INDUSTRY RESEARCH / UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS · 2025

Free buses in Kansas City brought new riders.

A University of Kansas survey of Kansas City bus riders: 17% started riding because the bus was free, and almost 40% of existing riders rode more.

A chart of a University of Kansas survey of more than 500 Kansas City bus riders in 2023: 17% started riding because the bus became free, and almost 40% of riders who already used the bus rode more often. Kansas City’s fare-free bus ran from March 2020 to June 2026. — Kansas City’s fare-free bus. Source: Mendez, University of Kansas, Transport Policy, 2025.

17%of riders surveyed started riding because the bus became freeYounger people and women most of all

Almost 40%of riders who already used the bus rode more often

Industry research, not a Vugo® campaign result. Figures as published by University of Kansas; sources below.

Study: Advancing mobility through fare-free transit: Evidence from the Kansas City Metropolitan Area
Who ran it: University of Kansas
Author: Joel Mendez, University of Kansas
Published: Transport Policy, Vol. 174, December 2025 (peer-reviewed, open access)
Sample: More than 500 transit users surveyed at bus stops across the Kansas City metro
Fieldwork: 2023, three years after the bus went fare-free in March 2020

WHAT IT MEANS FOR A CAMPAIGN

Free fares reach new people.

One rider in six started riding only because the bus was free, and almost four in ten existing riders rode more. Taking the fare away widened who rides, which is the case Vugo makes in its analysis of free transportation.

Free has to be paid for.

Kansas City ended its fare-free bus in 2026 after six years. A fare that goes away needs a lasting source of money, and Vugo’s argument is that advertisers can be one of them, as they already are for sponsored rides.

READ IT RIGHT

This is a survey of people already riding, so it shows who was drawn in and how they changed their habits, not a count of total ridership. Most riders who already used the bus didn’t ride more. Kansas City brought fares back on June 1, 2026, after six years. The figures here are from the University of Kansas’s own summary of the paper and its abstract.

VUGO’S PART

None. This is independent academic research. Vugo cites it because ads and sponsors are one way to pay for a free ride.

SOURCES

Mendez, Advancing mobility through fare-free transit: Evidence from the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, Transport Policy 174 (open access)Published December 1, 2025Checked November 13, 2026
University of Kansas: Study finds Kansas City fare-free bus policy attracted new riders, increased overall useChecked November 13, 2026
Tyndall, Fare-free transit in the United States (Table 2: RideKC fares reinstated June 1, 2026)Published July 21, 2026Checked November 13, 2026

MORE RESEARCH

What the studies say.

Every industry study of moving out-of-home on one page, with how each was done.

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