2018 Annual Transit Report Planning & Infrastructure – September 2019 Table of Contents Introduction – Transit is important ............................................................................................................... 3 Current System Performance ........................................................................................................................ 4 Comparisons with other Transit Systems ..................................................................................................... 9 Route Performance ..................................................................................................................................... 13 Customer Engagement ............................................................................................................................... 18 Progress on Regional Transit Integration .................................................................................................... 27 Going Forward ............................................................................................................................................ 29 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................................. 30 Appendix 1 – Glossary of Transit System Performance Terms ................................................................... 31 2 Introduction – Transit is important Why Public Transit? Public transportation transforms communities and the lives of the people living in them by spurring economic development, promoting sustainable lifestyles and providing a higher quality of life. Every segment of American society - individuals, families, communities, and businesses - benefits from public transportation. -American Public Transportation Association Quick Facts: It is more affordable to take transit than driving. Traveling by public transportation is 10 times safer per mile than traveling by automobile. Providing transit makes communities more desirable place to live. It serves people of all ages and social abilities (we have people in our municipalities that do not own a car). There is an environmental benefit when a single bus at capacity removes about 21 cars from already congested highways. The purpose of this report is to provide information about Spruce Grove Transit’s recent operations and current plans for improvement and growth. This report will establish and may add additional key performance indicators for transit. Many of these indicators are based upon industry standards so that they are comparable to other transit systems across Canada. This report will contain the following sections: 1. Current System Performance: This section will provide historic and current data related to several Key performance indicators for transit. The information is supplied from Edmonton Transit Service (ETS) and some is based upon financial statements provided from ETS. 2. Comparisons with other Transit Systems: This section will compare the performance of Spruce Grove Transit with others from within the Metro Edmonton area and from transit operations of similar sized populations from Alberta and across Canada. 3. Route Performance: This section will examine some route specific performance indicators. These indicators will become more important and relevant to establish transit standards and eventually a transit master plan. 4. Customer engagement: This section will focus on key outcomes/findings of various kinds of customer engagement. 5. Conclusions: Some final conclusions based upon material presented as part of the report. 3 Current System Performance The purpose of this section is to provide background information about the current system performance of the Spruce Grove Transit System. The information provided in Table 1 reflects common indicators used by other Canadian Transit systems as defined through the Canadian Urban Transit Association (CUTA). A definition and other information about each of the data items and key performance indicators listed in Table 1 is provided in Appendix A. Table 1: Spruce Grove Annual System Performance 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Population served (Spruce Grove only) 29,526 32,036 33,640 34,881 35,766 Revenue vehicle hours 4,964 6,384 6,528 7,483 10,826 Total vehicle hours 6,136 8,663 9,178 10,143 15,115 Passenger trips 83,392 87,091 90,183 107,277 129,477 Passenger trips (not including Acheson) 127,036 Total direct operating expenses $1,146,101 $1,232,969 $1,376,662 $1,932,795 $1,989.431 Total net direct operating expenses (not $1,533,231 incl. Acheson Total Revenues (including Acheson Fees $449,503 $450,419 $507,573 $903,606 $998,199 & Fares) Total Revenues (not including Acheson) $530,819 Revenue/Cost ratio (including Acheson 39% 37% 29% 26% 27% Service) Revenue/Cost ratio (not including 35% Acheson Service) Municipal operating contribution/Capita $16.33 $17.96 $16.80 $20.71 $28.03 Total Direct Operating Expenses $13.74 $14.16 $15.26 $13.37 $15.37 /Regular Service Passenger Total Direct Operating Expenses $12.07 /Regular Service Passenger (not incl. Acheson) Average Fare $5.32 $5.13 $4.43 $4.59 $4.19 Net Direct Operating Cost/Passenger $8.35 $8.99 $10.84 $13.37 $15.37 (including Acheson) Net Direct Operating Cost/Passenger $12.07 (not incl. Acheson) Ridership/Capita (including Acheson) 2.82 2.72 2.68 3.08 3.62 Revenue Vehicle Hours/Capita (incl. 0.17 0.20 0.19 0.21 0.30 Acheson) Passengers / Revenue Vehicle Hours 16.80 13.64 13.81 14.34 11.96 Total Direct & Auxiliary Operating $186.78 $142.31 $149.98 $190.55 $183.77 Expense / Revenue Vehicle Hours (incl. Acheson) Total Direct & Auxiliary Operating $131.62 Expense / Total Vehicle Hours (incl. Acheson 4 As detailed in Table 1, between 2014 and 2018, the population served by Spruce Grove Transit has grown by 21%. During the same period, transit boardings have grown by 55% to 129,477 passenger trips in 2018, resulting in an increase in boardings per capita. Fig. 1 Spruce Grove Transit – total transit boardings 2012 to 2018 Spruce Grove Transit has increased service since 2016 with the introduction of route 562 to West Edmonton Mall and South Campus LRT station. With the introduction of Upass in 2017 there has been additional peak hour service increases due to over-crowding. In 2018, the City introduced two hour interval mid-day service as part of the transit service plan. Figure 2 below highlights the revenue service hours from 2014 to 2018 which has increased by 118%. The primary measure of service productivity, ridership per revenue service hour, has moved between 16.8 in 2014 to 11.96 in 2018 the change reflects both increasing service hours and increasing ridership. 5 Fig. 2 Revenue Vehicle Hours – Hours in operation providing service to the public. Boardings per capita has increased by 28% from 2014 to 2018. This can be attributed to overall population growth and the increase in the number of students taking transit (figures include Acheson service). (The service area only includes the City of Spruce Grove) Fig. 3 Per Capita population utilizing Spruce Grove Transit 6 Revenue & Costs When combined with a general trend of increasing ridership, overall revenues have ranged between approximately $400,000 and $500,000, with fare revenue comprising the majority of this sum. In 2017, total revenue increased to $903,606 with the cost sharing for routes 561 and 562 for Acheson service for Parkland County. In 2017, the City saw consistent revenue related to Upass, which was higher than the sale of student passes in previous years. In addition to approximately $722,228 of municipal operating funding, Spruce Grove Transit also received approximately $241,000 from the Government of Alberta through its Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) in 2017. The average fare collected by Spruce Grove Transit has fluctuated annually; in 2014, it stood at $5.32, but has declined since to $4.59 in 2017. A lower average fare reflects more local service which has not been the operating model for Spruce Grove Transit. The hourly expenses charged by ETS to operate Spruce Grove Transit have increased significantly between 2014 and 2018, due in part to increased labour and fuel costs, but also due to increased service hours. The total direct & auxiliary operating expense per vehicle hour peaked in 2017 at $190.55 and were at their lowest point in 2015 where it was $142.31. Operating costs did decrease in 2018 to $183.77. With the City of Spruce Grove acquiring six (6) commuter buses, the direct cost for maintenance, storage, fuel and insurance is charged directly to the City rather than incorporated into single fee. This allows the City to be transparent and track costs. In this period fuel costs were on a decline from 2015 to a low point in February 2016 increasing steadily through 2017 and 2018 back to the same level as 2014 approximately $1.28/Litre. Taking the lowest year (2015) to the highest year (2017), the rate of change is 34%. This reflects the growth of service as well as the direct costs of maintaining and operating service through ETS. It should also be noted that in 2018 Spruce Grove administrative costs related to operating the system are reflected in the total cost of operation for the first time. 7 The revenue/cost (R/C) ratio is a key metric for understanding the proportion of expenses recuperated by fare revenues generated. Spruce Grove Transit has historically recovered a significant portion of costs through fare revenues. Between 2012 and 2015, the ratio has remained