Elements Needed to Create High-Ridership Transit Systems (2007) / Chapter Skim
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From page 52... ...
52 C H A P T E R 5 Introduction The most widely used types of strategies, actions, and initiatives aimed at increasing ridership are operating/service adjustments. The types of strategies -- and specific actions/examples -- included this category are shown in Table 5-1.
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From page 53... ...
Operating/Service Adjustments 53 Type of Strategy Specific Actions/Examples Routing/coverage adjustments Increased route coverage Service expansion; introduction of local circulators; expansion into rural areas Route restructuring Reallocation to most productive rtes; revising operating strategies Improved schedule/route coordination Feeder services; timed transfers; transit centers Scheduling/frequency adjustments Increased service frequency Increased frequency on specific route Increased span of service Longer service hours (e.g., late night/weekend) Improved reliability/on-time performance Implementation of AVL, transit signal priority, transfer connection protection New types of service Improved travel speed/reduced stops Introduction of express bus, BRT, rail Targeted services University-oriented service, downtown circulator, special event/other shuttles Improved amenities Passenger facility improvements Improved bus stop/station, transit center, park n' ride amenities New/improved vehicles Improved amenities, use of articulated buses Increased security Increased agency security presence Increased safety Promotion of safety features of vehicles Table 5-1.
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From page 54... ...
54 Elements Needed to Create High Ridership Transit Systems Key Steps/Activities Evaluation of Existing Services Conduct system-level evaluation Examine service and ridership trends Assess system-wide performance measures Conduct peer agency review Conduct route-level performance assessment Identify design/performance measures and establish goals/thresholds Evaluate route performance according to goals/thresholds Identify deficiencies/problem areas Identify potential strategies to address deficiencies Analysis of Markets and Projected Growth Conduct demographic and travel pattern analysis Identify characteristics of key market segments (e.g., seniors, youth, low-income households) Identify residential and employment densities Identify locations of employment and other activity centers Identify key travel patterns within area/region Review growth projections Identify projected development patterns (office, retail, residential, other)
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From page 55... ...
Operating/Service Adjustments 55 Mode Service Environment Type of Strategy Bus Rail Large Urban Medium Urban Smal l Urban Rural Suburb CBD Increased route coverage + + + + + + + + Route restructuring + – + + + + + + Improved schedule/route coordination + + + + + + + + Increased service frequency + + + + + o + + Increased span of service + + + + + o + + Improved reliability/on-time performance + + + + + o + + Improved travel speed/reduced stops + + + + o o + o Targeted services + – + + + + + + Passenger facility improvements + + + + + o + + New/improved vehicles + + + + + o + + Increased security + + + + + + + + Increased safety + + + + + + + + Key: -- = not applicable or inappropriate; o = applicable, but may not be cost-effective; + = applicable and appropriate Type of Measure Definition or Form of Measure Example of Guideline or Threshold Design Measures Coverage Recommended spacing between routes 90% of households in high density area (>3 household/acre) should be within 1⁄4 mi.
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From page 56... ...
56 Elements Needed to Create High Ridership Transit Systems Cost Estimation Considerations Types of Cost Impacts The cost of implementing and operating these strategies varies considerably, depending on the specific action(s) selected.1 The key factors determining the net cost impact include the following: • What types of capital expenditures, if any, are needed?
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From page 57... ...
Operating/Service Adjustments 57 These factors are typically defined as follows: • Unit of service is typically expressed in terms of vehicle-miles, vehicle-hours, peak vehicles, garages, passengers, stations, track-miles, and so forth. • Productivity ratio is expressed as a resource-required-per-unit-of-service, e.g., operators per vehicle hour, mechanics per vehicle mile, or gallon of diesel fuel per vehicle mile.
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From page 58... ...
58 Elements Needed to Create High Ridership Transit Systems may be more sensitive to fare changes. Otherwise, ridership is typically more responsive to frequency changes than fares" (p.
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From page 59... ...
Operating/Service Adjustments 59 coverage in suburban areas while economizing on the number of buses required.While extensions to existing routes or route branching would presumably continue to utilize fixed-route service (local or express) , new service may in some cases be more efficiently provided using some form of flexibly routed service; the different types of flexibly routed service are described below.
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From page 60... ...
60 Elements Needed to Create High Ridership Transit Systems • Demand-responsive services -- Demand-responsive curb-to-curb service is generally known as dial-a-ride. Such service typically provides greater coverage in an area of low density than does a fixed-route network, but operates at much lower productivities.
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From page 61... ...
Operating/Service Adjustments 61 Route Restructuring Another type of routing/coverage adjustment is route restructuring, which might include, for instance, reallocation of service to most productive routes or revising operating strategies. As defined in TCRP Report 95 (Chapter 10)
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From page 62... ...
62 Elements Needed to Create High Ridership Transit Systems • Overlapping routes should be avoided, except in the following circumstances: – Two or more line-haul routes with moderate frequency and a common terminus share a common segment beginning at that terminus; in such a case, the schedules should be coordinated to provide an effective headway that is twice as good as the routes individually. – A line-haul route with limited-stop service is overlaid on a local service route.
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From page 63... ...
Operating/Service Adjustments 63 transfers, perhaps focused on a series of transit centers. Such a structure can help to address coverage, travel time, productivity, crowding, and reliability problems in an existing network.
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From page 64... ...
64 Elements Needed to Create High Ridership Transit Systems Transit center functions range from facilitating operations by providing off-street layover space to supporting large numbers of transfers between automobiles and transit and between different transit services. A transit center serving local routes may have simple bus pull-outs, shelters, and detailed system information.
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From page 65... ...
Operating/Service Adjustments 65 services in the peak period (assuming a reasonable work mode share) , and demand for offpeak service at policy headways.
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66 Elements Needed to Create High Ridership Transit Systems Increased Service Frequency and Increased Span of Service Adjusting headways (i.e., the amount of time between vehicles) to respond to differences in route productivity and passenger loading is a common response to routes with low productivity.
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Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) Extended Late Night Weekend Hours on Metrorail large urbanized (over 1,000,000)
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68 Elements Needed to Create High Ridership Transit Systems will improve service reliability from the passenger's perspective. TCP also facilitates the splitting of routes, creating a more seamless environment for transferring passengers.
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Operating/Service Adjustments 69 Seattle) , cable car (i.e., San Francisco)
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70 Elements Needed to Create High Ridership Transit Systems 5These examples are all included in our database of examples, discussed in Appendix A and Chapter 4. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA)
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From page 71... ...
Operating/Service Adjustments 71 most common type of initiative instituted by the agencies reviewed in this study. These programs are discussed in Chapters 6 and 8, Partnership/Coordination Initiatives and Fare Collection/Structure Initiatives.)
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From page 72... ...
72 Elements Needed to Create High Ridership Transit Systems Other Targeted Services Other targeted or special purpose services include airport shuttles, shuttles serving special events (e.g., sporting events) , and tourist-oriented services (i.e., other than downtown circulators)
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From page 73... ...
Operating/Service Adjustments 73 • New/improved vehicles (e.g., improved amenities and use of articulated buses) ; and • Increased security (e.g., increased agency security presence)
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From page 74... ...
74 Elements Needed to Create High Ridership Transit Systems • Detailed schedule information, including scheduled times of arrival for each line serving the stop; • A larger shelter, or alternatively, two standard shelters; and • One or more benches in the shelter. Stops with more than 300 daily boardings (including transfers)
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From page 75... ...
City of Fort Collins Transfort Transit Centers medium urbanized (200,000 - 1,000,000) In 2002, Transfort created a new transit cen- ter in downtown Fort Collins, Colorado.
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76 Elements Needed to Create High Ridership Transit Systems transit more comfortable, but safer (with lighting and security cameras, for example) and more efficient (with features such as low-floor buses that are shown to reduce dwell time)
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From page 77... ...
University of Connecticut Transportation Services (UTS) Quick Reaction Checklists rural area (under 50,000)
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