Assessing Equity and Identifying Impacts Associated with Bus Network Redesigns (2022)

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1   Numerous transit agencies of all sizes have undertaken bus network redesigns across the United States and Canada over the past decade. Bus network redesigns are local bus network service changes characterized by a holistic transformation of a transit system’s bus service. They involve analysis, planning, and public engagement at the bus network level (Byala et al. 2019). Transit agencies undertaking bus network redesigns tend to take either a “blank slate” approach or make a “comprehensive modification” to their existing bus system. The blank slate approach involves rebuilding the network from scratch, while the latter approach involves relying on the existing structure (Byala et al. 2021). This synthesis explores how equity is being incorporated and addressed in today’s bus network redesigns. It covers how transit agencies today are defining equity, analyzing the equity impacts of bus network redesigns during planning, and pursuing inclusive public engagement in the planning process. Regardless of the approach taken in the service plan design, it is important to recognize that bus network redesigns present large scale changes that result in significant disruptions to transit users’ travel patterns. Bus network redesigns typically involve trade-off discussions that weigh the provision of service coverage across the service area versus the provision of frequent service, and goals such as increasing ridership and improving on-time performance are common to many redesigns (Byala et al. 2021). Limited existing research is available on the equity impacts of bus network redesigns that have been completed to date. The study process for this synthesis featured three elements: a literature review, a survey of agency practice, and case examples. The literature review incorporated equity-related findings from two recent Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) publications: TCRP Synthesis 140: Comprehensive Bus Network Redesigns and TCRP Research Report 221: Redesigning Transit Networks for the New Mobility Future. It also explored analytical methods for analyzing equity in transit service provision and the theoretical concepts of transportation justice, which addresses an individual’s “potential mobility and accessi- bility” (Deka 2021, 307), and mobility justice, which addresses an individual’s “ability to travel” (Deka 2021, 308). The survey was completed by 38 transit agencies located in the United States and Canada. Results of the survey were used to select transit agencies that have completed or are in the process of undertaking a bus network redesign for inclusion as case examples in this synthesis. The transit agencies selected for case examples were diverse in terms of their geographic locations, service area characteristics, and transit agency size. Case example agencies included Lane Transit District (LTD) in Eugene, Oregon; Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) in Los Angeles, California; the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority in Boston, Massachusetts; Metro Transit in Madison, Wisconsin; Regional Transit Service (RTS) in Rochester, New York; and WeGo in Nashville, Tennessee. S U M M A R Y Assessing Equity and Identifying Impacts Associated with Bus Network Redesigns

2 Assessing Equity and Identifying Impacts Associated with Bus Network Redesigns Key findings from this synthesis include the following: Definitions of Equity. Just over one-third of survey respondents indicated that their agencies had an established definition of equity. Definitions of groups included in equity analyses varied across transit agencies, with many adding new groups, such as female householders/single mothers, school age students, adults ages 55–64, cost- burdened renters, and the foreign-born population to those already traditionally included, such as racial minorities, low-income populations, persons with limited English proficiency, senior citizens, and persons with disabilities. Limitations of Title VI. There are transit agencies that view compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act as achieving equity in the planning process. Many of these transit agencies also wait until a service plan is finalized before they conduct a Title VI service equity analysis, which may or may not leave enough time to adequately address the findings of the analysis. However, a growing number of transit agencies increasingly recognize that the role of Title VI is limited to preventing intentional or unintentional discrimi- nation on the basis of race, color, and national origin, and that advancing transporta- tion equity cannot be achieved by implementing Title VI requirements alone. Travel Demand and Evolving Analytical Methods. Transit agencies’ efforts to advance their understanding of the equity impacts of bus network redesigns often involve analyses of accessibility across the network (e.g., the percentage of jobs in the service area that low-income persons can reach within a specified time period) and the use of indices that weight the presence of the equity populations to guide service planning. Analysis of transit agency origin-and-destination (O-D) data is also common; however, this data can only provide information on how a bus system is currently used. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) has made use of location-based services data (LBS data) to inform the planning of the redesign on all trips (including not only those taken by transit, but also ones taken by car, bike, and walk). Transition from Peak-Oriented Service to All-Day, Frequent Service. Many transit agen- cies cited the desire to transition from peak-oriented and often hub-and-spoke service models to ones that provided more frequent transit, more direct connections between desired travel destinations (including crosstown trips and trips that do not enter a central business district), and more consistent service throughout the day as motivat- ing factors for conducting a bus network redesign. More off-peak, frequent, and direct transit service is frequently cited as the type of bus service desired by equity populations. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the case example agencies reported that off-peak service demand was far less impacted by pandemic-related ridership than peak period service. This allowed several of the case example agencies to advance their bus network redesign plans earlier than planned, and for other transit agencies, it validated the focus on the off-peak as one that serves equity populations, including those who work essential jobs and those not able to telework. Inclusive Public Engagement. The use of inclusive public engagement, particularly engage- ment with community-based organizations (CBOs) and holding “pop-up” outreach events at bus transfer centers, community centers, and other community locations, is prevalent among transit agencies conducting bus network redesigns. Engaging with CBOs is a way to facilitate input, but transit agencies are also working with CBOs to ensure that the concerns of equity populations are represented in bus network redesign discussions with transit agency and political leadership. Inclusion of On-Demand Transit Is Growing. The survey for this synthesis found that 45% of agencies incorporated microtransit or another type of on-demand transit partner- ship into their redesign. In TCRP Research Report 221: Redesigning Transit Networks for the New Mobility Future, the vast majority of participating transit agencies were evaluating new mobility options, such as on-demand transit, concurrently but sepa- rately from their bus network redesigns.