Vertical equity and the maximization of farebox revenue are important but conflicting goals in the development of fare policy in the United States. Reducing fares for low-income riders reduces revenue for a transit agency, while increasing fares could disproportionately impact lower-income riders. This paper details this conflict, explores strategies that could account for both goals, and evaluates fare programs in the United States. Two types of low-income strategies are discussed: first generation strategies and targeted subsidy strategies. First generation strategies have several limitations that targeted subsidy strategies account for; first generation strategies focus more on supply, while targeted subsidy strategies focus more on demand. The evaluation of US low-income fare programs found that organizational partnerships can reduce administrative and financial impacts to agencies, local ridership characteristics need to be considered in designing a program, and that smart card technology is useful but not required to create a targeted subsidy program.

中文翻译：

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票价政策和垂直公平：承受能力与成本回收之间的权衡

在美国制定票价政策时，垂直公平和最大化票房收入固然重要，但相互矛盾。降低低收入乘客的票价会减少公交代理机构的收入，而增加票价可能会对低收入乘客产生不成比例的影响。本文详细介绍了这种冲突，探讨了可同时解决这两个目标的策略，并评估了美国的票价计划。讨论了两种类型的低收入策略：第一代策略和有针对性的补贴策略。第一代战略具有针对性补贴战略所要解决的几个局限性。第一代战略更多地侧重于供应，而目标补贴战略则更多侧重于需求。