REVITALIZING EXPRESS BUS SERVICES IN A SUBURBAN COMMUNITY: A PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP

In response to rapidly deteriorating privately owned and operated express bus service, Prince William County, Virginia, developed a program designed to stabilize and improve services. The program, conceived by a citizens advisory committee and initiated with state and local funding, uses a public-private partnership whereby the local government purchases and remanufactures suburban coaches and then leases the coaches to a private operator. Lease fees are nominal, and the private operator is contractually obligated to the local government to provide all necessary coach maintenance. Thus the local government in effect provides a capital subsidy to a private operator and helps provide reliable public transportation without becoming the actual provider. The local government reviews routes and schedules and assists in marketing but does not defray operating costs. To date, the county has remanufactured and leased 10 suburban coaches to a local private operator. This has resulted in the availability of more reliable, more comfortable, and safer express bus servivce for county commuters. Express bus patronage is increasing, and the county hopes to remanufacture and lease an additional 10 coaches. The program appears to be successful and incorporates several strategies that msy be of interest to suburban jurisdictions considering initiatives in express bus operations.

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1985/1011/1011-006.pdf
• Summary URL:
  https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=REVITALIZING+EXPRESS+BUS+SERVICES+IN+A+SUBURBAN+COMMUNITY%3A+A+PUBLIC-PRIVATE+PARTNERSHIP&author=C.+Leiner&author=R.+Ambrose&author=L.+Jackson&publication_year=1985
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0309038235
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper appeared in Transportation Research Record N1011, Advances in Bus Service Planning Practices.
• Authors:
  • Leiner, Craig T
  • Ambrose, Raymond
  • Jackson, Lawrence E
• Conference:
  • 64th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board
  • Location: Washington District of Columbia, United States
  • Date: 1985-1-14 to 1985-1-17
• Publication Date: 1985

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Tables;
• Pagination: pp 32-43
• Monograph Title: Advances in bus service planning practices
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 1011
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Buses; Commuting; County government; Express buses; Finance; Financing; Leasing; Local government; Marketing; Private enterprise; Profitability; Rehabilitation (Maintenance); Suburbs
• Uncontrolled Terms: Subscription buses
• Geographic Terms: Virginia
• Subject Areas: Finance; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00454954
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309038235
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Jul 31 1986 12:00AM