DART LIGHT RAIL RIDERSHIP

Ridership on Dallas Area Transit's (DART's) light rail transit (LRT) system has exceeded projections and is continuing to grow. Mode choice among patrons accessing LRT stations has not been modeled well, resulting in less than optimal investment choices in station development. There is a need to improve the forecasting of ridership levels and station-access mode. Predicted ridership and the mode of station access are examined for each station on the DART LRT system. Two research efforts have developed profiles of ridership at each station. These efforts include an intercept survey of riders accessing each station that provides parking. Rider mode choice and the factors that influenced that choice were examined. An on-board origin/destination survey was conducted, developing mode-of-access and demographic data for riders using each station. The actual ridership and access characteristics are compared with forecast characteristics. Factors influencing ridership characteristics and the level of feeder-bus service are examined. At the macro level, the modeling process conservatively predicted ridership. At the station level, the ridership was not as accurately projected, resulting in less than optimal facility design. Refinements in the design of feeder-bus networks for future modeling efforts are needed, and recalibration of the model to reflect actual experience is required. Model output must be refined further by accounting for the final implementation characteristics of each station.

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• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper is available on the CD-ROM, Light Rail: Investment for the Future, 8th Joint Conference on Light Rail Transit.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001

  American Public Transportation Association

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  Washington, DC  United States  20006
• Authors:
  • Hufstedler, G D
  • Johnson, P
• Conference:
  • Light Rail: Investment for the Future. 8th Joint Conference on Light Rail Transit
  • Location: Dallas, Texas
  • Date: 2000-11-11 to 2000-11-15
• Publication Date: 2000

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 14p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Access; Demographics; Feeder buses; Forecasting; Light rail transit; Mode choice; Origin and destination; Ridership; Surveys
• Identifier Terms: Dallas Area Rapid Transit
• Subject Areas: Operations and Traffic Management; Passenger Transportation; Public Transportation; Railroads; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00803596
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Dec 11 2001 12:00AM