Evaluating Transit Operations for Individuals with Disabilities Final Report (1997) / Chapter Skim
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CHAPTER II SERVICE ROUTES
CHAPTER II SERVICE ROUTES
Pages 21-82
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From page 21... ...
This chapter provides a summary and comparison of the results of five case studies conducted to evaluate service routes. The case study sites are: Ajax, Ontario Richmond Hi, Ontario Madison County, IL · Madison, Wl · Margate, FL While Be main purpose in studying these sites is the service routes, many of these sites make use of options and enhancements such as the use of low-floor buses TARP B-IA II-1 Draft Final Report
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From page 22... ...
Ajax served the general public, including elderly persons, persons with disabilities, students and young people, and mothers with young cniiaren. Madison County, AL also served the general public, but emphasized service to the developmentally disabled community.
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In addition to impacting paratransit service, service routes Impacted fKed route ridership In three out of five cases. In Richmond HiD it appears that the Community Bus service diverted some demand from elderly users of the fixed-route system; In Madison County, TE the fixed-route system was eliminated altogether; and In Margate, the service route system replaced a f~xed-route bus route which had been operated by Broward Counter Transit.
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From page 24... ...
this system was successful In Tuning around a continual decline ~ f~cecI-route bus service. The success of the service routes is probably due to a number of different features, which Include the use of low-floor buses, good coverage of the county, extensive use of tone transfers, close coordination between the fixed route and paratransit services, and travel training.
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Ridership response to the service routes was generally favorable. In the Canadian sites riders specifically commented on the great sense of _ _ c~ "community" that they felt when riding the community bus, and comments from Margate riders were similarly favorable.
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SERVICE | NO. | SE VICE DAYS/HOURS I HEADW ~Y I YEAR [ OF SERVICE ROUTE | SERVICE | | (minute )
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From page 27... ...
The goal of the Flag Bus was to create a fixec3-route serving He most common destinations of the HanctiTrans system and the elderly. The service was designed to serve six senior residences, a TCRP B-IA II-7 Draft Final Report
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Richmond HiD is also TCRP B-IA II-8 Draft Final Report
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Figure Il-~: The Flag Bus at Ajax Plaza .. TCRP B-1A II-9 Draft Final Report
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The Community Bus serves many high rise residences for elderly persons, shopping facilities, and medical facilities. The Community Bus provides service every 90 minutes on a fixed TCRP l9-IA II- 10 Draft Final Report
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Madison County, Illinois Madison County Transit (MCT) operates a service route system (known as the MCT Shuttles)
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Residences 11 Hillcrest Mall 12 South Hill Plaza _ Community Bus Route ~ · - ' : ~ I .
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MCT began implementation of the MCT Shuttle In 1989, and it currency covers most of the service area. Service routes were developed to replace a local fixed-route bus service which had been operated almost exclusively by Bi-State In St.
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From page 34... ...
The original drivers of Me MCT Shuttle service came from the ACT Door-to-Door service, and many Divers have served on both of the services. The ACT reservation operators are well aware of Me MCT Shuttle, and win encourage those requesting Me ACr Door-to-Door service to try Me MCT Shuttle service whenever feasible.
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a, up Mu In · e ·= I ran_ Ha' t1 '1' ' T~]
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From page 36... ...
Madison Metro currently provides paratransit service through contracts win taxi companies and their own "service route" system known as Local Motion. Local Modon consists of nine "routes" which provide service hourly from 8:15 am until 5:30 pm on weekdays.
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:, ~ , I , ~.,.~.~.~.~, ~ I ,. : TCRP B-IA II-17 Draft Final Report
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From page 38... ...
for the elderly through a private contractor, and GAS+ which took 135 developmentally disabled persons to sheltered workshops. In 1992, Madison Metro began operation of its service route system, Local Motion.
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From page 39... ...
Margate also operates its own bus service called Margate Inner-City Transit, a service route system. Margate had a population of 42,985 in 1992 living In S.S square miles, with a population density of 4,885 persons per square mile.
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From page 40... ...
Prior to the implementation of ADA paratransit service In 1994, paratransit was provided under two programs, the Social Service Transportation Program (SST) and the Community Transportation Coordinator Grant Program (CTC)
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From page 41... ...
The routes connected the local senior center to major shopping and medical facilities. BCt therefore decided to supplement changes In the regional fv~eci-route system with a local community bus service.
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Figure II-5: Elderly Passengers Dominate the Ridership of Margate Inner-City Transit .1 TCRP B-IA II-22 Draft Final Report
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From page 43... ...
To assess Ace economic impacts from service routes, the following components were reviewed for each location: Me initial cost of sewing up service routes, the annual operating cost of service routes, annual savings from replacing fixed-route service and/or from paratransit service avoided or diverted to service routes and, finally, net new revenue from service routes. Following this, Implementation issues are reviewed.
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From page 44... ...
Ridership on two vehicles In the Mobility Bus paratransit service was around 10,000 per year before the Community Bus, then grew to over IS,000 per year when one vehicle was changed to the Community Bus service route. Overall, it appears that the Community Bus may have also drawn elderly ridership from the conventional f~xed-routes, however He fixecI-route ridership has been generally TCRP B-IA II-24 Draft Final Report
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From page 45... ...
, ~I- -- do ~ , , , , , T r- 0 0 0 a, 0 ~0 0 O ~N CV) ~0 0 0 CD 0 0 0 Year · Bi-State · MCT Shuttle ACT Paratransit X Total Ridership TCRP B-IA II-25 Draft Final Report
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From page 46... ...
Figure Il-7: Ridership Trends in Ajax, Ontario 60000 50000 40000 30000 ._ 20000 1 0000 o 1992 1993 Year 1994 1995 I ~ Flag Bus · Handi-Trans TCRPB-IA II-26 DraStFinalReport
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From page 47... ...
Figure II-~: Ridership Trends in Margate, FE 1 00000 90000 80000 70000 60000 50000 40000 30000 20000 1 0000 O' . 1991 TCRP B-IA / / / / 1992 1 993 II-27 1994 1 995 ~ BCt Route 88 · Margate Dray Final Report
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From page 48... ...
In Madison County, IL, information on likely trips diverted from He ACT door-to-door service to the MCT Shuttle was developed by examining the ridership trends on the ACT service, and from the surveys of those registered for the ACT service. Both of these indicate considerable diversion to He MCT Shuttle.
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From page 49... ...
Figure Il-9: Riciership Trends in Richmonc! Hill, Ontario 30000 25000 20000 1 5000 0000 5000 o 1 1990 1 991 1992 1993 1994 1995 Year ~ Mobility Bus - · Taxies ~ Community Bus X Total TCRP B-IA II-29 Draft Final Report
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From page 50... ...
Figure Il-10: Ridership Trends in Madison, W] 250000 200000 1 50000 ~ ~1 00000 1 50000 0= 1992 _ 1 993 Year 1 1994 1 99~6 - ~ Metro+ 18 Taxi ~ -- Gas+ X Local Motion | 3K Total TCRP B-IA Il-30 Draft Final Report
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From page 51... ...
This would represent a 30 percent diversion from paratransit service per year to the Community Bus. ~ Madison, WI, during the first years of l.ocal Motion (when it operated as a traditional service route)
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Whereas paratransit trips on Memo+, GAS+, or the taxi service had been fairly direct, the new Local Motion service routes often required one or more transfers. TCRP B-IA II-32 Draft Final Report
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WI (1995 IL 6) TCRP B-IA II-33 Draft Final Report
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From page 54... ...
Local Motion does receive 1-2 complaints per month, and these are usually complaints regarding He schedule inflexibility or long travel lime. At the focus group meeting win He users of Madison County's MCT Shuttle, there were many good things said about the reasons for choosing service routes.
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. When asked why respondents used the ACT TCRP B-IA II-35 Draft Final Report
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From page 56... ...
For example, In Madison County, IL, the locally operated MCT Shuttle and the ACT Door-to-Door service are both significantly less costly than the fixed-route buses operated by Bi-State. The ACT Door-to-Door service is slightly more expensive than the MCT Shuttle, since me paratransit service also has the cost of call taking, scheduling, and dispatching included.
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TC8P B-IA II-37 Draft Final Report
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From page 58... ...
a 1994 Figure TCRP B-1A II-38 Draft Final Report
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From page 59... ...
Ajax's Flag Bus, serving a general public ridership in a tight urban configuration, had the highest productivity of IS.6 passengers per hour. Madison Counly's MCT Shuttle, also with a general public ridership but with several TCRP B-IA II-39 Draft Final Report
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Margate 1995 11.78 N/A l5.29b Meow only bRoute 88 only TCRP B-IA II-40 Draft Final Report
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In going from a more traditional fixed-route network to a service designed for customers who are ADA eligible, Madison Metro probably experienced an increase In TCRP B-IA II-41 Draft Final Report
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Faster speeds were observed In Madison County, TE on some of the rural MCT shuttle routes with few diversions. ECONOMIC IMPACTS The economic impacts of service routes include the initial cost of setting them up as wed as the change In ongoing operating cost.
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SPEED (MPH) Ajax 1995 Richmond Hill 1995 9-11 15-17 Madison 1993 12 22 13-28 County, IL Madison, WI 1995 9 12 Margate 1995 14 13-17 TCRP B-IA II-43 Draft Final Report
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From page 64... ...
Total costs ranged from as low as $7,300 in Ajax, Ontario for a single route to a high of close to $224,700 In Madison County, IL for a county-wide system. Table Il-6 shows the unit cost and total cost per case study site for setting up service/community bus routes.
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From page 65... ...
Richmond Hill, Ontario l $14,600 | $14,600 \dadisonCounty,lL I $8,600-$14,000 1 $139,000-$224,700 | \ladison,WI I $13,000-$16,000 1 $120,000-$140,000 VIargate,FL I $3,000-$5,000 1 $10,0000-$15,000 TCRP B-IA II-45 Draft Final Report
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From page 66... ...
Net New Revenue from Service Routes Four of the five cases showed new net revenue from service routes once they had been In operation for several years.2 This reflects the ability of service to not only divert Dassengers from paratransit service, but to encourage more people to ride transit in general. In the case of Madison County, IL, there was a net revenue loss from service routes.
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From page 67... ...
In the case of Aiax, Richmond HiD, and Margate, we used He subsidy per rider on Handi-Trans, the Mobility Bus, and the BCt Paratransit service, respectively. For Madison, wRs Local Motion (before the May 1995 configuration)
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From page 68... ...
-$4,800 $8,900 $4,100 Madison County, IL (92-93) -$223,500 $172,500 -$51,000 Madison, W!
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From page 69... ...
5,800$10.10 $58,300 . Madison County, IL (92- 56,400$11.68 $659,000 93)
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From page 70... ...
Where service routes replace existing fixed-route or paratransit service as in Madison County, Margate, and Richmond An, mere is a net savings. In Madison, Wl, with the 1995 configuration of Local Motion reDIac~na existing caratransit service there is also a ~v ~ savings.
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From page 71... ...
SAVINGS FROM FIXED l ROUTE SERVICE | LOCATION REPLACED Madison County, IL (92-93) $2,323,000 Margate, FL $219,000 TCRP B-IA II-S 1 Draft Final Report
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From page 72... ...
~$82,000 Richmond Hill (94-95) $54,000 Madison County, IL $1,656,000 Madison, WI (94)
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From page 73... ...
. _ Madison County, IL -$51,000 ~$659,000 + $2,323,000 $1,656,000 $1,275,000 (92-93)
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From page 74... ...
In Madison County, Madison, Wl, and Margate, most service is hourly, while in Ajax and Richmond HiD, service Is on 90 minute headways. TCRP B-IA II-54 Draft Final Report
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From page 75... ...
' .. -..:.':~Richmond, ....''` '':''':~Madison '.' :;, '-:;~Madison, I': ".:' .''':'Madison .; ''' ' ':.':'; M'arga' e; ' :: TCRP B-IA II-55 Drap Final Report
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From page 76... ...
Elderly riders In Margate take several months to understand route changes, which occur frequency in response to service requests, or in response to observed ridership trends. In Madison County, the MCT Shuttle might have a diversion from the regular route at a particular time of the day.
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From page 77... ...
Communication and Marketing Ajax Transit's marketing efforts for the Flag Bus have been very successful, along with other marketing efforts, such as Customer Appreciation Day, which was held on June 17, 1996. Naming the community bus service the "Flag Bus" reminds people about Me type of "flag stop" service that is being offered.
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From page 78... ...
In preparation for this, they started in June of 1991 to meet with human service agencies to convince them of the value of moving Heir clients from the parairansit service to the TCRP B-lA II-58 Draft Final Report
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From page 79... ...
In Richmond Em, the approach is somewhat the same. The Richmond Hip dispatch operation for the Mobility bus and accessible taxi service reminds anyone on the Community Bus route that the service is available.
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From page 80... ...
MCT has determined that finding the right personality types may be as valuable as driving experience, so they search for new drivers who like people, who are not cynical, and who won't be bothered by children. Similar to Madison County, Richmond HiD hired its drivers for the Community Bus and Mobility Bus from the Toronto Transit Commission's paratransit service.
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Vehicles Small low-floor buses are the vehicle of choice for service routes. Madison County, id, Madison, Wl, and Richmond HiD use Orion ~ buses, while Ajax uses an Elf bus.
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From page 82... ...
Loss of any of these features would probably have adversely impacted] the success of the Madison County service routes.
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