Fixed-route Service Research Articles

Classifying Rural and Small Urban Transit Agencies

Rural and small urban transit agencies are classified into peer groups by the hierarchical cluster analysis and data from the Rural National Transit Database. The objective is to provide a basis for the comparison of individual agency performance with peer group performance as well as econometric analysis between and within peer groups. Rural and small urban transit agencies are first assigned to three groups by service provided: demand–response, fixed-route, and demand–response and fixed-route service. A fourth group is created to accommodate the many transit agencies providing demand–response service that did not report vehicle hour data. The four groups are then clustered by using vehicle mile, vehicle hour (when available), and fleet size variables. Operating statistics for each cluster by group are presented. The process for comparing individual agency performance with its respective cluster is described. The Rural National Transit Database demonstrates its usefulness as a consistent, uniform national data set. However, additional service area information would accommodate clustering based on exogenous, as opposed to endogenous, variables, as necessary with the current data set.

The Integrated Dial-a-Ride Problem

In this paper we present a formulation of the Integrated Dial-a-Ride (IDARP). This problem is to schedule dial-a-ride requests, where some part of each journey may be carried out by a fixed route service. The IDARP is a generalization of the Dial-a-Ride Problem. An arc-based formulation is proposed, and it is shown how the model can be made easier to solve by arc elimination, variable substitution and the introduction of subtour elimination constraints. Small instances of the IDARP can be solved using an exact solution method, and one such instance is studied. We also describe how input and output data can be created and visualized in a geographic information system.

Prediction of power demand for hybrid vehicles operating in fixed-route service

The efficiency of energy management strategies for hybrid electric vehicles depends significantly on the accuracy of the prediction of the load power which has to be provided by the hybrid drive. For vehicles in fixed-route service, measurements gained during vehicle operation can be used for the design of a predictor for the online calculation of the expected speed profile which is directly related to the load power profile. The paper describes, how the relevant information contained in measurements of the vehicle speed and position is processed and compressed in order to obtain a prediction algorithm that can cope with the limited memory space and computing power of a vehicle controller. The characteristics of the resulting algorithm are illustrated with real-life data.

Another Look at FTA-Approved Sampling Plans for Fixed-Route Bus Services

The Federal Transit Administration has approved six sampling plans that transit agencies can use to estimate the consumption of fixed-route bus services for reporting to the National Transit Database. These sampling plans follow a simple framework and are assumed to be universally applicable. Some background information is presented, and then these sampling plans (including the related statistical theory, the development of the sampling plans based on this theory, and the estimation procedure) are reviewed. More important, a set of allowable variations in passenger miles is defined for each sampling plan, and it is demonstrated that these sampling plans are not universally applicable. Improved sampling options are proposed within the simple framework of the original sampling plans.

Measuring Demand Management Impacts in a Sustainable Compliance Environment for the Americans with Disabilities Act

This paper considers the hypothesis that growth management of specialized transportation demand can effectively influence growth in paratransit services complementary to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), contributing to financially sustainable ADA compliance. Federal policies to implement the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users and documented field experiences of ADA complementary paratransit services speak to the challenges of balancing compliance with consumers' needs. The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA), Orange County, California, is creating sustainable strategies that comply with the law and provide mechanisms deep within the community to create alternative services to meet specialized transportation needs. This paper reports on implementation of an ADA demand management plan, tracking the impact of its strategies. Focus areas include (a) paratransit service policies, (b) fixed-route service policies, and (c) coordination with community-based providers. Interventions affect the three levers on costs of total trips, efficiency of those trips, and unit costs of service. Eleven specific strategies and measures of these are presented. Longitudinal data are examined to identify impacts on OCTA's Access paratransit program in relation to trip bookings, productivity, and unit and total costs. Actual ridership and revenue-hour data are contrasted with projections of OCTA's ADA demand estimation tool, its 99% confidence level anticipating significant, continuing trip growth. The paper concludes that it is possible to achieve a growth in the program that is less than the growth in available funds—in measurable ways—through multiple strategies. These include partial funding by the transit authority of community-based transportation alternatives.

OmniLink: Case Study of Successful Flex Route-Capable Intelligent Transportation System Implementation

Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission's OmniLink is an intelligent transportation system (ITS) assisted, hybrid public transportation service that permits flexible routing combined with the time points of conventional fixed-route services. OmniLink promotes main-streaming of a significant portion of the disabled population eligible for paratransit under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) while reducing the cost of accommodating these passengers. State-of-the-art ITS technology is used to accommodate passenger requests for off-route trips (route deviations). It gives an accept or reject decision to call-takers while the caller is on the phone; schedules all pickups and drop-offs; provides dispatcher oversight; conveys on-time performance and communicates all other relevant information between drivers and the control center; and incorporates passenger counting, navigation assistance to the operator, vehicle inspection documentation, and other utilities. The ITS package includes full post...

OmniLink

Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission's OmniLink is an intelligent transportation system (ITS) assisted, hybrid public transportation service that permits flexible routing combined with the time points of conventional fixed-route services. OmniLink promotes mainstreaming of a significant portion of the disabled population eligible for paratransit under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) while reducing the cost of accommodating these passengers. State-of-the-art ITS technology is used to accommodate passenger requests for off-route trips (route deviations). It gives an accept or reject decision to call-takers while the caller is on the phone; schedules all pickups and drop-offs; provides dispatcher oversight; conveys on-time performance and communicates all other relevant information between drivers and the control center; and incorporates passenger counting, navigation assistance to the operator, vehicle inspection documentation, and other utilities. The ITS package includes full post-processing capability to support service analysis and optimization. Initial service began in 1995, but full ITS functionality was achieved only in 2003 after the second procurement attempt. The identified monetary benefits exceed monetary costs by a wide margin. This success can be attributed to more mature technologies, a turnkey project contract model, and refined, firm specifications based on both practical and academic experience. ITS configurations similar to OmniLink's have the potential to solve several common bus transportation problems in lower-demand areas. Examples of benefits include forgoing or reducing ADA paratransit costs, substituting for large buses at night, serving pedestrian-unfriendly streets, and probing for demand in previously unserved areas.

Activity and Travel Changes of Users of Job Access Transportation Service: Analysis of a User Survey

The Job Access and Reverse Commute (JARC) program of the FTA provides funding to improve the access to and from jobs for welfare recipients and low-income individuals. The objective of the study was to develop a comprehensive profile of JARC service riders on several economic, social, perceptual, and travel-related indicators on the basis of a data set that was collected by the authors from riders of fixed-route and demand-responsive services in 23 locations across the country that were funded by this program. The economic indicators considered include incomes of riders, full-and part-time work status, employment tenure, reported changes in employment status (transitioning from unemployment to employment), and changes in wages incurred after using the service. Social indicators include vehicle ownership, driver's license, and educational attainment. Where possible, JARC service riders were compared with a national sample of automobile and transit users; the data for these measures were obtained from the d...

Activity and Travel Changes of Users of Job Access Transportation Service

The Job Access and Reverse Commute (JARC) program of the FTA provides funding to improve the access to and from jobs for welfare recipients and low-income individuals. The objective of the study was to develop a comprehensive profile of JARC service riders on several economic, social, perceptual, and travel-related indicators on the basis of a data set that was collected by the authors from riders of fixed-route and demand-responsive services in 23 locations across the country that were funded by this program. The economic indicators considered include incomes of riders, full-and part-time work status, employment tenure, reported changes in employment status (transitioning from unemployment to employment), and changes in wages incurred after using the service. Social indicators include vehicle ownership, driver's license, and educational attainment. Where possible, JARC service riders were compared with a national sample of automobile and transit users; the data for these measures were obtained from the decennial census. Two measures of perceived service dependency that indicate the importance of the service to the riders are discussed. In addition, a profile of travel-related changes incurred by riders as a result of service use is developed, including changes in mode of travel and travel times. Many of these indicators are differentiated on the basis of type of area and type of service. This analysis brings a user perspective into the discussion about low-income employment transportation services and highlights the diversity of impacts that job access transportation is having on the work and nonwork activities of low-income riders.

Light Rail Lite or Cost-Effective Improvements to Bus Service?: Evaluating Costs of Implementing Bus Rapid Transit

Bus rapid transit (BRT) is growing rapidly in popularity because it is viewed widely as an efficient and effective means to improve both transit service and patronage. This paper argues that two distinct views of BRT are emerging: (a) BRT as a new form of high-speed, rubber-tired, rail-like rapid transit and (b) BRT as a cost-effective way to upgrade both the quality and image of traditional fixed-route bus service. These two views carry different price tags because the cost of planning, constructing, and operating BRT depends on the complexity of new service features and on rises for BRT that offer service characteristics approaching those of light rail. This study fills a gap in the literature on the costs of BRT by examining in detail component costs-actual costs for recently implemented services and projected costs for planned new services-for a sample of BRT systems in North American cities. The study examined BRT costs of 14 planned and recently opened BRT systems to determine how the wide range of ...

Network design for a grid hybrid transit service

In this paper, we develop an analytical model that aids decision-makers in designing a hybrid grid network that integrates a flexible demand responsive service with a fixed route service. The objective of the model is to determine the optimal number of zones in an area where each zone is served by a number of on-demand vehicles. The function of the on-demand vehicles is to transfer passengers to a fixed route line if the destination is to a different zone or to its final destination if it is within the same zone.

Estimation of Statewide Urban Public Transit Benefits in Tennessee

A comprehensive transit benefits assessment procedure is described as applied to each of the 12 urban public transit operating districts in the state of Tennessee. A multiple-branch benefits assessment tree is developed around transit use benefits and transit supply benefits, the former emphasizing the costs of lost mobility in the absence of current transit services and the latter reflecting the economic benefits resulting from federal and state support for public transit in each district. Empirical results are presented at the statewide level and in dollar terms. With a generally conservative approach to benefits estimation, it is found that urban transit benefits—mainly from fixed-route bus service—exceed costs by 2 to 2.5 times, with higher ratios possible in the larger metropolitan areas. Sensitivity to forgone travel benefits, however, suggests the need for further data refinements. On the basis of past literature, the study develops a comprehensive set of wide-ranging benefits computations that have been applied consistently across each of the state's 12 urban transit districts and uses data sources that can be cost-effectively updated by transit planners.

Economic Benefits of Coordinating Human Service Transportation and Transit Services

In many communities, multiple public and private agencies and organizations provide transportation services to people who have special transportation needs. These providers often receive funding from many sources, including federal, state, and local government programs as well as charitable and nonprofit programs. Program-specific funds are often accompanied by service objectives for specific clienteles and by unique rules and requirements. If such transportation services operate separately, independently, and in an uncoordinated fashion, they frequently demonstrate serious economic and service problems. Coordination can address such problems. Coordination strives to maximize the efficient use of resources such as vehicles, personnel, and funding. It attempts to reduce service duplication, increase vehicle sharing, and improve service quality. It can lower the cost of providing transportation, and communities can apply the cost savings to increase service or simply reduce costs. New research has found that significant economic benefits—including increased funding, decreased costs, and increased productivity—can be obtained by coordinating human service agency transportation and transit services. Implementing successful coordination programs could generate combined economic impacts (after considering all costs) of about $700 million per year to transportation providers (human service agencies and transit agencies) in the United States. Total benefits (beyond those benefits accruing just to transportation providers) are even greater. Particularly successful coordination strategies include transit agencies providing trips for Medicaid clients, nontransit agencies providing Americans with Disabilities Act and other paratransit services, transportation providers shifting para-transit riders to fixed-route service, local human service agencies coordinating their trips, and communities expanding transit services into unserved areas.

Recruitment, Selection, and Retention of Personnel at North Carolina Community Transportation Systems: Findings and Recommendations from a Study

The hiring and the retention of personnel have been a long-standing issue in the public transportation industry. This involves finding and recruiting potential employees, selecting and hiring the most qualified candidates, training and developing employees, monitoring performance and retaining employees, and reducing excessive turnover and absenteeism. While human resources topics have typically been investigated at urban transit systems operating fixed-route services, hiring and retention have not been studied extensively at smaller rural transit systems operating demand-responsive transit services. This research focused on such rural systems and on the various factors that most impact on the issue at nine North Carolina community transportation systems. This effort included various human resources policies and practices such as recruiting, selecting, compensating, training, evaluating, and motivating. Practices at the nine case study systems and recommendations to improve policies and procedures are described.

Hybrid scheduling methods for paratransit operations

We study an extension to the general routing problem, which deals with integrating fixed route service with the general pickup and delivery problem to create a hybrid routing problem. The primary application for such a service is a dial-a-ride system used by transit agencies to transport disabled or elderly individuals. The main aim of the integration is to reduce the vehicle miles of the on-demand vehicles while not significantly reducing the customer service level. Due to the combinatorial nature of the problem, we propose a heuristic algorithm that provides an approximate solution, which is computationally efficient for solving large sized problems. The proposed heuristic is tested using real data from a transit agency.

SOME APPROACHES ON CHECKPOINT DIAL-A-RIDE PROBLEMS

Within advanced public transport operations, specifically paratransit systems, a special range is covered by the so-called checkpoint dial-a-ride systems, also known as route deviation or corridor many-to-one systems. The system combines characteristics both of traditional fixed route transit and of advanced door-to-door dial-a-ride service. Such systems are based on information technology to improve transit operations and are intended to serve areas with demand densities too high for door-to-door services but not high enough for fixed route service. The paper presents some recent mathematical modelling approaches to the deviation bus route operations which accept user demands and makes the bus deviate from its regular route to serve the off-fixed-route request and then return on the regular route.

Bringing Fixed-Route Transit Service to Small Cities and Towns: Potential Contribution of Existing Demand-Response Brokerages

The possibility is suggested of adding fixed-route transit service to many of the nation’s small cities and towns by using some of the money currently devoted to the provision of client-oriented demand-response transit to fund the new service. This can be done, this study finds, with very little additional expense and no loss of necessary demand-response service. The creation of small fixed routes is feasible, when the demand-response system is organized across a region by a brokerage (i.e., an organization paid on a capitated basis that assigns eligible riders to transportation providers). Research shows that both brokerages and fixed routes tend to lower Medicaid transportation costs. The thesis is that these two efficiency enhancers can be combined effectively in some of the nation’s small towns and cities, whenever capitated brokerages can provide the administrative apparatus and much of the funding for the fixed route. This thesis is illustrated with the results of a study conducted in a Kentucky city of 27,000. It found that a substantial number of those currently riding in demand-response vehicles to which they are assigned by a broker could be shifted to a proposed fixed route. The new route would be operated by the broker with funds from the capitation payments. The study’s findings suggest that capitated brokerages may create an opportunity for many of the nation’s smaller cities to obtain a fixed-route bus service at a modest, or perhaps at even no, additional cost.

Transitioning to Fixed-Route Services

By 2002, it is expected that all fixed-route transportation systems in the United States will be accessible to people with disabilities. This is heralded as good news for riders who have been limited to traveling via special services (i.e., paratransit) and transit providers concerned with the cost of such services. Such optimism assumes—perhaps erroneously—that many riders will shift from paratransit to the newly accessible fixed-route systems. A survey was conducted that reveals that riders are generally satisfied with the service they receive and—despite imminent accessibility—are not eager to switch. The paratransit service, which the Americans with Disabilities Act (1990) regards as a “safety net” for those unable to use fixed-route transit, has become the primary mode of public transport for significant portions of its ridership. However, a core group of riders appears to be interested in changing, which, coupled with the finding that almost none of the survey respondents had received any form of travel training, suggests that there is cause for measured optimism. In addition to training, accessibility must be considered in systemic terms, built on the requirements that riders know how to use the fixed-route system and can get to and from buses, they believe they are welcome in the system, and they understand the costs and consequences of using paratransit. These results are achievable by educating riders, transit staff, and the general public. In addition, there needs to be informed manipulation of fixed routes.

Modeling Demand for Public Transit Services in Rural Areas

Accurate estimates of demand are critical for planning, designing, and operating public transit systems. Previous research has demonstrated that the expected demand in rural areas is a function of both demographic and transit system variables. Numerous models have been proposed to describe the relationship between the aforementioned variables. However, most of them are site specific and their validity over time and space is not reported or perhaps has not been tested. Moreover, input variables in some cases are extremely difficult to quantify. In this article, the estimation of demand using the generalized linear modeling technique is discussed. Two separate models, one for fixed-route and another for demand-responsive services, are presented. These models, calibrated with data from systems in nine different states, are used to demonstrate the appropriateness and validity of generalized linear models compared to the regression models. They explain over 70% of the variation in expected demand for fixed-route services and 60% of the variation in expected demand for demand-responsive services. It was found that the models are spatially transferable and that data for calibration are easily obtainable.

Integration of Paratransit and Transit Services: Importance of Vehicle Transfer Requirements to Consumers

The integration of paratransit and transit services is necessary in order to fully achieve the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Many individuals with disabilities can use accessible fixed-route vehicles but do not because they are unable to get from their origin to an accessible bus stop. Using paratransit as a feeder service to the fixed-route system can minimize the total cost to the transit system of providing services to this segment of the population. It must be understood, however, that transferring patrons from one vehicle to another is undesirable to consumers. This is documented by the results of three studies covering a variety of locations across the United States. The surveys showed that a number of market categories of consumers ranked no transfers between vehicles as the No. 1 service feature that was necessary to attract them to the fixed-route system. Of 16 market categories, all determined no transfers to possess a positive utility for attracting them to fixed-route services. To satisfy consumer needs and to minimize costs to transit authorities, the negative characteristics of vehicle transfers must be mitigated through design. This can be done by providing timed transfers at designated points so that wait time is eliminated or minimized. Such transfer points must also be protected from the difficulties of poor weather conditions and must be well-lighted and secure. The provision of aids to assist in the transfer may also be necessary.