Everywhere we look we find patterns. From the relationship between supply and demand to every day conversations. Universally accepted, unwritten rules are often adopted as a result of these consistencies. These rules shape industries and effect how businesses around the globe operate. The transit industry is no exception – our implicit law is that improved service requires increased investment.
You can improve service in any number of ways: upgrading vehicles, increasing frequency of stops or even acquiring new technologies. Yet at the end of the day, the rule remains the same; all of these options require more money. Whether it’s political turmoil or a reduction in resources, finding money can be a painful process.
What if we were to tell you there was a better way? Imagine if you could break the rules – improve your service without having to use any more money. Sounds pretty amazing right?
Edmund Zolnik, professor of Public Policy at the George Mason University, sought to uncover what would happen if transit service was reduced to certain areas of Fairfax, Virginia. He concluded that agencies could reduce travel times as well as operating costs by 23% if they eliminated 43% of the bus stops. 43% may seem like a staggering number, but the University concluded that the service cuts wouldn’t drastically effect the community. The proposed line would reduce the time of a one way trip from 2 hours and 4 minutes to 1 hour and 36 minutes. The best part? Over 89 percent of the community would still be served. (Source: Governing).
That’s all just theory though – what would happen if something like this happened in the ‘real world’? Well, to get straight to the point, it leads to incredible results.
In May of last year, Houston Metro took a long and hard look at their service to realize that they had room for improvement. They worked around the clock to arrive to a conclusion; they had redundant routes. With some help from Human Transit blogger Jarrett Walker, Houston Metro was able to transform their frequent bus network from this...
…to this, all while using existing resources.
On top of eliminating inefficient routes, the agency was also able create straight routes and tie names to streets to make it more intuitive for riders to navigate. Houston’s core mentality during the overhaul was to prioritize ridership over service to be able to reach the highest number of riders and ultimately make their routes more efficient. (Source: CityLab). Houston Metro believes that the modernizations of their service will lead to a 20% increase in ridership after two years.
Now you may be thinking that Houston Metro just got lucky. Realizing this level of efficiency is pretty uncommon and wouldn’t work for most agencies, but we’d like to prove otherwise.
A more recent example is in Omaha, Nebraska where the Omaha Metro rolled-out their brand new FORWARD plan to take their agency to new heights. By eliminating inefficient service coverage, the agency was able to create a bus network with increased frequency, better night service and weekend service, direct lines through high-ridership corridors, and grid style access across the city. They were able to reduce their max wait time in half, moving from 120 minutes to just under an hour (Source: CityLab). The total amount of additional funding required? You guessed it - none.
These are all incredible results for each respective agency, but these examples also include drastic changes. It may seem unlikely that your agency can see real results without having to take drastic measures - we’re here to debunk the myth.
Have you read about how MTA Baltimore was able to save $100,000 with only a few minor changes to their runcuts? Or how about the time that Salem-Keizer was able to save over 300 hours of service with a few days of consulting? Your agency doesn’t need to undergo massive changes to benefit from incredible results. Evaluating your agency can help you maximize your resources and allow your agency to deliver incredible results to your riders.
If you’re interested in learning more about how your agency can capitalize on your existing resources then I’d invite you to check out my latest 20 minute webinar showing how to maximize your agency’s assets.
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