Homework Assignment 3

Course: CEE 2725

Student: Nemanja B Dobrota

Chapter 2 – Urban Passener Transport Modes

Question 2.1: Which functional characteristics of transportation service distinguishes private from
public transportation? List several characteristics in which these two types of services differ and
explain how.

The main difference between private and public transportation depends on the type of vehicle used for
transportation. Private transportation relay on use of private cars (up to 6 spaces per vehicle) whereas any
public transportation utilizes vehicles with capacity range from 40 to 280 for Regular Bus (RB) and Rail
Rapid Transit (RRT), respectively. In addition to the type of vehicles used for transportation, a number of
transit units that can be joined while conducting service can impact this capacity to a certain/higher
degree. For example, private mode (or passenger car) can have only one transit unit, were on the contrary
RRT can couple up to 10 transportation units. When this is now multiplied with vehicle capacity, it can be
clearly seen that RRT can offer up to 2400 spaces whereas private mode no more than 6. On another note,
when line capacities are compared, it also can be noted that public transit outperforms private transport
for all modes compared. Varying from 720 to 2600 spaces per hour (for auto on street and auto on a
freeway) per lane, RRT can excede capacity up to 70,000 spaces per line per hour. When safety
characteristics are considered on a four increment scale (Low, Medium, High, Very High), it is noted that
private transport maintains low to medium safety lever. Compared to private transit this characteristic in
the worse case (when vehicles are on Right-of-Way (ROW) category type C (such as Buses) safety level
is medium with a tendency to increase with ROW category to very high. In a similar fashion, the
reliability of these services can be observed.

Question 2.2: Utilizing conceptual definitions of urban transport modes, define the similarities and
dissimilarities between:

 Private auto and bicycle

 Private auto and taxi
 Taxi and bus

Include physical, operational, and service characteristics of these modes.

Based on the area coverage, auto is mainly used for operations within city (can be used for short rides as
well as regional rides but less frequently), whereas bike is mainly used for short rides (up to several
miles). When speed is compared generally, comuting time with auto is shorter however, parking time can
significantly impact duration of trip. In terms of capacity, car is more effective than bike.

Private auto compared with taxi service in terms of area coverage is simmilar. However, taxi as public
service usually is used for city rides. Taxi service provides less transporation time since time for parking
is eliminated. When costs of ride are compared, private car is cost effective however, again depending on
parking options at both end of ride, sometimes taxi can be more cost effective. In terms of capacity,
passinger car theoreticaly has more capacity.

When taxi and bus are compared, both services are public and mainy are used within city area. Taxi is
more flexible in terms of providing service from door to door which decrease total tranist time wheras
BUS is usually combined with waliking or biking. In terms of capacity bus has several times higher
capacity.

Question 2.3: Which basic characteristics define a transit mode? Apply that definition to show what
makes the following pairs of transit systems different modes:

 Bus and Trolleybus: Driver guided (Bus), Driver guided + Partially Guided (Trolley); ROW
category C/B (Bus), Row category (C), City service (Bus and Trolleybus).
 Express and Shuttle bus: Driver guided (Express and Shuttle bus); ROW category C/B (Express
and Shuttle bus), City service (Express and Shuttle bus).
 Light rail and rapid transit: Driver guided + Partially Guided (Light rail); Driver guided (Rapid
transit); ROW category B (Light rail), ROW category A (Rapid transit), Wider City area service
(Light rail and rapid transit).

Question 2.4: Bus lines never operate on ROW category A on their entire length. Why is it more logical
to use guided modes than buses on fully separated lines?

When line capacity between Bus (ROW category C) and Rail Rapid Transit line (ROW category A) is
compared, it can be seen that RRT can offer six times more spaces per hour (RB-2 ~ 6750 sps/h, RRT-2 ~
38,500 sps/h). If this is just compared form capacity perspective it is clear that is not feasible to build an
exclusive (fully separated) facility for lower capacities. Moreover, while operating BUS transit systems in
order to obtain a higher capacity as possible, operating costs are increased tremendously (by increasing
the number of drivers/buses of the road). In case of modes utilizing ROW category A, with adding more
transit units this can be overcome.
Part 2. Peer Cities’ Transit System Comparison

Based on provided data, sample table was populated and the final table is formed (see table 1).

Table 1. Comparison three cities transit systems

City & Mode Operating & Maintenance Costs Vehicle Revenue Mi. (VRM) Vehicle Revenue Hr. (VRH) Unlinked Passenger Trips MPH O&M/VRM O&M/VRH O&M/Ride Rides/VRM Rides/VRH
PAAC LR $62,950,866 $2,171,773 $169,646 29,714,858 12.80 $ 28.99 $ 371 $ 2.12 13.68 175.16
PAAC MB $301,051,225 $21,039,819 $1,609,743 224,980,637 13.07 $ 14.31 $ 187 $ 1.34 10.69 139.76
Bi-State LR $76,332,879 $6,215,037 $264,889 $14,898,291 23.46 $ 12.28 $ 288 $ 5.12 2.40 56.24
Bi-State MB $155,917,577 $18,514,842 $1,397,333 $25,529,305 13.25 $ 8.42 $ 112 $ 6.11 1.38 18.27
GCRTA HR $37,031,444 $2,611,263 $139,891 $5,904,814 18.67 $ 14.18 $ 265 $ 6.27 2.26 42.21
GCRTA LR $12,741,916 $683,721 $50,655 $2,114,753 13.50 $ 18.64 $ 252 $ 6.03 3.09 41.75
GCRTA MB $163,471,665 $12,823,852 $1,112,957 $26,711,874 11.52 $ 12.75 $ 147 $ 6.12 2.08 24.00
GCRTA RB $6,161,689 $593,086 $67,204 $4,219,838 8.83 $ 10.39 $ 92 $ 1.46 7.12 62.79

Total (All Modes):

PAAC Total $ 364,002,091 23,211,592 1,779,389 254,695,495 13.04 $ 15.68 $ 205 $ 1.43 10.97 143.14
Bi-State Total $ 232,250,456 24,729,879 1,662,222 40,427,596 14.88 $ 9.39 $ 140 $ 5.74 1.63 24.32
GCRTA Total $ 219,406,714 16,711,922 1,370,707 38,951,279 12.19 $ 13.13 $ 160 $ 5.63 2.33 28.42

MB+RB:
PAAC MB $ 301,051,225 21,039,819 1,609,743 224,980,637 13.07 $ 14.31 $ 187 $ 1.34 10.69 139.76
Bi-State MB $ 155,917,577 18,514,842 1,397,333 25,529,305 13.25 $ 8.42 $ 112 $ 6.11 1.38 18.27
GCRTA MB+RB $ 169,633,354 13,416,938 1,180,161 30,931,712 11.37 $ 12.64 $ 144 $ 5.48 2.31 26.21

LR+HR:
PAAC LR $ 62,950,866 2,171,773 169,646 29,714,858 12.80 $ 28.99 $ 371 $ 2.12 13.68 175.16
Bi-State LR $ 76,332,879 6,215,037 264,889 14,898,291 23.46 $ 12.28 $ 288 $ 5.12 2.40 56.24
GCRTA LR+HR $ 49,773,360 3,294,984 190,546 8,019,567 17.29 $ 15.11 $ 261 $ 6.21 2.43 42.09

1. For the MPH column of the top section of the spreadsheet, what value of MPH stands out to
you as different from the others?

Based on collected data it can be noted that highest MPH have Bi-State LR (23.46), followed by
GCRATA LR (18.67) due to low Vehicle Revenue Hours ~$264,889 and $139,891, respectively.

2. For the O&M/Ride column of the top section of the spreadsheet, what two values of
O&M/Ride stand out to you as different from the others?

The highest O&M/Ride are noted for GCRTA HR and GCRTA MB, $6.27 and $6.12, respectively.

3. In the second section of the spreadsheet, which displays data for Total All Modes, you will
see that PAAC has 50% more transit riders than either of the other two transit systems. You
will also see that O&M Costs are much greater at PAAC. Look at the column O&M/Ride.
What are your thoughts about the values you see in O&M/ride for the three transit systems?

Due to relatively large number of unlinke passanger trips that occur in PAAC, compared to the other
Transit agency, one can expect this difference.

4. In the NTD table “2017 Agency Info 1”, I found the following info for the service area of the
three transit systems:
You can see that Pittsburgh has the largest land area to cover in square miles, and the
population is not larger than the others, so the population density is the lowest of the three.
Does this impact your opinion of the PAAC system’s ridership?

Yes, I think that PAAC system is well developed and beause of good offered service this number
just confims that.