V-Line Route Study DRAFT FINAL REPORT Prepared for the City of Valparaiso (V-Line) October 21, 2014 3131 South Dixie Hwy. Suite 545 Dayton, OH 45439 937.299.5007 www.rlsandassoc.com Moving Public Transportation Into the Future Table of Contents I. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................... 1 Purpose and Approach ............................................................................................................................................................. 1 II. Public Input .............................................................................................................................................................. 2 Public and Focus Group Meeting Input Summary......................................................................................................... 2 Stakeholder Interview Summaries ...................................................................................................................................... 8 City of Valparaiso ................................................................................................................................................................... 8 Covington Square Apartments ......................................................................................................................................... 9 HealthLinc Community Health Center .......................................................................................................................... 9 Housing Opportunities ...................................................................................................................................................... 10 Northwest Indiana Regional Planning Commission (NIRPC) ............................................................................ 11 Pines Village Retirement Center .................................................................................................................................... 11 Porter County Community Aging Services ................................................................................................................ 11 Ride Right ................................................................................................................................................................................ 12 Valparaiso University International Students and Scholars Program ........................................................... 13 Valparaiso University Staff............................................................................................................................................... 14 Ivy Tech Campus Table Interviews .............................................................................................................................. 15 V-Line Driver Interviews .................................................................................................................................................. 16 III. Passenger Survey and On/Off Counts ........................................................................................................... 18 Passenger Survey and On/Off Count Methodology .................................................................................................... 18 Passenger Survey Results ...................................................................................................................................................... 19 V-Line Systemwide Passenger Survey Results Summary ................................................................................... 19 Transportation Needs ........................................................................................................................................................ 19 Customer Satisfaction Ratings ........................................................................................................................................ 19 Top 3 Ways for V-Line to Improve................................................................................................................................ 20 English as a Second Language and Ethnicity ............................................................................................................ 21 3131 S DIXIE HWY ● DAYTON, OHIO 45439 ● 937.299.5007 VOICE ● 937.299.1055 FAX ● WWW.RLSANDASSOC.COM ChicaGo Dash ......................................................................................................................................................................... 22 Dune Park South Shore Train Station Connections ............................................................................................... 22 V-Line Information and Outreach Materials ............................................................................................................. 23 Passenger Demographics ................................................................................................................................................. 24 Route Level Survey Summaries .......................................................................................................................................... 26 Yellow Route .......................................................................................................................................................................... 26 Green Route ............................................................................................................................................................................ 31 Brown Route .......................................................................................................................................................................... 35 Trip Purpose .......................................................................................................................................................................... 35 Red Route ................................................................................................................................................................................ 37 Orange Route ......................................................................................................................................................................... 41 Purple Route .......................................................................................................................................................................... 46 Trip Purpose .......................................................................................................................................................................... 47 Summary of Passenger Survey Results ............................................................................................................................ 50 IV. Analysis of Performance .................................................................................................................................... 51 Methodology ............................................................................................................................................................................... 51 Purpose ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 51 Results ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 51 Existing Services Overview .............................................................................................................................................. 51 Weekday Boardings and Alightings .................................................................................................................................. 53 Weekend Boardings and Alightings .................................................................................................................................. 61 Productivity................................................................................................................................................................................. 69 On-Time Performance ............................................................................................................................................................ 74 Weekday Route Performance ......................................................................................................................................... 74 Weekend Route Performance ......................................................................................................................................... 75 IV. Transit Demand Analysis .................................................................................................................................. 77 Demographic Analysis ............................................................................................................................................................ 77 Population Density ................................................................................................................................................................... 77 Income ..........................................................................................................................................................................................