comprehensive operations analysis. background ■on march 6, 2014, escambia county board of county...

Comprehensive Operations Analysis

Background

■ On March 6, 2014, Escambia County Board of County Commissioners approved an agreement between Escambia County, Florida and Nelson/Nygaard Consulting Associates, Inc. to conduct a Comprehensive Operations Analysis (COA) of Escambia County Area Transit (ECAT).

■ Nelson/Nygaard has completed the technical analysis of existing services and has gathered stakeholder and public input through a transit survey and a series of individual and focus group interviews.

Background

Some of Nelson/Nygaard previous experience with Transit Comprehensive Operations Analysis and other transit plans: ■ Mobile, AL■ Huntsville, AL■ Jacksonville, FL■ Miami, FL■ Springfield, MA■ Cincinnati region, OH■ Denton County, TX■ Corpus Christi, TX ■ Working now in Hartford, CT and Little Rock, AR

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Key ECAT COA Upcoming Events:

■ September 9th – September 10th 2014– 1 ECAT Employee Workshop and 2 Public Workshops

■ September 9th – October 1st 2014– Public Feedback Period on Route Recommendations

■ End of November/early December 2014– Final COA Report submitted to Escambia County/ECAT

Staff

■ Early 2015 – Final COA Report presented to Escambia County Board of

County Commissioners

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Background

Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates, Inc. 5

Market Analysis

■ Population and Employment Density - strongest indicators of transit viability

■ Socio-Economic Characteristics - highlight transit need – Low-Income Population– Disabled Population– Senior Population– Youth Population– Population without Access to a Vehicle

■ Major Activity Centers - transit trip generators– Large Employers– Multi-Family Housing– Hospitals– High Schools / Colleges– Inter-City Transportation Hubs– Grocery / Retail Stores


Market Analysis


System Performance

■ Focused on several performance metrics– Ridership - total passenger

activity per day• By Stop - geographic

utilization• By Trip - temporal

utilization

– Ridership per Revenue Hour – return on investment


System Performance

Weekday Passengers

Weekday Passengers per Revenue Hour

Weekday Revenue Hours


Route Profiles

PERFORMANCE MEASURE WEEKDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY

ROUTE 6

SYSTEM AVG ROUTE 6

SYSTEM AVG

SYSTEM AVG

Bus Stops per Mile 9.3 3.5 8.6 3.8 - 0.4

Late Arrivals (%) 13.3 17.3 2.8 17.2 - 20.6

Early Departures (%) 4.0 2.2 8.3 3.3 - 11.76

Source: ECAT performance data


Stakeholder and Public Input

■ Nearly 300 completed transit surveys– 56% riders– 44% non-riders

■ Stakeholder interviews / focus groups– Mass Transit Advisory Committee– Escambia County Commission– Pensacola City Commission– Navy Federal Credit Union– Pensacola State College– CareerSource Escarosa– NAS Pensacola– Escambia County School District– Escarosa Coalition on the Homeless– Santa Rosa Island Authority– Agency for Persons with Disabilities

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Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates, Inc.

Service Hours vs. Frequency Serve New Areas vs. Improve Existing Service

More Frequent Stops vs. Faster Service Fewer Transfers vs. More Frequent Service

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Recommended Approach

■ General Design Principles:

– Service Should be Simple: • For people to use transit, service should be designed so that it is easy to use and intuitive to understand

– Service Should Operate at Regular Intervals: • In general, people can easily remember repeating patterns, but have difficulty remembering irregular

sequences

– Routes Should Operate Along a Direct Path: • The fewer directional changes a route makes, the easier it is to understand. Circuitous alignments are

disorienting and difficult to remember

– Routes Should be Symmetrical: • Routes should operate along the same alignment in both directions to make it easy for riders to know

how to get back to where they came from

– Routes Should Serve Well Defined Markets: • To make service easy to understand and to eliminate service duplication, routes should be developed to

serve clearly defined markets

– Service Should be Well Coordinated: • At major transfer locations, schedules should be coordinated to the greatest extent possible to minimize

connection times for the predominant transfer flows



■ Specific ECAT Goals:

– Create a network of strong “stand-alone” routes• Each should included at least some high density residential and at least one major destination (preferably

grocery store)

– Reduce redundancy• Within ECAT• Between ECAT and other partners

– Co-locate hubs with major destinations• Take people where they want to go anyway

– Offer multiple “pivot points”• Introduce elements of a grid-system• Focus amenities on major transfer locations

– Introduce (or encourage) innovative services• “Flex” routes• Community shuttles• Vanpools• Park & rides

– Adjust schedules and routes by service period• Align with ridership demand• Attract new users

comprehensive operations analysis. background ■on march 6, 2014, escambia county board of county...

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