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47 For those transit agencies that are contemplating implementation of feeder service, there are a number of steps that can be taken to de- termine the feasibility of this new service. The discussion below, ex- tracted from a comprehensive evaluation of paratransit service on the island of Oahu in Hawaii, provides a framework for approach- ing this exercise that can be customized to suit the local conditions in other transit environments. This case study illustrates how, even in a context in which a number of desirable elements for feeder ser- vice are in place, namely frequent bus service on many lines, remote locations where ADA paratransit registrants are located, and clus- ters of social service agencies that are located in transit corridors, the economic feasibility of implementing feeder service remains an open question (Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates 2006). METHODOLOGY Consultants to the Oahu Department of Transportation Services (DTS) used a two-step approach to determine potential ways to pro- vide feeder service on Oahu, where the city of Honolulu is located. The first step focused on common social service destinations to determine if feeder service might be a good option for the home locations of customers going to these destinations. Two criteria were used to identify potential candidates: 1) the agency should be located two blocks or less from a bus route; 2) and the bus route should provide weekday service at least every 20 minutes. Most of the social service destinations were found to be too far from a bus route, or not served frequently enough. For the destinations that met the criteria, home locations of customers going to these destinations were identified. The second step focused on home locations that might be close to a fixed-route. Due to the mountainous terrain of the island, the distribution of home locations in remote areas outside of Honolulu but close to fixed-routes appeared to provide a good opportunity for feeder service. Routes serving these areas were identified, including frequencies of service, and numbers of paratransit customers living in these areas. For all of these locations, analysis of proximity to fixed bus routes was conducted as a âreality check.â This analysis provided a concep- tual starting point to identify possibilities for feeder route service. Issues such as topography or inaccessible pathways were examined. Ideally, transfer locations would have shelters, benches, and acces- sible rest room facilities. EXAMPLES OF POSSIBLE FEEDER SERVICE Two feeder possibilities were identified: 1) Fixed-route from home locations to transfer points in the paratransit rich urbanized areas for the second leg of the trip. This type of feeder service could be provided for (a) customers who cannot be grouped to go to common destinations or (b) customers with subscription service going to social service agencies. 2) Another feeder option that was explored was providing para- transit service from the home origin for customers traveling to destinations that are well-served by transit. This model could work for (a) customers traveling to social service agency destinations or (b) customers living in Honolulu and work- ing in a remote location. COASTAL HOME LOCATIONS The first group of potential feeder candidates included individuals who live on the geographically constrained shores of the island where residential locations are clustered tightly along the narrow coasts and near fixed bus routes. Individuals who were able to travel a few blocks to a bus stop would be able to ride the bus and transfer to paratransit feeder service for the second trip leg to their final destination. SOCIAL SERVICE AGENCIES NEAR FIXED BUS ROUTES The most common social service destinations were also examined to determine if any were accessible from a frequent fixed bus route. Paratransit could serve the home locations for the first, feeder leg of a trip to social service agencies, with the second leg being provided on fixed-route. Most of the destinations reviewed were not located within two blocks of a fixed bus route. Many existing paratransit runs to agencies were already being provided very productively with optimal grouping of customers. This should be considered when weighing the economic benefits derived from feeder service to social service destinations. HONOLULU TO REMOTE LOCATIONS The last group of potential feeder customers examined were those who live in Honolulu and work at a remote destination that is on a fixed bus route with frequent service. The feeder trip leg would be relatively short, and the fixed-route transit leg would be longer but direct. This could offer costs savings by greatly reducing the length of the paratransit trip segment. IMPLEMENTATION STEPS 1) Identify Trips with Cost Savings If any of the previously identified examples were considered worth pursuing, the first step would be to locate trip pairs that could rep- resent cost savings if provided as feeder trips. A full calculation of the economic impact of feeder service requires consideration of the following factors: ⢠Implementation and planning costs; ⢠Continuing added operational costs for scheduling, coordina- tion, and trip planning; and ⢠Continuing operation cost savings resulting from reduced paratransit mileage per trip for feeder service compared to di- rect paratransit service. Operational cost savings from reducing paratransit vehicle time can be estimated by calculating the average duration of the APPENDIX D Honolulu: Methodology for Examining the Feasibility of Feeder Service
paratransit portion of feeder trips and the average duration of direct paratransit trips between the same origin and destination. The re- sulting difference in passenger minutes can be adjusted by average vehicle occupancy. The cost per vehicle hour can then be applied to estimate the cost per trip savings. A threshold for cost savings should be established to determine which feeder trips would be cost effective. 2) Identify Individuals Who Could Use Feeder Service Another important step in implementing feeder service is to identify who can use the service. Of those who are conditionally eligible, further review is needed to determine who has âdistanceâ as a con- dition. For those individuals, enough information would be needed to determine if they would be able to get to a bus stop, including 48 exactly how far they can travel. As stated previously, a detailed el- igibility screening program is needed to determine who would be able to use feeder service. Until that is in place, a transit agency can examine in greater detail the conditions of the specific individuals whose frequent trips represent good feeder candidates. OUTCOME OF THE FEASIBILITY OF FEEDER SERVICE ANALYSIS Based on the initial analysis of potential feeder service on Oahu, it was decided that a limited scale pilot program may be the most ef- fective approach to testing the effectiveness of this model, with a focus on those trips that most clearly meet the feeder criteria that had been established. At the time of this report, the lack of clearly cost-beneficial feeder candidates resulted in a postponement of fur- ther exploration of feeder service on the island of Oahu.
