Comprehensive Operations Analysis Existing Conditions Technical Memorandum January 2021

Presented to Duluth Transit Authority Prepared by Connetics Transportation Group

Table of Contents

1.0 Introduction ...... 1 2.0 Summary of Key Findings ...... 2 3.0 Twin Ports Regional Review ...... 5 3.1 Relevant Study Review ...... 5 3.2 Demographic Analysis...... 8 3.2.1 Population and Household Densities ...... 9 3.2.2 Job Distribution and Density ...... 19 3.2.3 Transit Propensity Index ...... 22 3.2.4 Latent Demand ...... 24 3.3 Airsage Travel Patterns ...... 26 3.3.1 Study Area District Analysis ...... 26 4.0 Service Overview and Performance Assessment ...... 32 4.1 Peer Analysis ...... 32 4.1.1 Key Peer and National Trend Analysis Findings ...... 33 4.2 Service Overview ...... 34 4.3 System Performance Assessment ...... 35 4.3.1 System Frequency ...... 35 4.3.2 Ridership Hotspots ...... 39 4.3.3 System On-time Performance Analysis ...... 42 4.3.4 System Performance Metrics ...... 44 4.4 Route Performance Assessment ...... 46 4.4.1 Route Profiles ...... 46 4.4.2 Route Performance Index (RPI) ...... 46 4.5 Low Ridership Areas ...... 51 5.0 Activity Center Review ...... 53 5.1 Key Activity Centers ...... 53 5.2 Travel Time and Access Analysis ...... 54 5.2.1 Activity Center to Activity Center Travel ...... 56 5.2.2 Activity Center Typical Access and Travel Time ...... 58

Appendix A: Airsage All Purpose Trip Volumes...... 67 Appendix B: Peer Analysis Tables and Charts ...... 71 Appendix C: DTA Performance Analysis ...... 73 Appendix D: Route Profiles ...... 75 Appendix E: Low Ridership Area Maps ...... 144 Appendix F: Activity Center Travel Time and Access Tables and Figures ...... 149 Appendix G: Supplemental Maps ...... 157

Tables Table 1: Population and Household Characteristics ...... 9 Table 2: Transit Access to Top Job Industries ...... 19 Table 3: TPI Scoring Components ...... 22 Table 4: 2019 Top 10 District to District Travel Patterns ...... 29 Table 5: 2020 Top 10 District to District Travel Patterns ...... 29 Table 6: Ridership Hotspot Activity by Day ...... 39 Table 7: System Operating and Performance Statistics ...... 45 Table 8: Select System KPIs by Day ...... 45 Table 9: Saturday RPI Rankings ...... 49 Table 10: Sunday RPI Rankings ...... 49 Table 11: Weekday-Select/Express RPI Rankings ...... 49 Table 12: Weekday-Local RPI Rankings ...... 49 Table 13: Select Travel Points ...... 55 Table 14: Weekday Activity Center to Activity Center Travel Times ...... 56 Table 15: Saturday Activity Center to Activity Center Travel Times ...... 56 Table 16: Sunday Activity Center to Activity Center Travel Times ...... 57 Table 17: Typical Access Demographic and Job Assessment Example ...... 59

Figures Figure 1: Defined Study Area ...... 8 Figure 2: Population Density ...... 11 Figure 3: Household Density ...... 12 Figure 4: Student Population Density ...... 13 Figure 5: Population Over the Age of 60 Density ...... 14 Figure 6: BIPOC Population Density...... 15 Figure 7: Persons with Disabilities Density ...... 16 Figure 8: Low-income Household Density ...... 17 Figure 9: Household Vehicle Ownership Density (0+1 vehicles) ...... 18 Figure 10: Study Area Job Distribution ...... 20 Figure 11: Potential Job Markets to Serve ...... 21 Figure 12: Transit Propensity Index ...... 23 Figure 13: Latent Demand ...... 25 Figure 14: Aggregated Airsage Districts ...... 27

Figure 15: Study Area District Trip Volumes by Year ...... 28 Figure 16: 2019 Top 10 District to District Travel Patterns Map ...... 30 Figure 17: 2020 Top 10 District to District Travel Patterns Map ...... 31 Figure 18: Passenger Trips per Capita ...... 33 Figure 19: DTA vs. National Ridership Trends ...... 33 Figure 20: DTA Service Summary Snapshot ...... 34 Figure 21: Weekday Frequency Chart by Route ...... 36 Figure 22: Weekend Frequency Chart by Route ...... 37 Figure 23: Weekday Effective Frequency by Stop ...... 38 Figure 24: Weekday Total Activity by Stop ...... 40 Figure 25: Weekday Total Activity Ridership Hotspots ...... 41 Figure 26: System OTP Criteria Analysis ...... 42 Figure 27: On-time Performance by Route ...... 43 Figure 28: Weekday Boardings and Trips by Hour...... 44 Figure 29: Route Profile Example ...... 46 Figure 30: Average Daily Ridership by Route and Day Type ...... 47 Figure 31: Top and Bottom Weekday-Local RPI Ranked Routes ...... 50 Figure 32: Low Ridership Areas ...... 51 Figure 33: Key Activity Center Locations ...... 53 Figure 34: Travel Time Analysis Types ...... 54 Figure 35: Select Travel Point Locations ...... 55 Figure 36: Typical Access Isochrone Example ...... 58 Figure 37: Average Weekday ...... 59 Figure 38: Downtown Duluth Typical Access and Regional Travel Time Assessment ...... 62 Figure 39: UMD Typical Access and Regional Travel Time Assessment ...... 63 Figure 40: Miller Hill Mall Typical Access and Regional Travel Time Assessment ...... 64 Figure 41: Superior Typical Access and Regional Travel Time Assessment ...... 65 Figure 42: West Duluth Typical Access and Regional Travel Time Assessment ...... 66

1.0 Introduction

In August 2020, the Duluth Transit Authority (DTA) engaged Connetics Transportation Group (CTG) to conduct a Comprehensive Operations Analysis (COA) of their fixed-route transit system. This technical memorandum presents the methodology and findings of the existing conditions analysis for the COA. The COA is structured around five distinct phases, with the existing conditions analysis representing Phase 2 of the process. The following outlines each anticipated phase of the COA with corresponding objectives:

• Phase 1 Guiding Principles: Determines the elements and strategies that guide the COA process. • Phase 2 Existing Conditions: Review and assess the regional markets and existing DTA service. • Phase 3 Identify and Evaluate Alternatives: Create service delivery concepts for the future DTA network. • Phase 4 Finalize Recommended Network: Select a final recommended network for implementation. • Phase 5 Implementation and Scheduling Plan: Create a plan to executive service changes and implement the recommended network.

The DTA provides transit service to the Twin Ports region which is comprised of portions of St. Louis and Carlton counties in Minnesota and Douglas County in Wisconsin. Fixed-route transit service is provided primarily in and around the City of Duluth, Minnesota and the City of Superior, Wisconsin. In August 2020, CTG worked with DTA staff and members of a technical advisory group (TAG) to complete Phase 1 of the COA (Guiding Principles). This phase helped inform CTG of the DTA and TAG member expectations for the COA process and desired outcomes of the study. They expect the COA process to result in a network that efficiently deploys resources and receives buy-in from the community. The desired outcomes include a recommended transit network that is attractive to Twin Port’s residents, improves the passenger experience, improves access to opportunity, is equitable, is resilient, and is easy to scale when opportunity arises.

A detailed understanding of the underlying market conditions, travel patterns, and existing DTA system service performance is an essential first step towards the development of a new DTA network. This technical memorandum documents the analysis and findings of the baseline conditions of the COA and is organized as follows:

Section 2: Summary of Key Findings highlights the primary findings of sections 3, 4, and 5 of this document. These findings will serve as a basis for the development of network recommendations.

Section 3: Twin Ports Regional Review provides an overview of demographic, socioeconomic, and travel patterns within the Twin Ports region that influence the demand for transit.

Section 4: Service Overview and Performance Assessment provides an analysis of the DTA’s existing fixed-route service performance at the system, route, and stop-levels.

Section 5: Activity Center Review identifies essential activity centers to be served by transit and analyzes existing transit travel times amongst them and to other key locations in the DTA service area.

Appendices: provide supporting documentation of the analysis, including route profiles and additional maps referenced throughout the main body of this document.

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 1 2.0 Summary of Key Findings

The following details the key findings from this technical memorandum. These findings are essential for understanding the Twin Port’s existing travel markets and transit service performance. They will be utilized to assist in identifying and evaluating service alternatives, and ultimately determining the final recommended transit network.

Twin Ports Regional Review

Existing DTA service provides suitable transit coverage throughout the region.

• All major activity and dense population/employment centers are currently served by at least one transit route. • Over 75% of population and 85% of jobs in the defined study area have access to transit. • Areas with the highest transit propensity index include Downtown Duluth, University of Minnesota-Duluth, West Duluth, Miller Hill Mall, Downtown Superior, and Lincoln Park.

There is limited latent ridership demand in the system.

• All areas with a high transit propensity index have transit service that produce adequate ridership returns and will likely not generate large amounts of additional riders in the future. • There is potential for limited ridership growth in areas with moderate latent ridership demand, including West Duluth (Denfeld), Lincoln Park / Rice’s Point, Congdon Park, Superior (south of downtown, Billings Park, and East End), and Proctor.

A review of regional travel patterns for all trips (not just transit) shows the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Using 2019 travel patterns is better suited for understanding regional movements in the Twin Ports.

• There was a 30% reduction in overall trip volumes between 2019 and 2020 due to COVID-19. • Due to the unknown impacts of future travel behavior and transit ridership, 2019 travel patterns were utilized for identifying regional trip volumes for the COA. • Key travel patterns for all trips mirror the findings for transit with highest attraction to/from Downtown Duluth, University of Minnesota-Duluth, Miller Hill Mall, West Duluth, and Superior.

Service Overview and Performance Assessment

DTA’s operational performance is consistent with its peers and national trends.

• The DTA provides significantly more passenger trips per capita than its peers. This shows the DTA’s dedication to providing higher levels of transit service to the Twin Ports region. • The DTA falls into the lower half of its peers on productivity measures of passenger trips per revenue hour and passenger trips per revenue mile. • In general, transit ridership and productivity declines are consistent with the national trends. Ridership is down by over 10% nationally since 2015. • One specific reason for DTA’s productivity decline is the launch of several new routes over the last few years that have not performed particularly well, thus lowering overall productivity.

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 2 The existing DTA network is comprised of varied service types and spans.

• Weekday service is highly specialized and is comprised of routes that have a variety of service types and patterns that may be confusing to unexperienced users of the system. Weekend service is more simplistic and operates with fewer service types and patterns. • Service spans lack consistency with many routes starting and ending service at different times. Many routes stop service after 6:00 and 7:00 pm on both weekdays and weekends.

Weekday ridership is concentrated in key activity centers; weekend ridership is more dispersed. • Approximately 80% of daily weekday ridership occurs in a few concentrated areas. High ridership areas include Downtown Duluth, University of Duluth-Minnesota, Miller Hill Mall, West Duluth/Lincoln Park, and Downtown Superior. • Weekend ridership is more dispersed, with shopping centers, grocery stores, churches, and hospitality/entertainment attractions as important destinations. Weekend riders are less job focused and traveling more for recreation and/or errands and shopping.

Current service provides quality and consistent on-time performance. • On-time performance is consistent across all time periods and over 82% of all trips are considered on-time (defined as 1-minute early to 5-minutes late). • Approximately 6-7% of all trips are considered early, indicating on-time performance could be potentially improved through schedule adjustments. • Specialized patterns and routes serving Superior tend to have lower on-time performance than the system at-large.

Similar performance metrics for weekdays, Saturdays, and Sundays indicate the presence of a strong transit user base. • Even with reduced service levels on weekends, the DTA has consistent performance metrics across all days of service. This suggests that the Twin Ports region has a strong willingness to take transit, regardless of service levels, and/or has a large transit-dependent ridership base. • The best performing routes provide frequent and consistent service to key areas. • Less productive routes are comprised of services that are highly specialized (i.e. unique patterns) and/or are less frequent and direct.

Activity Center Review

It is critical to provide fast and frequent service to key activity centers in the region. • As noted above, ridership is concentrated in five key activity centers: Downtown Duluth, University of Minnesota-Duluth, Miller Hill Mall, Superior, and West Duluth. • Areas around each key activity center encompass over 65% of the DTA’s daily weekday ridership and over 50% of the study area jobs. • Fast and frequent service to/from activity centers may be vital as only 25% of the study area population lives in these areas and will access the system from other locations, leading to added travel times.

Service between activity centers is inconsistent depending on time of day, leading to longer travel times and limited access. • Activity centers have different service levels depending on the time period, e.g., day (7:00 am to 6:00 pm) compared to evening service (6:00 pm to 10:00 pm). • Lack of consistent all-day frequencies between activity centers can lead to longer trip/transfer times and can limit access during certain times of the day.

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 3 • Existing service between activity centers typically only connects to one adjacent activity center and requires transfers to travel longer distances (e.g. no service exists that connects Superior directly to Downtown Duluth and the Miller Hill Mall). • There is generally fast and adequate access between Downtown Duluth and the other activity centers for day and evening service. One notable exception to this is Downtown Duluth to Superior in the evenings. • Beyond Downtown Duluth, travel time and access between activity centers becomes limited in the evenings. Service to Superior is virtually non-existent after 7:00 pm.

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 4 3.0 Twin Ports Regional Review

Assessing the transit market in the Twin Ports region is a foundational element of the COA. It is essential to identify demographic and development patterns that are inducive of transit-use, as well as recognizing previous regional transit-related studies, to create an optimal recommended network. This section aims to provide context for existing and future transit usage in the region.

3.1 Relevant Study Review Several recent planning documents in the Twin Ports region have relevance to this COA and were reviewed for context, including:

• 2017 DTA Transit Development Plan Update • Imagine Duluth 2035 - City of Duluth Comprehensive Land Use Plan • Duluth-Superior Metropolitan Interstate Council Long Range Transportation Plan 2045 • 2016 Superior System Management Performance Review • 2014 Superior Comprehensive Operations Analysis

Each document is briefly summarized below, followed by a list of key transit-related elements that are significant to the COA.

2017 DTA Transit Development Plan (TDP) Update In 2017, the DTA completed a major TDP update that focused on evaluating the connectivity, performance, and efficiency of the DTA transit system. The TDP process also included in-depth public outreach that led to additional service recommendations. A five-year, three-phase plan was proposed and began implementation in 2017. Phase 1 and 2 focused on the first four years and aimed to implement new services and improve frequency and efficiency of several existing routes. Phase 3 was expected to be implemented in year five and aimed to create a high-capacity service (similar to BRT) along DTA’s highest ridership corridor. The DTA implemented many of the recommendations over the past few years to a mixed level of success. A few recommended service changes still exist, but ultimately several recommendations were tested and eliminated due to low demand and/or operational issues. The following summarizes the key TDP components as related to the COA.

Key Transit-related Elements

• Phase 1 – DTA 2-year Pilot Program (implemented service changes in 2017-2018) o Extend Route 5 west to provide a one seat ride from New Duluth to the Miller Hill Mall – service change still exists in 2021. o Extend Route 19 Port Town Trolley seasonal service west on Superior to Fitger o New Service – Route 20 Downtown/Airport via United Health Care – Route 20 is no longer in service in 2021. o New Service – Route 21 Lakeside to UMD/Miller Hill Mall – Route 21 is no longer in service in 2021. o New Service – Route 22 Lincoln Park Middle School/London Road – Route 22 is no longer in service in 2021. o New Service – Route 23 UMD Circulator – service change still exists in 2021.

• Phase 2 – Improve Efficiency and Frequency (2019-2020)

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 5 o Existing DTA service has a variety of route variations/patterns. The TDP recommends consolidating these services to simplify the system for new and existing riders. Unfortunately, the DTA ran into operational/scheduling constraints that limited the implementation of these services. o Consolidate 9M and 9MT into one route that would operate between Downtown Duluth and the Miller Hill Mall via Piedmont Avenue – Routes 9M and 9MT service still exists in 2021. o Eliminate Route 10E and continue operating Route 10 – Route 10E service still exists in 2021. o Eliminate Route 11K and use resources to operate Route 11 with night service to Kenwood Avenue – Route 11K service still exists in 2021. o Bus Interlining – the DTA operates a complex interlining system that often connects different variations of routes together throughout the day. The TDP recommends simplifying interlining to the same routes (preferably no more than 2 routes) throughout the day to assist with customer understanding and streamlining transfers. o Frequent Network – the TDP recommends creating a simplified network of high frequency routes (15- minutes or better) – Routes 1, 6, and 10 operated at 15-minute frequencies. o Fare Consistency – The DTA operates with peak ($1.50) and off peak ($0.75) fares with a 60-minute transfer window. The TDP recommends consolidating the fare structure and eliminating the transfer window by providing a reduced cost unlimited-use day pass for approximately $2.50. • Phase 3 High-Capacity Corridor and Regional Expansion (2021 and beyond) o Phase 3 of the TDP aims to expand service beyond cost neutral scenarios and add regional and high- capacity services. o Regional Expansion – focus on outlying areas in St. Louis County and partnerships with agencies like Arrowhead Transit to expand regional services. The TDP recommends obtaining service agreements with these places/organizations to create formal partnerships. o High-Capacity Corridor – future consideration of a BRT-light type service on the west mainline and replace Route 1. The service would focus on branded buses/stations and would initially operate in mixed traffic to reduce the overall capital investment.

Imagine Duluth 2035 The Imagine Duluth 2035 is the City of Duluth’s latest comprehensive land use plan and focuses on improving the livability of Duluth. The plan strives to improve the city’s economic development, housing, infrastructure/transportation, open space, and conservation areas. As related to the COA, the transportation section is the most crucial and the plan focuses on several broad multimodal policies discussed below.

Key Transit-related Elements

• Improve street conditions to function better for everyone o Improve sidewalk and intersection safety – rapid and consistent clearing of snow and improved signage, lighting, etc. o ADA improvements and pedestrian connections • Add to the transportation network by systematically enhancing multimodal options

o Prioritize transit route service and expansion between areas of the greatest population and employment densities, in coordination with the DTA. Seek to establish a network of specific routes with rapid frequencies, such as between Downtown and Lincoln Park.

o Improve transit amenities and transit stop conditions, creating a prioritized strategy for capital investment to reflect continuous incremental improvements in partnership with the DTA.

o Minimize transit system route changes that negatively impact service to transit-dependent people in the city.

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 6 o Work with the DTA to consider system improvements such as creation of a Bus Rapid Transit corridor (or similar); alignment of route schedules with schools, airport, and businesses; and access to grocery stores.

Duluth-Superior Metropolitan Interstate Council (MIC) Long Range Transportation (LRTP) Plan 2045 The 2045 MIC LRTP provides a vision, goals, and objectives for the greater Twin Ports region multi-modal transportation system. The document plans for all modes of transportation and outlines new transportation strategies, public surveys, projects/funding by jurisdictions, and planning and policy frameworks for the next 25 years. As related to the COA, the topics on congestion and the public survey are worth noting and discussed below.

Key Transit-related Elements

• The Duluth-Superior Urban Area is the regional trade center of the Northeast Minnesota-Northwest Wisconsin region. It is the primary regional hub for retail, trade, employment, education, healthcare, entertainment, and tourism. • Duluth is a tourism hub that is placing increasingly more traffic demands on the system o Trips up the North Shore create congestion through Duluth on the weekends. o Major events at UMD as well as good weather Summer “beach” days, particularly on Saturdays create traffic congestion that can last for hours. • The public survey identified the most selected significant challenges, or barriers to using a bus or shuttle: o Takes too long or indirect routes o No late night service o Too infrequent

2016 Superior System Management Performance Review The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) is required by law to conduct performance reviews of all urban transit systems receiving state funding every five years. The City of Superior, Wisconsin is highlighted in this plan, as it receives funding from WisDOT, although the DTA is contracted for bus operations. DTA operates routes 16 and 17 (as well as several pattern variations) and ADA complementary paratransit within Superior based on an intergovernmental agreement. The following takeaways are important as related to the COA.

Key Transit-related Elements

• Service in Superior is generally more sparce than the rest of the DTA system due to WisDOT funding limitations. • Consider feasibility of using 85.21 (Specialized Transportation Assistance Program) funding to leverage public transit investment in Superior • Recommended to continue refining Route 16 schedule to improve adherence.

2014 Superior Comprehensive Operations Analysis In 2014, Northwest Regional Planning Commission (NWRPC) conducted a City of Superior focused COA in conjunction with the DTA and MIC. Transit service in Superior has been relatively consistent throughout its partnership with the DTA (over 40 years). Over time, several service alternatives have been attempted; however, the core service concept has always been to connect to other services in Duluth, provide north/south connections along Tower Avenue, and provide east/west connections between Billings Park and Itasca. The document highlights a five-year vision that aimed to incrementally improve service in Superior. The following takeaways are important as related to the COA.

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 7 Key Transit-related Elements

• Route specific analysis: o Route 16 is chronically late due to inadequate running and recovery time in the current schedule, due to the length of the route and traffic congestion along the route. Four potential solutions were offered including adding an additional vehicle, eliminating bus stops, shortening the route from its southern terminal, and reduce the frequency/split at the Mariner Mall. o Route 17 averages high speeds due to long stretches of limited ridership. It was recommended to shorten both northern and southern termini for a more succinct route alignment. • WisDOT funding has been limited and significantly constrains the ability to expand service. o Service expansions can be expected to be financed through continued WisDOT state funding, increased student fees from the University of Wisconsin-Superior, and increased local property tax support; however, in 2014 the expansion of state funding and student fees were deemed unlikely. • With additional funding, the City of Superior outlined a five-year implementation plan: o Year 1: Make decisions about minor route changes listed above to improve reliability. o Year 2: Add 60-minute evening service on route 16 between Duluth and Mariner Mall with final DTC departure at 9:15 pm. o Year 3: Implement 30-minute service on route 16 in the midday. o Year 4: Depending on success of the first 3 years, terminate route 16 at Mariner Mall, and create a new route 18 covering the southern end of the route 16 and originating at the Superior Walmart/Target complex. Increase midday service on route 17 to 30 minutes. o Year 5: Implement 30-minute weekend service on all Superior routes.

3.2 Demographic Analysis People choose to ride transit for a variety of reasons, and many of these reasons are tied to density, income, and age cohort. This section presents demographic and socioeconomic information to define the Twin Ports’ transit market traits, including where people live and work, as well as additional characteristics of those more likely to use transit.

The demographic analysis focuses on a defined study area Figure 1: Defined Study Area that was determined with the assistance of DTA staff. The existing DTA service coverage encompasses most of the Duluth, Minnesota-Wisconsin Urbanized Area (UZA), so the study area was defined by creating a 2.5-mile buffer around the UZA boundaries, shown in Figure 1. This expanded study area incorporates the entirety of the DTA service area and captures any adjacent population and employment centers that may require transit service. Data used for the demographic analysis is derived from two US Census sources: American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates (2014-2018) and 2017 Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD). The following analysis utilizes census block groups as the primary geographic unit. The study area is comprised of 133 block groups encompassing approximately 430 square miles, 145,000 residents, and 87,500 jobs.

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 8 3.2.1 Population and Household Densities A review of population and household characteristics is the first step in understanding where potential transit users begin most of their daily trips (i.e. origin). Higher densities (magnitude per acre) indicate clustering of these characteristics, which in turn can lead to more trip generation, higher congestion, and ultimately more potential transit trips. Although population and household data are closely correlated, it is important to review both criteria as the US Census classifies specific characteristics of interest under each data type. The following population and household data were reviewed as part of this analysis due to their potential correlation to transit usage. Population Density Household Density Total population Low-income households (<$30,000) Student population (age 10 – 25 years) 0 + 1 vehicle households Population over the age of 60 2+ vehicle households BIPOC1 population Persons with disabilities

To begin assessing the existing DTA service coverage, each population and household characteristic was analyzed for the entire study area, within walking distance of DTA routes (¼ mile), and within the ADA complementary paratransit requirement (¾ mile). Existing DTA route alignments cover the study area very well with approximately 75% or more of population and households within walking distance and a slightly higher percentage within the ¾ mile boundary. This is also true for each specific population and household data characteristic and indicates that the DTA is providing service to many of the right areas of the region. Table 1 depicts a breakdown of each characteristic, followed by key findings and study area location descriptions.

Table 1: Population and Household Characteristics Within 1/4 mile Within 3/4 mile Study Area of DTA routes of DTA routes Total % Density Total % Density Total % Density Area (acres) 273,484 -- 55,470 20.3% - 57,777 21.1% - Population 144,352 - 0.53 108,882 75.4% 1.96 112,329 77.8% 1.94 Student (age 10-25) 34,944 24.2% 0.13 28,318 81.0% 0.51 28,948 82.8% 0.50 Over 60 32,119 22.3% 0.12 23,877 74.3% 0.43 24,578 76.5% 0.43 BIPOC 12,399 8.6% 0.05 10,808 87.2% 0.19 11,131 89.8% 0.19 Persons with Disabilities 14,938 10.3% 0.05 11,711 78.4% 0.21 11,962 80.1% 0.21 Households 60,299 - 0.22 46,117 76.5% 0.83 47,493 78.8% 0.82 Low Income (<$30,000) 16,575 27.5% 0.06 14,061 84.8% 0.25 14,310 86.3% 0.25 0+1-vehicle 12,032 20.0% 0.04 9,908 82.3% 0.18 10,224 85.0% 0.18 2+-vehicle 48,267 80.0% 0.18 36,209 75.0% 0.65 37,269 77.2% 0.65

Total Population & Household Density Total population and household densities are a true indicator of where people live, with population referring to individual persons and households aggregating persons per housing unit. The average household in the study area is 2.4 persons per household, with a similar trend for households within ¼ mile and ¾ mile of DTA routes. Study area locations with higher population and household densities are in four key areas: Downtown Duluth, University of Minnesota-Duluth (UMD), West Duluth, and Downtown Superior. There are no significant population or household densities outside of the existing DTA service coverage area. Total Population and household density maps are displayed in figures 2 and 3.

1 BIPOC stands for “Black, Indigenous, and people of color.”

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 9 Student Population Density Persons between the ages of 10 and 25 tend ride transit in higher numbers, as many are students or are early in their careers with lower incomes and are less likely to own an automobile. This group accounts for 24% of the total study area population and has key concentrations (over 6 people per acre) in Downtown Duluth, around UMD, and near Downtown Superior. A map of student population density is shown in Figure 4.

Population Over the Age of 60 Density Persons over the age of 60 is another population group that tends to utilize transit in higher numbers. As people age and retire from the work force, they often rely on fixed incomes and/or have mobility issues due to physical decline. This group is less likely to own and operate a personal automobile and may rely on transit to maintain day to day mobility. Persons over the age of 60 account for 22% of the study area population and has key concentrations (over 4 people per acre) in Downtown Duluth, West Duluth, Lakeside, and various Superior locations. A map of the population over the age of 60 density is shown in Figure 5.

Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Population Density Providing reliable transit service to non-white populations is essential for assuring transit equity in the region. While the study area is mostly White (approximately 91%), the remaining 9% is split fairly evenly amongst racial groups, including: 2% Black, 2% American Indian/Alaskan Native, 1% Asian, and 4% biracial/other. Almost 90% of the BIPOC population is within walking distance of an existing DTA route and there are no significant densities outside of the existing transit coverage area. Key BIPOC concentrations (over 4 people per acre) include Downtown Duluth, West Duluth, UMD, and Downtown Superior. A map of BIPOC population density is shown in Figure 6.

Persons with Disabilities Density Persons with disabilities are less likely to operate personal vehicles and their mobility is often dependent on transit services. This group accounts for approximately 10% of the total population. Many people with disabilities qualify for and use paratransit service and over 80% of the disabled population lives within the ¾ mile ADA complementary paratransit requirement. There are limited key persons with disabilities dense areas with small concentrations (over 2 people per acre) in Downtown Duluth, West Duluth, and various Superior locations. A map of persons with disabilities density is shown in Figure 7.

Low-income and Vehicle Ownership Household Density Households with lower incomes tend to not own and operate personal automobiles in high numbers and are more likely to ride transit. For this analysis, low income was defined as households under $30,000 in annual income; these households make up approximately 27% of study area households. Household vehicle ownership is considerably high with over 80% owning two or more vehicles, 18% owning one vehicle, and only 2% owning no vehicles. As households with one or fewer vehicles tend to rely on transit, this analysis focused on the densities of those households. When analyzing low income and vehicle ownership collectively and by the percentage of total households per block group, similar key areas were revealed including Downtown Duluth, UMD, various Superior locations, West Duluth/Lincoln Park, and Proctor. Figures 8 and 9 display low-income and vehicle ownership households as the percentage of total households.

Additional supplemental demographic maps developed for this study can be found in Appendix G.

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 10 Figure 2: Population Density

Note: DTA route alignments displayed in the above figure reflect service provided in 2019. DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 11 Figure 3: Household Density

Note: DTA route alignments displayed in the above figure reflect service provided in 2019. DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 12 Figure 4: Student Population Density

Note: DTA route alignments displayed in the above figure reflect service provided in 2019.

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 13 Figure 5: Population Over the Age of 60 Density

Note: DTA route alignments displayed in the above figure reflect service provided in 2019. DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 14 Figure 6: BIPOC Population Density

Note: DTA route alignments displayed in the above figure reflect service provided in 2019. DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 15 Figure 7: Persons with Disabilities Density

Note: DTA route alignments displayed in the above figure reflect service provided in 2019.

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 16 Figure 8: Low-income Household Density

Note: DTA route alignments displayed in the above figure reflect service provided in 2019.

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 17 Figure 9: Household Vehicle Ownership Density (0+1 vehicles)

Note: DTA route alignments displayed in the above figure reflect service provided in 2019.

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 18 3.2.2 Job Distribution and Density Connecting people from their homes to places of employment is a key focus of transit service in Duluth and Superior. Just as population and household characteristics tend to describe trip origins, job characteristics are a strong indicator of trip destinations. Utilizing 2017 LEHD data, job types and access were analyzed throughout the study area. Approximately 86% of the jobs are within ¼ mile of existing DTA routes and considered to be accessible by transit. Like the origin characteristics, this indicates that the DTA is providing service to the right areas, although ridership is largely dependent on when and how often these areas are served.

The top five job industries in the study area make up over 65% of the total jobs and are mostly accessible by transit. The healthcare industry dominates the job market with over 25% of the total jobs in the study area. The remaining top job industries encompass approximately 10% of the total jobs each and include education, retail, transportation/warehousing, and accommodation/food services. Table 2 displays the breakdown of the top five job industries and percentage accessible by the existing transit system.

Table 2: Transit Access to Top Job Industries Total Jobs Jobs Accessible by Transit % of Total 87,465 75,637 86% Top Five Job Industries Total Study Total Accessible Industry % of Total Area by Transit Healthcare / Social Assistance 22,451 20,757 92% Educational Services 9,174 7,412 81% Retail Trade 9,126 7,788 85% Transportation / Warehousing 8,764 8,118 93% Accomodation / Food Services 8,023 6,992 87%

The top job industries are not surprising for those familiar with the Twin Ports region, as many of the largest local employers are in those industries. Essentia Health and St. Luke’s Hospital provide over 8,000 jobs, various port and warehousing companies on Rice’s Point provide over 6,000 jobs, the Miller Hill Mall and West Duluth Commercial areas provide over 5,000 retail jobs, and UMD provides over 3,000 jobs. All of these major employers are currently accessible by transit. Figure 10 displays the study area job distribution as related to the existing transit coverage.

One key analysis for the COA is to identify clusters of jobs outside of the existing coverage areas. It is noteworthy that Duluth-Superior has limited job generators outside of the existing coverage area, and only five of these areas has 500 jobs or more. United Healthcare (near Rice Lake Road) and various retail stores northwest of the Miller Hill Mall generate more than 1,000 jobs each and should be considered for improved transit access; however, LEHD data generalizes job locations and these areas are borderline covered by existing transit services. Other areas to consider include various commercial/retail south of the Duluth International Airport along US Highway 53 (≈ 1,200 jobs), a small commercial area and sport-event center south of Proctor (≈ 500 jobs), and various industrial jobs east of the Richard I. Bong Airport in Superior (≈ 500 jobs). Each of these job clusters should be reviewed for possible transit expansion; however, none of them are strong candidates for service alone. Figure 11 displays the locations of potential job clusters outside of existing transit coverage.

Additional supplemental job-related maps developed for this study can be found in Appendix G.

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 19 Figure 10: Study Area Job Distribution

Note: DTA route alignments displayed in the above figure reflect service provided in 2019. DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 20 Figure 11: Potential Job Markets to Serve

Note: Blue circles indicate new potential job markets to serve. Red circles also have potential but may already be served by transit.

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 21 3.2.3 Transit Propensity Index There is not a single demographic or measure that explains all transit ridership because riders use transit for a variety of different reasons. As a result, the individual demographics presented in previous sections each explain a small part of ridership. The solution is to create an index of combined key characteristics from Section 3.2.1 and 3.2.2. The Transit Propensity Index (TPI) measures the likelihood of transit ridership in a particular zone from multiple demographic variables. The TPI developed for this COA considers both origin and destination components of a potential transit trip. Characteristics used to create the Transit Propensity Index include:

Origin-based data (50% of score)

• Household density • Percentage of households with annual incomes under $30,000 • Percentage of households with one or less vehicles • Student Age population density (10 to 25 years of age) • Population over the age of 60 density • BIPOC population density

Destination-based data (50% of score)

• Total job density • Jobs earning less than $3,333 per month density • Relevant job sector density (includes a combination of job densities in healthcare, retail, entertainment, and food service industries).

The TPI was developed from census block group data and utilizes weighted percentiles by category to generate a final score which is inclusive of both an origin and destination score. This allows for each block group to be compared against one another and assigned a TPI value from High, very likely to have high transit ridership, to Low, very unlikely to have high transit ridership. The actual TPI score is between 0 and 1. Since the scores are evenly weighted based on origin and destination elements, any given block group can only receive a max score of 0.5 for its origin or destination component. The index is converted into a qualitative High/Medium/Low rating in order to better assess the relative strength of zones in the Twin Ports region. Table 3 provides further details on the breakdown of the TPI scoring.

Table 3: TPI Scoring Components TPI Percentile Score Break Block Group Distribution Categories Intervals Points Total % High >=80 percentile 0.67 27 20.3% Medium High 60-80 percentile 0.50 15 11.3% Medium 40-60 percentile 0.34 16 12.0% Low Medium 20-40 percentile 0.17 25 18.8% Low 0-20 percentile 0.00 50 37.6%

The TPI score results were mapped to identify the likelihood of riding transit throughout the study area. Key areas identified (scored as High or Medium-High TPI) include Downtown Duluth, UMD, West Duluth, Downtown Superior, Miller Hill Mall, and Lincoln Park. Figure 12 displays the study area TPI by block group.

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 22 Figure 12: Transit Propensity Index

Note: DTA route alignments displayed in the above figure reflect service provided in 2019. DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 23 3.2.4 Latent Demand A latent demand analysis was prepared to identify areas where there is a gap between the actual ridership and expected ridership demand using the Transit Propensity Index. Analyzing concentrations of transit propensity relative to current ridership performance provides the ability to identify underserved areas. This was accomplished through the development of two separate indices measuring transit propensity and existing ridership productivity at the block group level, as described below:

• Transit Propensity Index: The TPI discussed in the previous section was utilized for the Latent Demand Analysis to measure potential demand. One notable difference, however, is the method by which the index values were classified into scoring categories. For the Latent Demand Analysis, the TPI scores were grouped as follows: o Low: < ½ Standard Deviation Below Mean o Medium: > ½ Standard Deviation Below Mean & < ½ Std. Dev Above Mean o High: > ½ Standard Deviation Above Mean

• Ridership Index: The Ridership Index was developed using October 20192 weekday total activity (boardings + alightings) and trip data by stop. Daily boardings and transit trips serving stops within each block group were aggregated to derive average total activity per trip. For block groups containing multiple stops served by the same route, total block group trips were calculated to reflect only the number of trips served by that route to avoid double counting. For example, if Route A served two stops in a block group, with 10 daily trips and boardings each, the index would be calculated as 20 divided by 10, for an index score of 2. The index score for each block group was classified according to the same methodology used for the TPI described above.

The TPI and Ridership Index scores were merged to create a composite score as illustrated in the matrix on the right. The X axis of the matrix represents transit propensity and the Y axis represents ridership productivity. Block groups determined to have higher propensity and lower ridership productivity, as represented in the lower right corner of the matrix “HL”, have the highest latent demand. Figure 13 shows the study area latent demand by block group.

Based on the latent demand analysis, the existing DTA service provides suitable coverage and there are limited significant latent demand areas. However, there is an abundance of moderate latent demand (“ML” and “MH” – red shades) in areas such as West Duluth (Denfeld), Lincoln Park / Rice’s Point, Congdon Park, Superior (south of downtown, Billings Park, and East End), and Proctor. This analysis indicates there could be potential for ridership growth in these locations, particularly those in the core where densities are already high and ridership performance could surge with an increase in transit trips.

2 Sample of data was provided by the DTA for a two-week period between 9/28/19 and 10/13/2019.

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 24 Figure 13: Latent Demand

Note: DTA route alignments displayed in the above figure reflect service provided in 2019. DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 25 3.3 Airsage Travel Patterns Relying on ridership performance alone introduces bias when assessing regional travel patterns, as riders are captive to where the bus network already operates. To augment this work, a location-based services (LBS)3 dataset was acquired to further analyze typical regional travel patterns and ultimately relate them to potential transit use. Airsage, a leading provider of LBS solutions, contributed data for October 2019 and 2020 for three counties: St. Louis County, MN, Carlton County, MN, and Douglas County, WI.

The data is provided at the block group level and identifies an origin zone, a destination zone, and the number of trips occurring between the two. The data can be organized by hour of day (0 to 24 or aggregated into specified time periods), day of week (Monday-Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday), and trip purpose. The trip purposes are created by AirSage based on their algorithms that make assumptions on where individuals live and work, and therefore can assign trip type including all-purpose trips, home-based work (HBW), home-based other (HBO), and non-home based (NHB). Home locations are determined by where the mobile device spends most night hours over the period of a month. Work locations, conversely, are the locations where the mobile device spends the majority of traditional working hours.4 This section focuses on analyzing travel pattern differences between pre-pandemic and COVID-19 pandemic conditions, as well as identify major travel patterns to be utilized for future transit planning.

3.3.1 Study Area District Analysis To better understand regional travel patterns, the three county block groups were aggregated into 27 districts with assistance from DTA and Metropolitan Interstate Council (MIC) staff. 24 of these districts specifically focus on the study area and three districts were classified as “other” county, indicating that they are outside of the study area. The districts were limited to block group boundaries and sometimes incorporated larger areas when compared to their specific location/name. The primary purpose of this analysis was to identify significant regional travel patterns between the 24 study area districts and focuses on weekday (Monday -Thursday) all-purpose trips.5 Figure 14 displays the aggregated districts.

3 The term LBS is commonly used amongst software service providers that utilize geographic data, typically through a cell phone or other mobile device. Within the transportation industry, LBS data has been utilized with increasing frequency to understand how people travel within various timeframes and areas. 4 Airsage assigns home and work locations primarily based on traditional working hours. The data is processed to avoid significant errors; however, it may not be accurate in determining travel patterns for non-traditional and/or shift workers. 5 Airsage data for individual block group interactions by specific trip purpose is located in the “DTA Travel Pattern Dashboard” and can be made available at the discretion of DTA staff.

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 26 Figure 14: Aggregated Airsage Districts

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 27 Study Area 2019/2020 District Trip Volumes The COVID-19 pandemic has had a massive effect on human behavior throughout the world including all aspects of the transit industry. Commute patterns have significantly changed, with many people altering where they work or now work remotely. The result is lower transit ridership, although the reduction has been generally uneven, and neighborhoods with frontline and low-wage workers have maintained more ridership than neighborhoods with white-collar workers. As the pandemic eases in 2021, travel behavior and transit ridership may gradually return to pre-pandemic levels; however, the future impact cannot be determined and will need to be monitored in the upcoming years. The pandemic travel behavior is expected to have impacted the study area, and with the availability of Airsage data in 2019 and Figure 15: Study Area District Trip Volumes by Year 2020, impacts to specific locations can be identified. Figure 15 displays 2019 and 2020 trip volumes by district.

Between 2019 and 2020, all-purpose trip volumes (includes trips beginning and ending in each district) in the study area dropped by approximately 30%, from 500,000 to 350,000 trips. In fact, all districts except for Park Point (+1,500 trips) and Hermantown (+500 trips) saw a decrease in the number of trips. In these cases, the total increase in trips is small and not significant; however, it is possible that Park Point became more of a destination for individuals during 2020 as it offers several areas of outdoor recreation.

The most significant district trip declines occurred in Downtown Duluth (-26,500 trips), UMD/CSS Area (-19,000 trips), Cloquet/Carlton (-12,000 trips), Superior (-10,000 trips), and West Duluth/Oneota (- 10,000 trips). These declines can likely be contributed to people staying home more and not making typical commute and leisure trips. Of the districts that had the highest volumes of trips in 2019, the Miller Hill Mall area experienced a decline but was the top trip generator in 2020. As this district is a major regional retail and commercial hub, individuals still relied on this area for groceries and other retail needs in 2020.

Study Area District to District Travel Patterns To provide additional insight into how travel patterns have changed in the region, a snapshot of top district to district travel patterns were analyzed for each year. Tables 4 and 5 list the top district to district travel patterns and figures 16 and 17 reference these patterns on the district map.

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 28 Table 4: 2019 Top 10 District to District Travel Patterns 2019 Top 10 Study Area District Travel Patterns Rank Origin to/from Destination Combined Trip Volume 1 Downtown Duluth / Central Hillside <-> Miller Hill Mall Area 8,653 2 Superior <-> South Superior 8,387 3 UMD / CSS Area <-> Miller Hill Mall Area 7,784 4 Esko <-> Cloquet/Carlton 6,998 5 East End <-> Superior 6,354 6 East Hillside <-> UMD / CSS Area 5,789 7 Duluth Airport <-> Miller Hill Mall Area 5,006 8 Downtown Duluth / Central Hillside <-> West Duluth / Oneota 4,892 9 Morgan Park / Gary <-> Downtown Duluth / Central Hillside 4,862 10 Miller Hill Mall Area <-> West Duluth / Oneota 4,604

Table 5: 2020 Top 10 District to District Travel Patterns 2020 Top 10 Study Area District Travel Patterns Rank Origin to/from Destination Combined Trip Volume 1 Superior <-> South Superior 5,871 2 Cloquet/Carlton <-> Esko 5,068 3 Downtown Duluth / Central Hillside <-> Miller Hill Mall Area 4,383 4 Superior <-> East End 4,066 5 UMD / CSS Area <-> Miller Hill Mall Area 3,820 6 East Hillside <-> Miller Hill Mall Area 3,820 7 Duluth Airport <-> Miller Hill Mall Area 3,368 8 Superior <-> Miller Hill Mall Area 3,346 9 Lincoln Park / Rice's Point <-> Miller Hill Mall Area 3,037 10 South Superior <-> East End 2,932

In 2019, the top district to district travel patterns focused on key areas such as Downtown Duluth, UMD, the Miller Hill Mall, and Superior. The Miller Hill Mall area had the most top travel patterns with major connections from Downtown Duluth, UMD, the Duluth Airport area, and West Duluth. Downtown Duluth displayed similar patterns and also demonstrated a fairly strong connection to the Morgan Park / Gary district. Superior also exhibited top travel pattern volumes; however, these were more internalized and focused on travel between Downtown Superior and South Superior/East End districts. Esko and the Cloquet/Carlton districts also displayed a strong trip volume pattern but are comprised of larger districts further away from the study area and likely are not critical for the COA.

In 2020, travel patterns and volumes significantly changed. Although many of the same key areas (i.e. Downtown Duluth, UMD, Superior, etc.) were still included, the top travel patterns shifted mostly towards the Miller Hill Mall area. This finding was expected, as the Miller Hill Mall area maintained higher trip volumes than any other district in 2020 and individuals likely still visited the area for grocery and other retail needs. Superior still maintained stronger connections between Downtown Superior and South Superior/East End districts. It can be inferred that these trips were closely related to grocery and retail needs (i.e. trips to Walmart). The strong Esko and Cloquet/Carlton district connection remained relatively constant but still is likely not critical for the COA. Ultimately, based on the reduction of trips in 2020 and the unknown impacts of future travel behavior and transit ridership, the 2019 travel patterns were the focus for identifying regional trip volumes for the COA.

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 29 Figure 16: 2019 Top 10 District to District Travel Patterns Map

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 30 Figure 17: 2020 Top 10 District to District Travel Patterns Map

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 31 4.0 Service Overview and Performance Assessment

The DTA’s fixed-route services were evaluated to determine how well existing bus services are performing in terms of productivity, financial performance, and schedule adherence. This section provides the findings of the service summary and performance assessment that was conducted at the system, route, and stop level to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the current DTA system.

4.1 Peer Analysis Prior to taking a deeper look at the DTA’s existing service performance, it is important to understand how the agency performs’ amongst its peer agencies. A peer analysis provides the means to compare various system- wide metrics for the DTA against other agencies of similar size and operations. Transit agencies provide annual reporting of operational and financial data to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) which in turn records this data within the National Transit Database (NTD). FTA reviews and confirms the accuracy of the information received and publishes a final report after a reporting transit system successfully responds to all comments and inquiries. The NTD has strict reporting requirements and, as such, provides a uniform, consistent, and reliable database. The following eight metrics from NTD were used for the peer analysis:

• Annual Passenger Trips • Annual Revenue Hours • Annual Revenue Miles • Passenger Trips per Capita • Passenger Trips per Revenue Mile • Passenger Trips per Revenue Hour • Operating Expense • Cost per Revenue Hour

With assistance from DTA staff, seven peer agencies were selected to be reviewed, based on similar regional characteristics to the DTA’s service area composition, including population, college enrollment, poverty-levels, etc. A five-year trend analysis of select performance metrics were conducted utilizing the latest NTD data from 2015 to 2019. The following are the seven peers selected for this analysis:

• St. Cloud Metro Transit Commission - St. Cloud, MN • Green Mountain Transit - Burlington, VT • Connect Transit - Bloomington-Normal, IL • Whatcom Transportation Authority - Bellingham, WA • City of La Crosse - La Crosse, WI • Eau Claire Transit - Eau Claire, WI • City of Kenosha - Kenosha, WI

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 32 4.1.1 Key Peer and National Trend Analysis Findings This section focuses on the key findings from the peer analysis and identifies how the DTA performance fares amongst recent national ridership trends. Detailed peer agency statistics and charts are available in Appendix B.

Key Peer Trend Analysis Findings Figure 18: Passenger Trips per Capita • DTA provides more service (i.e. passenger trips, revenue hours, and revenue miles) than most of its peers, with the exception of Whatcom Transportation Authority whom provides more annual passenger trips than the DTA. • DTA provides significantly more passenger trips per capita since 2017, as shown in Figure 18. This shows the DTA’s dedication to providing higher levels of transit service to the Twin Ports region compared to its peers and their service areas. • DTA falls into the lower half of its peers on productivity measures of passenger trips per revenue hour and passenger trips per revenue mile. Over the past several years, the DTA has provided additional service and has not seen an associated return on ridership.

Key National Trend Analysis Findings Figure 19: DTA vs. National Ridership Trends • DTA has been consistent with national trends for ridership. Ridership is down by over 10% nationally since 2015. • DTA has provided significantly more vehicle revenue hours (VRH) than the national trend. The DTA received additional funding from the State of Minnesota and has invested in improved frequency and several new services; however, they have not seen an associated return on ridership. • The lack of ridership return has led to poor productivity with ridership per vehicle revenue hour/mile being lower than the national averages (-25% compared to -15% nationally since 2015).

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 33 4.2 Service Overview Transit service has existed in the Twin Ports region for almost 140 years – beginning in the late 1800s with the first mule-drawn rail car, to operating streetcars in the early 1900s, and finally converting the street cars to rubber tired buses in the 1930s. The DTA was formally created legislatively in 1969 and has been the leading provider of transit service to the region ever since. Flash forward to 2021 and the DTA is working through a COA to refresh the existing transit system aimed at improving mobility and take the next generation of Twin Port’s residents to where they want to go. The DTA is currently providing slightly reduced service due to COVID-19. As a result, this analysis relies on October 2019 fixed-route performance and service levels to provide a more normal baseline of existing service performance.6

The DTA operates transit service seven days a week from the early morning into the late evening and provides almost 2.7 million passenger trips a year. This service is highly specialized and varies based on day type, time of day, and season. Figure 20 provides a snapshot summary of typical DTA service.

Figure 20: DTA Service Summary Snapshot

The DTA operates 33 routes on weekdays and provides reduced service on weekends (16 routes on Saturday, and 12 routes on Sunday). Routes typically operate every 30-60 minutes with a minimum frequency of 60- minutes and are often layered in key corridors to provide enhanced effective frequencies greater than 30- minutes. Weekday service offers a variety of service types including:

• Local - consistent fixed-route service making all local stops. • Select Period - service operating only during AM/PM peaks, nights, etc. • Limited / Express - more direct service that skip sections of local stops.

Weekend service only operates local service types. Service spans vary by route and often begin and end at a variety of times, but generally operate between 4:30 am and 1:00 am on weekdays, 6:30 and 1:00 am on Saturdays, and 7:00 am and 11:00 pm on Sundays. The DTA provides varied schedules of service when UMD classes are in session compared to Summer months/holidays. Fare payments are accepted on-board all fixed- route vehicles in the form of cash, fare passes, or fare cards (EZ Card). The DTA charges a base fare of $0.75 on all days except for peak weekday periods (7:00 am to 9:00 am and 2:30 pm to 6:00 pm) where the fare increases to $1.50.

6 Ridership statistics in this section are from an APC dataset provided by the DTA from 9/28/19 to 10/13/19.

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 34 4.3 System Performance Assessment The system performance assessment addresses system frequency, ridership hotspots, on-time performance, and performance metrics based on productivity and financial performance. This assessment was conducted based on DTA service in October 2019 and DTA provided ridership data from 9/28/19 to 10/13/19.

4.3.1 System Frequency The DTA’s weekday service structure is highly specialized and is comprised of routes that overlap on one another to create enhanced corridor frequencies. This layering of service combines local, select period, and limited/express routes to achieve greater than 30-minute frequencies in multiple corridors. Weekend service is not as specialized and operates a simplified system of only local routes. To better understand the spans and frequencies of DTA service, frequency charts were created by day type. Frequency charts help explain when routes begin/end service and indicate the general frequency per hour (calculated based on trips provided per hour). Figures 21 and 22 display frequency charts by route for weekday and weekend service.

When analyzing frequencies, it is helpful to review service by time period. The DTA separates a typical 24-hour day into six time periods, including: Early (3:00 – 7:00 am), AM Peak (7:00 – 9:00 am), Midday (9:00 am – 2:30 pm), PM Peak (2:30 – 6:00 pm), Evening (6:00 – 10:00 pm), and Night (10:00 pm – 3:00 am). The weekday frequency chart clearly displays the layering of services and has multiple routes throughout the system providing 30-minute frequencies during the AM and PM peaks. The Midday period has less service than the peak periods, but also maintains select 30-minute services on routes along the east/west mainlines (primarily Superior Street and Grand Avenue) and to UMD. Several routes and more frequent services tend to stop operating at the beginning of the Evening period (after 6:00 pm) and reduced service levels are provided through the Night and Early periods. Weekend service operates most routes at 60-minute frequencies, except for Route 10H which serves Downtown Duluth and the Miller Hill Mall every 30-minutes primarily during the Midday period. A similar trend of service reduction during the Evening, Night, and Early periods occur on the weekend as well.

Frequency charts are useful for identifying frequency by hour for each route, but they do not communicate location and/or effective frequencies. To further analyze the layering of services on weekdays, time period-based effective frequency maps by stop were created, as shown in Figure 23. These maps review effective frequencies at the stop-level and incorporate all routes in the system. Yet, it should be pointed out that the frequency is only effective in the overlap area. If one’s destination is to somewhere outside of the corridor and/or with a specialized pattern, the wait can be much longer.

During the AM/PM peaks and Midday, the east/west mainlines and service to UMD operates mostly at 10- minutes or better. The Miller Hill Mall area also receives ample frequencies with services every 20-minutes or better. Superior routes have adequate frequencies of 30-minutes or better during the AM/PM peaks, but receive reduced service levels for all other time periods. The reduction of service during the Evening, Night, and Early periods is also shown. Some maintained frequencies still exist during the Evening along the east/west mainlines, but all other corridors display greatly reduced service levels or no service.

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 35

Figure 21: Weekday Frequency Chart by Route

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 36

Figure 22: Weekend Frequency Chart by Route

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 37 Figure 23: Weekday Effective Frequency by Stop

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 38 4.3.2 Ridership Hotspots A ridership hotspot analysis is an efficient way to determine where overlapping ridership activity occurs in a transit system. Average daily weekday total activity (boardings + alightings) was provided by the DTA at the stop- level, as shown in Figure 24. To identify key ridership areas, a grid of ¼ mile squares was placed over the entire DTA system and stop-level ridership was aggregated within each square. This allowed the project team to review ridership not as a series of individual stop locations, but as aggregated concentrations of activity. The dataset was symbolized into three activity zones including: High (>300), Medium High (150 to 300), and Medium (60 to 150). The results are displayed in Figure 25. Table 6 shows the breakdown of ridership hotspot activity by day type. Key ridership hotspots include the following:

• Downtown Duluth – DTC / Essentia Health • University of Duluth Minnesota • Miller Hill Mall • West Duluth / Lincoln Park (along Grand Ave) • Downtown Superior

Table 6: Ridership Hotspot Activity by Day Total Activity Hotspot Breakdown Weekday Saturday Sunday Activity within Hotspot 80% 71% 67% High 52% 36% 19% Medium High 15% 17% 24% Medium 14% 18% 24% Non-Hotspot 20% 29% 33%

During weekdays, 80% of daily ridership occurs within a hotspot and 52% occurs within hotspots classified as High. Weekday ridership is greatly concentrated into these key hotspot areas and serving these locations should be a major focus of any future transit network. Most of the daily ridership also falls into hotspots on Saturdays and Sundays, but significantly less are classified as High. Although the same key areas still register as hotspots on weekends, this indicates that ridership is more dispersed and weekend users tend to have slightly different trip patterns. Shopping centers, grocery stores, churches, and hospitality/entertainment areas tend to be more of a focal point on weekends.

Additional supplemental ridership maps developed for this study can be found in Appendix G.

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 39 Figure 24: Weekday Total Activity by Stop

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 40 Figure 25: Weekday Total Activity Ridership Hotspots

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 41 4.3.3 System On-time Performance Analysis Schedule adherence is critical both for attracting riders and operating fixed-route transit systems. The DTA measures schedule adherence with an on-time performance (OTP) criteria of -1 to 5-minutes. Service arriving at designated time points more than five minutes after the scheduled time are considered “late”, sooner than one minute before the scheduled time are considered “early,” and between the criteria are considered “on-time.” An OTP analysis was conducted for the system, by time of day, and by route. The DTA provided a subset of OTP data for all routes between 9/28/19 and 10/13/2019.

Figure 26: System OTP Criteria Analysis The 2017 DTA Transit Development Plan (TDP) suggested adjusting the OTP criteria to 0 to 5- minutes to assist with rider comprehension. To evaluate how a criteria adjustment would impact system OTP, a test of fringe early and late trips was conducted. This included reviewing the OTP dataset with the existing OTP criteria (-1 to 5 minutes), TDP suggested criteria (0 to 5- minutes) testing fringe early trips, and another criteria testing fringe late trips (0 to 6-minutes). The results, displayed in Figure 26, show that that the existing OTP criteria produces a quality OTP average of 82% on-time (12% late and 6% early). When testing the fringe early and late trips with the other criteria, a reduction of on- time trips occurred with approximately 9% more trips considered to be early for the 0 to 5-minute criteria, and 5% less trips considered late with the 0 to 6-minute criteria. This indicates that an abundance of trips fall into the -1 to 0-minute time frame, and by adjusting the criteria, system OTP will be impacted negatively. If a schedule adjustment was completed alongside a change in the OTP criteria, the DTA may not experience as large of a negative OTP impact. However, the -1 to 5-minute criteria is commonly utilized amongst transit agencies nationally, providing a balance between reliability for riders and flexibility for operators, and it is not recommended to modify the existing OTP criteria at this time.

OTP was also analyzed by time of day and assessed schedule adherence for the Early, AM Peak, Midday, PM Peak, Evening, and Night time periods. DTA’s on-time performance is consistent throughout the day with 80% to 84% of trips considered on-time across each period. Late and early trips were also consistent with late trips ranging between 8% and 14%, and early trips ranging between 5% and 8%. The higher averages of late trips occurred during the AM Peak, Midday, and PM Peak periods ranging between 12% and 14%, with the slight uptick likely caused by heavier congestion. OTP can often be improved through small schedule adjustments that convert early trips to on-time trips; however, with limited early trips, the DTA’s schedule adherence has less potential for growth through minimal schedule adjustments.

A third OTP analysis focused on schedule adherence by route. The majority of DTA’s routes perform better than 80% OTP and schedule adherence is largely not an issue for the agency. Routes specifically serving Superior tend to have slightly worse OTP and more late trips. Select period and limited/express routes also tended to have minor OTP issues and performed under the system average of 82%. Figure 27 displays DTA OTP by route.

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 42 Figure 27: On-time Performance by Route

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 43 4.3.4 System Performance Metrics The DTA’s fixed-route services were evaluated to determine how well existing bus services are performing for each service type (local and select period/limited-express) by average weekday, Saturday, and Sunday. Transit service was evaluated based on a series of key performance indicators (KPIs) metrics that were grouped into categories of service productivity, economic productivity, and financial performance, each detailed below:

• Service Productivity measures how many passengers are served per unit of service provided (e.g. hours, miles, or peak vehicles). KPIs for service productivity include riders per revenue hour, riders per revenue mile, and riders per trip. • Economic Productivity measures revenue per unit of service provided. KPIs for economic productivity include revenue per revenue hour, revenue per revenue mile, and revenue per trip. • Financial Performance measures cost and subsidy metrics based on ridership. KPIs for financial performance include cost per rider, subsidy per rider, and farebox recovery ratios.

The first step to evaluating system KPIs focuses on understanding daily ridership and service trends. Weekday boardings and trips per hour were analyzed to determine the current responsiveness of ridership to the level of service provided, as shown in Figure 28.

Figure 28: Weekday Boardings and Trips by Hour

The DTA’s ridership patterns closely mirror the level of service provided and as additional trips are added, ridership appears to respond. The one exception occurs right before the PM Peak, where ridership outperforms the level of service provided. One explanation is that some riders may be avoiding peak fares by modifying when they travel. Based on the general responsiveness of ridership, DTA may be able to attract additional riders by adding more service, particularly after 6:00 pm when the drop in service is notable.

System KPIs utilize average operating and performance statistics by service and day type, as displayed in Table 7. Weekday service is comprised of 20 local and 13 select period or limited/express routes and generates approximately 10,000 daily riders with almost 900 daily trips. Weekends offer reduced services, with Saturdays operating only 16 routes, with nearly 400 daily trips producing approximately 5,000 daily riders, and Sunday operating 12 routes, with almost 250 trips producing approximately 3,300 daily riders. Like the weekday boardings and trip comparison by hour, ridership appears to be directly correlated with the level of service provided for each day type. Adding additional service in the appropriate corridors may lead to an increase in

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 44 ridership; however, as discussed in Section 3.2.4 Latent Demand, there is only moderate latent demand in the study area, thus there is a ceiling to transit demand and eventually ridership returns are likely to be limited.

Table 7: System Operating and Performance Statistics Weekday Saturday Sunday Select Period or Local Total Total Total Limited/Express Total Routes 20 13 33 16 12 One-way trips 761 115 876 393 242 Revenue Hours 461 54 515 258 170 Revenue Miles 5,754 756 6,510 3,233 2,120 Avg Daily Ridership 9,137 844 9,981 4,790 3,261 Avg Daily Cost $50,710 $5,980 $56,690 $28,380 $18,695 Avg Daily Fare Revenue $9,411 $870 $10,281 $4,934 $3,359

The operating and performance statistics were used to create KPIs for the DTA system. Table 8 displays a subset of these metrics and additional KPI analysis tables (including KPIs by route) can be found in Appendix C. When comparing types of service, weekday local service outperforms select period or limited/express services. These specialized services are less productive per trip, revenue hour, and revenue mile, and they cost the DTA more to attract riders than local service. This does not mean that these types of services should not be considered in the future; however, it indicates that these services may need to be adjusted to better serve the appropriate markets.

When reviewing the select KPIs by day type, a consistent trend is observed. The KPIs perform almost identical for weekdays, Saturday, and Sunday even though service is greatly reduced on weekends. This suggests the DTA system has been tailored to demand, with the reduction in service levels matching reduction in ridership on Saturdays and Sundays. It also suggests that weekend ridership in the Twin Ports is fairly strong compared to other similarly sized transit operators. However, it is unclear whether the addition of more service on weekends would result in a corresponding increase in ridership.

Table 8: Select System KPIs by Day Weekday Saturday Sunday Select Period or Average Productivity Local Total Total Total Limited/Express Riders / Trip 12.01 7.34 11.39 12.19 13.48 Riders / Revenue Hour 19.82 15.63 19.38 18.57 19.18 Riders / Revenue Mile 1.59 1.12 1.53 1.48 1.54 Revenue / Revenue Hour $20.41 $16.11 $19.96 $19.12 $19.76 Cost / Rider $5.55 $7.09 $5.68 $5.92 $5.73 Subsidy / Rider $4.52 $6.05 $4.65 $4.89 $4.70 Farebox Recovery 18.6% 14.5% 18.1% 17.4% 18.0%

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 45 4.4 Route Performance Assessment One of the most effective strategies for improving route performance is to optimize service levels to match ridership demand patterns. The route performance assessment analyzes ridership and KPIs by route to determine how individual routes perform within the DTA network. This assessment was conducted based on DTA service in October 2019 and DTA provided ridership data from 9/28/19 to 10/13/19. Figure 29: Route Profile Example 4.4.1 Route Profiles Route profiles are an effective resource to identify ridership and KPI trends, ranking/comparing routes by service type, and displaying stop-level ridership. As part of the COA, a two-page route profile was developed for each DTA route. Figure 29 displays an example route profile. Page one of the profile includes a summary of each route’s characteristics, operating statistics, OTP, KPIs (including ranks), and directional charts displaying average weekday ridership by trip and maximum loads. Page two displays each route’s alignment, stop-level ridership by direction, and is overlayed on top of the transit propensity index. A complete set of route profiles can be found in Appendix D.

4.4.2 Route Performance Index (RPI) In addition to assessing each DTA service with route profiles, a route performance index (RPI) was created by collectively analyzing ridership and select KPIs to identify top and bottom performing routes. The RPI is a composite index that utilizes percentile breaks to assign scores to each metric. The selected metrics include average daily boardings, riders per revenue hour, riders per trip, revenue per revenue hour, and cost per rider. Routes are awarded between 0 and 1 points per metric for a maximum score of 5. RPI scores were calculated for routes on weekdays (separated by service type), Saturdays, and Sundays.7

Context is key to understanding the RPI scores. Approximately 70% of weekday ridership occurs in the top 10 producing ridership routes, most of which tend to serve key activity centers like UMD, the east/west mainline, Superior, and the Miller Hill Mall. Each of these routes averages at least 500 riders a day and are the primary routes of the DTA system.

Several routes do not operate or operate at reduced frequencies on the weekend, resulting in some interesting trends. Weekday versions of routes 2, 10H, and 11K outproduce their weekday counterparts. As an example, Route 2 produces the most ridership of any route (including weekday service) on Saturdays. This is partly because Route 1, another primary west mainline service, does not operate on weekends. Weekday riders of Route 1 end up taking the Route 2 for weekend travel. Figure 30 displays DTA ridership by route and day type.

7 Route 24 was discontinued prior to this analysis and is not included in the calculation of the RPI score.

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 46 Figure 30: Average Daily Ridership by Route and Day Type

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 47 The DTA ridership trends, although important, only analyze one part of route performance. The goal of the RPI is to compare routes on both ridership and KPI metrics to identify those that not only produce ridership but are the most productive relative to the amount of service provided and the cost of the route. The following lists key characteristics of the top and bottom RPI ranked routes, and tables 9 to 12 show the complete rankings by day and service type. Figure 31 displays a map of the top 5 and bottom 5 performing weekday local routes.

Weekday – Local (19 total routes)

• Top Performing: Routes 7, 23, 6, 10H, and 13 o Comprised of routes that provide more frequent service consistently throughout the day. o Provides more direct service to key areas and corridors including the east mainline corridor, Downtown Duluth, UMD, and the Miller Hill Mall. • Bottom Performing: Routes 15, 14W, 4, 9MT, and 18 o Comprised of coverage type routes with limited frequencies. o Provides service that meanders off main corridors to serve areas like Park Point, Observation Hill, and Piedmont Heights.

Weekday - Select Period or Limited/Express (13 total routes)

• Top Performing: Routes S1, 2X, and 16X o Comprised of routes serving the west mainline corridor and Downtown Superior/East End. o Services that provide faster access to/from Downtown Duluth. • Bottom Performing: Routes 17B, 3X, and 7A o Comprised of routes that provide local circulation or have limited trips. o Focuses on specialty trips serving specific time periods only. Saturday (15 total routes)

• Top Performing: Routes 2, 10H, and 3 o Comprised of routes that have consistent service and/or higher frequencies throughout the day. o Provides more direct service to key areas and corridors including the west mainline corridor, Downtown Duluth, and Miller Hill Mall. • Bottom Performing: Routes 14W, 15, and 4 o Comprised of coverage type routes with limited frequencies. o Provides service that meanders off main corridors to serve areas like Park Point and Observation Hill.

Sunday (12 total routes)

• Top Performing: Routes 2, 7, and 3 o Comprised of routes that have consistent service and/or higher frequencies throughout the day. o Provides more direct service to key areas and corridors including the east/west mainline corridors and Downtown Duluth. • Bottom Performing: Routes 5, 17, and 9M o Comprised of routes that serve the Miller Hill Mall through Piedmont Heights or circulation in Superior. o Provide limited frequencies and shorter service spans.

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 48 Table 12: Weekday-Local RPI Rankings Table 9: Saturday RPI Rankings Route Perfromance Index - Weekday Local Route Perfromance Index - Saturday Route RPI Score Daily Ridership Rank Route RPI Score Daily Ridership Rank 7 4.7 668 1 2 5.0 899 1 23 4.7 660 2 10H 5.0 665 2 6 4.3 839 3 3 5.0 488 3 10H 4.3 296 4 7 5.0 448 4 13 4.0 833 5 10 3.3 393 5 16 4.0 742 6 16 3.3 372 6 11 4.0 498 7 13 3.3 310 7 2 3.7 740 8 11K 3.0 309 8 10 3.3 645 9 5 2.0 249 9 1 3.0 666 10 6 1.7 259 10 17 1.7 150 11 3 2.3 603 11 9M 1.7 149 12 5 2.3 369 12 4 0.0 52 13 8 2.0 325 13 15 0.0 20 14 12 1.7 416 14 14W 0.0 18 15 18 1.7 263 15 9MT 0.0 231 16 Table 10: Sunday RPI Rankings 4 0.0 196 17 Route Perfromance Index - Sunday 14W 0.0 66 18 Route RPI Score Daily Ridership Rank 15 0.0 59 19 2 5.0 780 1 Table 11: Weekday-Select/Express RPI Rankings 7 5.0 380 2 3 4.7 313 3 Route Perfromance Index - Weekday Select/Express 10H 3.7 499 4 Route RPI Score Daily Ridership Rank 13 3.3 293 5 S1 4.3 92 1 10 3.0 271 6 2X 4.3 35 2 16 2.0 241 7 16X 4.0 20 3 11K 1.7 217 8 17 3.3 127 4 17S 1.0 14 9 2F 3.7 90 5 9M 0.7 127 10 17S 3.7 76 6 17 0.0 88 11 7X 3.0 11 7 5 0.0 38 12 11M 2.7 169 8 11K 2.3 91 9 10E 1.3 56 10 7A 1.3 22 11 3X 0.7 22 12 17B 0.3 33 13

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 49 Figure 31: Top and Bottom Weekday-Local RPI Ranked Routes

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 50 4.5 Low Ridership Areas Locations that produce low ridership numbers are also an important consideration to determine if they will be part of the recommended network from this COA. Stop-level ridership was reviewed across the system and five low ridership segments were identified. These locations were spread across the system but tended to be in less dense areas that were not on main corridors. Figure 32 displays the location of the low ridership segments. The following assesses the existing transit service and land use of each area and describes why they are currently served. Appendix E contains detailed stop-level maps of each low ridership area.

Figure 32: Low Ridership Areas

5th Street The 5th Street segment is in the East End neighborhood of Superior. The surrounding area is comprised primarily of single-family residential homes but does connect to a small retail/commercial area in the southern portion of East End. Route 16 provides 30 to 60-minute service on weekdays and 60-minute service on weekends through this area. Route 16X also briefly serves the segment but only with a one-way AM and PM trip on weekdays. The existing transit service meanders through this area and is likely in place to connect residents to the Mariner Mall, Downtown Superior, and the rest of the DTA system. The segment currently produces almost no ridership and it may be worth exploring alternative alignments in future recommendations.

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 51 Tower Avenue The Tower Avenue segment is in the southern portion of Superior and connects the South End neighborhood to the Superior Walmart, Downtown Superior, and the rest of the DTA system. The surrounding area is comprised of large sections of open land due to its proximity to the Richard I. Bong Memorial Airport and the Tristate Fairgrounds. Routes 17 and 17S combine to provide 30 to 60-minute service on weekdays and 60-minute service on weekends. Ridership on the Tower Avenue segment drops off significantly south of the Walmart (40th Street) and does not appear to attract many passengers in the South End neighborhood. The segment may not require service at its existing frequencies, and it may be worth exploring alternative service patterns that terminate at the Walmart.

Observation Hill The Observation Hill segment is in the Observation Hill neighborhood just west of Downtown Duluth. The area is comprised of single-family residential homes and elevation changes isolate it from downtown. Route 14W provides service, connecting the neighborhood to Downtown Duluth, and provides 60-minute service on weekdays and Saturdays. The elevation changes make this area difficult to serve and it currently produces almost no ridership. Fixed-route transit service may not be best suited to serve this segment in the future.

Piedmont Heights The Piedmont Heights segment operates primarily on Piedmont Avenue in Piedmont Heights and is comprised of single-family residential, limited commercial, multiple churches, and an elementary school. Route 9MT connects this segment to West Duluth and Downtown Duluth on weekdays every 30 to 60-minutes. Route 9MT is replaced by Route 9M on the weekends and provides service every 60-minutes, connecting the segment to the Miller Hill Mall, West Duluth, and Downtown Duluth. Ridership is limited along Piedmont Avenue and produces almost no ridership in the clockwise loop along Haines Road and Morris Thomas Road. The segment functions mainly as a connector between West Duluth and the Miller Hill Mall and it may be worth exploring the elimination of the clockwise loop.

Vinland Street The Vinland Street segment is located between Proctor and West Duluth and is a more rural area populated with sparse single-family residential. Service on this segment appear to exist to connect Proctor to the rest of the DTA system. Route 3 provides 30 to 60-minute service on weekdays and 60-minute service on weekends through this area. Route 3X also briefly serves the segment but only with a one-way AM and PM trip on weekdays. This segment produces almost no ridership, and it may be worth exploring alternative alignments that provide more direct connections to West Duluth and Downtown Duluth.

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 52 5.0 Activity Center Review

Key activity locations based on high ridership and densities were selected for additional assessments. These areas are critical to serve for the DTA system, and analysis in this section focuses on travel time and access to/from each location. Advanced GIS software was utilized to evaluate various travel time parameters and is based on the latest DTA service implemented in December 2020.

5.1 Key Activity Centers Figure 33: Key Activity Center Locations Based on the analysis presented in the previous sections, five significant activity centers were identified that boast high ridership and dense land use/demographic patterns within a 1-mile buffered area. These are presented in Figure 33 and include: Downtown Duluth, UMD, the Miller Hill Mall, Superior, and West Duluth. Ridership, operational statistics, and demographics were summarized for each activity center. In these five areas, over 65% of the DTA’s daily weekday ridership, over 50% of the study area jobs, and 25% of study area population is located. The following describes the summarized data for each activity center. Appendix F contains additional maps for each location.

Downtown Duluth is the most critical activity center in the region and is a dense location that averages a high TPI score. Centered around the Duluth Transit Center (DTC), this area contains over 23,000 jobs, nearly 7,000 residents, and includes portions of almost every route in the system. This is an exceedingly high ridership area and includes 31% (6,250 total activity) of the DTA’s daily weekday ridership activity.

UMD is also a dense population and job area that averages a medium high TPI score. Centered around the UMD campus, this area contains over 10,000 residents, 4,500 jobs, and is served by about 25% (8) of the routes in the system. Large groups of students reside here and frequently use the DTA system with 18% (3,600 total activity) of the DTA’s daily ridership activity occurring in this area.

Miller Hill Mall is a major commercial and retail destination in the region and averages a medium high TPI score. Centered around the mall itself, this area contains over 5,000 jobs, almost 3,500 residents, and is served by 18% (6) of the routes in the system. Stops are spaced out further in this area, as existing routes must provide circulation service to the various retail stores. Approximately 5% (850 total activity) of the DTA’s weekday daily ridership occurs at this location, but it is considered more of a weekend destination and attracts slightly more riders on Saturday and Sundays.

Superior is the lone activity center on the Wisconsin side of the region and is also a dense population and job area that averages a medium high TPI score. Centered around Downtown Superior, this area contains over 11,000 residents, almost 7,000 jobs, and is served by 15% (5) of the routes in the system. Service to/from areas

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 53 in Duluth are crucial for this activity center and it currently contains about 5% (850 total activity) of the DTA’s weekday daily ridership.

The aptly named West Duluth is located west of Downtown Duluth along Grand Avenue and is a key location that offers a dense mix of residential and commercial/retail land uses. Centered around the Grand Avenue and Central Avenue intersection, this area contains approximately 5,000 residents, 5,000 jobs, and is served by 27% (9) of the routes in the system. Approximately 8% (1,500 total activity) of the DTA’s weekday daily ridership occurs in this area.

5.2 Travel Time and Access Analysis With much of the Twin Port’s region transit activity contained within the key activity centers, efficient travel and access to these areas is critical. Successful transit systems are those that provide frequent and direct service to key regional activity centers. This section will focus on analyzing travel time and access amongst the activity centers and to select travel points in the study area. A total of 29 locations (includes 5 activity centers and 24 additional travel points) were selected to collectively measure transit travel times in the region. A map and complete list of these travel points are shown in Table 13 and Figure 35.

The ArcGIS Network Analyst tool has the ability to calculate transit travel times between locations and creating access isochrones. The calculated transit travel times encompass a complete linked passenger trip, accounting for all facets of the trip: access/egress walking time, dwell/wait/transfer time, and in-vehicle transit travel time (including multiple routes) based on the DTA’s schedules. Isochrones are a graphic representation of the area accessible within a set period of time (i.e. 15-minutes) to/from a specific location. The use of isochrones allows for the merging of demographic and travel time analysis data and can identify a location’s access strengths and weaknesses. As the DTA strives to provide consistent service across the day, the AM Peak through Evening periods (7:00 am to 10:00 pm) was the primary focus for the travel time and access analyses.

Three variations of travel time analysis were conducted and include assessing travel time between only activity centers, from activity centers to select travel points, and from all points to all points. These concepts are illustrated in Figure 34. The all points to all points travel time analysis was completed as part of this effort; however, the results are not discussed in this document, as they are primarily reserved to evaluate travel time differences between the existing and future transit networks.

Figure 34: Travel Time Analysis Types

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 54 Figure 35: Select Travel Point Locations

Table 13: Select Travel Points

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 55 5.2.1 Activity Center to Activity Center Travel Travel times between activity centers were assessed for weekdays, Saturdays, and Sundays for both day and evening service. Day service was classified as 7:00 am to 6:00 pm (AM Peak through the PM Peak period), as the bulk of DTA’s operations occur during this time band. Evening service was classified as 6:00 pm to 10:00 PM and displays significantly different travel time trends due to reduced DTA service levels. Day and evening travel times to/from each activity center by day are depicted in the matrices displayed in tables 14, 15, and 16. The tables show the average travel time from one activity center to another for the specified time period. For example, the weekday day service average travel time between Downtown Duluth and Superior is 42-minutes. This average travel time is calculated by identifying the travel time between those points for every minute between 7:00 am and 6:00 pm and then creating an average. This means that average travel times for day service have 660 reference points (i.e. the number of minutes between 7:00 am and 6:00 pm) and 240 reference points for evening service. To help provide context on travel times, each table was formatted to show travel times less than or equal to 45-minutes in green and greater than or equal to 60-minutes in red.

Table 14: Weekday Activity Center to Activity Center Travel Times

Table 15: Saturday Activity Center to Activity Center Travel Times

Note: <45 minutes in green, 45-60 minutes in white, and >60 minutes in red

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 56 Table 16: Sunday Activity Center to Activity Center Travel Times

Note: <45 minutes in green, 45-60 minutes in white, and >60 minutes in red

The following summarizes the key findings of the activity center to activity center travel analysis:

Average Weekday Travel Times

• Day Service o Best travel times are from outer activity centers to/from Downtown Duluth. o Travel to/from Superior is typically greater than 60-minutes for all activity centers except for Downtown Duluth. o Good travel times to/from the Miller Hill Mall for West Duluth and Downtown Duluth. Travel times are much longer for UMD and Superior activity centers. o Travel to/from UMD is greater than 50 minutes for all activity centers except for Downtown Duluth. • Evening Service o Adequate travel times between Downtown Duluth and the other activity centers, except for Superior. o Activity centers other than Downtown Duluth experience longer average travel times in the evening, and Superior is relatively inaccessible during the evening. Average Saturday/Sunday Travel Times

• Day Service o Connections between Downtown Duluth and other activity centers are best in the network. Slightly longer travel times on Sundays than Saturdays. o Adequate travel times between West Duluth, Miller Hill Mall, and UMD on Saturdays. Slightly longer travel times on Sundays. o Average travel times to/from all other activity centers exceed 60-minutes. • Evening Service o Good or adequate travel times between Downtown Duluth and the other activity centers, except for Superior. o Travel times to/from activity centers outside of Downtown Duluth are long. Superior is relatively inaccessible during the evening.

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 57 5.2.2 Activity Center Typical Access and Travel Time Evaluating access and travel between activity centers and other study area locations help reveal the limitations of the existing DTA network. By combining travel time and isochrone analysis, conclusions can be drawn regarding access between areas throughout the day. The following analysis focuses on identifying typical access and travel time patterns between activity centers and the select travel points.

What is Typical Access? Figure 36: Typical Access Isochrone Example An isochrone analysis is immensely useful for visualizing the area accessible to a rider from a specific location in a set amount of time. Transit planners have used this type of analysis to communicate access to the public; however, the outcome is often reliant on specific parameters, notably the time of departure and the desired travel time. As a stand-alone tool it is not entirely useful to riders who are time sensitive and are consuming transit to do other things with their life.

As an example, an isochrone can be created for Downtown Duluth at 8:00 am and the graphic generated will show a snapshot of travel time access at exactly that time. The drawback to this work is that transit schedules are dynamic and transfers to other routes accessible at 8:00 am can be significantly different five or 15-minutes later, leading to different conclusions from the snapshot.

To solve this problem, a typical access isochrone is created across a time period for a set travel time (i.e., access within 60-minutes). In this process an isochrone is generated for every minute across the selected time period and then mathematically merged to create a composite graphic for a specific location. The resulting isochrone is the likelihood of making the trip from that location within the identified travel time. The darkest color means you can always make the trip, with the lighter areas representing a lesser likelihood of making the trip (i.e., 75%, 50%, 25% or less). An example of a typical access isochrone is displayed in Figure 36. It demonstrates the likelihood of making the transit trip within 60-minutes from Downtown Duluth between 7:00 am and 10:00 pm.

Analyzing Typical Access and Travel Time A weekday 60-minute typical access isochrone was created for each activity center between 7:00 am and 10:00 pm. The DTA strives to offer more consistent service throughout the day and by measuring typical access across this 15-hour period, the effect of changing route structures and service levels can be assessed. Key demographic and job data can be cross analyzed with typical access to quantitatively demonstrate the percentage of access each characteristic receives from that location. The characteristics analyzed included total population, BIPOC population, zero and one-vehicle households, low-income households, and jobs. An example of this analysis for Downtown Duluth is shown in Table 17. For each characteristic the table displays the total with transit access in the study area (within ¼ mile of an existing DTA route), the total amount reachable within 60-minutes from the activity center and associated percentage (i.e. the number accessible within 60-minutes by at least one transit trip between 7:00 and 10:00 pm divided by the total with transit access in the study area), and a breakdown of the transit accessibility percentage that indicates how often each characteristic has transit access throughout the day. For example, Table 17 shows that 98% of the total population with transit access can reach Downtown

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 58 Duluth within 60-minutes, yet this is not always true throughout the day. Based on service patterns and frequencies, the typical access isochrone identified that only 46% of the total population with transit access has available service to access Downtown Duluth greater than 90% of the time. Approximately 27% of the total population with transit access can reach Downtown Duluth within 60-minutes at less than 50% of the time. This indicates that there are several areas with transit coverage that receive less consistent and/or limited service throughout the day. During later stages of the COA these areas will be assessed to determine if service should be enhanced.

Table 17: Typical Access Demographic and Job Assessment Example Downtown Duluth 60-minute Typical Access Assessment Low Income Total BIPOC Household Households Jobs Population Population Vehicles (0+1) (<$30K) Total with Transit Access 108,882 10,808 9,908 14,061 75,637 in Study Area Total Reachable 107,025 10,283 9,855 14,010 72,105 within 60-min % transit accessible 98% 95% 99% 100% 95% (total reachable / total with access) Accessible > 90% 46% 59% 39% 56% 70% Accessible 75% to 90% 4% 3% 4% 2% 1% Accessible 50% to 75% 22% 18% 21% 20% 14% Accessible 25% to 50% 21% 13% 26% 16% 9% Accessible < 25% 6% 3% 9% 5% 1%

Normal isochrones were also created for each activity center at set times during the AM Peak, Midday, PM Peak, and Evening time periods. These static isochrones show access to each activity center at 15, 30, 45, and 60- minute intervals and can be found in Appendix F.

In addition to access, average travel times from activity Figure 37: Average Weekday centers to the select travel points were calculated. This Travel Time Example analysis utilized the same methodology described in Section 5.2.1 but focuses on travel times throughout the study area. Figure 37 displays an example of the calculated average weekday travel times from Downtown Duluth to the select travel points. This graph illustrates the average travel times and displays select travel points reachable in less than or equal to 30-minutes in blue, those reachable between 31 and-60 minutes in orange, and those reachable in over 60- minutes in black.

Once typical access and average travel times are created for each activity center, these metrics can be collectively reviewed to offer key insights into regional transit access and travel times. The following summarizes typical access and average travel times for each activity center. Summary pages displaying typical access isochrone maps, typical access demographic and job assessment tables, and average weekday travel time are shown in figures 38 to 42.

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 59 Downtown Duluth The majority of existing DTA service operates through DTC, making Downtown Duluth one of the fastest and easiest locations to access in the study area. Access and travel times to the other activity centers are adequate or better for most of the day (with the notable exception of Superior during the evenings), with over 60% of the selected travel points on average deemed reachable within 60-minutes. Areas more likely to have longer travel times and limited access to Downtown Duluth include Proctor, the Duluth International Airport, and all Superior locations. As access to other key areas is relatively high, most of the population, household, and job dense areas can rely on transit service to and from Downtown Duluth throughout the day.

UMD The UMD campus produces an ample amount of DTA’s ridership and contains large amounts of student populations and university-based jobs. UMD has adequate access and travel times to Downtown Duluth and the east side of the study area but tends to have longer travel times and reduced access to the other activity centers. Approximately 43% of the selected travel points are on average deemed reachable within 60-minutes. Areas more likely to have longer travel times and limited access to UMD include the Miller Hill Mall area, West Duluth, Proctor, and all Superior locations. Consistent all-day access to/from UMD is prevalent only for populations, households, and jobs located in Downtown Duluth, the eastern portions of the study area (including the UMD campus), and along the east/west mainline.

Miller Hill Mall The Mill Hill Mall area is a key shopping and job center of the Twin Ports region. Access and travel times are adequate to Downtown Duluth and West Duluth for most of the day; however, other areas can be lacking and only about 46% of the selected travel points on average are deemed reachable within 60-minutes. Areas more likely to have longer travel times and limited access to the Miller Hill Mall include the far west and east sides of the study area, and all Superior locations. A trend of longer average travel times and a lack of consistent all-day access is abundant for all select travel points not in in the vicinity of Downtown Duluth and West Duluth.

Superior The City of Superior is geographically separated from the rest of the DTA system by the St. Louis River and experiences longer travel times and limited access to most other areas in the region. Superior residents often want to access the other activity centers in Duluth, but practically all Wisconsin-based riders must transfer in Downtown Duluth to access other locations on the Minnesota side, leading to longer travel times. Service to/from Superior operates at more limited frequencies and decreases after 6:00 pm which explains why approximately only 21% of the selected travel points on average are deemed reachable within 60-minutes. Consistent all-day access to/from Superior is prevalent only for populations, households, and jobs in the surrounding area and is lacking for all other locations.

West Duluth Located along the west mainline (along Grand Avenue), West Duluth is comprised of dense population, commercial, and job areas. The various west mainline transit routes provide fairly frequent service throughout most of the day, and access and travel times are adequate to most of the west side of the study area, including Downtown Duluth and the Miller Hill Mall. Approximately 46% of the selected travel points on average are deemed reachable within 60-minutes. Areas more likely to have longer travel times and limited access to the West Duluth Area includes UMD, the far east sides of the study area, and all Superior locations. Consistent all-

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 60 day access to/from West Duluth is prevalent only for populations, households, and jobs located in Downtown Duluth, the west side of the study area, and the Miller Hill Mall.

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 61 Figure 38: Downtown Duluth Typical Access and Regional Travel Time Assessment

Downtown Duluth 60-minute Typical Access Assessment Low Income Total BIPOC Household Households Jobs Population Population Vehicles (0+1) (<$30K) Total with Transit Access 108,882 10,808 9,908 14,061 75,637 in Study Area Total Reachable 107,025 10,283 9,855 14,010 72,105 within 60-min % transit accessible 98% 95% 99% 100% 95% (total reachable / total with access) Accessible > 90% 46% 59% 39% 56% 70% Accessible 75% to 90% 4% 3% 4% 2% 1% Accessible 50% to 75% 22% 18% 21% 20% 14% Accessible 25% to 50% 21% 13% 26% 16% 9% Accessible < 25% 6% 3% 9% 5% 1%

<= 30 min 31 - 60 min > 60 min

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 62 Figure 39: UMD Typical Access and Regional Travel Time Assessment

University of Minnesota-Duluth 60-minute Typical Access Assessment Low Income Total BIPOC Household Households Jobs Population Population Vehicles (0+1) (<$30K) Total with Transit Access 108,882 10,808 9,908 14,061 75,637 in Study Area Total Reachable 96,258 9,541 8,355 12,634 70,121 within 60-min % transit accessible 88% 88% 84% 90% 93% (total reachable / total with access) Accessible > 90% 40% 52% 30% 46% 54% Accessible 75% to 90% 4% 3% 5% 4% 1% Accessible 50% to 75% 8% 9% 10% 9% 14% Accessible 25% to 50% 13% 10% 14% 13% 13% Accessible < 25% 23% 14% 26% 18% 11%

<= 30 min 31 - 60 min > 60 min

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 63 Figure 40: Miller Hill Mall Typical Access and Regional Travel Time Assessment Miller Hill Mall 60-minute Typical Access Assessment Low Income Total BIPOC Household Households Jobs Population Population Vehicles (0+1) (<$30K) Total with Transit Access 108,882 10,808 9,908 14,061 75,637 in Study Area Total Reachable 98,814 9,740 8,856 13,079 70,074 within 60-min % transit accessible 91% 90% 89% 93% 93% (total reachable / total with access) Accessible > 90% 17% 23% 15% 25% 41% Accessible 75% to 90% 12% 18% 11% 18% 20% Accessible 50% to 75% 15% 14% 14% 12% 11% Accessible 25% to 50% 12% 13% 8% 11% 7% Accessible < 25% 35% 21% 41% 27% 13%

<= 30 min 31 - 60 min > 60 min

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 64 Figure 41: Superior Typical Access and Regional Travel Time Assessment Superior 60-minute Typical Access Assessment Low Income Total BIPOC Household Households Jobs Population Population Vehicles (0+1) (<$30K) Total with Transit Access 108,882 10,808 9,908 14,061 75,637 in Study Area Total Reachable 92,203 9,571 7,939 12,623 68,235 within 60-min % transit accessible 85% 89% 80% 90% 90% (total reachable / total with access) Accessible > 90% 18% 15% 17% 19% 12% Accessible 75% to 90% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% Accessible 50% to 75% 9% 19% 8% 21% 33% Accessible 25% to 50% 19% 26% 21% 25% 23% Accessible < 25% 38% 28% 35% 25% 22%

<= 30 min 31 - 60 min > 60 min

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 65 Figure 42: West Duluth Typical Access and Regional Travel Time Assessment

West Duluth 60-minute Typical Access Assessment Low Income Total BIPOC Household Households Jobs Population Population Vehicles (0+1) (<$30K) Total with Transit Access 108,882 10,808 9,908 14,061 75,637 in Study Area Total Reachable 104,836 10,048 9,570 13,821 70,102 within 60-min % transit accessible 96% 93% 97% 98% 93% (total reachable / total with access) Accessible > 90% 25% 38% 27% 38% 49% Accessible 75% to 90% 8% 9% 6% 11% 8% Accessible 50% to 75% 16% 12% 16% 13% 13% Accessible 25% to 50% 15% 15% 13% 15% 14% Accessible < 25% 31% 19% 34% 21% 8%

<= 30 min 31 - 60 min > 60 min

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 66 Appendix A: Airsage All Purpose Trip Volumes

Destination Downtown Lincoln 2019 All Purpose LSC / Miller Morgan West Billings Carlton Cloquet/ Congdon Douglas Duluth / Duluth East Park / Observation Park South St. Louis UMD / District Trip Interactions Allouez East End Endion Esko Hermantown Lakeside Piedmont Hill Mall Park / Proctor Superior Duluth / Woodland Total Park Other Carlton Park Other Central Airport Hillside Rice's Hill Point Superior Other CSS Area Heights Area Gary Oneota Hillside Point Allouez 1,510 41 13 223 401 30 398 30 17 21 13 432 86 163 641 33 879 36 328 5,295 Billings Park 58 1,368 34 125 451 269 21 11 25 11 41 74 294 35 1,038 51 1,744 531 91 6,271 Carlton Other 23 22,879 5,156 16 407 85 32 551 87 2,208 67 23 16 304 491 130 156 450 652 100 61 878 34,772 Cloquet/Carlton 35 21 5,385 29,723 55 54 1,887 164 178 870 305 3,415 163 343 201 577 1,332 534 85 307 426 4,217 634 383 690 27 52,012 Congdon Park 26 50 2,525 97 916 312 179 639 79 41 878 93 206 1,073 108 39 342 925 120 738 26 443 9,856 Douglas Other 231 109 16 36 31 16,992 1,231 59 575 422 69 69 294 319 179 293 173 18 112 2,274 207 3,356 50 132 27,247 Downtown Duluth / Central Hillside 144 238 486 1,901 1,027 1,091 10,650 1,661 618 1,320 1,770 743 187 1,070 2,321 1,659 4,636 2,083 685 276 714 294 5,540 1,613 1,990 2,474 1,613 48,803 Duluth Airport 24 39 129 290 44 2,394 3,877 105 614 219 273 186 1,111 774 966 2,771 113 249 12 301 136 2,684 550 606 365 463 19,299 East End 325 238 136 16 664 739 40 4,756 148 127 78 45 51 154 18 542 58 292 75 999 149 3,273 169 94 55 13,239 East Hillside 16 372 838 213 441 1,537 429 241 4,431 912 442 207 976 566 626 1,465 122 98 20 186 323 1,100 847 2,934 644 492 20,478 Endion 16 94 219 356 98 2,528 119 216 749 3,700 15 16 377 514 815 872 171 94 62 34 88 516 412 1,658 966 391 15,093 Esko 57 1,896 3,582 16 56 881 390 93 535 105 9,265 51 164 498 87 720 561 19 1,304 159 1,883 243 340 440 58 23,405 Hermantown 11 216 21 18 166 311 414 16 17 1,864 46 22 83 967 92 166 542 62 56 5,089 Lakeside 42 28 67 254 780 191 1,245 995 39 1,022 384 172 21 6,129 136 627 1,141 91 94 778 1,708 156 674 396 276 17,445 Origin Lincoln Park / Rice's Point 373 51 216 60 554 1,969 863 222 481 349 240 21 209 5,383 829 1,942 687 265 88 93 464 1,844 787 744 2,007 137 20,880 LSC / Piedmont Heights 93 38 592 301 206 801 1,559 36 597 948 120 431 785 2,882 1,742 93 234 22 315 96 1,497 124 689 1,353 189 15,741 Miller Hill Mall Area 105 244 177 1,430 686 450 4,016 2,235 633 1,514 959 872 1,227 1,433 2,159 1,337 12,696 982 885 56 747 243 6,113 1,419 3,767 2,355 933 49,676 Morgan Park / Gary 20 20 570 621 92 2,779 27 56 125 146 386 21 583 212 857 3,720 85 153 123 602 1,053 61 1,624 216 14,150 Observation Hill 81 255 19 18 725 254 173 13 16 15 179 234 982 2,194 20 117 147 231 91 5,763 Park Point 9 9 166 20 31 21 94 57 125 88 24 45 61 27 776 Proctor 107 334 112 682 216 136 407 36 1,008 95 101 165 145 1,034 211 22 5,652 40 1,956 319 64 771 72 13,687 South Superior 673 1,207 471 406 478 1,562 350 257 1,067 130 59 330 139 442 343 135 662 221 98 20 4,571 560 4,081 539 754 451 20,009 St. Louis Other 96 22 665 4,351 1,077 388 6,244 2,708 126 1,183 603 1,839 633 1,712 1,549 1,515 5,720 434 145 38 2,066 360 224,201 1,467 1,642 1,604 721 263,110 Superior 1,029 1,789 91 746 118 3,054 1,490 539 3,081 982 675 338 124 127 595 378 1,442 804 146 39 316 4,306 1,246 16,447 638 1,107 338 41,985 UMD / CSS Area 91 18 92 385 976 483 1,758 695 98 2,855 1,785 238 81 677 840 535 4,017 133 207 34 67 174 1,795 875 14,711 818 1,865 36,303 West Duluth / Oneota 312 606 776 986 60 170 2,418 333 26 520 687 784 75 808 2,411 1,050 2,249 1,612 47 45 722 545 1,289 1,137 980 9,838 750 31,237 Woodland 109 19 134 484 35 1,503 554 104 420 269 86 282 99 197 715 218 27 612 757 516 1,888 1,021 3,401 13,450 Total 5,275 6,132 34,334 52,753 9,605 27,226 50,335 18,711 13,276 20,553 14,905 23,096 5,216 17,751 21,282 15,468 50,686 13,655 6,038 858 13,534 19,650 262,272 42,386 35,693 31,367 13,010 825,068

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 67

Destination Downtown Lincoln 2020 All Purpose LSC / Miller Morgan West Billings Carlton Cloquet/ Congdon Douglas Duluth / Duluth East Park / Observation Park South St. Louis UMD / District Trip Interactions Allouez East End Endion Esko Hermantown Lakeside Piedmont Hill Mall Park / Proctor Superior Duluth / Woodland Total Park Other Carlton Park Other Central Airport Hillside Rice's Hill Point Superior Other CSS Area Heights Area Gary Oneota Hillside Point Allouez 1,285 85 10 12 257 167 6 149 20 39 12 180 153 49 4 6 269 59 292 144 3,200 Billings Park 52 2,082 53 53 4 346 268 9 346 33 34 16 133 70 86 81 262 112 88 502 94 1,045 68 255 55 6,147 Carlton Other 5 33 16,017 3,704 23 305 280 6 188 90 789 60 46 64 357 239 12 59 47 882 171 39 312 5 23,734 Cloquet/Carlton 31 57 3,847 24,087 58 224 768 282 126 337 120 2,634 70 232 500 313 1,365 294 100 6 426 116 2,451 481 164 587 123 39,797 Congdon Park 5 5 39 2,261 29 489 86 6 170 147 24 9 412 57 52 401 7 2 93 11 148 485 277 84 111 337 5,746 Douglas Other 272 357 14 156 17 12,919 558 292 645 410 39 85 20 83 462 27 541 90 6 53 7 1,468 395 2,149 85 275 21,426 Downtown Duluth / Central Hillside 146 321 245 770 441 518 4,752 732 190 983 668 374 155 793 982 836 2,262 475 190 247 324 290 1,876 867 1,112 1,122 507 22,176 Duluth Airport 18 58 277 297 79 295 583 3,918 108 534 67 232 158 630 393 553 1,744 313 28 81 295 291 2,112 249 580 387 365 14,642 East End 141 409 30 71 20 770 228 73 3,504 112 50 78 4 46 289 20 301 71 30 10 11 1,460 124 1,924 29 244 17 10,067 East Hillside 11 229 499 80 290 1,093 634 141 4,595 468 138 290 293 485 169 1,945 180 12 23 167 92 1,332 471 1,324 365 428 15,751 Endion 4 30 79 99 141 35 666 71 42 404 3,227 55 51 212 277 115 1,213 28 24 33 34 471 153 941 238 145 8,788 Esko 56 44 771 2,434 14 67 430 242 109 166 76 6,379 47 45 232 118 731 362 7 293 285 1,378 286 61 698 47 15,377 Hermantown 129 67 40 4 4 218 209 9 294 56 52 2,074 39 101 200 803 59 26 154 76 578 107 135 84 30 5,548 Lakeside 31 247 326 78 818 711 56 260 222 21 26 4,979 458 191 782 170 96 70 41 939 279 580 409 299 12,087 Origin Lincoln Park / Rice's Point 138 75 52 440 45 386 809 464 297 423 266 246 126 429 6,280 749 1,618 321 169 207 581 279 1,142 1,050 250 1,221 302 18,364 LSC / Piedmont Heights 107 94 76 254 33 34 784 535 31 300 149 132 216 196 700 2,365 1,248 138 196 46 102 95 823 181 392 836 39 10,102 Miller Hill Mall Area 104 283 339 1,461 476 598 2,121 1,625 394 1,875 1,187 767 882 762 1,419 1,062 13,524 667 528 180 814 479 5,550 1,666 1,967 1,420 1,046 43,195 Morgan Park / Gary 82 229 364 13 90 628 321 70 201 45 353 34 107 301 130 557 3,606 6 6 180 317 526 415 101 1,044 143 9,868 Observation Hill 25 4 80 25 213 42 63 49 26 75 17 9 213 150 504 94 1,310 26 92 53 43 52 52 11 3,228 Park Point 5 9 24 33 245 6 22 49 13 6 78 264 25 150 12 3 960 4 52 258 27 18 126 11 2,404 Proctor 6 66 68 422 9 25 330 261 24 141 43 331 191 64 513 174 772 184 19 3,120 35 794 339 143 801 68 8,943 South Superior 273 512 37 136 36 1,570 248 227 1,472 93 36 263 72 56 272 79 591 316 48 49 83 4,815 496 2,941 211 465 29 15,431 St. Louis Other 55 121 929 2,505 481 489 1,827 2,002 210 1,381 500 1,302 557 872 1,140 792 5,156 494 127 175 783 577 181,539 1,067 1,264 1,391 634 208,369 Superior 227 951 158 468 262 2,137 902 182 2,017 360 131 250 123 284 1,135 195 1,680 321 127 24 330 2,930 1,087 14,295 314 583 210 31,683 UMD / CSS Area 101 51 152 149 101 892 501 53 1,470 1,071 80 94 628 183 366 1,901 192 57 18 154 138 1,350 331 6,566 331 307 17,233 West Duluth / Oneota 128 195 340 694 145 208 1,177 356 197 369 213 689 113 371 1,174 896 1,534 1,179 74 129 726 530 1,376 692 220 7,169 343 21,238 Woodland 50 12 111 475 636 561 23 461 96 10 22 343 211 54 922 163 83 83 47 652 226 303 315 3,408 9,265 Total 3,074 6,182 23,946 39,605 5,591 21,549 22,157 14,627 10,308 15,656 9,060 15,413 5,564 12,032 18,354 9,929 42,911 10,086 3,099 2,500 8,922 15,504 208,823 32,023 17,003 20,984 8,909 603,809

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 68 Study Area 2019 / 2020 District Trip Volumes Districts 2019 Trips 2020 Trips Difference % Change Downtown Duluth / Central Hillside 48,803 22,176 -26,626 -55% UMD / CSS Area 36,303 17,233 -19,070 -53% Cloquet/Carlton 52,012 39,797 -12,215 -23% Superior 41,985 31,683 -10,302 -25% West Duluth / Oneota 31,237 21,238 -9,999 -32% Esko 23,405 15,377 -8,028 -34% Miller Hill Mall Area 49,676 43,195 -6,481 -13% Endion 15,093 8,788 -6,305 -42% LSC / Piedmont Heights 15,741 10,102 -5,639 -36% Lakeside 17,445 12,087 -5,358 -31% Proctor 13,687 8,943 -4,744 -35% East Hillside 20,478 15,751 -4,727 -23% Duluth Airport 19,299 14,642 -4,656 -24% South Superior 20,009 15,431 -4,579 -23% Morgan Park / Gary 14,150 9,868 -4,282 -30% Woodland 13,450 9,265 -4,185 -31% Congdon Park 9,856 5,746 -4,110 -42% East End 13,239 10,067 -3,172 -24% Observation Hill 5,763 3,228 -2,535 -44% Lincoln Park / Rice's Point 20,880 18,364 -2,515 -12% Allouez 5,295 3,200 -2,095 -40% Billings Park 6,271 6,147 -125 -2% Hermantown 5,089 5,548 459 9% Park Point 776 2,404 1,628 210% Total 499,939 350,280 -149,659 -30%

St. Louis County "Other" To / From Study Area Districts Districts 2019 Trips 2020 Trips Difference % Change Downtown Duluth / Central Hillside 11,785 3,703 -8,081 -69% Cloquet/Carlton 8,568 4,956 -3,612 -42% Proctor 4,023 1,577 -2,446 -61% Lakeside 3,420 1,811 -1,608 -47% LSC / Piedmont Heights 3,012 1,615 -1,396 -46% Duluth Airport 5,392 4,114 -1,277 -24% Miller Hill Mall Area 11,833 10,707 -1,127 -10% Lincoln Park / Rice's Point 3,393 2,281 -1,111 -33% Esko 3,722 2,680 -1,042 -28% Congdon Park 2,002 966 -1,037 -52% UMD / CSS Area 3,437 2,614 -823 -24% Superior 2,713 2,154 -559 -21% Woodland 1,478 1,286 -192 -13% Endion 1,118 971 -147 -13% West Duluth / Oneota 2,892 2,767 -126 -4% Observation Hill 262 179 -83 -32% Hermantown 1,175 1,135 -40 -3% Morgan Park / Gary 1,036 1,020 -16 -2% Allouez 128 114 -14 -11% East End 275 334 59 22% Billings Park 74 215 142 193% South Superior 920 1,072 152 17% Park Point 126 433 307 243% East Hillside 2,283 2,712 429 19% Total 75,068 51,419 -32%

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 69 Carlton County "Other" To / From Study Area Districts Study Area Districts 2019 Trips 2020 Trips Difference % Change Lakeside 133 0 -133 -100% Observation Hill 211 16 -195 -92% South Superior 921 85 -837 -91% Congdon Park 16 5 -11 -66% Esko 4,104 1,560 -2,544 -62% West Duluth / Oneota 1,654 652 -1,002 -61% Morgan Park / Gary 1,061 468 -593 -56% East Hillside 923 417 -506 -55% Proctor 262 127 -136 -52% UMD / CSS Area 152 90 -63 -41% Downtown Duluth / Central Hillside 892 551 -342 -38% Allouez 23 16 -8 -33% Cloquet/Carlton 10,541 7,551 -2,991 -28% Woodland 19 18 -2 -8% Endion 180 170 -10 -6% East End 32 36 3 11% Lincoln Park / Rice's Point 75 99 24 32% Miller Hill Mall Area 481 696 214 45% Superior 191 330 138 72% Duluth Airport 124 557 433 349% LSC / Piedmont Heights 16 140 124 765% Billings Park 0 85 85 - Hermantown 0 126 126 - Park Point 0 5 5 - Total 22,014 13,798 -37%

Douglas County "Other" To / From Study Area Districts Study Area Districts 2019 Trips 2020 Trips Difference % Change Woodland 35 0 -35 -100% Proctor 224 31 -193 -86% LSC / Piedmont Heights 385 62 -324 -84% Lakeside 484 162 -322 -67% UMD / CSS Area 533 185 -348 -65% Congdon Park 127 46 -81 -63% Endion 167 74 -93 -56% Downtown Duluth / Central Hillside 2,322 1,076 -1,246 -54% Superior 6,411 4,287 -2,124 -33% Morgan Park / Gary 265 179 -86 -32% South Superior 3,836 3,038 -798 -21% East Hillside 864 700 -164 -19% Observation Hill 36 30 -6 -16% Lincoln Park / Rice's Point 873 849 -24 -3% East End 1,239 1,414 175 14% Allouez 454 529 75 17% Esko 125 152 27 22% Hermantown 18 25 7 37% Miller Hill Mall Area 743 1,139 396 53% West Duluth / Oneota 302 483 181 60% Billings Park 234 703 470 201% Cloquet/Carlton 90 379 289 321% Duluth Airport 103 587 484 469% Park Point 9 86 77 868% Total 19,879 16,217 -18%

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 70 Appendix B: Peer Analysis Tables and Charts

Peer Agency Performance Metrics (FY2015 – 2019)

FY FY FY FY FY Change Agency 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 FY15-19 Passenger Trips St. Cloud Metro Transit Commission 2,041,859 1,939,776 1,754,333 1,623,048 1,481,377 -27% Green Mountain Transit 2,477,905 2,299,607 2,087,693 2,079,690 2,443,703 -1% Connect Transit 2,654,677 2,427,565 2,217,641 2,240,810 2,442,954 -8% Whatcom Transportation Authority 4,934,429 4,701,668 4,602,021 4,542,536 4,451,508 -10% Duluth Transit Authority 3,051,665 2,804,354 2,786,702 2,760,475 2,645,307 -13% City of La Crosse 1,102,173 1,032,964 999,955 959,453 905,412 -18% Eau Claire Transit 871,229 869,952 865,260 906,130 863,647 -1% City of Kenosha 1,247,542 1,247,739 1,268,399 1,338,109 1,339,237 7% Revenue Hours St. Cloud Metro Transit Commission 86,982 88,011 97,698 96,058 97,776 12% Green Mountain Transit 92,105 93,386 92,213 90,389 110,145 20% Connect Transit 91,253 92,315 113,325 111,186 108,061 18% Whatcom Transportation Authority 131,391 131,757 142,321 148,483 152,623 16% Duluth Transit Authority 134,610 143,317 152,507 167,276 157,524 17% City of La Crosse 56,160 58,547 58,801 58,459 60,626 8% Eau Claire Transit 48,965 48,255 48,127 47,596 47,833 -2% City of Kenosha 64,101 63,323 78,080 79,155 78,902 23% Revenue Miles St. Cloud Metro Transit Commission 1,230,569 1,234,866 1,301,354 1,283,305 1,278,118 4% Green Mountain Transit 1,089,960 1,107,537 1,085,182 1,072,708 1,527,629 40% Connect Transit 1,266,037 1,287,354 1,306,691 1,297,434 1,293,878 2% Whatcom Transportation Authority 1,826,686 1,831,845 2,014,058 2,100,487 2,123,146 16% Duluth Transit Authority 1,769,627 1,815,453 1,933,805 2,162,059 2,052,115 16% City of La Crosse 794,864 830,979 844,107 845,271 866,971 9% Eau Claire Transit 717,194 706,974 700,796 693,353 704,495 -2% City of Kenosha 806,596 818,405 1,010,441 1,036,132 1,019,378 26% Passenger Trips per Capita St. Cloud Metro Transit Commission 19.8 18.8 17.0 15.8 14.4 -27% Green Mountain Transit 26.5 24.6 22.3 22.2 8.6 -68% Connect Transit 20.6 18.8 17.2 17.4 18.9 -8% Whatcom Transportation Authority 23.5 22.1 21.3 20.6 19.8 -16% Duluth Transit Authority 26.2 24.1 27.2 27.0 25.9 -1% City of La Crosse 15.5 14.5 14.0 13.5 12.7 -18% Eau Claire Transit 11.7 11.7 11.4 11.9 11.3 -3% City of Kenosha 12.5 12.5 12.7 13.4 13.4 7% Passenger Trips per Revenue Mile St. Cloud Metro Transit Commission 1.7 1.6 1.4 1.3 1.2 -30% Green Mountain Transit 2.3 2.1 1.9 1.9 1.6 -30% Connect Transit 2.1 1.9 1.7 1.7 1.9 -10% Whatcom Transportation Authority 2.7 2.6 2.3 2.2 2.1 -22% Duluth Transit Authority 1.7 1.5 1.4 1.3 1.3 -25% City of La Crosse 1.4 1.2 1.2 1.1 1.0 -25% Eau Claire Transit 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.3 1.2 2% City of Kenosha 1.6 1.5 1.3 1.3 1.3 -15% Passenger Trips per Revenue Hour St. Cloud Metro Transit Commission 23.5 22.0 18.0 16.9 15.2 -35% Green Mountain Transit 26.9 24.6 22.6 23.0 22.2 -18% Connect Transit 29.1 26.3 19.6 20.2 22.6 -22% Whatcom Transportation Authority 37.6 35.7 32.3 30.6 29.2 -22% Duluth Transit Authority 22.7 19.6 18.3 16.5 16.8 -26% City of La Crosse 19.6 17.6 17.0 16.4 14.9 -24% Eau Claire Transit 17.8 18.0 18.0 19.0 18.1 2% City of Kenosha 19.5 19.7 16.2 16.9 17.0 -13% Operating Expense St. Cloud Metro Transit Commission $6,965,493 $7,029,100 $7,562,188 $8,239,856 $8,753,854 26% Green Mountain Transit $9,106,212 $8,809,611 $9,373,521 $9,748,181 $12,497,692 37% Connect Transit $7,877,511 $8,197,286 $9,245,069 $9,243,650 $9,274,585 18% Whatcom Transportation Authority $17,335,960 $18,163,451 $20,029,380 $20,710,755 $21,237,451 23% Duluth Transit Authority $13,372,308 $13,966,577 $15,680,025 $16,715,219 $17,293,250 29% City of La Crosse $4,993,931 $5,123,647 $5,153,871 $5,150,579 $5,317,615 6% Eau Claire Transit $4,027,687 $4,075,723 $4,261,637 $4,369,258 $4,162,698 3% City of Kenosha $5,241,106 $5,531,266 $6,242,092 $6,663,559 $6,953,224 33% Cost per Revenue Hour St. Cloud Metro Transit Commission $80.08 $79.87 $77.40 $85.78 $89.53 12% Green Mountain Transit $98.87 $94.34 $101.65 $107.85 $113.47 15% Connect Transit $86.33 $88.80 $81.58 $83.14 $85.83 -1% Whatcom Transportation Authority $131.94 $137.86 $140.73 $139.48 $139.15 5% Duluth Transit Authority $99.34 $97.45 $102.82 $99.93 $109.78 11% City of La Crosse $88.92 $87.51 $87.65 $88.11 $87.71 -1% Eau Claire Transit $82.26 $84.46 $88.55 $91.80 $87.03 6% City of Kenosha $81.76 $87.35 $79.94 $84.18 $88.12 8%

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 71 DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 72 Appendix C: DTA Performance Analysis DTA Weekday Performance Summary October 2019 Route Description Service Productivity Economic Productivity Financial Performance Daily Riders / Riders / Riders / One Avg Daily Revenue / Revenue / Revenue / Farebox Route Route Name Service Type Ridership Operating Cost / Rider Subsidy / Rider Revenue Hour Revenue Mile Way Trip Revenue Revenue Hour Revenue Mile One Way Trip Recovery Cost 1 Grand Avenue Zoo All Day, Local 666 20.7 1.9 11.5 $686 $21.30 $1.93 $11.83 $3,542 $5.32 19.4% $4.29 2 New Duluth All Day, Local 740 19.6 1.2 14.8 $763 $20.16 $1.24 $15.25 $4,160 $5.62 18.3% $4.59 3 Proctor All Day, Local 603 17.6 1.3 14.7 $621 $18.14 $1.33 $15.15 $3,766 $6.25 16.5% $5.22 4 Ramsey-Raleigh All Day, Local 196 9.0 0.8 5.9 $201 $9.31 $0.82 $6.11 $2,380 $12.17 8.5% $11.14 5 West to Mall All Day, Local 369 15.6 0.9 15.4 $380 $16.11 $0.92 $15.83 $2,594 $7.03 14.6% $6.00 6 East Mainline UMD All Day, Local 839 24.6 2.8 13.5 $864 $25.33 $2.84 $13.93 $3,751 $4.47 23.0% $3.44 7 East Mainline Lakeside All Day, Local 668 25.1 2.1 14.5 $688 $25.80 $2.17 $14.96 $2,933 $4.39 23.5% $3.36 8 LSC-WM-AP All Day, Local 325 18.0 1.3 14.8 $335 $18.57 $1.38 $15.22 $1,984 $6.10 16.9% $5.07 9MT Piedmont Morris Thomas All Day, Local 231 10.7 0.9 5.0 $238 $11.05 $0.89 $5.17 $2,367 $10.25 10.0% $9.22 10 Duluth Heights Mall All Day, Local 645 21.5 1.9 14.7 $664 $22.12 $1.97 $15.10 $3,304 $5.12 20.1% $4.09 10H Duluth Heights Mall via 6AE All Day, Local 296 24.8 2.6 18.5 $305 $25.56 $2.67 $19.04 $1,311 $4.43 23.2% $3.40 11 East 8th UMD All Day, Local 498 26.5 3.2 13.1 $513 $27.30 $3.26 $13.50 $2,068 $4.15 24.8% $3.12 12 Kenwood All Day, Local 416 17.5 1.9 11.2 $428 $18.00 $1.95 $11.58 $2,618 $6.29 16.4% $5.26 13 E4th-UMD-Woodland All Day, Local 833 22.9 1.8 15.4 $858 $23.59 $1.81 $15.89 $4,002 $4.80 21.4% $3.77 14W W4th Blvd All Day, Local 66 8.4 0.8 2.7 $68 $8.69 $0.81 $2.82 $858 $13.04 7.9% $12.01 15 Park Point All Day, Local 59 6.6 0.5 2.1 $60 $6.83 $0.48 $2.16 $974 $16.58 6.2% $15.55 16 Duluth Superior All Day, Local 742 21.1 1.3 18.1 $765 $21.72 $1.34 $18.65 $3,872 $5.22 19.7% $4.19 18 UMD Boulder Ridge CPH All Day, Local 263 17.3 1.4 8.5 $271 $17.86 $1.42 $8.75 $1,670 $6.34 16.2% $5.31 23 UMD Circulator All Day, Local 660 33.0 2.9 16.5 $679 $34.03 $3.03 $16.98 $2,196 $3.33 30.9% $2.30 24 Bayfront Loop All Day, Local 23 7.0 0.9 0.9 $24 $7.25 $0.94 $0.92 $361 $15.63 6.6% $14.60 Local Average 457 18.38 1.61 11.59 $471 $18.94 $1.66 $11.94 $2,536 $7.33 17.2% $6.30 Daily Total 9,137 $9,411 $50,710 Route Description Service Productivity Economic Productivity Financial Performance Daily Riders / Riders / Riders / One Avg Daily Revenue / Revenue / Revenue / Farebox Route Route Name Service Type Ridership Operating Cost / Rider Subsidy / Rider Revenue Hour Revenue Mile Way Trip Revenue Revenue Hour Revenue Mile One Way Trip Recovery Cost S1 Grocery Route Midday, Local 92 20.8 1.7 7.6 $94 $21.44 $1.72 $7.86 $484 $5.28 19.5% $4.25 2X New Duluth Express Limited/Express 35 24.5 1.2 17.6 $36 $25.22 $1.27 $18.08 $158 $4.49 22.9% $3.46 3X Proctor Express Limited/Express 22 12.6 0.9 10.9 $22 $12.95 $0.90 $11.23 $191 $8.75 11.8% $7.72 2F New Duluth - Fond du Lac Peak Only, Local 90 16.5 0.8 12.9 $93 $17.03 $0.84 $13.26 $600 $6.65 15.5% $5.62 7A East Mainline 24AE Evening Only, Local 22 15.1 2.1 5.5 $23 $15.52 $2.14 $5.69 $161 $7.30 14.1% $6.27 7X East Mainline Express Limited/Express 11 17.5 1.3 11.4 $12 $18.06 $1.38 $11.74 $72 $6.27 16.4% $5.24 16X Superior Express Limited/Express 20 22.6 1.3 19.6 $20 $23.29 $1.35 $20.19 $95 $4.86 21.2% $3.83 10E Duluth Heights-Eklund Peak Only, Local 56 12.4 1.1 9.4 $58 $12.74 $1.10 $9.66 $501 $8.89 11.6% $7.86 11K East 8th UMD Kenwood Evening Only, Local 91 14.6 1.2 7.6 $94 $15.02 $1.20 $7.85 $689 $7.54 13.7% $6.51 11M East 8th UMD Morley Heights Peak Only, Local 169 15.4 1.4 11.3 $174 $15.91 $1.47 $11.63 $1,206 $7.12 14.5% $6.09 17 Superior WI Midday, Local 127 17.3 1.1 8.4 $131 $17.80 $1.13 $8.70 $807 $6.37 16.2% $5.34 17B Superior WI Billings Park Peak Only, Local 33 6.6 0.6 1.6 $33 $6.83 $0.58 $1.67 $539 $16.58 6.2% $15.55 17S Superior Wi South Superior Peak Only, Local 76 17.6 1.0 4.2 $79 $18.09 $0.98 $4.37 $479 $6.26 16.4% $5.23 Local Average 65 16.42 1.20 9.85 $67 $16.92 $1.24 $10.15 $460 $7.41 15.4% $6.38 Daily Total 844 $870 $5,980 Percentiles Top 25% Bottom 25%

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 73 DTA Saturday Performance Summary October 2019 Route Description Service Productivity Economic Productivity Financial Performance Daily Riders / Riders / Riders / One Avg Daily Revenue / Revenue / Revenue / Farebox Route Route Name Service Type Ridership Operating Cost / Rider Subsidy / Rider Revenue Hour Revenue Mile Way Trip Revenue Revenue Hour Revenue Mile One Way Trip Recovery Cost 2 New Duluth All Day, Local 899 29.4 1.8 22.5 $926 $30.25 $1.87 $23.14 $3,366 $3.75 27.5% $2.72 3 Proctor All Day, Local 488 24.0 1.7 18.8 $503 $24.70 $1.71 $19.35 $2,240 $4.59 22.5% $3.56 4 Ramsey-Raleigh All Day, Local 52 9.4 0.8 5.8 $54 $9.68 $0.79 $5.95 $609 $11.71 8.8% $10.68 5 West to Mall All Day, Local 249 14.0 1.0 12.5 $256 $14.41 $1.02 $12.82 $1,958 $7.86 13.1% $6.83 6 East Mainline UMD All Day, Local 259 14.0 1.7 8.4 $267 $14.43 $1.77 $8.61 $2,033 $7.85 13.1% $6.82 7 East Mainline Lakeside All Day, Local 448 27.7 2.3 16.0 $461 $28.55 $2.39 $16.47 $1,777 $3.97 26.0% $2.94 9M Piedmont Mall Weekend All Day, Local 149 13.6 1.0 7.1 $153 $13.96 $1.00 $7.29 $1,206 $8.11 12.7% $7.08 10 Duluth Heights Mall All Day, Local 393 16.3 1.7 11.9 $404 $16.76 $1.75 $12.26 $2,655 $6.76 15.2% $5.73 10H Duluth Heights Mall via 6AE All Day, Local 665 19.1 2.1 15.1 $685 $19.65 $2.19 $15.57 $3,834 $5.76 17.9% $4.73 11K East 8th UMD Kenwood All Day, Local 309 16.9 1.5 9.7 $318 $17.36 $1.49 $9.95 $2,017 $6.53 15.8% $5.50 13 E4th-UMD-Woodland All Day, Local 310 14.9 1.3 11.9 $320 $15.31 $1.30 $12.29 $2,297 $7.40 13.9% $6.37 14W W4th Blvd All Day, Local 18 6.9 0.7 2.3 $19 $7.13 $0.70 $2.32 $286 $15.89 6.5% $14.86 15 Park Point All Day, Local 20 6.6 0.4 2.0 $21 $6.75 $0.45 $2.06 $336 $16.78 6.1% $15.75 16 Duluth Superior All Day, Local 372 17.1 1.0 14.9 $384 $17.61 $1.05 $15.34 $2,396 $6.44 16.0% $5.41 17 Superior WI All Day, Local 150 14.0 0.9 6.8 $155 $14.44 $0.92 $7.02 $1,177 $7.85 13.1% $6.82 24 Bayfront Loop All Day, Local 10 5.5 0.5 0.5 $10 $5.64 $0.55 $0.55 $194 $20.10 5.1% $19.07 Local Average 299 15.57 1.27 10.38 $308 $16.04 $1.31 $10.69 $1,774 $8.83 14.6% $7.80 Daily Total 4,790 $4,934 $28,380

DTA Sunday Performance Summary October 2019 Route Description Service Productivity Economic Productivity Financial Performance Daily Riders / Riders / Riders / One Avg Daily Revenue / Revenue / Revenue / Farebox Route Route Name Service Type Ridership Operating Cost / Rider Subsidy / Rider Revenue Hour Revenue Mile Way Trip Revenue Revenue Hour Revenue Mile One Way Trip Recovery Cost 2 New Duluth All Day, Local 780 32.0 2.0 24.4 $803 $32.93 $2.05 $25.10 $2,682 $3.44 29.9% $2.41 3 Proctor All Day, Local 313 22.1 1.5 17.4 $323 $22.73 $1.58 $17.93 $1,562 $4.99 20.7% $3.96 5 West to Mall All Day, Local 38 6.6 0.7 3.2 $39 $6.83 $0.74 $3.26 $631 $16.60 6.2% $15.57 7 East Mainline Lakeside All Day, Local 380 27.5 2.3 15.8 $392 $28.35 $2.39 $16.32 $1,520 $4.00 25.8% $2.97 9M Piedmont Mall Weekend All Day, Local 127 13.5 1.0 7.1 $131 $13.88 $1.00 $7.29 $1,040 $8.16 12.6% $7.13 10 Duluth Heights Mall All Day, Local 271 16.1 1.7 12.3 $279 $16.56 $1.75 $12.67 $1,852 $6.84 15.1% $5.81 10H Duluth Heights Mall via 6AE All Day, Local 499 18.0 2.0 14.3 $514 $18.51 $2.03 $14.69 $3,056 $6.12 16.8% $5.09 11K East 8th UMD Kenwood All Day, Local 217 15.3 1.3 9.0 $223 $15.79 $1.38 $9.30 $1,555 $7.18 14.4% $6.15 13 E4th-UMD-Woodland All Day, Local 293 15.8 1.3 12.8 $302 $16.27 $1.37 $13.14 $2,042 $6.96 14.8% $5.93 16 Duluth Superior All Day, Local 241 14.0 0.9 13.4 $249 $14.44 $0.96 $13.81 $1,894 $7.85 13.1% $6.82 17 Superior WI All Day, Local 88 12.8 0.8 6.3 $90 $13.21 $0.81 $6.45 $752 $8.57 12.0% $7.54 17S Superior Wi South Superior All Day, Local 14 13.7 1.5 6.8 $14 $14.08 $1.52 $7.04 $110 $8.05 12.8% $7.02 Local Average 272 17.28 1.42 11.89 $280 $17.80 $1.46 $12.25 $1,558 $7.40 16.2% $6.37 Daily Total 3,261 $3,359 $18,695 Percentiles Top 25% Bottom 25%

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 74 Appendix D: Route Profiles Route profiles for each DTA route is provided on the following pages.

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DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 143 Appendix E: Low Ridership Area Maps

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DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 148 Appendix F: Activity Center Travel Time and Access Tables and Figures

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DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 153 Downtown Duluth Isochrones by Time Period

UMD Isochrones by Time Period

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Superior Isochrones by Time Period

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West Duluth Isochrones by Time Period

DTA Better Bus Blueprint Existing Conditions • 156 Appendix G: Supplemental Maps

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