Guidebook for Rural Demand-Response Transportation: Measuring, Assessing, and Improving Performance (2009) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 23-32
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From page 23... ...
Many consider productivity to be the most important single measure of DRT performance, assessing the system's effectiveness. As a performance measure, productivity captures the ability of the DRT system to schedule and serve passenger trips with similar origins, destinations, and time parameters, using the least number of in-service vehicles and hours.
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From page 24... ...
24 Guidebook for Rural Demand-Response Transportation: Measuring, Assessing, and Improving Performance Table 4-1. Six key DRT performance measures selected for Guidebook.
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From page 25... ...
For a rural DRT system, deadhead time may have a significant impact on operating costs if large amounts of time are needed to travel to and from pick-up and drop-off locations at the start and end of passenger service. There are various reasons that a DRT system's performance on operating cost per vehicle-hour may not meet objectives, including • Costs for labor, particularly vehicle operators, since these compose the largest share of transit staff; • Costs for maintenance from an older fleet, from problem vehicles, from accidents, and from fuel costs; • High costs for administration or other overhead; • High proportion of paid hours for vehicle operators related to vehicle-hours of service -- that is, a significant proportion of operator pay–hours that is attributed for cost items other than providing passenger service (e.g., administrative efforts)
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From page 26... ...
For the transit industry in general, labor including fringe benefits may account for up to 70% to 80% of total operating costs, with the majority of employees working in vehicle operations and vehicle maintenance. The labor rates paid to vehicle operators and mechanics are somewhat controllable, but will depend on the local job market and wages paid for similar positions at competing organizations.
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From page 27... ...
Reasons that a DRT system might show high operating cost per passenger trip include: • High operating costs: – Costs for labor, particularly vehicle operators; – Costs for maintenance from an older fleet, from problem vehicles, from accidents, and from fuel costs, and – High administrative costs. • Low productivity: – Large service area where passenger trips are lengthy; – Low density of passengers within the service area; – System policies that allow riders to travel to destinations beyond the primary service area; – Significant deadhead time related to service-area size and long-distance trips; – Service policies and scheduling practices that facilitate individualized trip-making ("one-to-one" trips rather than "few-to-one" or "many-to-one" trips)
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From page 28... ...
Performance Considerations A DRT system's performance on safety can be improved by ensuring that vehicle operators are well trained, vehicles are well maintained, and operating policies and procedures support safe operations day to day. Lower than expected or desired performance on safety may result from a variety of reasons: • Limited vehicle operator training and/or retraining; • Inexperienced vehicle operators; • Vehicle issues such as the vehicle type or design and their condition; • Scheduling practices that result in a system speed that forces vehicle operators to rush, which then increases opportunities for accidents; • Environmental factors such as bad weather; and • The system's commitment to safety and efforts to communicate that commitment to all its employees.
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From page 29... ...
The Guidebook recommends that this be calculated as the sum Performance Measures for Rural DRT 29 no-show/late cancellation rate = (total no-shows + total late cancellations) ÷ total number of scheduled trips
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From page 30... ...
The denominator -- number of scheduled trips -- is the total of the trips that are placed onto vehicle schedules for service, as defined in Chapter 3. It is noted that the no-show/late cancel rate can be considered an interim measure, monitored because of the important affect that no-shows and late cancellations have on productivity and operating costs.
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From page 31... ...
The FTA Section 5316 Program (Job Access and Reverse Commute) Performance Measures for Rural DRT 31 average travel time = total passengers' travel time ÷ total number of passenger trips
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From page 32... ...
For purposes of this measure, a round trip to and from an employment site would be counted as one job accessed. • Number of individuals using DRT for independent living (e.g., individuals using service to access medical services, counseling, education, employment, grocery shopping, personal business such as banking, and other basic life needs -- essentially the customer base of rural DRT service -- can be an important measure in demonstrating the value of the service in community)
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