Public Transit Encouragement
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TDM Encyclopedia
Victoria Transport Policy
Institute
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Updated
August 28, 2007
This chapter describes various ways to encourage public transit ridership by improving service, reducing fares, increasing user convenience and information, providing incentives, and supporting marketing programs.
Public Transit Encouragement includes various strategies that give discretionary travelers (those who have the option of driving) reasons to choose transit. These include:
· Improve
Transit Service, including more service, faster service and more
comfortable service.
· Reduce fares and offer
discounts (such as lower rates for off-peak travel times, or for certain
groups).
· More convenient fare
structures and Payment Systems using electronic “smart
cards.”
· Commute
Trip Reduction programs, Commuter Financial Incentives,
and other TDM Programs that encourage use of
alternative transportation modes.
· Improve rider information
and Marketing programs.
·
Park & Ride facilities and promotion programs (Rodier
and Shaheen, 2006).
· Create a Multi-Modal
Access Guide, which includes maps, schedules, contact numbers, and other
information on how to reach a particular destination by public transit.
· Parking
and Road pricing can provide financial incentives for
transit use (Small, 2005).
Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is a term used for a set of transit service improvements that include grade-separated right-of-way and other Transit Priority measures, comfortable stations, high-quality vehicles (high capacity, easy to board, quiet, clean and comfortable to ride), frequent service, convenient user information, efficient pre-paid fare collection, and efficient operations.
Transit Encouragement programs are usually implemented by transit agencies, often with support from other government agencies and businesses. It is usually best to begin with a survey of potential users to determine what improvements and marketing strategies could increase their ridership, and developing a transit development plan. For example, one transportation user survey (TransLink, 2003) found that discretionary transit riders (those that have the option of traveling by automobile):
·
Believe that transit travel can be less stressful than driving a car;
·
Believe that transit travel is more convenient than driving for some
trips
·
Believe that transit travel saves wear-and-tear on their car.
·
Want transit service within convenient walking distance of their homes
and destinations.
·
Want clean transit vehicles and safe waiting areas.
·
Want reliable, on-time service with good connections.
·
Want fast, direct service.
TranSystems
(2005) and Stanley and Hyman (2005) identify various strategies that tend to
increase transit ridership in an area, including improved service, reduced
fares, Marketing, and more integrated planning and
partnerships with other organizations. A study comparing various European regions and
cities identified the following transport policies that tend to increase public
transit ridership (Colin Buchanan and Partners, 2003):
·
Availability of adequate capital funding for public transport.
·
Relatively low public transport fares.
·
Integration of public transport services (timed connections, new
journey opportunities etc).
·
Integration of regional, multimodal ticketing systems.
·
Restraint of parking and reallocation of road space to more sustainable
modes.
·
Long-term planning and implementation of these policies. To be
effective, these polices must be in place for a long time (a decade or more),
which implies consistent political consensus on their efficacy.
·
Adequate regulation of bus transit systems;
the most successful systems are run on a franchised (quality contract-type)
basis.
Transit Encouragement can significantly increase transit ridership. See Transit Evaluation Kittleson & Associates (1999), Hass-Klau and Crampton (2003), Turnbull and Pratt (2003), TRL (2004), TranSystems (2005), and Cervero (2006) for additional information on travel impacts.
Commute Trip Reduction programs, Parking Pricing and Commuter Financial Incentives encourage transit commuting (Peng, Dueker, and Strathman, 1996). Commuter Financial Incentives, in which employers subsidize transit passes, can be effective at increasing ridership (www.commutercheck.com). Deep Discount transit passes can encourage occasional riders to use transit more frequently (Oram and Stark, 1996), and if implemented when fares are increasing, can avoid ridership losses. Targeted promotions that provide information on the service and incentives (e.g. discounts) typically increase transit ridership by 10%, and sometimes much more (Turnbull and Pratt, 2003).
Table 1 summarizes transit elasticity values that can be used to predict how various types of changes in price and service are likely to affect transit ridership and travel behavior.
Table 1 Transit
Elasticity Values (Transportation
Elasticities)
|
|
Market Segment |
Short Term |
Long Term |
|
Transit ridership WRT transit fares |
Overall |
–0.2 to –0.5 |
–0.6 to –0.9 |
|
Transit ridership WRT transit fares |
Peak |
–0.15 to –0.3 |
–0.4 to –0.6 |
|
Transit ridership WRT transit fares |
Off-peak |
–0.3 to –0.6 |
–0.8 to –1.0 |
|
Transit ridership WRT transit fares |
Suburban Commuters |
–0.3 to –0.6 |
–0.8 to –1.0 |
|
Transit ridership WRT transit service |
Overall |
0.50 to 0.7 |
0.7 to 1.1 |
|
Transit ridership WRT auto operating
costs |
Overall |
0.05 to 0.15 |
0.2 to 0.4 |
|
Automobile travel WRT transit costs |
Overall |
0.03 to 0.1 |
0.15 to 0.3 |
This table summarizes estimates of transit elasticities. These values can be used to predict how price and service changes are likely to affect transit ridership and travel behavior.
Travel impacts of transit encouragement strategies can be evaluated by comparing the generalized costs (travel time and incremental expenses per trip) of transit and driving to calculate a transit competitiveness ratio (Casello, 2007). The higher this ratio the relatively less attractive is transit compared with driving. This can be used as a rough indicator of how changes in access, waiting and travel time; transit fares; and automobile costs are likely to affect transit ridership. Note that travelers have diverse needs and preferences, and so some will choose transit even if the transit competitive ratio is relatively high, so models must be calibrated and adjusted to reflect specific conditions.
Campus Transport Management that include discounted transit passes and service improvements have tripled transit ridership in some college communities. Trip Reduction Tables indicate the reduction in commute trips that can be expected from various combinations of financial incentives for transit and ridesharing. The Land Use Impacts chapter provides additional information on the travel impacts of various land use changes. Transit improvements that better coordinate service to dispersed destinations outside of central business districts can increase overall transit ridership (Thompson and Matoff, 2003).
More convenient fare payment systems can increase ridership.
A smart card is a credit card sized “passive computer” that becomes operational
when connected to a power source either directly (contacted) or through a radio
frequency inductive field (contactless). Smart cards make transit use more
convenient and allow transit agencies to offer new discounts, such as lower
rates during off-peak periods, for special groups and for bulk ticket purchase.
Table 3 Travel Impact Summary
|
Travel
Impact |
Rating |
Explanation |
|
Reduces total traffic. |
3 |
Can reduce automobile use. |
|
Reduces peak period
traffic. |
3 |
Tends to be attractive for
commute trips. |
|
Shifts peak to off-peak
periods. |
1 |
Off-peak fare discounts
induce some shifts. |
|
Shifts automobile travel to
alternative modes. |
3 |
|
|
Improves access, reduces
the need for travel. |
2 |
Can encourage
higher-density, clustered land use. |
|
Increased ridesharing. |
0 |
|
|
Increased public transit. |
3 |
|
|
Increased cycling. |
1 |
Can support cycling. |
|
Increased walking. |
2 |
Supports pedestrian travel. |
|
Increased Telework. |
0 |
|
|
Reduced freight traffic. |
0 |
|
Rating from 3 (very beneficial) to –3 (very harmful). A 0 indicates no impact or mixed impacts.
Increased transit ridership can provide a variety of benefits, particularly if it substitutes for urban automobile travel. Benefits include reduced traffic congestion, consumer cost savings, parking cost savings, reduced traffic risk, energy conservation and emission reductions, and more efficient land use (reduced sprawl). In addition to direct benefits, transit can provide a variety of indirect benefits, including Increased Property Values near transit stations, and increased Economic Development, although these vary depending on circumstances. See Transit Evaluation for more information on these impacts.
Table 4 Benefit Summary
|
Objective |
Rating |
Comments |
|
Congestion Reduction |
3 |
Reduces automobile use on
congested corridors. |
|
Road & Parking Savings |
2 |
Reduces road space and
parking requirements. Buses may increase road wear costs. |
|
Consumer Savings |
3 |
Provides affordable
mobility. |
|
Transport Choice |
3 |
Increases transport choice
for non-drivers. |
|
Road Safety |
2 |
Tends to be safer than
driving overall. |
|
Environmental Protection |
2 |
Tends to reduce air
pollution. |
|
Efficient Land Use |
3 |
Tends to discourage sprawl. |
|
Community Livability |
3 |
Contributes to neighborhood
livability. |
Rating from 3 (very beneficial) to –3 (very harmful). A 0 indicates no impact or mixed impacts.
Transit service is an important strategy for improving Transportation Choice and providing Basic Mobility, particularly for non-drivers. The equity impacts of Transit Encouragement programs vary depending on the type of program and how it is evaluated. For example, increased transit subsidies can be considered to reduce horizontal equitable because one group benefits at another’s expense, or to increase horizontal equity if automobile users receive parking subsidies of equal or greater value.
Table 5 Equity Summary
|
Criteria |
Rating |
Comments |
|
Treats everybody equally. |
0 |
Depends on type. |
|
Individuals bear the costs
they impose. |
0 |
Requires subsidies, but
often less than for driving. |
|
Progressive with respect to
income. |
3 |
Provides affordable
mobility for lower-income people. |
|
Benefits transportation
disadvantaged. |
3 |
Provides mobility for
non-drivers. |
|
Improves basic mobility. |
3 |
Provides basic mobility. |
Rating from 3 (very
beneficial) to –3 (very harmful). A 0 indicates no impact or mixed impacts.
Transit Encouragement programs are appropriate in a wide range of situations. They are usually planned by regional and local government agencies, often with federal and state/provincial support. State/provincial governments can implement Regulatory Reforms to encourage innovative transit services. Businesses can provide various incentives for transit use through Commute Trip Reduction programs.
Table 7 Application Summary
|
Geographic |
Rating |
Organization |
Rating |
|
Large urban region. |
3 |
Federal government. |
3 |
|
High-density, urban. |
3 |
State/provincial
government. |
3 |
|
Medium-density,
urban/suburban. |
2 |
Regional government. |
3 |
|
Town. |
2 |
Municipal/local government. |
3 |
|
Low-density, rural. |
2 |
Business Associations/TMA. |
1 |
|
Commercial center. |
3 |
Individual business. |
1 |
|
Residential neighborhood. |
1 |
Developer. |
1 |
|
Resort/recreation area. |
3 |
Neighborhood association. |
1 |
|
|
|
Campus |
3 |
Ratings range from 0 (not
appropriate) to 3 (very appropriate).
Incentive To Reduce Driving
Transit Encouragement Programs support and are supported by most other TDM strategies, particularly Transit Service Improvements, Transit Examples, Commute Trip Reduction programs, Transit Oriented Development, Smart Growth, Nonmotorized Transportation Planning, and New Urbanism.
Transit Encouragement Programs depend on support various government agencies. They sometimes require public support for additional funding. Some require business support.
Major barriers to Transit Encouragement include limited funds, automobile oriented land use, and policies that underprice automobile travel (which makes transit relatively less competitive).
Government agencies (such as the Federal Transit Administration) and professional organizations (such as the American Transit Association) provide resources for Transit Encouragement program planning. These include:
· Survey potential users and
evaluate travel trends to determine what improvements and marketing strategies
are likely to increase ridership.
· Consider using innovative Marketing techniques, price discounts and new fare
collection methods (such as “smart cards”) to attract new riders.