TRANSIT RIDERSHIP IN AN INTENSE TRANSIT ENVIRONMENT: SOME OBSERVATIONS

Five transit services in an intense transit environment (the city of New York) were surveyed: four bus routes and one rail rapid transit route. In addition, surveys of express bus and automobile ridership on a section of the Long Island Expressway were considered to provide some further mode comparisons. The prime trip purposes were work and school: Work trips accounted for about two out of four trips; except for the premium services, school trips accounted for one out of four trips. Occupation and income generally reflected the source populations. The gender split varied from service to service; buses had the most females (60-80 percent) and automobiles the least (15 percent). Relative to the automobile, riders stated the prime reasons for transit as "automobile not available" or "parking problems." Express bus services drew heavily from public transit; the preferences for it were expressed primarily as comfort and convenience in terms that rank it as a mimic of the automobile--climate control, no transfers, and proximity to trip ends. A picture emerges of a hierarchy preference of modes: (a) automobile, (b) something that mimics automobile, and (c) conventional transit. A case study to replicate the modal gender differences required that two bias coefficients be introduced into a logit model that describes the situation: a distinct preference for bus as a transit mode and a disutility for the automobile that is equivalent to an incremental costs of $2/trip. (Author)

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• Supplemental Notes:
  • Publication of this paper sponsored by Committee on Transit Service Characteristics. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • McShane, William P
  • MENAKER, PAUL
  • Roess, Roger P
  • Falcocchio, John
• Publication Date: 1980

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; Maps; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 1-7
• Monograph Title: Bus Transit Management and Performance
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 746
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automobile travel; Bus transit; Commuters; Express buses; Gender; Income; Mode choice; Public transit; Rapid transit; Ridership; Travel patterns; Trip purpose; Urban transportation
• Old TRIS Terms: Bus transportation (Intracity); Modal selection
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Passenger Transportation; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; Society; I71: Traffic Theory; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning; I73: Traffic Control;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00319332
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309030552
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Oct 27 1980 12:00AM