Transit Service
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Summary of Policy
The purpose of the Transit Service Policyis to help staff make informed decisionswhen changing bus and rail services. Thepolicy ensures that staff will make fair andconsistent evaluations of service that arenot only attentive to the needs of transitcustomers, but also consider thelimitations of the agency’s resources. Thepolicy also promotes consistency amongService Sectors and supports the goals of the
Strategic Performance Program
.The policy also guides decision-makingduring the service change process. Thepolicy is organized into four mainsections: 1) Bus Route and DesignGuidelines; 2) Bus PerformanceMeasures; 3) Rail Policies, and 4)Planning process.The updated policy includes refinementsto five existing policies and four newprovisions. The four new provisions are:1. Metro Rapid Warrants;2. Bus Lane Criteria;3. Public Notification Tasks andCalendar, and4. Service Change Program template.
Bus Route and Design Guidelines
Bus route and design guidelines are usedin the development of proposed newservices, the evaluation of existingservices, and high-level discussions aboutproposed modifications of existingservices. They include five categories thatdefine types of agency service:
Metro Liner, which will operate on adedicated right-of-way;
Metro Rapid, which providesexpedited bus service in the mostheavily traveled corridors and featurespainted buses, signal priority andspecial stations;
Metro Express, which mainly operatesalong freeways and busways, andusually operates daily peak serviceonly from a collector area to a specificdestination, or in a particular corridorwith stops en-route at major transferpoints or activity centers;
Metro Local service, which is theprimary Metro service and mainlyincludes local routes and limited stopservice; and
Metro Rail Feeder and Shuttle, whichare local circulation, special eventshuttle and rail feeder services thatoperate on secondary streets and focuson short distances.As part of the bus route design, staff mustconsider the Bus/Rail InterfaceGuidelines, which promote efficiency asthe Rail system is expanded.
Duplicative limited-stop and expressservices that parallel the rail corridorwill be discontinued.
Under certain circumstances, busroutes that run parallel orperpendicular to a rail line may bediverted to a station.
Bus routes that end within one mile of a rail station will be extended toterminate at the station. Routes thatterminate at distances greater thanone mile may be extended if thererouting will create a valuable link tothe rail system or result in a reductionin travel time for a significant numberof riders.
New rail feeder service will beconsidered as part of a service changeif there is demonstrable need andadequate funding is available.
Transit Service
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When passengers are moving frombus to rail during peak travel periods,the rail schedule should govern busarrivals and departures. During off-peak periods, bus routes withfrequencies of 20 minutes or greaterthat terminate at a rail station shouldbe scheduled to arrive five minutesbefore the rail departure time. Whenthe predominant movement of passengers is from rail to bus, busesat the terminal should be scheduled todepart five minutes after the train isscheduled to arrive.The bus route and design guidelines alsoemphasize accessibility to bus stops andreasonable speeds for transit vehicles,which improve travel times forpassengers. Bus stop spacing refers to theaverage distance between consecutivestops on a bus route. Guidelines for busstop spacing are established at a levelwhere service is within a reasonablewalking distance and stop delays do notsignificantly reduce travel time. Theprimary determinants for stop spacing arebus service type and population densities.Stop spacing for shuttles should bedetermined on a case by case as theseservices can be operated in a variety of environments and in a number of different ways.It is the agency’s intent to design busroutes to meet maximum spacing levelsand overall route averages, unlesssuperceded by such factors as: landbarriers or topography which limit access,high passenger demand levels,surrounding attractors, and majorconnections with other public transitservices. Additionally, route spacing willbe a key consideration in the classificationor numbering of bus routes. For example,limited stops services or bus routes with a300 number designation should have stopspacing approximately twice that of thelocal service group average.Generally, duplicative bus service shouldbe avoided. And if duplication occursbecause of a change in the serviceprovided by other municipal operators, theagency may restrict operations, such asclosed-door operation by the duplicatingmunicipal operator.All bus routes are scheduled according todemand. Bus lines should aim to provideat least a 30-minute peak-hour servicealong the trunk portion of the route. Linesthat operate with peak-trunk headwaysthat are greater than 30 minutes will bereviewed for potential headwayimprovements, as resources permit. Linesthat cannot support 30-minute service willbe modified, canceled, or operated byother means.To reduce overall operating costs, highcapacity vehicles should be used on lineswith high ridership demand and wherethere is an opportunity to reduce vehiclerequirements and service hours.However, their deployment should notincrease service intervals so that there is anoticeable degradation in service. Buslines with peak frequencies of fiveminutes or less are ideal candidates forhigh capacity service. Other factorsshould also be considered, includingfacility compatibility, street design andpotential impacts to schedules.A bus lane is a lane on a street or highwayreserved primarily or exclusively for buses,either all day or for specified periods.Other traffic is typically limited toemergency vehicles and in some casestaxis, may be allowed. Automobiles maybe given limited access, such as formaking left or right turns.Bus lanes are a key attribute of MetroRapid and an important strategy forimproving traffic congestion, mobility and
Transit Service
______________________________________________________________________________air quality. They make transit usage moreattractive by reducing transit travel times,increasing service reliability, andimproving safety. Bus lanes are mosteffective in those areas where a highpercentage of the travel is on transit busesoperating on congested arterials.Proposals for new services are evaluatedbased on the needs of the customer andthe availability of resources. However,new services are only implemented whereprojections indicate that ridership cansupport at least 30-minute peak-hourheadways and can meet the minimumproductivity standard.Bus routes should be spacedapproximately ½ mile apart. In residentialareas, routes should be spacedapproximately one mile apart, and inundeveloped areas, the distance betweenparallel routes should be based ondemand and street patterns.Determining the most appropriate transitservice for the corridor depends on severalfactors, including level of demand,resource availability, site or corridorcharacteristics, environmentalconsiderations and communityacceptance. Staff has developed a set of minimum thresholds, or planningwarrants, identifying the appropriate typeof service for a particular corridor andselecting corridors as candidates for majorinvestments.The hours that a service is available on anygiven day depends on several factors,including existing ridership andproductivity levels, the span of service onconnecting and alternative services withexpanded service, resource availability,customer requests, and the hours of operation of major job sites or activitycenters along the alignment.Finally, the agency will provide serviceunder contract for special events only if itdoes not interfere with the ability toprovide its regularly scheduled service. If contracted services are provided, they willbe offered at a price that captures all thecosts of providing the service.
Bus Performance Measures
The second area of the Transit ServicePolicy concerns the three performancemeasures. The first is the “Mystery Rider”survey that has been developed to helpevaluate product and service delivery,reward high quality performance, andidentify service quality issues. Theprogram uses a team of anonymous“mystery riders” who use the system andrate service from the customerperspective. The survey provides adetailed evaluation of operator controlledissues (such as courtesy and safety), aswell as maintenance issues (such ascleanliness and climate systems).Knowledge gained from these surveys willhelp to target service initiatives andtraining programs to improve customersatisfaction.Beginning in FY 2005, mystery riders willperform approximately 50 observationsper month throughout the system.Feedback from the surveys will beprovided to Sector management forappropriate action, along with incentiverewards for operators and divisionsscoring highly in the survey.The second, passenger loading, measuresthe seating capacity on bus and rail cars.The bus standard, 120%, expresses thetotal passengers on board a vehiclecompared to the seats available.Productivity guidelines and the annualline review are the third measure.Productivity measures are applied to allbus routes in operation for more than oneyear. They identify services that are notmeeting expectations and offer strategies
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2.5 ALTERNATIVE SERVICE DELIVERY METHODS for Transit Service Policy
The purpose of the Transit Service Policy is to help staff make informed decisions when changing bus and rail services. The policy ensures that staff will make fair and consistent evaluations of service that are not…
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