Saturday revenue or Sunday from Monday revenue are required to segregate the revenue during the survey period and to establish a formula which can be applied to the unsegregated funds for the remainder of the year.

Trans 3.04(8)(c)(c) The department may require a system to conduct a resurvey if it determines that a particular survey is inaccurate or that the data collected does not properly reflect a service level or tariff change.

Trans 3.04(9)(9) Forms.

Trans 3.04(9)(a)(a) Revenue, transfer and free fare passenger trip determinations and surveys of passenger trips and computations of average fare factors shall be made on forms furnished by the department.

Trans 3.04(9)(b)(b) The average fare factor computation forms shall be submitted to the department within 15 working days after the completion of the survey. Annual passenger trip forms shall be submitted to the department within 15 calendar days after the last transit day in the calendar year.

Trans 3.04 HistoryHistory: Cr. Register, August, 1978, No. 272, eff. 9-1-78; am. (1) to (3) (d), r. (5) (c), renum. (4) (a) to (b) 5., (4) (b) 6., (5) (a), (b) and (d) and (6) to be (5) (a) and (b) 5., (5) (b) 7., (8) (a) to (c) and (9) and am. (5) (a) and (b) 1. to 4., and 7. and (9), cr. (4), (5) (b) 6., (6) and (7), Register, May, 1991, No. 425, eff. 6-1-91; CR 18-065: am. (3) (e), (4) (c) Register October 2020 No. 778, eff. 11-1-20.