Abstracts and Selected Presentations from 3084 - AP010 - Best of Transit Management and Performance Papers

The People Part of Transit Paper Session funnels research on operator and rider behavior and ways of improving ridership for specific subgroups of the riding public. 

Full Details about the Paper Session can be found here: Best of Transit Management and Performance Papers.

Methods for Analyzing System Performance and User Experience Using WiFi Connection Data

Full Presentation

Authors: Aidan Grenville, Willem Klumpenhouwer, Natalie Chui, Amer Shalaby, University of Toronto

Typical performance measurements of public transit operations make use of vehicle- based data such as automated vehicle location data, or passenger-based data at specific fare collection points. Ideally, the performance of a transit system from a reliability and passenger experience should be measured through individual passenger journeys. The growing prevalence of smartphones provides one potential source for this analysis, as passive methods such as WiFi, cellular, and Bluetooth connection data allow us to observe devices as they move throughout the system. In this study we present a collection of methods and performance measures for using WiFi connection data to measure various aspects of customer experience and reliability, including methods for detecting train arrivals at platforms, estimating wait times, measuring origin-destination travel time variation, and developing profiles of various journey types for comparison. In contrast with many other advances towards passenger-based measures, these methods do not require combining diverse datasets to generate useful results. These methods are applied to data from the WiFi service in the subway system in Toronto, Canada. 

Transit's Financial Prognosis: Findings from a Survey of U.S. Transit Systems During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Full Presentation

Authors: Fariba Siddiq, Jacob Lawrence Wasserman, Brian Deane Taylor, Samuel Speroni, University of California, Los Angeles

The COVID-19 pandemic upended the public transit industry more than any other passenger mode of travel. Depressed ridership and fare revenues and added costs for heightened health measures occasioned significant financial distress and uncertainty for many U.S. transit operators. In the face of this crisis, the federal government quickly stepped in, beginning in early in the pandemic, to provide substantial supplemental operating support to keep transit systems financially afloat. To understand how this fiscal turmoil and relief have affected U.S. transit systems, we conducted two nationwide surveys of transit agency staff in the late summer/early fall of 2020 and in the winter of 2021-2022, with the latter focusing specifically on finance. While pandemic-induced financial shortfalls affected service at nearly half of surveyed agencies in 2020, with many seeing capital projects delayed too, these effects became much more muted by 2021/2022. Most systems reported moderate to substantial increases in federal funding during the pandemic, more so than other funding categories. However, nearly half foresee at least some degree of financial shortfall once federal relief funding expires. Agencies with higher pre-pandemic ridership and farebox recovery ratios were particularly affected by fare revenue losses and more likely to anticipate major coming shortfalls. In the near term, though, difficulty hiring and retaining front-line workers was a pressing concern at almost all agencies, while very few had plans to maintain pandemic fare suspensions or reductions.

Transit Agency Assessment of Their Capability to Adopt New Mobility Strategies

Authors: Sarah Nastasi -AECOM, Candace Brakewood - University of Tennessee, Michael Hunter - Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), Kari Watkins - University of California, Davis 

This research identified current challenges, constraints and interest in the implementation and management of new mobility services (on-demand and micromobility) for United States transit agencies. Twenty-four semi-structured interviews with employees of transit agencies were conducted, and NVivo, a qualitative analysis software, was used to classify agency involvement, constraints, and challenges with services. The most common constraints and challenges for on-demand services (cited by 5+ agencies) were labor shortages, software performance, fare integration, vehicle shortages, and funding. For agencies not offering on-demand services, developing strong backbone networks with fixed-routes was a priority, and cost-effectiveness, service area design, and funding were additional concerns. The top constraints and challenges among transit agencies with respect to micromobility (cited by 4+ agencies) included fare integration, obstruction of public space, funding, adequate supporting infrastructure, and development of equitable service. For integrating new mobility services, most transit agencies (14 of 20, 70%) expressed interest in becoming mobility managers, but larger agencies (10+ million unlinked passenger trips) were split between mobility manager and partner roles. This research suggests that transit agencies have evolved in the new mobility space, but some constraints and challenges still stand in their way. Policymakers and decision-makers can help transit agencies by encouraging open-source software development, improving labor contracts, increasing funding opportunities, and coordinating land-use, transportation, and transit planning. Future research should continue investigating barriers to entry for new mobility services and identify how transit agencies can increase coordination with technology and micromobility companies.

Novel Transit Management Strategies: Driver Advisory Systems with Cooperative Space and Time Priorities

Authors: Kareem Othman, Amer Shalaby, Baher Abdulhai, University of Toronto 

Priority seat systems are widely introduced around the world to provide seats for elderly and disabled passengers as well as pregnant women and injured passengers. In Japan, such a system is recommended in the national guideline. However, the manners of using priority seats differ from country to country, and even among areas within a country. In our previous study, we examined the effectiveness of Sapporo Subway’s special seat system as compared to the priority seat system in subways in the Kanto area. In this present study, we will extend our research to other areas in Japan, namely the Sendai Namboku subway line, Kyoto Karasuma subway line, Kobe Saishin subway line, and Fukuoka Kuko line, to further examine the effectiveness of Sapporo’s special seat system. We conducted observation surveys in six areas including Sapporo and the Kanto area to check whether priority seats are used by targeted passengers such as elderly and disabled passengers. We collected numerical data in the six areas and compared how the seats are used by general passengers. As a result, we found that Sapporo subway’s special seat system stands out for its effectiveness. We also analyzed the responses to a questionnaire survey conducted in Sapporo and the Kanto area in our previous study. By combining all our findings, we will explore measures for an even more appropriate and effective usage of priority seats.