Transit Times The newsletter of the Action Committee for Transit of Montgomery County, . Inside This Issue Next Meetings ACT 2019 Board Nominations...... 6 • January 8 - Annual meeting and election of officers The Nominating Committee presents their slate for Speaker: Casey Anderson, Chair, Montgomery County ACT’s 2019 year. Planning Board, speaking on “The New Suburbanism and Economic Competitiveness” Impacts of Ride-Hailing on Public Transit • February 12 - To be announced Usage...... 3 Lyft and Uber are having serious impacts on transit • March 12 - To be announced use, trip decisions, and traffic patterns. ACT’s monthly meetings are normally held on the second Tuesday of each month, at the Silver Spring UMCP Students Release “People of the Purple Civic Center, One Veterans Place. Meetings begin at Line” Story Map ...... 4 7:30pm. An online resource maps out the neighborhoods and The Silver Spring Civic Center faces Fenton Street highlights along the route. and Ellsworth Avenue. It is an eight-minute walk north from the Silver Spring Metro Station. Many bus routes Vision Zero Walk in Aspen Hill...... 5 ACT board members survey one of the most danger- can take you to and from the meeting. Ride-On #15 ous roads in Montgomery County. and #19 stop at the corner of Wayne Ave. & Fenton St.; Metrobus routes Z6 and Z8 and Ride-On routes What Will the Next Generation of Real-Time #9 and #12 stop along Colesville Road; Ride-On #16, #17, and #20 pass by on Fenton St. If coming by car, Transit Information Look Like? ...... 2 plentiful evening parking is available at the Ellsworth New features to improve the basic functionality of the Avenue garage and is (despite ACT’s advocacy against existing generation of real-time transit information are very promising and could encourage more transit use. subsidies for drivers) free after 7:00pm. ACT Staff: Cindy Snow & Kathy Jentz [email protected] / 240-308-1209 Editorial Remarks Your Transit Times editor is Quon Kwan. He wel- comes your submissions. Cutoff date for receiving We Need YOU! materials for the next publication is February 1. Send Join us in working for more and better transit. Whether your materials to Quon at: [email protected] or call you want to help us leaflet at Metro and MARC sta- him at: (h) 301-460-7454 tions, work for pedestrian and bicycle safety or testify at public hearings, or volunteer in some other way— we would love to work with you. Contact ACT Staff at [email protected].

Transit Times, vol. 32, no. 2, December 2018 PAGE 1 What Will the Next Generation • Incorporation of auxiliary transportation services available at an upcoming stop, such as bike sharing, of Real-Time Transit taxis, ferries, and on-demand transportation services. Information Look Like? The second set of advanced, new features will appear By Quon Kwan in signage at rail platforms and bus stops: The next generation of real-time transit information • Electronic or digital signs [basically a light-emitting will have many advanced, new features. The first set diode (LED)] will be replaced with liquid crystal dis- of features deal with basic functionality, the second plays (LCD) or similar display technology. LCD signs set with shelters at rail platforms or bus stops, the are in color and enable more flexible and user-friendly third with on-board vehicle electronic signage, and graphics in color and multiple languages (whereas the fourth with mobile applications and web sites. The LED is limited to monochromatic text and a single fifth enables the transit agency to collect and analyze language). data to improve service and planning operations. Sixth and last provides the transit agency with the capability • Where there is an unpowered shelter and no elec- to obtain customer feedback on service performance tronic or digital signage, the shelter would have to be and operational reliability. connected to power before electronic or digital signage can be installed. Such unpowered shelters could be Now let’s explore the first set of advanced, new fea- powered by solar panels with re-chargeable batteries tures to improve the basic functionality of the exist- if not situated in a location where sunlight is obscured ing generation of real-time transit information. These by trees, buildings, or other objects. come from upgrading the existing the transit vehicle arrival time forecasting algorithm to an intelligent The third set of features deal with on-board vehicle predictions software to increase accuracy: electronic signage. In the U.S., the current on-board transit vehicle electronic signage is limited to display- • The details are too technical to delve into, but they ing and announcing the next stop or next few stops involve heuristics (machine learning) and more vari- with pre-recorded messages. In Europe, on-board ables, e.g., transit signal priority, congestion, rider- signage notifies customers of an approaching trans- ship loads, and weather, into predicting transit vehicle fer point with information to help them with the “last arrival times. mile” of their trip. The problem in the U.S. is that • These predictions can work on either fixed time- while connecting services may appear physically on a point schedules, headway-based schedules, special transit system map, there is no information on whether event/real-time route adjustments and demand-respon- all transit routes operate at all times. In the U.S., on- sive routing. board vehicle electronic signage will be: • Elimination of current “ghost bus” predictions in which the existing system shows a prediction for a • Upgraded to tell customers whether a connecting bus vehicle that never arrives. or train is just a few minutes away or not operating at • Incorporation of multi-modal or inter-agency transfer all, allowing them to assess options and avoid a non- connections. existent connection. • Incorporation of real-time information on re-routes • Integrated with Computer-Aided Dispatch, Auto- and delays. matic Vehicle Location, and radio systems to commu- • Incorporation of predictions of overcrowding on nicate timely messages about re-routing, delays, and transit vehicles with automatic passenger counter sen- cancellations. This will enable customers to be con- sors. tinually apprised on service status and let them decide • Suggestions of alternative parallel bus routes within whether to abandon transit. walking distance when there are long wait times and • Replaced with liquid crystal displays (LCD) signs service delays [feasible only in certain, intensely tran- adding advantages of graphics previously discussed. sit-served areas, such as downtown Washington, DC]. • Incorporation of messages, such as future service and The fourth set of the next generation of real-time tran- fare changes, elevator outage alerts in stationary signs, sit information features deals with mobile applications on-board signage, and mobile devices. and web sites. The problem is that in many areas, cus-

PAGE 2 Transit Times, vol. 32, no. 2, December 2018 tomers must use multiple mobile applications (apps) • Customer tolerances for crowding before seeking a for transit information, and even the most popular apps non-transit alternative. do not have all the necessary features customers need • Impact of service changes on ridership at a route and do not convey transit information in a variety of level and network level. formats—desktop web site, tablet, and mobile app— • Customer origin-destination travel patterns and of through a “one-stop shop.” Future mobile applications trip linking with other transit service providers or for customers will offer: modes. • Latent demand for service (frequency of customer • Mobile ticketing, requests for receiving arrival predictions when service • Multi-language capability, is sparse and ridership is low). • Transit trip planning, • Customer feedback on service and operational reli- • A link to predictions of arrival time, ability issues. • Ability to follow along while enroute to a destina- tion, • Sustainable transportation options at any stop (in- Impacts of Ride-Hailing on cluding bike share, car share, taxis, and transportation Public Transit Usage network companies), By Quon Kwan • Rating of their travel experience, providing feed- back, and The Institute of Transportation Studies at the Universi- • Requests relating to their recent travel experience on ty of California at Davis published a study UCD-ITS- transit. RR-17-07, “Disruptive Transportation: The Adoption, Utilization, and Impacts of Ride-Hailing in the U.S.” The fifth set of new features enables the transit agency The study provides early insight on the behavior im- to collect and analyze data for improving service and pacts of ride-hailing services. It covers three primary planning operations: topics: adoption of ride-hailing, vehicle ownership and • On-time performance statistics by route, route seg- driving, and most important, ride-hailing impacts on ment, time of day, and day of week. public transit usage. • Variations in travel time by route, time period of a Ride-hailing services offered by transportation net- day, and day of week. work companies (TNCs), such as Uber, Lyft, and • Reliability of real-time transit vehicle arrival predic- Zipcar, have experienced significant growth since they tions. were first introduced in 2009. Adoption of such servic- • Real-time service intervention strategies most ef- es has been limited to niche markets in dense, urban fective in minimizing customer inconvenience and cities or college campuses. To date, such services have delays. attracted over 2 million members in North America • Most likely occurrence of bunching and gapping and 5 million globally. Because the rapid adoption of and how bunching and gapping affect predictability of such services poses significant challenges for trans- end-to-end customer travel times. portation researchers, policymakers, and planners, • Success rate in connections where there are sched- this study was carried out to gather preliminary data ule-timed transfers. on the behavior impacts of such services. The study • Effect of changes in the transit network on the mobil- was based on a comprehensive travel and residential ity of customers. survey in seven major U.S. cities (Boston, Chicago, The sixth and last set of new features provide the tran- Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, and sit agency with customer feedback on service perfor- Washington, DC) conducted in two phases between mance and operational reliability: 2014 and 2016 over an internet-platform. The survey drew on questions commonly used in the American • Customer preferences for receiving arrival predic- Community Survey. tions by transit service provider and route. • Customer tolerances for waiting before seeking a There are six findings under the category of vehicle non-transit alternative. ownership and driving:

Transit Times, vol. 32, no. 2, December 2018 PAGE 3 1. Ride-hailing users who also ride transit have higher 4. Based on transit mode substitution and ride-hailing personal vehicle ownership rates than those who use frequency-of-use data (including new, additional dead- only transit: 52% versus 46%, respectively. head traveling miles), ride-hailing is likely to contrib- 2. 41% of “transit only” users have no household ute to growth in vehicle miles traveled. vehicle as compared to 30% of those using both ride- There are seven findings under the category of adop- hailing and transit having no household vehicle. tion of ride-hailing: 3. Ride-hailing households have slightly more vehicles than transit-only households: 1.07 versus 1.02. 1. In major cities, 21% of adults use ride-hailing ser- 4. Among non-transit users, there are no differences in vices. An additional 9% use the services accompany- vehicle ownership rates between ride-hailing users and ing friends but have not installed the app themselves. traditionally car-centric households. 2. 24% of ride-hailing adopters in major cities use 5. The overwhelming majority of ride-hailing users ride-hailing on a weekly or daily basis. (91%) have not made any decisions with regard to 3. Avoiding parking is the top reason for ride-hailing whether or not to own their own vehicle. instead of driving alone. 6. Those who have reduced the number of cars owned 4. Avoiding driving when under the influence of al- and the average number of vehicle miles traveled have cohol is another top reason for ride-hailing instead of substituted their personal vehicle trips with increased driving alone. ride-hailing. Net vehicle miles traveled changes are 5. Only 4% of those aged 65 and older use ride-hailing unknown. as compared with 36% of those between 18 and 29. 6. College-educated, affluent Americans have ad- In the category of impact of ride-hailing on public opted ride-hailing at double the rate of less educated, transit usage, there are four major findings: lower-income (i.e., making less than $35,000 per year) 1. Ride-hailing has reduced transit usage by an aver- Americans. age of 6%. 7. 29% of urban residents have adopted ride-hailing 2. As compared with previous studies that suggested and use them more regularly, while only 7% of subur- shared mobility services complement transit, this par- ban residents have adopted ride-hailing. ticular study found the effect of ride-hailing varies on 8. Among adopters of prior carsharing services, 65% transit usage depending on transit mode and conditions have also used ride-hailing. More than half of them of transit service (e.g., too slow or too unreliable). have dropped their carsharing membership, and 23% cite their use of ride-hailing as the top reason for drop- With respect to transit mode, ride-hailing: ping carsharing. a. Decreased bus usage by 6% b. Increased heavy rail usage by 3% c. Decreased light rail usage by 3% UMCP Students Release d. Increased commuter rail usage by 3% “People of the Purple Line” The reasons for substituting transit service with ride- Story Map hailing are given in order of most to least important below: Three amazing University of Maryland at College a. Transit is too slow Park students, working with the university’s Smart b. Insufficient stops or stations Growth Center and the Silver Spring Regional Cen- c. Non-availability of transit at hours of travel need ter, just released their semester’s work: “People of d. Transit is too unreliable the Purple Line (in the Silver Spring Regional Area)” e. Transit is not frequent enough Story Map. The URL is: http://uofmd.maps.arcgis. f. Transit is too crowded com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=2b055d1 g. Concerns about safety on transit 6d3124cee8b4da1da1dacb057. h. Concerns about cleanliness of transit When you are at the web site, a map will depict 3. 49% - 61% of ride-hailing trips would not have important places and stories from within a one-mile been made at all, or they would have been made by walking distance of the nine proposed Purple Line sta- walking, biking, or transit. tions in the Silver Spring Regional Area, from the Ta-

PAGE 4 Transit Times, vol. 32, no. 2, December 2018 koma/Langley Transit Center station in the east to the Lyttonsville station in the west. The places on this map were identified by people who live, work, and play in these communities over the course of three months in the Fall of 2017. The future nine Purple Line stations that are depicted include Takoma/Langley Transit Center, Piney Branch Road, Long Branch, Manchester Road, Dale Drive, , Silver Spring Transit Center, Woodside, and Lyttonsville. The map on the web site will help you begin to see what a special place the Purple Line corridor is, and how valuable these places are to the people who live near them. Enjoy! This work complements and adds value to the grow- ing knowledge base for the Purple Line Project, which includes a similar effort for the full line is http://pur- plelinecorridor.org/shareyourstory/. The latter site is sponsored by the Purple Line Cor- SHA/MCDOT wouldn’t put a utility pole in the ridor Coalition, a partnership of regional stakeholders roadway; why would they think it’s okay to put one in across Montgomery and Prince George’s County. the sidewalk? And who put the traffic barrels on the sidewalk? Vision Zero Walk in Aspen Hill Note the narrow sidewalk with no buffer, right next to a high-speed, multi-lane road. It’s scary to By Miriam Schoenbaum walk as an able-bodied adult. Now imagine walking A group including ACT board members and Planning with a small child. Board commissioner Natali Fani-Gonzalez gathered on November 3, 2018, to walk the Aspen Hill area and evaluate ways to improve pedestrian, bicycle, and driver safety.

Pictured above, left: Entrance to a shopping center. Aspen Hill Road at Georgia Avenue. A signalized Sidewalk on both sides. Why no crosswalk markings? intersection. It’s 0.3 miles to the nearest signal to the What will protect pedestrians from drivers turning at north at Connecticut and 0.4 miles to the nearest signal high speeds? to the south at Hewitt. Why doesn’t this intersection Pictured above, right: This is a legal crosswalk. include pedestrian design on both sides of the road? People use it. SHA needs to make it safe. It’s scary enough to cross one road here, let alone two. Stay tuned in January for ACT’s one-year report card on the Montgomery County Vision Zero program.

Transit Times, vol. 32, no. 2, December 2018 PAGE 5 Transit Times PRSRT STD Action Committee for Transit U.S. POSTAGE P.O. Box 7074 PAID Silver Spring, MD 20907 SILVER SPRING, MD PERMIT # 1931 ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

Join ACT/Renew Your Nominating Committee Membership for 2019! Report We hope you will renew or join, if you haven’t al- By Ben Ross ready. Membership dues help us push for better and safer transit, sidewalks, bike facilities, and roads. You Please come to our January 8 meeting prepared to vote can join/renew at a level that’s comfortable for you; for ACT officers for 2019. They are: $ 10 – Rider $ 25 – Activist President - Nick Brand $ 50 – Conductor Vice President - Paul Goldman $100 and above – Engineer Vice President - Ronit Dancis Either mail a check with your contact info to ACT at: Vice President - Samir Paul Action Committee for Transit, PO Box 7074, Silver Treasurer - Sean Robertson Spring, MD 20907. Or bring your dues payment to the Secretary - Sanjida Rangwala next ACT meeting. Board Member - Sean Emerson You can also make an on-line payment by going to Board Member - Patrick Thornton actfortransit.org and selecting the “Join ACT” button. Thank you so much for supporting transit activism! Ex officio non-voting board members: Also check out our website, Facebook page, and Twit- Upcounty Liason - Miriam Schoenbaum (Boyds) ter feed for event updates and the latest news: East County Liason - Sebastian Smoot (Cloverly) Purple Line Now Chair- Ralph Bennett www.actfortransit.org Transit Times Editor: Quon Kwan www.twitter.com/actfortransit MTOC Representative: Jennifer Hosey www.facebook.com/actfortransit

PAGE 6 Transit Times, vol. 32, no. 2, December 2018