METROBUS SERVICE GUIDELINES In the late 1990's when stabilization of bus service was accomplished between WMATA and the local jurisdictional bus systems, the need for service planning processes and procedures was determined. The Regional Mobility Panel recommended service criteria be developed to allow evaluation of regional bus service provided by WMATA. Regional routes are usually bus routes on major arterial roadways and generally cross jurisdictional lines and are subsidized by all compact jurisdictions. In consultation with the local jurisdictions the following service guidelines were developed and adopted by the WMATA Board of Directors in February, 2000. The same set of guidelines is used for regional and non-regional service at WMATA. The basis for calculating the guidelines is the average of the two distinct services. The guidelines are recalculated annually based on the past year's performance. BUS SERVICE CRITERIA DAILY WEEKDAY PASSENGER BOARDINGS This measurement is to evaluate the overall ridership generated by each bus line. This measurement compares actual ridership on a line to the average for regional and non-regional service. If the ridership is less than 1/8th, the line does not meet the minimum guideline. COST RECOVERY This measurement is one of two financial guidelines used to evaluate the cost/benefit of each line. This measurement compares the revenue generated on a line versus the cost of providing the service. If the line does not recover 1/2 of the average of the regional or non-regional average, it does not meet the minimum guideline. AVERAGE SUBSIDY PER PASSENGER This is the second financial guideline use to evaluate the cost/benefit of each line. This measurement compares the level of subsidy provided for each passenger carried for each line. If the line requires a subsidy at twice the system average, it does not meet the guideline. PASSENGERS PER REVENUE TRIP This is one of two guidelines used to evaluate the overall productivity of each line. This measurement compares the number of average weekday passengers that travel on a bus line divided by the number of weekday bus trips provided on that line. If the passengers per trip on the line are less than 1/3 of the average, the line does not meet the guideline. PASSENGERS PER REVENUE MILE This is the second guideline use to evaluate the productivity of each line. This measurement compares the number of passengers that travel on a given line for each mile of operation in revenue service. If the line does not carry ridership at 1/3 the average of the system, the line does not meet the guideline. These adopted criteria are considered along with other factors in the evaluation of service and assist WMATA and the jurisdictions in finalizing annual service requirements and financial commitments. Page 1 of 25 Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority METROBUS REGIONAL BUS SERVICES PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT REPORT January 2000 Page 2 of 25 Metrobus Regional Bus Services Performance Assessment Report SECTION I: LINE PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT REPORT The Regional Mobility Panel recommended that WMATA, in consultation with the local jurisdictions, plan and operate a regional bus service. In 1998 the Board approved the creation of a regional bus network and a formula to determine how to pay for regional service. Staff was then directed to develop policy and procedures for implementing service changes on regional routes. This document, which will be referred to as the Route Performance Assessment report, will be used as a tool to assess the performance of existing routes. The objective of the Route Performance Analysis report is to provide documentation for the systematic evaluation of the performance of all regional Metrobus routes. The systematic route performance evaluation is a two step process as directed by the Board. The first step involves documenting the performance of existing service using pre-established performance indicators and measures. This is done by using the scheduling database and monthly GFI report database to produce the Route Performance Analysis report. The second step in the process applies a set of performance guidelines against each line to assess its’ performance to determine if service adjustments are initiated. ROUTE PERFORMANCE The Route Performance Assessment report uses a set of performance indicators and performance measures to document the level of performance for each line. They are used to determine the effectiveness and efficiency of each line and provide a comprehensive view of service performance. Performance Indicators The following performance indicators will be used: ! Platform Miles ! Total Passengers ! Platform Hours ! Passengers Per Trip ! Revenue Miles ! Revenue ! Revenue Hours ! Cost ! Number of Trips February 3, 2000 Page 3 of 25 Metrobus Regional Bus Services Performance Assessment Report Definitions The following are the definitions of the performance indicators that will be used to document each lines performance: Revenue Service - Operating from terminal to terminal while boarding and alighting passengers. Revenue Miles - Actual miles that are scheduled to be operated in revenue service. Revenue Hours - Actual hours that are schedule to be operated in revenue service. Platform Miles - Revenue miles operated, plus dead head miles for pull-in and pull-out and/or interlining. Platform Hours - This indicator is determined by calculating the time the bus pulls-out of the garage until the time it pulls- in. Number of Trips - The number of revenue trips scheduled to be operated Passengers - Actual number of passengers on a particular line that are reported from the most recent monthly farebox report. Passengers Per Trip - Calculated by dividing the number of passengers by the number of revenue trips operated on a specific line. Revenue - The number of passengers on a line multiplied by the average fare ($.77) or $2.00 for express lines. February 3, 2000 Page 4 of 25 Metrobus Regional Bus Services Performance Assessment Report Performance Measures Performance measures are used to quantify the performance of every line. They are as follows: ! Cost Per Passenger ! Subsidy Per Passenger ! Cost Recovery ! Cost Recovery ! Passengers Per Revenue Hour ! Passengers Per Hour ! Passengers Per Revenue Mile ! Load Factor ! Load Factor ! Cost Per Mile Definitions The following are the definitions of the performance measures that will be used to document each lines performance: Cost Effectiveness - measures the amount of service consumed relative to the resources required to provide service. Cost Recovery - This is the most direct measure of financial return on operating investment. It is calculated by dividing revenue by the cost of providing the service. This produces a percentage and it measures how much of the cost to operate a line is recovered through passenger fares. Cost Per Passenger - It is calculated by dividing the cost for providing the service by the number of passenger boardings. It measures the cost of providing service on a unit basis. Service Effectiveness - measures the amount of service consumed relative to the amount of service provided. Peak Hour Maximum Load Factor - It measures the number of passengers on the bus at the maximum load point (the point that historically has the most passengers aboard the bus at any one time). It is calculated using pointchecks to determine the number passengers at the maximum load point, divided by the number of seats that were available. The goal is to maintain an average number of passengers February 3, 2000 Page 5 of 25 Metrobus Regional Bus Services Performance Assessment Report on each bus during the peak hour. Therefore, load factor is actually an average. Some trips will have more passengers and others less. A load factor of .90 means 90% of the available seats were occupied within a specified time period (15 or 30 minutes). Passengers Per Revenue Hour - It is calculated by dividing the total number of passengers by the total number of revenue hours. It measures the consumption of service relative to the amount of service provided on a unit basis. Passengers Per Mile - It is calculated by dividing the total number of passengers by the total number of revenue miles operated. It measures the consumption of service relative to the amount of service provided on a unit basis. Service Efficiency - Measures the amount of service provided relative to the resources required to deliver that service. Cost Per Mile - Measures the efficiency of the service provided by a specific unit. It is calculated by dividing total cost by the number of revenue miles operated. It allows you to analyze the line to determine which segments are the strongest performers. Subsidy Per Passenger - This is a direct measure of the cost the jurisdictions are paying to provide one passenger trip. Subsidy Per Passenger is calculated by dividing actual revenue collected by the number of passenger boardings. To develop a process that is more manageable and precise, the number of measures that will be used to determine if a service change is required was reduced. To accurately measure a line’s performance it should be assessed based on service effectiveness and cost effectiveness. These quantitative classes measure the amount of service consumed by passengers relative to the amount of service provided and resources required. Therefore, three performance measures are used to give an overall representative view of a line’s overall performance. They are: ! Cost Recovery ! Load Factor ! Passengers Per Revenue Hour February 3, 2000 Page 6 of 25 Metrobus Regional Bus Services Performance Assessment Report LINE CLASSIFICATION Line performance monitoring evaluates all bus service on a comparative or relative basis. This is done by using the above selected performance indicators and performance measures. However, to provide a better indication of how a line’s performance truly ranks against other lines, they must be grouped to provide a more accurate comparison. Each line is classified as either being radial, crosstown, or express. Line classification is used because lines within certain classifications may have characteristics that lead to them performing at a different level than other classifications.