The National Academies Press

Currently Skimming:

Pages 68-146

The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.

From page 68... ... C-1 APPENDIX C: INITIAL CASE STUDIES The research team used a number of techniques to select sites for the initial case studies, which included: • Identifying appropriate sites from the comprehensive literature search. • Reviewing transit agency websites using APTA and similar information sources. Read the entire page →
From page 69... ... C-2 • Metropolitan Transit Development Board (MTDB) • King County Metro (Metro) Read the entire page →
From page 70... ... C-3 LIVERMORE AMADOR VALLEY TRANSIT AUTHORITY (LAVTA) Location: Livermore, CA Contact Person: Cory Lavigne, Manager of Transit Development Size of Agency: Small Transit Modes: Bus, shuttle, ADA paratransit Agency Description The Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority (LAVTA) Read the entire page →
From page 71... ... C-4 running express to the Lockheed facility (5:39 AM and 6:39 AM) Read the entire page →
From page 72... ... C-5 Description of Performance Measurement Program LAVTA has recently added specific performance measures to their overall performance measurement system designed to evaluate DART and PrimeTime service. LAVTA set the farebox recovery ratio at 75% for PrimeTime subscription service and also established a performance standard of 20 passengers/hour. Read the entire page →
From page 73... ... C-6 SOUTH METRO AREA RAPID TRANSIT (SMART) Location: Wilsonville, OR Contact Person: Steven Allen, Operations Manager Size of Agency: Small Transit Modes: Fixed-route bus, commuter bus, general public dial-a-ride Agency Description Under Oregon laws governing transit districts, cities with fewer than 10,000-15,000 residents, as well as unincorporated areas at least one square mile in size containing at least 200 voters, have the opportunity every five years to withdraw from a transit district if certain conditions are met. Read the entire page →
From page 74... ... C-7 in Canby to Canby's local circulators, TriMet and Canby service north to Oregon City, and east to another outer suburb, Molalla. Former SMART Route 202 operated to Meridian Park Hospital 6 miles north of Wilsonville, and continued to Oregon City, 13 miles northeast of Wilsonville, but was cancelled in December 2001 due to low ridership. Read the entire page →
From page 75... ... C-8 Customer satisfaction is measured through comments provided by the public, who may call, write a letter, or fill out a feedback card. SMART also conducts on-board checks of customer satisfaction. Read the entire page →
From page 76... ... C-9 TriMet financially, as the same state law permitting withdrawals also permits TriMet to increase its payroll tax rate to make up the lost revenue. As a result, TriMet ended up with the same revenue, but saved most of service hours it had been providing Wilsonville. Read the entire page →
From page 77... ... C-10 EASTERN CONTRA COSTA COUNTY TRANSIT AUTHORITY (TRI DELTA TRANSIT) Location: Eastern Contra Costa County, CA Contact Person: Steve Ponte, Director of Service Planning Size of Agency: Small Transit Modes: Bus, express bus, ADA paratransit Agency Description The Eastern Contra Costa County Transit Authority, also known as Tri Delta Transit, operates fixed-route, commuter express, and paratransit service for Eastern Contra Costa County. Read the entire page →
From page 78... ... C-11 Delta Express service operates daily during peak commute times. Passenger drop-off and pick up locations are at designated park and ride lots, or central locations within each community. Read the entire page →
From page 79... ... C-12 Description of Performance Measurement Program Tri-Delta collects monthly data on passenger per mile/hour and cost per hour/mile. The data is collected by the service contractor which is reviewed by the ECCTA Director of Finance. Read the entire page →
From page 80... ... C-13 ORANGE COUNTY TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY (OCTA) Location: Orange County, CA Contact Person: Scott Holmes/Beth McCormick Size of Agency: Medium Transit Modes: Bus, commuter rail, ADA paratransit, light rail (planned) Read the entire page →
From page 81... ... C-14 Description of Performance Measurement Program OCTA is currently revising their performance measurement program to be more extensive. The current program includes factors such as minimum service span, ACCESS standards, transfer wait time, loading standards, etc. Read the entire page →
From page 82... ... C-15 PIERCE TRANSIT Location: Pierce County, WA Contact Person: Eric Phillips, Senior Planner Size of Agency: Medium Transit Modes: Bus, ADA paratransit, vanpool, and demand-response - hybrid Description of Suburban Transit Services In addition to traditional fixed-route services that often extend into the suburban service areas, Pierce Transit operates two non-traditional general public services (hybrid services) designed to serve the rural portions of the service area. Read the entire page →
From page 83... ... C-16 Specific service standards and performance measures are in place and adopted by the Board of Commissioners to monitor these services. Description of Performance Measurement Program Hybrid services are a combination of fixed-route and demand-responsive services that serve low-density suburban or rural areas which cannot be cost-effectively served by conventional fixed-route services alone. Read the entire page →
From page 84... ... C-17 Table C-2: Pierce Transit Hybrid Services Passengers per Cost per Vehicle Hour Boarding Passenger New Routes (less than one year old) : Satisfactory >3.0 pass/hr <$11.30/pass Unsatisfactory <3.0 pass/hr >$11.30/pass Routes one to two years old: Satisfactory >4.0 pass/hr <$8.50/pass Unsatisfactory <4.0 pass/hr >$8.50/pass Routes more than two years old: Satisfactory >5.0 pass/hr <$6.80/pass Unsatisfactory <5.0 pass/hr >$6.80/pass All costs in 2003 dollars. Read the entire page →
From page 85... ... C-18 VALLEY METRO Location: Phoenix Contact Person: Teri Collins, Principal Transit Planner Size of Agency: Medium – large Transit Modes: Bus, light rail, shuttles Agency Description Valley Metro serves a population of 2.9 million with a peak-period fleet of 501 vehicles. Approximately 37 million annual unlinked trips are served with 1.25 million vehicle-hours and an annual operating budget of $104 million. Read the entire page →
From page 86... ... C-19 customer satisfaction survey is conducted on an annual basis. The results of this survey give the agency a better idea of where to center their focus. Read the entire page →
From page 87... ... C-20 METROPOLITAN TRANSIT DEVELOPMENT BOARD (MTDB) Location: San Diego, CA Contact Person: Conan Cheung, Senior Transportation Planner Size of Agency: Medium - large Transit Modes: Bus, rail, trolley Agency Description The San Diego Metropolitan Transit Development Board (MTDB) Read the entire page →
From page 88... ... C-21 Description of Marketing Program Suburban transit services are not marketed any differently than other services. Some special market services will be especially advertised, but these are not necessarily suburban services. Read the entire page →
From page 89... ... C-22 KING COUNTY METRO (METRO) Location: Seattle, WA Contact Person: Mike Beck, Transit Contractor Administrator, 206-684-1753 Size of Agency: Large Transit Modes: Bus, rail, shuttle Description of Suburban Transit Services In the suburban communities in King County, Metro provides the DART transit program which is a combination of fixed-route and route-deviation service. Read the entire page →
From page 90... ... C-23 Successes, Challenges and Lessons Learned with the Suburban Transit Services The DART program has proven to be an effective transportation tool for providing convenient, cost-effective service for suburban communities. The service operates primarily as fixed-route service using transit vans, but has the flexibility to deviate off the specific routing within a limited service area. Read the entire page →
From page 91... ... C-24 DENVER REGIONAL TRANSIT DISTRICT (DENVER RTD) Location: Denver, CO Contact Person: Jeff Becker, Senior Manager of Service Development Size of Agency: Large Transit Modes: Light rail, fixed-route bus service, express routes, and ADA paratransit service Agency Description Denver RTD provides transit service to 38 municipalities in 6 counties. Read the entire page →
From page 92... ... C-25 Description of Marketing Program RTD uses their traditional advertising channels to market and promote the cnR service, including direct advertising, special events, promotional materials, and the RTD website. RTD also believes in strong customer service and conducted a ridership survey in late 2000 to gauge customer satisfaction with the cnR service. Read the entire page →
From page 93... ... C-26 TRI-COUNTY METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION DISTRICT (TRIMET) Location: Portland, OR Contact Person: Kerry Ayres-Palanuk, Service Planner Size of Agency: Large Transit Modes: Bus, light rail, ADA paratransit, general public dial-a-ride Agency Description TriMet is the transit service provider for the majority of the Oregon portion of the Portland metropolitan area, serving a 575-square-mile area that includes the city of Portland and many of its suburbs. Read the entire page →
From page 94... ... C-27 up window is +/- 10 minutes of the scheduled time, and the driver will wait one minute after arriving. The shuttle currently operates weekdays, 6–9 a.m. Read the entire page →
From page 95... ... C-28 together every 60 minutes. Route 158, Stevens, served an area closer to the Clackamas Town Center than the other three routes, but was discontinued in December 2002 due to low ridership. Read the entire page →
From page 96... ... C-29 Description of Funding Arrangements All services are funded solely by TriMet. The majority of TriMet's operating revenue (54% in 2003) Read the entire page →
From page 97... ... C-30 single-family residential areas away from the Sunnyside Road; in that respect, the Happy Valley portion of Route 157 "struggles," even though the route as a whole meets TriMet's performance criteria. The lesson from the west side light rail distributors was that service that has a single destination (e.g., one major employer) Read the entire page →
From page 98... ... C-31 CHAMPAIGN – URBANA MASS TRANSIT DISTRICT (C-UMTD) Location: Champaign - Urbana, IL Contact Person: Mike Stubbe Size of Agency: Medium Transit Modes: Fixed-route bus service, shuttle service, ADA paratransit Agency Description C-U MTD has operated local bus service in Champaign and Urbana since 1970. Read the entire page →
From page 99... ... C-32 Description of Operational Issues C-UMTD operates service internally at same hourly rate as other services. No significant constraints exist for operating this service. Read the entire page →
From page 100... ... C-33 their trip, which increases travel time and reduces systemwide ridership. Because of the demandresponse feature of the C-UMTD Direct services, passenger productivity can be expected to be lower than fixed-route service. Read the entire page →
From page 101... ... C-34 DES MOINES METROPOLITAN TRANSIT AUTHORITY (DMMTA) Location: Des Moines, IA Contact Person: Donna Grange, Paratransit Director; Sherry Cooper, DMMTA analyst; Becky Wymore, MPO contact Size of Agency: Medium Transit Modes: Fixed-route bus, express bus, demand-response, and paratransit Agency Description DMMTA serves a population of 371,000 with a peak-period fleet of 175 vehicles. Read the entire page →
From page 102... ... C-35 Figure C-2: Urbandale On Call Service Area The Johnston On-Call service shares a vehicle with the Urbandale service and operates on Tuesdays between 9:00 a.m. Read the entire page →
From page 103... ... C-36 Description of Marketing Program DMMTA has relied on word of mouth since shortly after the initiation of the Urbandale and Johnston On-Call services. Initially, the services were promoted with flyers on vehicles at park-and-ride lots, flyers at apartment complexes, bulletin boards at grocery stores and community centers. Read the entire page →
From page 104... ... C-37 Table C-3: Urbandale On-Call Operating Statistics Urbandale On-Call Before - After Comparison: Average Ridership on 3 Express Routes before On-Call 3,292 Average Ridership on 1 Express Route after On-Call 3,527 Average Ridership on 3 Flex Feeders 1,873 Operating Performance by Zone Zone 1 Zone 2 Zone 3 All Approximate Zone Size (sq. Read the entire page →
From page 105... ... C-38 Table C-4: Johnson On-Call Operating Performance Johnston On-Call Operating Performance Average Monthly Revenue Hours 46 Average Monthly Revenue Miles 548 Average Monthly Passengers 134 Average Passengers per Hour 2.9 Average Passengers per Mile 0.2 Average Miles per Hour 11.8 Read the entire page →
From page 106... ... C-39 MADISON METRO Location: Madison, WI Contact Person: Julie Maryott-Walsh, Marketing Manager Size of Agency: Medium Transit Modes: Fixed-route bus, express bus, and paratransit Agency Description Madison Metro serves a population of 219,000 with a peak-period fleet of 240 vehicles. Approximately 35 million annual unlinked trips are served with 468,000 vehicle-hours and an annual operating budget of $36 million. Read the entire page →
From page 107... ... C-40 Description of Marketing Program Madison Metro worked through American Center employers to distribute flyers and emails to employees. Subscribers were provided with free passes for four months, personalized trip itineraries, and a guaranteed ride home. Read the entire page →
From page 108... ... C-41 SUBURBAN MOBILITY AUTHORITY FOR REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION (SMART) Location: Southeast Michigan, including Wayne, Macomb and Oakland counties Contact Person: Size of Agency: Medium Transit Modes: Bus, ADA paratransit Agency Description SMART is a suburban bus agency that operates fixed-route and advanced reservation demand-response service in three southeast Michigan counties: Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb. Read the entire page →
From page 109... ... C-42 Description of Funding Arrangements These services are funded through federal, state and local millage (property tax) Read the entire page →
From page 110... ... C-43 TOLEDO AREA REGIONAL TRANSIT AUTHORITY (TARTA) Location: Toledo, OH Contact Person: Jim Gee, Director of Planning Size of Agency: Medium Transit Modes: Fixed-route bus, express bus, demand-response, and ADA paratransit. Read the entire page →
From page 111... ... C-44 Description of Marketing Program TARTA has promoted the Call-a-Ride service in each community through community newspapers, presentations at city council, speakers' bureau services, posters, and yard signs. A similar approach is used each year as TARTA adds a new service area. Read the entire page →
From page 112... ... C-45 KANSAS CITY AREA TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY (KCATA) Location: Kansas City Contact Person: Julie Hostak, Planner Size of Agency: Medium - large Transit Modes: Bus, shuttle Agency Description KCATA is an interstate agency of Missouri and Kansas City, having jurisdiction over seven counties with a service area population of 756,000. Read the entire page →
From page 113... ... C-46 there is no consistent set of criteria used to evaluate performance. Performance measures are in the process of being developed. Read the entire page →
From page 114... ... C-47 METROPOLITAN COUNCIL Location: Twin Cities, MN Contact Person: David Christianson Size of Agency: Large Transit Modes: Light rail, bus, circulators, general public dial-a-ride Agency Description The Metropolitan Council's area of jurisdiction includes all or portions of nearly 190 cities and townships in the Twin Cities region. This region has approximately 2.6 million residents and Metro Transit serves an area populated by approximately 1.9 million people. Read the entire page →
From page 115... ... C-48 evaluation and guidance. MetCouncil, however, cannot make any directives on how opt-out services should operate. Read the entire page →
From page 116... ... C-49 was proven to be too costly, especially since full-size buses were used. This service will likely be restored to being strictly express. Read the entire page →
From page 117... ... C-50 PACE, SUBURBAN BUS DIVISION OF THE REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY (PACE) Location: Chicago, IL (suburban) Read the entire page →
From page 118... ... C-51 employer contributions to a transportation management association (TMA) and 50% by Pace and Metra JARC grants. Read the entire page →
From page 119... ... C-52 BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA AND MUNICIPALITIES WITHIN THE COUNTY Location: Broward County, FL Contact Person: Robert Fossa, Senior Planner (954-357-8336) and multiple municipal representatives Size of Agency: Medium (250 vehicles) Read the entire page →
From page 120... ... C-53 such service within the cities. It appears the cities are pleased with the performance of the private contractors. Read the entire page →
From page 121... ... C-54 passengers to the regional system. The challenge is always how to design a route that is the most efficient and effective possible in terms of carrying the most passengers possible with the limited resources at hand. Read the entire page →
From page 122... ... C-55 FORT WORTH TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY Location: Fort Worth, TX Contact Person: Carla Forman, Assistant Vice President Size of Agency: Medium (175 vehicles) Transit Modes: Bus and paratransit Agency Description Fort Worth Transportation Authority, "The T," is a medium sized transit authority that operates bus and paratransit services, with all services provided by McDonald Transit Associates, Inc. Read the entire page →
From page 123... ... C-56 The challenge seemed to be how to develop the appropriately designed zone for point deviation. If the zone is too large, then it becomes hard to meet your schedule. Read the entire page →
From page 124... ... C-57 where English was limited) , expense of having enough staff to book and schedule the trips, and having enough vehicles to meet the demand all presented significant challenges. Read the entire page →
From page 125... ... C-58 CHARLOTTE AREA TRANSIT SYSTEM (CATS) Location: Charlotte, North Carolina Contact Person: Brad Miller, Director of Operations; Larry Kopf, Director of Planning Size of Agency: Medium sized transit agency with 325 vehicles Transit Modes: Bus and paratransit, planning for light rail and bus rapid transit (BRT) Read the entire page →
From page 126... ... C-59 providing service throughout the day from 6 am to 6:30 pm, while the other three provide service only during the peak morning and afternoon hours. Description of Operational Issues The South Park circulator was intended to serve the second largest concentration of office buildings in Mecklenberg County, in a manner similar to a very successful downtown circulator in downtown Charlotte that carries over 60 passengers per hour. Read the entire page →
From page 127... ... C-60 While service is in place from 6 am to 6:30 pm, all six vehicles are only in service for about two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon. In the middle of the day, only three vehicles remain in service. Read the entire page →
From page 128... ... C-61 Successes, Challenges and Lessons Learned with the Suburban Transit Services One of the lessons learned at CATS was that it is a challenge to get quality citizen input, particularly from senior citizens. It has been their experience that more accurate predictions of use among seniors are gained from social service representatives familiar with the seniors travel patterns than from the seniors themselves. Read the entire page →
From page 129... ... C-62 DALLAS AREA RAPID TRANSIT (DART) Location: East Plano, North Central Plano, East Rowlett, Farmers Branch, Lakewood, North Dallas, TX Contact Person: Tim Newby, Service Planning Manager Katherine Eagen, Planner Size of Agency: Large (over 800 fixed-route buses, 170 paratransit vehicles) Read the entire page →
From page 130... ... C-63 Service is provided by three private contractors who serve different portions of the service area. Of the six zones, one operator covers four zones, with the remaining two, covering one zone each. Read the entire page →
From page 131... ... C-64 POTOMAC AND RAPPAHANNOCK TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION (PRTC) Location: Prince Williams County, VA Contact Person: Eric Marx, Director of Planning Size of Agency: Small Transit Modes: Point deviation bus, commuter bus, ride-sharing Description of Suburban Transit Services PRTC provides OmniLink local bus service on 2 routes in the western part of suburban Prince Williams County, including Manassas, and 3 routes in the eastern part of the county, including Woodbridge, Dale City, and Dunmfries. Read the entire page →
From page 132... ... C-65 Successes, Challenges and Lessons Learned with the Suburban Transit Services PRTC initially marketed the deviation feature very strongly and encountered challenges meeting the demand for these time-consuming trip segments (between 25 and 33 percent of a route's run time is allocated for deviations) Read the entire page →
From page 133... ... C-66 MERRIMACK VALLEY REGIONAL TRANSIT AUTHORITY (MVRTA) Location: Haverhill, MA Contact Person: Joe Costanzo, Administrator Size of Agency: Small - medium Transit Modes: Bus and ADA paratransit service Agency Description MVRTA serves the northeast corner of Massachusetts, providing a mix of city, suburban, interurban, and rural scheduled bus service. Read the entire page →
From page 134... ... C-67 Description of Funding Arrangements The Ring and Ride service is funded by the MVRTA, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the local town the service is provided in, which is typical of transit services provided in MA. The commuter express service maintains an 85% farebox recovery, with a fare of $5.00 each way, and commuter fares available in 10 ride pass increments. Read the entire page →
From page 135... ... C-68 Transferability to Other Systems The experience gained by MVRTA is applicable to any other transit system in the country. Read the entire page →
From page 136... ... C-69 CAPITAL DISTRICT TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY (CDTA) Location: Albany, New York Contact Person: Jack Reilly, Deputy Director and Director of Planning and Development and Kristina Younger, Service Analyst, and Carm Basile, Marketing Director Size of Agency: Medium Transit Modes: Route-deviation Agency Description CDTA is an all-bus system with 250 vehicles, providing service in a three county area including the cities of Albany, Schenectady, and Troy in upstate New York along the Hudson River. Read the entire page →
From page 137... ... C-70 and cannot accept any more requests for deviations. In essence, the success of the service has become the challenge for the future. Read the entire page →
From page 138... ... C-71 Another challenger is that the private contractor's service is the subject of an unacceptable number of complaints for reliability and bus condition. CDTA has been providing these sorts of flexible services for six years and they have considerable experience to offer to this project. Read the entire page →
From page 139... ... C-72 TRANSPORTATION DISTRICT COMMISSION OF HAMPTON ROADS (HRT) Location: Hampton Roads, VA Contact Person: Clayton Ashby, Chief Planning Officer Size of Agency: Medium Transit Modes: Bus, ferry, vanpool, ADA paratransit services Agency Description Hampton Roads Transit (HRT) Read the entire page →
From page 140... ... C-73 Successes, Challenges and Lessons Learned with the Suburban Transit Services Productivity measures are utilized to determine whether a particular service is successful. HRT believes the Deviated-Route service to be successful based upon its performance. Read the entire page →
From page 141... ... C-74 RHODE ISLAND PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY (RIPTA) Location: Providence, RI Contact Person: Mark Therrien, AGM/Director Transit System Development; Tim McCormack, Service Planner Size of Agency: Medium (220 buses and 125 vans) Read the entire page →
From page 142... ... C-75 Description of Funding Arrangements As noted earlier, federal funds from the JARC program provided the primary source of funds for these services. As those funds phase out, RIPTA uses its other funding to pay for these services. Read the entire page →
From page 143... ... C-76 have bunched the shopping trips with such a schedule, and then gained public input on how much more service was needed and expand service accordingly. Transferability to Other Systems The experience gained by RIPTA is applicable to any other transit system in the country. Read the entire page →
From page 144... ... C-77 NEW JERSEY TRANSIT (NJ TRANSIT) Location: Newark, NJ Contact Person: Sally Stocker Size of Agency: Large Transit Modes: Bus, commuter rail, light rail, ADA paratransit Agency Description Created by the Public Transportation Act of 1979, NJ TRANSIT was established to "acquire, operate and contract for transportation service in the public interest." In 1980, NJ TRANSIT purchased Transport of New Jersey, the State's largest private bus company at that time. Read the entire page →
From page 145... ... C-78 employment services, flexibly routed subscription services, and various connecting services to rail stations and other transit hubs. Description of Operational Issues The WHEELS services are contracted out to a private operator. Read the entire page →
From page 146... ... C-79 succeed, as would be expected. While many of these issues were painful lessons at the time, NJ TRANSIT has learned from these experiences and has significantly improved their ability to plan non-traditional suburban oriented transit routes throughout the state. Read the entire page →

From page 68...

... C-1 APPENDIX C: INITIAL CASE STUDIES The research team used a number of techniques to select sites for the initial case studies, which included: • Identifying appropriate sites from the comprehensive literature search. • Reviewing transit agency websites using APTA and similar information sources.