Methods of Rider Communication (2006)

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Agency Name Abbreviation City/State Annual Riders Ann Arbor Transportation Authority AATA Ann Arbor, MI 4,900,000 Berks Area Reading Transportation Authority BARTA Reading, PA 2,600,000 Capital Area Transportation Authority CATA State College, PA 6,044,141 Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority CMTA Austin, TX 33,873,000 Charlotte Area Transit System, City of Charlotte Public Transportation Department CATS Charlotte, NC 18,000,000 City of Colorado Springs Transit Services Division CSTSD Colorado Springs, CO 2,800,000 CityLink (Greater Peoria Mass Transit District) CityLink Peoria, IL 2,330,000 Fort Worth Transportation Authority The T Fort Worth, TX 7,126,567 Fresno County Rural Transit Agency FCRTA Fresno, CA 425,946 GO Transit Go Transit Toronto, Ontario 46,000,000 Greater Bridgeport Transit Authority GBTA Bridgeport, CT 4,675,000 Greater Hartford Transit District GHTD Hartford, CT 276,000 Interurban Transit Partnership ITP Grand Rapids, MI 6,400,000 Kitsap Transit KT Bremerton, WA 5,100,000 Metro Transit Metro Minneapolis, MN 69,500,000 Milwaukee County Transit System MCTS Milwaukee, WI 47,000,000 Montgomery Area Transit System MATS Montgomery, AL 749,554 Norwalk Transit District Wheels Norwalk, CT 1,783,595 Orange County Transportation Authority OCTA Orange, CA 66,590,000 Pace Suburban Bus Pace Arlington Heights, IL 36,877,892 Pierce County Public Transportation Benefit Area Authority Corporation Pierce Transit Lakewood, WA 14,476,000 Port Authority of Allegheny County PAT Pittsburgh, PA 70,000,000 River Valley Transit (Williamsport Bureau of Transportation) RVT Williamsport, PA 1,200,000 Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority VTA San Jose, CA 39,380,000 Shore Line East, Connecticut Department of Transportation SLE New Haven to New London, CT 425,000 Singapore Mass Rapid Transit Ltd. SMRT Singapore 685,300,000 South Bend Public Transportation Corporation TRANSPO South Bend, IN 3,112,602 South Coast Area Transit SCAT Oxnard, CA 3,234,465 Southern California Regional Rail Authority SCRRA Los Angeles, CA 9,946,566 Transfort/Dial-A-Ride Transfort Fort Collins, CO 1,570,000 Transit Link Pte Ltd Transit Link Singapore Not applicable Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon TriMet Portland, OR 39,380,000 York County Transportation Authority YCTA York, PA 1,699,735 TABLE 3 AGENCIES THAT RESPONDED TO SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE The synthesis survey covered several key characteristics of rider communications. Before examining these characteristics, the overall and modal annual ridership and types of riders served by each respondent were noted. Most agencies provide fixed-route bus service and cover many types of riders, includ- ing commuters, the elderly and disabled, K-12 and college stu- dents, and tourists. Total annual ridership for each agency is shown in Table 3. Ridership among the respondents varied from 276,000 (paratransit-only agency) to 685,300,000. 20 COMMUNICATION TYPES AND FREQUENCY OF DISSEMINATION Nearly all of the survey respondents provided the following types of communication to their riders: • Operational information (e.g., route detours), • Route and schedule information, • Proposed service changes, CHAPTER THREE CHARACTERISTICS OF COMMUNICATING WITH RIDERS

21 • Public meeting information, • Security, • Safety (e.g., “mind the gap”), • General information (e.g., how to ride and fare infor- mation), and • Transit in the community (e.g., transit agency teamed with local business). In larger agencies, the responsibility for communicating with riders is often assigned to multiple parts of the organi- zation. For example, at Pace Suburban Bus, TriMet, Port Authority of Alleghany County (PAT), and Santa Clara Val- ley Transportation Authority (VTA), the responsibilities are divided as shown in Table 4. For smaller agencies, most of the communication is done by one or two groups within the agency (e.g., operations and business development). The division of responsibilities is one of the key factors in the effectiveness of communication, as discussed in chapter seven. As shown in Table 5, there is a wide variation in the con- tent and frequency of communication reported by the sur- vey respondents. In terms of operational information, the most prevalent information provided in real time is next vehicle arrival and departure time. This reflects the trend that shows more agencies deploying real-time information by means of DMSs and on the Internet. The most common type of information provided periodically and on a one- time basis concerns detours and delays. The next most prevalent type of operational information provided on a one-time basis is trip and/or connection time. As expected, communication of all types of general infor- mation is the most prevalent of all of the communications. Under safety and security, reminders about suspicious activi- ties and packages were most prevalent in the periodic category. The responses to this question were not unexpected. However, the dissemination of safety and security information is not being done by as many agencies as those that are disseminating general or real-time information. Given the focus on safety and Communication Type Pace TriMet PAT VTA Operational information Planning services Marketing Media relations and operations Service operations Route and schedule information Planning services/graphics Marketing Operations and customer service Marketing and service operations Proposed service changes Planning services and government affairs Marketing and communications Media relations, operations, and marketing Marketing and service operations Public meeting information Government affairs Marketing and communications Engineering, planning, media relations, and marketing Marketing Security Bus operations Marketing and operations Safety, marketing, and media relations Marketing and protective services Safety Safety Marketing and operations Safety, marketing, and media relations Marketing and protective services General information Marketing and communications Marketing Marketing, customer service, and media relations Customer service and marketing Transit in the community Business development, and marketing and communications Marketing and capital projects Sales, marketing, and operations Community outreach Source: Survey responses. Notes: Pace = Pace Suburban Bus (Illinois); TriMet = Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon; PAT = Port Authority of Alleghany County (Pennsylvania); VTA = Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (California). TABLE 4 EXAMPLE OF COMMUNICATION RESPONSIBILITIES

Frequency Type of Information Real Time Periodic One Time Other Operational Next bus/train/ferry arrival/departure time 10 4 7 Detours/delays 6 15 12 6 Vehicle location 5 1 2 1 3 Trip and/or connection time 3 5 11 4 Parking availability 1 1 3 4 4 Other 0 1 0 General Maps, routes, schedules, and fares 5 23 10 8 Rider’s guide 2 18 11 5 Information for disabled riders 4 20 11 7 Trip planning (including Point A to Point B planning, find closest stop, find service at a location) 12 12 9 8 Other 0 2 0 0 Safety/Security Reminders about notifying officials about suspicious packages or activity 3 17 9 4 Evacuation of transit facilities/vehicles 4 8 6 2 Escalator/elevator outages 3 3 2 2 Amber alerts 1 0 0 3 Other 1 1 0 2 Source: Survey responses. TABLE 5 FREQUENCY OF COMMUNICATION (No. of agencies reporting) 22 security at the time this report was prepared (June 2006), the overall results in this information category are somewhat unex- pected. Overall, Table 5 shows the trend toward providing certain operational information in real-time, while continuing to provide general information on a periodic basis. COMMUNICATION DISSEMINATION MEDIA The dissemination media used by the survey respondents are shown in Table 6. The contents of the table directly correspond to the results of the aforementioned FTA study (4), which indi- cates that riders prefer to obtain information in printed form, through the Internet, and by telephone (see Figure 11). This strong correlation between the FTA research report and what is actually being provided by the survey respondents indicates that the top three types of media are the most effective meth- ods of communicating with riders. In terms of information accessibility, Table 7 shows the number of survey respondents that provide different types of information in various accessible formats. Some types of information easily lend themselves to specific accessible for- mats, such as large print for maps, routes, schedules, and fares; information for disabled riders; and rider’s guides. Overall, the information in this table indicates that the major- ity of responding agencies provide general information in multiple accessible formats. The most widely used format for general information is large print, followed by a Section 508- compliant website. Safety and security information in acces- sible formats is somewhat limited in reporting agencies. The survey asked respondents to note the methods that are used to determine the content of rider communication. For operational and general information, complaint informa- tion provides the majority of input to determining content [reported by 30 and 26 agencies, respectively (of the 33 responding agencies)]. Consulting with riders is the next most common method of determining the content of operational and general information (reported by 25 and 20 agencies, respectively). Surprisingly, many agencies reported that they determined the content of operational, general, and safety and security information in-house with no external input (21, 17, and 10 agencies, respectively). Nineteen agencies reported that they consulted with an external source in determining the content of general information and safety and security infor- mation. In addition, several agencies reported that they base the content of their operational, general, and safety and secu- rity communication on another agency’s communication (13, 16, and 15 agencies, respectively).

23 Dissemination Media Type of Information Pa pe r (23 % ) St at ic si gn a t t ra n sit st op /st at io n (13 % ) El ec tro ni c sig n at tr an sit st op /st at io n (3% ) Pu bl ic a dd re ss s ys te m (3% ) O n- bo ar d el ec tro ni c sig n (1% ) In te rn et (w eb sit e) (22 %) Te le ph on e (19 %) M ob ile te le ph on e ( 1% ) W ire le ss a pp lic at io n pr o to co l- en ab le d de v ic e (1% ) K io sk (5 %) E- m ai l o r p ag e (5% ) W ire le ss d ev ic e (e. g., PD A , iP od ) ( 1% ) O th er (3 % ) Operational Next bus/train/ferry arrival/departure time 15 15 10 6 3 15 19 1 2 8 2 1 1 Detours/delays 23 18 7 8 1 20 22 3 1 5 10 3 4 Vehicle location 1 0 1 2 2 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 Trip and/or connection time 14 10 2 1 16 16 1 1 6 3 1 1 Fare payment 26 15 0 0 1 24 21 2 1 6 7 1 5 Parking availability 5 1 2 0 0 6 6 1 1 3 3 1 0 General Maps, routes, schedules, and fares 30 22 0 0 0 30 23 0 1 10 5 2 4 Rider’s guide 27 6 24 13 4 1 0 4 Information for disabled riders 26 7 1 1 25 21 1 1 2 2 1 3 1 0 3 4 1 2 Trip planning (including Point A to Point B planning, find closest stop, find service at a location) 10 4 17 20 2 1 4 Safety/Security Reminders about notifying officials about suspicious packages or activity 19 13 5 7 2 13 3 4 0 0 Evacuation of transit facilities/vehicles 8 5 2 4 0 5 0 000 000 1 3 Escalator/elevator outages 1 3 1 0 0 3 3 1 0 0 Amber alerts 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 Source: Survey responses. Note: Blank cells indicate that providing information is not applicable using the specific dissemination media. TABLE 6 CURRENT DISSEMINATION MEDIA (No. of agencies reporting)

24 Accessible Format Type of Information Br ai lle La rg e pr in t/l ar ge fo nt si ze A ud io v er sio n o fv isu al in fo rm at io n V isu al v er sio n of au di bl e in fo rm at io n W eb sit e is Se ct io n 50 8- co m pl ia n t In te ra ct iv e vo ic e re sp on se te ch n o lo gy O th er Operational Next bus/train/ferry arrival/ departure time 3 10 8 6 6 5 5 Detours/delays 3 8 6 4 7 4 5 Vehicle location 1 3 2 2 1 4 Trip and/or connection time 4 6 3 4 8 4 4 Parking availability 1 1 5 2 3 General Maps, routes, schedules, and fares 9 20 8 6 14 7 5 Rider’s guide 7 13 5 3 12 4 3 Information for disabled riders 8 15 7 4 11 5 5 Trip planning (including Point A to Point B planning, find closest stop, find service at a location) 1 5 7 6 10 4 4 Safety/Security Reminders about notifying officials about suspicious packages or activity 2 7 7 6 6 3 2 Evacuation of transit facilities/ vehicles 1 1 3 3 2 2 2 Escalator/elevator outages 1 1 2 2 1 Amber alerts 0 0 0 0 1 Source: Survey responses. Note: Blank cells indicate that providing information is not applicable using the specific format. TABLE 7 COMMUNICATION ACCESSIBILITY (No. of agencies reporting) 0 50 100 150 200 250 Pa pe r Int ern et (we bsit e) Te lep ho ne Sta tic sig n Kio sk E-m ail or pa ge Pu blic ad dre ss sys tem Ele ctr on ic s ign Mo bile te lep ho ne On -bo ard el ect ron ic s ign Wi rel es s d ev ice Oth er Oth er Dissemination Media N um be r o f r es po ns es FIGURE 11 Dissemination media (Source: survey responses).