Partnering for Patrons: Free Rides & Admissions to Civic Venues

Partnering for patrons in small cities and towns is a way to increase ridership in under-utilized buses and to increase patrons at the city’s cultural venues. Cross-leveraging the unused capacities in the transit system and the cultural venues can increase the use of both without incurring an increase in their operating costs. Revenues may in fact increase from food and beverage sales even though the admission revenue will not increase due to the free admission policy. Bank of America already offers free access to many museum across America on the first weekend of the month by showing a Bank of America credit card. Every city and town has a plethora of under- utilized educational and cultural public places: libraries, theaters, science centers, public gardens and museums of art, history, science and industry. And, every city has an under- utilized bus system. What does that tell us?