Guidebook for Measuring, Assessing, and Improving Performance of Demand-Response Transportation (2008)

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TRANSPORTAT ION RESEARCH BOARD WASHINGTON, D.C. 2008 www.TRB.org T R A N S I T C O O P E R A T I V E R E S E A R C H P R O G R A M TCRP REPORT 124 Research sponsored by the Federal Transit Administration in cooperation with the Transit Development Corporation Subject Areas Public Transit Guidebook for Measuring, Assessing, and Improving Performance of Demand- Response Transportation KFH GROUP, INC. Bethesda, MD I N A S S O C I A T I O N W I T H URBITRAN ASSOCIATES, INC. New York, NY MCCOLLOM MANAGEMENT CONSULTING, INC. Darnestown, MD CAMBRIDGE SYSTEMATICS, INC. Bethesda, MD

TCRP REPORT 124 Project B-31 ISSN 1073-4872 ISBN: 978-0-309-09923-3 Library of Congress Control Number 2008921822 © 2008 Transportation Research Board COPYRIGHT PERMISSION Authors herein are responsible for the authenticity of their materials and for obtaining written permissions from publishers or persons who own the copyright to any previously published or copyrighted material used herein. Cooperative Research Programs (CRP) grants permission to reproduce material in this publication for classroom and not-for-profit purposes. Permission is given with the understanding that none of the material will be used to imply TRB, AASHTO, FAA, FHWA, FMCSA, FTA, or Transit Development Corporation endorsement of a particular product, method, or practice. It is expected that those reproducing the material in this document for educational and not-for-profit uses will give appropriate acknowledgment of the source of any reprinted or reproduced material. For other uses of the material, request permission from CRP. NOTICE The project that is the subject of this report was a part of the Transit Cooperative Research Program conducted by the Transportation Research Board with the approval of the Governing Board of the National Research Council. Such approval reflects the Governing Board’s judgment that the project concerned is appropriate with respect to both the purposes and resources of the National Research Council. The members of the technical advisory panel selected to monitor this project and to review this report were chosen for recognized scholarly competence and with due consideration for the balance of disciplines appropriate to the project. The opinions and conclusions expressed or implied are those of the research agency that performed the research, and while they have been accepted as appropriate by the technical panel, they are not necessarily those of the Transportation Research Board, the National Research Council, the Transit Development Corporation, or the Federal Transit Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation. Each report is reviewed and accepted for publication by the technical panel according to procedures established and monitored by the Transportation Research Board Executive Committee and the Governing Board of the National Research Council. The Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, the National Research Council, the Transit Development Corporation, and the Federal Transit Administration (sponsor of the Transit Cooperative Research Program) do not endorse products or manufacturers. Trade or manufacturers’ names appear herein solely because they are considered essential to the clarity and completeness of the project reporting. TRANSIT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM The nation’s growth and the need to meet mobility, environmental, and energy objectives place demands on public transit systems. Current systems, some of which are old and in need of upgrading, must expand service area, increase service frequency, and improve efficiency to serve these demands. Research is necessary to solve operating problems, to adapt appropriate new technologies from other industries, and to intro- duce innovations into the transit industry. The Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) serves as one of the principal means by which the transit industry can develop innovative near-term solutions to meet demands placed on it. The need for TCRP was originally identified in TRB Special Report 213—Research for Public Transit: New Directions, published in 1987 and based on a study sponsored by the Urban Mass Transportation Administration—now the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). A report by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), Transportation 2000, also recognized the need for local, problem- solving research. TCRP, modeled after the longstanding and success- ful National Cooperative Highway Research Program, undertakes research and other technical activities in response to the needs of tran- sit service providers. The scope of TCRP includes a variety of transit research fields including planning, service configuration, equipment, facilities, operations, human resources, maintenance, policy, and administrative practices. TCRP was established under FTA sponsorship in July 1992. Pro- posed by the U.S. Department of Transportation, TCRP was autho- rized as part of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA). On May 13, 1992, a memorandum agreement out- lining TCRP operating procedures was executed by the three cooper- ating organizations: FTA, the National Academies, acting through the Transportation Research Board (TRB); and the Transit Development Corporation, Inc. (TDC), a nonprofit educational and research orga- nization established by APTA. TDC is responsible for forming the independent governing board, designated as the TCRP Oversight and Project Selection (TOPS) Committee. Research problem statements for TCRP are solicited periodically but may be submitted to TRB by anyone at any time. It is the responsibility of the TOPS Committee to formulate the research program by identi- fying the highest priority projects. As part of the evaluation, the TOPS Committee defines funding levels and expected products. Once selected, each project is assigned to an expert panel, appointed by the Transportation Research Board. The panels prepare project state- ments (requests for proposals), select contractors, and provide techni- cal guidance and counsel throughout the life of the project. The process for developing research problem statements and selecting research agencies has been used by TRB in managing cooperative research pro- grams since 1962. As in other TRB activities, TCRP project panels serve voluntarily without compensation. Because research cannot have the desired impact if products fail to reach the intended audience, special emphasis is placed on dissemi- nating TCRP results to the intended end users of the research: tran- sit agencies, service providers, and suppliers. TRB provides a series of research reports, syntheses of transit practice, and other support- ing material developed by TCRP research. APTA will arrange for workshops, training aids, field visits, and other activities to ensure that results are implemented by urban and rural transit industry practitioners. The TCRP provides a forum where transit agencies can cooperatively address common operational problems. The TCRP results support and complement other ongoing transit research and training programs. Published reports of the TRANSIT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM are available from: Transportation Research Board Business Office 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 and can be ordered through the Internet at http://www.national-academies.org/trb/bookstore Printed in the United States of America

CRP STAFF FOR TCRP REPORT 124 Christopher W. Jenks, Director, Cooperative Research Programs Crawford F. Jencks, Deputy Director, Cooperative Research Programs Dianne S. Schwager, Senior Program Officer Eileen P. Delaney, Director of Publications Maria Sabin Crawford, Assistant Editor TCRP PROJECT B-31 PANEL Field of Service Configuration Richard DeRock, Link Transit, Wenatchee, WA (Chair) Linda Cherrington, Texas A&M University Thomas J. Cook, North Carolina State University Beverly Edwards, Laidlaw Transit Services, Inc., Pittsburgh, PA Micky Gutzmann, Metropolitan Council, Contracts and Purchasing Department, St. Paul, MN Cynthia Hernandez, Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Austin, TX Helen “Beth” McCormick, Orange County (CA) Transportation Authority Albert T. Stoddard, III, LSC Transportation Consultants Inc., Colorado Springs, CO Jeffrey D. Webster, Fresno County (CA) Rural Transit Agency Steven R. Yaffe, Arlington County (VA) Department of Environmental Transportation Division Keith Gates, FTA Liaison Pamela Boswell, APTA Liaison Kristi Ross, Other Liaison Peter Shaw, TRB Liaison AUTHOR ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The research conducted for this Guidebook was performed through TCRP Project B-31 by the KFH Group, Inc., with assistance from Urbitran Associates, Inc.; McCollom Management Consulting, Inc.; and Cambridge Systematics, Inc. Elizabeth (Buffy) Ellis, AICP, of the KFH Group was the Principal Investigator for the project and primary author of the Guidebook. Ken Hosen and Samantha Erickson of the KFH Group and David Sampson and Jill Cahoon of Urbitran Associates assisted with the research and data collection from the DRT systems participating in the project. David Sampson also contributed to preparation of the chapter on improving performance. Brian McCollom of McCollom Management Consulting prepared much of the chapter on performance data and definitions. Robert Stanley of Cambridge Systematics contributed to the early efforts of the research. Sue Knapp and Ken Hosen of the KFH Group provided review and advice throughout the project. The research team gratefully acknowledges the assistance and support of Dianne Schwager, TCRP Senior Program Officer for the project, and of the Project Panel, whose members provided valuable guid- ance and input. We would also like to sincerely thank the many DRT systems that participated in the research project for sharing their data, insights, and time with the research team. Their experiences with efforts to improve their own demand-response services and willingness to share those experiences enrich this Guidebook. C O O P E R A T I V E R E S E A R C H P R O G R A M S

TCRP Report 124: Guidebook for Measuring, Assessing, and Improving Performance of Demand-Response Transportation, will be of interest to public transportation systems that provide demand-response transportation (DRT) services and to the communities they serve. The Guidebook is a resource to assist DRT systems to measure, assess, and improve their performance, focusing on DRT in urban areas. A companion report is being prepared, through a continuation of this research, which focuses on DRT in rural areas. Improving DRT performance requires an understanding of the characteristics of DRT and the environment within which it operates. Improving performance also requires that DRT systems measure where they are now and the progress of their performance over time. To do so, DRT systems need consistent data and clearly defined performance measures, which will facilitate their own internal assessment as well as comparisons of performance across the industry. Once DRT systems have assessed their performance and documented where they stand relative to their own service and compared to others, opportunities for improvement can then be considered. The research conducted to develop this Guidebook included developing a typology of DRT systems in urban areas with categories based on criteria affecting performance; defin- ing key performance data and a limited set of performance measures for DRT; identifying the various factors that influence DRT performance; collecting performance data from DRT systems representative of the defined categories; identifying policies, procedures, practices, and strategies—collectively referred to as management actions—that DRT systems have implemented to improve their performance; and documenting quantitative and qualitative effects on performance from those management actions. The Guidebook addresses the diversity of DRT systems, service areas, and passengers; identifies the important controllable factors affecting DRT performance; and includes per- formance assessment methods based on reliable data and meaningful measures. Such assess- ment methods will allow relevant assessments of DRT performance over time and across DRT systems. F O R E W O R D By Dianne S. Schwager Staff Officer Transportation Research Board

C O N T E N T S 1 Chapter 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Objective of Guidebook 2 1.2 Guidebook Organization 3 Chapter 2 DRT Performance—The Basics 3 2.1 Start at the Beginning: What Is DRT? 4 2.2 Why Measure DRT Performance? 6 2.3 Measuring DRT Performance—Issues and Complications 10 Chapter 3 Performance Data and Definitions 10 3.1 A Trip Is A Trip Is . . . Not Always A Trip 10 3.2 NTD Data and Definitions for DRT Performance Assessment 21 3.3 Beyond NTD—Other Performance Data and Definitions for DRT 30 Chapter 4 Performance Measures 30 4.1 Performance Measures for DRT—The Many 30 4.2 Key Performance Measures for DRT—The Few 37 4.3 Additional Performance Measures for DRT 41 Chapter 5 Assessing Performance—Typology of DRT Systems 41 5.1 Different Ways to Assess Performance 43 5.2 Developing a Typology of DRT Systems—Which Systems Are Similar? 49 Chapter 6 Assessing Performance—Data from Representative Systems 49 6.1 Representative DRT Systems Within the Typology 52 6.2 Comparing Your Performance Against Other Systems—Performance Data of Representative DRT Systems 66 Attachment to Chapter 6 77 Chapter 7 Improving Performance 77 7.1 Factors Affecting DRT Performance 81 7.2 Management Actions Influencing DRT Performance 81 7.3 Management Actions Identified by Participating DRT Systems 122 References