Adaptive Transit: Enhancing Suburban Transit Services Robert Cervero John Beutler UCTC No 424 The University of Californla Transportation Center The University of California Center activities. Researchers Transportation Center (UCTC) at other universities within the is one of ten regional units region also have opportunities mandated by Congress and to collaborate with UCfaculty established in Fall 1988to on selected studies. support research, education, and training in surface trans- UCTC’seducational and portation. The UCCenter research programsare focused serves federalRe, on IX and on strategic planning for ,s supportedby matching improving metropohtan grants from the U S Depart- accessibility, with emphasis ment of Transportauon, the on the speeml condmonsin Cahfomia Department of Re,on IX Pamcular attention Transportatmn(Caltrans), and is directed to strategies for the University using transportataon as an instrument of economic Based on me Berkeley development,while also ac- Campus, UCTCdraws upon commodatingto the region’s existing capabdmesand persistent expansion and resources of the Insumtesof while maintaining and enhanc- Traasportatmn Sm&esat ing the quality, of hfe there Berkeley, Davls Irvme, and Los Angeles, u~e Insumte of The Center dismbutes reports Urban and RemonaIDevelop- on its research an workang men:at Berkele.~. and several papers, monographs, and m acadermcdepartments at the reprints of publishedart,cles. Berkeley, Darts. Irvme, and it also publishes Aeee..s a Los Angeles campuses magazine presenung sum- Facul~ and smeents on other manesof selected sturines For Umverslty of Cahfomia a llst of pubhcauonsan prim. campusesma’~ Farucipate m write to the address be~ow DISOLAIMEff Thecontents of this report r~fiect the wewsof the authors,who are responsiblefor the facts an(~the accuracyof ihe reformat)onpresepted hereto Th~sdocument )s d~ssemtnatedunder the sponsorshipof the Umversityof California Departmentof Transportat=en,Umvmslty TIansportatlon Centers Prog’am Transportation Center mthe mtere,t or mformallonexchan~;:e The U S Goverpmeptassumes no habmtyfm tile contentsor usethe)eof 108 NavaIArc~tecture Building Berkeley,Cahforma 94720 Td 510/643-7378 FAX.519/643-5456 Thecontents of thas reportreflect the viewsof the authorwho is respens,ble for the facts andaccuracy of the data presentedherein. The contents do not necessarilyreflect the official viewsor pohcmsof the State of Cahfommor the US. Departmentof TtanspertatmaTlus report doesant eonsmatea standard, spedficaaon,or regulatmn Monograph99-01 AdaptiveTransit: EnhancingSuburban Transit Services Robert Cervero and John Beutler Reportprepared for the Umversltyof CaliforniaTransportation Center University of California at Berkeley Institute of Urban and Regional Development CONTENTS Chapter 1 Serving the Suburbs with Adaptive Transit PART ONE: BUS-BASED SERVICE REFORMS 17 2 Dedicated Lanes, Tangential Routing, and Small-VehacleShuttles: Houston, Texas 19 3 Buswaysand Seamless Transferring: Ottawa, Canada 29 4 Bus Rapid Transit on Surface Streets: Queb6cProvince, Canada 43 5 Express Shuttles, Coordinated Scheduling, and Small-Vehicle Services: Contra Costa County, California 57 PART TWO: TECHNOLOGICAL-INNOVATIONS 79 Adaptive Light Rail Tramit and Traek-Sharing: Karlsruhe, Germany 81 Guided Buswaysin a Small Metropolis: Adelaide, Australia 97 PART THREE: SMALL-VEHICLE SERVICE REFORMS 113 8 Flexibly-Routed Shuttles: Albany, NewYork 115 9 Flexibly Routed Neighborhood Shuttles: Winmpeg,Manitoba 127 10 Route Deviation and Zoned Dial-a-Ride: Kansas City, Missouri 141 11 Free-Enterprise Paratransit: Puerto Rico and MexicoCity 151 CONCLUSIONS 165 12 Conclusions 167 Tables, Boxes, Figures, Maps, and Photos Tables I 1: Classes and Types ofAdapuveTranslt 4 4.1. SCTUQ’sNew Philosophy on TransR Services 44 51. Walnut Creek CommuteLink Performance, 1993-1994 67 5.2. Performance Comparison of High and Low Performing CCCTARoutes, Flscat Year 1995 68 6.I Seven Types of Adaptive Rail Translt Services in MetropohtanKarlsruhe, as of 1997 90 10.1 Route 296 Method of Access 146 111. MexicoCity’s Hierarchy of Paratranslt Servlces, 1994 159 112 Daily Motorized Trips m Greater MemcoCity, 1994 161 Boxes 1.1. Bus Rapid Transit 5 41. Key Features of Qu6bec’s Bus Rapid Transit System. Metrobus 45 Figures 11. Forms of Route Deviation. (Top) Enttre Route" buses mayleave a route at any pomt to plck up riders (requested by phone) or drop offriders (as requested by an onboard passenger) in areas adjacent to the service, as long as they return to the route at the point of departure, (Center) Point Devmttonbuses deviate from a designated route and schedule only at pre-determmedlocataons (points), (Bottom) Checkpomt.buses vmit fixed stops on a pre-determmedttme schedule, but deviate freely within the area or quandrant to pick up mdwidualsalong the way and return to the fixed point on schedule. 9 1.2. SummaiTof Classes and Types of Adaptave Transit AmongCase Study Areas 15 31. Comparison of Passengers per GmdewayMile AmongNorth American Busway and Light Rail Systems, 1991 to 1993 34 3.2 OCTranspo’s Three Types of Transit Routes 37 51 Comparison of Populataon Densities of"Hi" and "Lo" Performing CCCTARoutes, 1990 Density Stattstics 72 5.2. Comparison of Median Household Income Characteristics of"Hi" and ’%0" Performing CCCTARoutes, 1989 Income Statistics 73 6.1. Design Schemafor Integrated Light Rail Transit 84 7.1. Typical Track-GuidedBuswa) Cross-section. Guide rollers are fixed to rigid arms which are m turn connected to the front axle of the bus The rollers, ftmctlonmgas horizontal stabilizers, interact with a raised concrete lip to automatically guide the vehicle, freeing the bus driver of steering dunes. In Adelaide, the track consmts ofprecast concrete elements assembled like a railroad track Concrete cross beamsare supported on bored piles m provide long-term stabihty L-shaped concrete slabs atop the cross beamsform the guidance surfaces. To handle Adelaide’s Ingh-speed bus services and provide a comfortable ride, a continuous and precisely fitted concrete surface was needed Prefabrication was a prereqmsIte to achieve the reqmred accuracy. Adelaide’s buswaytracks were constructed to tolerances of plus or minus 2 ram To achieve such precision required the introduction of rigid quahty control procedures both at the manufacturingplant and during track assembly. 99 7.2 Comparison of Transit Pddership Trends Between the O-Bahnand the RegmnAt-Large 106 81. ShuttleBug map The ShuttleBug connects a numberof actavity centers - the Crossgates Mall, NewKamer Industrial park, and Corporate Plaza 116 ii 111. Comparison of Ongm-DestmationPatterns for Trips by MBABuses (top) and Pfiblicos (bottom), 1990 154 Maps 2.1 Houston’s HOVNetwork, 1996 21 31 Metropohtan Ottawa’s Trmnsitway and Greenbelt 30 4.1 Qu6bec’s Three Major Metrobus Corridors 46 42 SCTUQ’sHub-and-Spoke Network 50 4.3 Montreal’s Reserved Lane Network 52 44 Contra-flow Bus Route Along Boulevard Pie-IX, Connecting to Montr6al-Nord 52 51 BARTSystem and CCCTAService Area 59 5.2 Route 960 Express Shuttle 61 53 Route 991, Concord CommuterExpress 62 5.4 Bishop Ranch Noon-me Shuttle 63 5.5 The Free Pride and Route 104 64 5.6. CCCTARoute 110 69 5.7 CCCTARoute 114 69 5.8 CCCTARoute 115 70 5.9 CCCTARoute 117 71 6.1 Metropohtan Karlsruhe’s Rail Transit Network87 7.1 Adelaide’s Northeast O-BalmCorridor Eighteen bus routes feed into the malrdmeguided busway.On average, 55 percent of the distance Iraversed is on normal suburban streets, 30 per cent is on the gnideway,and 15 percent is on city streets 101 9.1 Dart 102: Southdale-Island Lakes Service Area Drwers use one sheet for each circulation through the service area, markingstop requests on the mapand plotting a route. 131 10.i MetroFlex Route 296 - Rush Hour Service Route-Deviation Route (left map) and Midday On-Call Dial-a-Ride Service Area (right map) The service areas are stmilar but not Identical in the two periods Each mapshows major trip generators, and the primary residentiai area falls mthe southern portion of the maps(with north to the top). The major transfer point is near the Hypermartto the northwest. 143 Photos 21. Bus and Carpools Share HOVLane Houston 22 31 OCTranspo’s Exclusive Busway. A bus heads westbound from the Smyth station, which features high-rise housing and office developmenton one side One station downin the backgroundis the Abbeystation where additional high-rise housing has clustered. 35 41. An Elephant Train of Metrobuses Along a Collector Street on the St.-Cryille Comdor 47 4.2. Qudbec’s DowntownTransfer Station 49 43. Les Sanles Transit Center 49 44 Reserved With-Flow Bus Operations m Montreal The overhead sign specifies hours of operation 54 51 The 103 Free Ride The service is noted for its distinctive color schemeand logo 65 5.2 Sawtootharrangement eases identification of buses in makingtransfer 74 61 Dual-Voltage S-Trams m the Core of Karlsruhe. S-Trams queue for customers at Marktplatz m the heart of the city. The center section of the bi-direetional articulated vehicles accommodatethe dual-voltage electrical hardware. Speeding up S-Tramswithin the city In’nits is a system of reduction loops Imbeddedin surface streets that allow signal preemption S-Trains are permitted to travel as fast as 50 kmper hour while m the city 86 .®. 111 62 Switching from City Tram Tracks to DBHeavy Rail Tracks An S-Tram enters a junction connecting the city warn tracks and the DBheavy rail tracks along the eastern line to Bretten and Eppingen. The actual conversion of power source