Who, What, When, and Where

2015 ◽  
Vol 2537 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Legrain ◽  
Ron Buliung ◽  
Ahmed M. El-Geneidy
Keyword(s):  
Public Transportation ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Transit System ◽  
Transit Service ◽  
Transit Ridership ◽  
Mode Share ◽  
Time Periods ◽  
Transit Use ◽  
In Transit ◽  
Transportation Agencies

Public transportation agencies are faced with the difficult task of providing adequate service during peak travel periods while maintaining adequate service for those traveling off-peak or outside a city or region's densest areas. The ability or inability of a transit system to meet these needs helps explain transit ridership rates. This research sought to understand how daily fluctuations in transit service were related to ridership in the greater Toronto and Hamilton area, in Canada, for different segments of the labor force. Many variables—including frequency and proximity of transit service, socioeconomic status, the built environment, and accessibility to employment through transit—have been linked to transit use in past research. However, many previous studies focused only on travel during peak hours. This study investigated whether fluctuations in service and demand were related to transit ridership rates. With the use of six time periods, an improved understanding of daily variation in transit mode share for commuting trips was produced. With a further division of the commuting population into two employment wage categories, it was demonstrated that the common understanding of the influences on transit ridership was potentially misleading. Commuting transit mode share and the variables that influence it are intimately related to when travel is needed and to what jobs people are traveling. To encourage transit use, agencies and researchers need to take into account commuters’ need to commute at a variety of time periods.

Making the Links between Ride-hailing and Public Transit Ridership: Impacts in Medium and Large Colombian Cities

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynn Scholl ◽  
Felipe Bedoya-Maya ◽  
Orlando Sabogal-Cardona ◽  
Daniel Oviedo
Keyword(s):  
Public Transportation ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Public Transit ◽  
Transport Systems ◽  
Transit Service ◽  
Policy Debates ◽  
Transit Ridership ◽  
Key Policy ◽  
In Transit

As transit ridership continues to fall in many cities across the globe, key policy debates continue around whether Uber and other ride-hailing services are contributing to this trend. This research explores the effects of the introduction of ride-hailing to Colombian cities on public transportation ridership using Ubers timeline as case study. We test the hypothesis that ride-hailing may either substitute or compete with public transit, particularly in cities with large transit service gaps in coverage or quality. Our analysis builds on historic transit ridership data from national authorities and uses a staggered difference-in-difference model that accounts for fixed effects, seasonality, socioeconomic controls, and the presence of integrated transport systems. Despite large reductions in transit ridership in most cities, our results suggest that Uber is not statistically associated with the observed drop in ridership. Moreover, consistent with evidence from previous research, public transit reforms implemented between 2007 and 2015 throughout Colombian cities appear to have contributed substantially to the declines in transit ridership observed across the country. Findings in this paper inform policy-targeted insights and contribute to current debates of the links between ride-hailing and public transit in cities in Latin America.

Comparison of Two Common Approaches to Public Transit Service Equity Evaluation

2015 ◽  
Vol 2531 (1) ◽  
pp. 170-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Karner ◽  
Aaron Golub
Keyword(s):  
Census Data ◽  
Public Transit ◽  
Transit System ◽  
The Public ◽  
Transit Service ◽  
Transit Ridership ◽  
Data Source ◽  
Equity Evaluation ◽  
Equity Effects ◽  
Service Change

Understanding the equity effects of transit service changes requires good information about the demographics of transit ridership. Onboard survey data and census data can be used to estimate equity effects, although there is no clear reason to conclude that these two sources will lead to the same findings. Guidance from the FTA recommends the use of either of these data sources to estimate equity impacts. This study made a direct comparison of the two methods for the public transit system in the Phoenix, Arizona, metropolitan area. The results indicated that although both sources were acceptable for FTA compliance, the use of one or the other could affect whether a proposed service change was deemed equitable. In other words, the outcome of a service change equity analysis could differ as a result of the data source used. To ensure the integrity and meaning of such analyses, FTA should recommend the collection and use of ridership data for conducting service change analyses to supplement approaches that are based on census data.

Rural Public Transportation: Perceptions of Transit Managers, Directors of Area Agencies on Aging, and Elders

1996 ◽  
Vol 1557 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norman S. J. Foster ◽  
Peter C. Damiano ◽  
Elizabeth T. Momany ◽  
Hermine T. McLeran
Keyword(s):  
Social Services ◽  
Public Transportation ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Unmet Need ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Transit Systems ◽  
Transit Service ◽  
Lack Of Information ◽  
Transit Use ◽  
Rural Elders

Transit systems in rural areas help elders maintain contact with social services, conduct business, and visit friends. Surveys of transit managers, area agency on aging (AAA) directors, and rural elders age 75 and over in Iowa were conducted in 1993 to determine if these groups believed that there is unmet need for transit among rural elders and to assess the groups' perceptions of transit service. Transit managers and AAA directors did believe that such unmet need exists and that it is caused largely by lack of information on the part of elders' and by agencies' difficulties in identifying elders in need. One-half of rural elders who did not use transit were unaware that it was provided. The level of knowledge among women was much higher in smaller towns than in larger communities. Elders who have actually used transit have a favorable opinion of it. Transit is seen as safe and dependable. Riders consider drivers to be courteous and few report that trips take too long. The level of satisfaction reported is somewhat lower when elders are asked about transit's flexibility, scheduling, and ease of use. Few riders believe that others need transit service more than they do or report that they would rather pay others to drive them than use transit. Nonusers were relatively indifferent to these issues, perhaps indicating less opposition to potential transit use than has often been supposed. Only a small fraction of riders would support general tax increases of $25 or $50 per year to increase transit service, although this response may reveal more about perceptions of taxes than about transit.

scholarly journals Fare inequities in public transit system in Costa Rica

2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 80-97
Author(s):  
Cristhian Santiago Quirós Calderón ◽  
Jonathan Agüero-Valverde
Keyword(s):  
Costa Rica ◽  
Public Transport ◽  
Public Transportation ◽  
Multilevel Modelling ◽  
Random Coefficients ◽  
Operational Parameters ◽  
Transit System ◽  
Operational Characteristics ◽  
Operational Variables ◽  
In Transit

Problems in transit fare equity affect the daily commute of specific groups that depend mostly on public transportation. Previous studies showed that some routes present operational characteristics that increased the price charged to the users. To address this issue, a methodology to identify the routes that have fares much higher than expected, after considering operational parameters, is developed. This paper presents a methodology implemented to evaluate fare inequities in public transport networks. The case study is the bus public transport network in Costa Rica. The evaluation is performed using fare per kilometer as independent variable and operational variables, such as route length, monthly ridership and vehicle occupancy by using cluster analysis and Bayesian multilevel modelling. The results indicate that random coefficients models perform better than independent models for clustered data. Furthermore, the routes with higher differences between observed and estimated (i.e. expected) fares are the ones to be addressed first in individual audits, because these are the routes who charge higher operational costs into the fare, increasing inequity among the population.

scholarly journals Public transportation and transmission of viral respiratory disease: Evidence from influenza deaths in 121 cities in the United States

PLoS ONE ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (12) ◽  
pp. e0242990
Author(s):  
Renata E. Howland ◽  
Nicholas R. Cowan ◽  
Scarlett S. Wang ◽  
Mitchell L. Moss ◽  
Sherry Glied
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Public Transportation ◽  
Close Contact ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Population Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Respiratory Illnesses ◽  
Large Cities ◽  
Transit Ridership ◽  
Transit Use

One important concern around the spread of respiratory infectious diseases has been the contribution of public transportation, a space where people are in close contact with one another and with high-use surfaces. While disease clearly spreads along transportation routes, there is limited evidence about whether public transportation use itself is associated with the overall prevalence of contagious respiratory illnesses at the local level. We examine the extent of the association between public transportation and influenza mortality, a proxy for disease prevalence, using city-level data on influenza and pneumonia mortality and public transit use from 121 large cities in the United States (US) between 2006 and 2015. We find no evidence of a positive relationship between city-level transit ridership and influenza/pneumonia mortality rates, suggesting that population level rates of transit use are not a singularly important factor in the transmission of influenza.

Reshaping the Region

2015 ◽  
Vol 2537 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-41
Author(s):  
Stephanie Pollack ◽  
Anna Gartsman ◽  
Timothy Reardon ◽  
Meghna Hari
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Public Transportation ◽  
Travel Behavior ◽  
Massachusetts Bay ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Transit System ◽  
Transit Systems ◽  
Commuter Rail ◽  
In Transit ◽  
The Impact

The American Public Transportation Association's use of a “land use multiplier” as part of its methodology for calculating greenhouse gas reduction from transit has increased interest in methodologies that quantify the impact of transit systems on land use and vehicle miles traveled. Such transit leverage, however, is frequently evaluated for urbanized areas, although transit systems serve only a small proportion of those areas. If transit leverage is stronger in areas closer to transit stations, studies based on larger geographies may underestimate land use and travel behavior effects in transit-served areas. A geographic information system–based data set was developed to understand better the leverage effects associated with the mature and extensive Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority transit system in areas proximate to its stations throughout Metropolitan Boston. The region was divided into the subregion that was transit-proximate (within a half mile of a rapid transit station or key bus route), the portion that was commuter rail–proximate, and the remaining 93.3% of the region that was not proximate to high-frequency transit. Households in the transit-proximate subregion were significantly more likely to commute by transit (and walking or biking), less likely to own a car, and drove fewer miles than households in the non-transit-served areas of the region. Commuter rail–proximate areas, although denser than the region as a whole, exhibited more driving and car ownership than regional averages. Given these spatial and modal variations, future efforts to understand transit leverage should separately evaluate land use and travel effects by mode and proximity to transit stations.

Simulation of the Effects of Intermodal Transfer Penalties on Transit Use

1998 ◽  
Vol 1623 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rongfang Liu ◽  
Ram M. Pendyala ◽  
Steven Polzin
Keyword(s):  
Public Transportation ◽  
System Performance ◽  
Network Performance ◽  
Transportation Systems ◽  
Modeling Framework ◽  
Modeling Tools ◽  
Transit System ◽  
Analysis And Design ◽  
Transit Ridership ◽  
Study Results

In recent times, the planning, analysis, and design of intermodal transfer facilities have been receiving increasing attention as planners attempt to overhaul public transportation systems that are losing ground to the ubiquitous automobile. However, recent research indicates that modeling tools currently used in practice do not adequately account for the effects of transfer penalties on transit ridership and network performance. In an attempt to fill this research need, transit system performance is simulated under different scenarios of intermodal and intramodal transfers. Using a controlled experimental design, transit ridership and system performance are simulated within a traditional four-step travel modeling framework assuming a variety of network configurations characterized by different transfer scenarios. Results show that the presence of a transfer on a transit line can substantially reduce transit ridership and that the extent of this reduction is highly dependent on the type of transfer encountered, that is, whether the transfer is intermodal (across different modes) or intramodal (within the same mode). The implications of the study results on the planning of intermodal transit systems are discussed in detail.

Optimizing Public Transit Quality and System Access: The Multiple-Route, Maximal Covering/Shortest-Path Problem

2005 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Changshan Wu ◽  
Alan T Murray
Keyword(s):  
Service Quality ◽  
Shortest Path ◽  
Public Transit ◽  
The United States ◽  
Path Model ◽  
Transit System ◽  
Transit Service ◽  
Maximal Covering ◽  
Transit Ridership ◽  
Transit Agencies

Public transit service is a promising travel mode because of its potential to address urban sustainability. However, current ridership of public transit is very low in most urban regions—particularly those in the United States. Low transit ridership can be attributed to many factors, among which poor service quality is key. Transit service quality may potentially be improved by decreasing the number of service stops, but this would be likely to reduce access coverage. Improving transit service quality while maintaining adequate access coverage is a challenge facing public transit agencies. In this paper we propose a multiple-route, maximal covering/shortest-path model to address the trade-off between public transit service quality and access coverage in an established bus-based transit system. The model is applied to routes in Columbus, Ohio. Results show that it is possible to improve transit service quality by eliminating redundant or underutilized service stops.

scholarly journals The Multimodal Connectivity at Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Stations and the Impact on Ridership

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mintesnot Woldeamanuel ◽  
Craig Olwert
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
Positive Relationship ◽  
Social Equity ◽  
Bus Rapid Transit ◽  
Rapid Transit ◽  
Transit Planning ◽  
Transit System ◽  
Transit Ridership ◽  
Transit Use ◽  
The Impact

A multimodality index (MI) is developed to evaluate the accessibility and convenience of transit use by investigating the connectivity of a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) with other modes of travel. Better connected stations increase transit system ridership, resulting in environmental and social equity gains. The integration of the Orange Line BRT system in Los Angeles with other travel modes, including bicycles, pedestrians, regular buses, and private automobiles, was analyzed using field observations and LA Metro data to create a multimodality index (MI). While multimodal connectivity of the Orange Line BRT system varies across stations, a positive relationship exists between ridership and the MI, indicating that the MI is a reliable predictor of transit ridership and a useful tool for transit planning.

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