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Pages 5-21

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From page 5...
... 3 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION AND RESEARCH APPROACH OVERVIEW An overriding thesis of the modern condition is the fact that mobility is becoming increasingly complex. Nationwide, economic growth has lead to commercial expansion and activity reaching further and further out to suburbia, creating more settings to which the transit industry has been asked to respond.
From page 6...
... 4 • Preliminary case studies generated a wealth of information on a wide range of agencies, identified common issues and trends faced by these agencies, and elucidated how agencies make decisions about what service to implement and how its performance will be measured. This effort also helped identify which agencies operate a variety of service types, which were willing to participate more heavily in the study, and what land-use and operating data they have available.
From page 7...
... 5 activity surface characterized by peaks of various heights over the traditional downtown and outlying centers, ridges connecting peaks along major corridors, and plains in between, where people live in sprawling subdivisions. Figure 1-1: Conceptual Activity Surfaces by Urban Form Supported by tools such as the activity surface, this project explores the relationship between the land-use characteristics and travel patterns of the service area, the operating characteristics of the service, and the service's performance on a range of suburban transit services.
From page 8...
... 6 enclaves are examples of points. Points are largely characteristic of suburbs, without the qualities of urban areas.
From page 9...
... 7 Established Suburban Transit Services Fixed Routes Among the most commonly deployed transit service, fixed routes are those which follow a predetermined alignment and schedule. Fixed routes may operate more frequently than other service forms, providing service during peak hours or all day.
From page 10...
... 8 meet the paratransit requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
From page 11...
... 9 • Vehicle Modifications • Fare Technology Transit Services and the Activity Space The activity surface provides the basis for relating the spatial distribution of travel demand and the optimal arrangement of transit centers, line-haul routes, and other transit services. All transit services can be organized around the topographical features on the activity surface, as shown below: • Peaks are the largest destinations for travel by all modes and are generally served by the highest frequency, highest capacity transit services in a region.
From page 12...
... 10 the literature search, requesting information via a list serve, and applying our professional knowledge of transit properties. The final choice of case study locations was done to balance the size and geographical coverage of agencies, while ensuring that unique programs were also included.
From page 13...
... 11 In addition to accumulating a wealth of information on a wide range of agencies, it has become clear that there are many common issues and trends faced by these agencies, but there are diverging conclusions being made about their services. The following section discusses these issues and trends in greater detail.
From page 14...
... 12 In addition to these observed services, there are several other issues that are worth additional discussion, such as: • Performance measurement • Funding • Community interaction With regard to performance measurement, one of the most thorough efforts to quantify service performance was completed by Pierce Transit (WA)
From page 15...
... 13 added to community dollars for the provision of services designed by the community. In other instances, lack of continued community enthusiasm was cited as a factor in discontinuing or reducing service.
From page 16...
... 14 increased with flexible services because complementary paratransit service is not required where flexible, accessible transit is equally available to all passengers. • Smaller vehicles are often more compatible with the sensitivities of suburban neighborhoods, which are often sensitive to the noise and pollution generated by fullsized transit buses.
From page 17...
... 15 • A residential community's proximity to premium transit service, such as rail or BRT stations. • A regional transit agency's desire to provide faster, more direct service.
From page 18...
... 16 perception that the study highlights larger markets while omitting some smaller, rural sites because larger areas are more likely to offer more extensive and varied services. Similarly, preliminary work indicated that more robust land-use data may exist in some of the medium and larger transit properties.
From page 19...
... 17 Table 1-3: Case Study Sites by Agency Location East South Midwest West CDTA (NY)
From page 20...
... 18 o Vehicle Characteristics ƒ Vehicle type; Capacity (seats/wheelchair positions) ; Technology (Annunciators, AVL, Smart Cards)
From page 21...
... 19 necessary to process that data into the full land-use analysis, the number of the studies in the category of highly available land-use data was reduced to four sites, Detroit, Minnesota, Portland and Wilsonville. Third, it was apparent from the level of inconsistency and availability of landuse information that developing sufficient linkages with transit services on a line level was logically going to be difficult.

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