Putting the Horse Before the Cart: How Planning and Implementation Affect the Success of Transit System Redesign

Many transit agencies neglect to make regular, data-driven adjustments to system maps and service plans to reflect changes in development patterns and rider preferences. However, agencies that make these adjustments often achieve significant gains in productivity, either through increases in ridership or through a newfound ability to serve the same number of riders with fewer units of service. This paper looks at four properties that engaged in system redesigns or comprehensive operational analyses and attempts to illuminate the factors that may lead to greater levels of success. The agencies examined had not fundamentally changed their system maps in 15 to 20 years, but a mix of political crises, financial crises, or changes in leadership led them to pursue a system redesign. They achieved varying levels of success, with one agency increasing productivity by 63 percent and another becoming 16 percent less productive. Their efforts to substantively engage key stakeholders and the broader public seem to be a key factor in determining the relative success of the projects.

  • Supplemental Notes:
    • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AP050 Bus Transit Systems.
  • Corporate Authors:

    Transportation Research Board

    500 Fifth Street, NW
    Washington, DC  United States  20001
  • Authors:
    • Karlin-Resnick, Joshua
    • Weinberger, Rachel R
    • Whitaker, Bethany
  • Conference:
  • Date: 2015

Language

  • English

Media Info

  • Media Type: Digital/other
  • Features: Figures; Maps; Photos; References; Tables;
  • Pagination: 19p
  • Monograph Title: TRB 94th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 01556537
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Report/Paper Numbers: 15-5619
  • Files: PRP, TRIS, TRB, ATRI
  • Created Date: Mar 9 2015 7:53AM