TECHNICAL REPORT STANDARD TITLE PAGE 1. Report No. 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient's Catalog No. 392-11 4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date Assessment of Operational Barriers and Impediments to Transit Use: Transit December 2001 Information and Scheduling for Major Activity Centers 6. Performing Organization Code 7. Author(s) 8. Performing Organization Report No. Hardin, Jennifer, Tucker, Lisa, and Callejas, Linda 9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Work Unit No. National Center For Transit Research (NCTR) University of South Florida CUT 100 11. Contract or Grant No. 4202 East Fowler Avenue, Tampa, FL 33620 DTRS98-G-0032 12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address 13. Type of Report and Period Covered Office of Research and Special Programs Florida DOT U.S. Department of Transportation 605 Suwannee Washington, DC 20590 Tallahassee, Florida 32399 14. Sponsoring Agency Code 15. Supplementary Notes Supported by a Grant from the USDOT Research and Special Programs Administration, and the Florida Department of Transportation 16. Abstract The decision to use public transit as a means of alternative transportation is a somewhat complex process. The potential rider must know that a public transportation system is available, how to contact the public transportation system for information on how to use the system for each desired trip, where to go to catch a bus, how to recognize bus stops, which side of the street to stand on to catch a bus going to his destination, how to make transfers, the fare and fare media accepted for each trip, as well as how to read and understand bus system maps and schedules. If the individual must wait for a bus, the final decision to ride may also be impacted by the safety and comfort of the bus stop environment. The on-board experience, which includes passenger comfort and driver courtesy and assistance, will also be important to the rider’s overall impression and opinion of public transit. Problems encountered in any of the transit experience elements described above can result in a decision to find alternative means of transport. Many barriers encountered in the transit experience may be rectified by transit agencies with relatively little expense. This project provided a preliminary assessment of the issues or problems encountered by existing and potential transit users in the overall transit experience that may become barriers to using transit. In addition, the project includes detailed analyses of two identified barriers with the potential to be overcome with a feasible level of effort and investment of resources by transit agencies: the user-friendliness of printed transit information materials and the level of transit service provided to major activity centers. Following the analyses, summary recommendations are offered to facilitate the elimination of these two identified barriers to transit use throughout Florida, as well as suggestions for future research. 17. Key Words 18. Distribution Statement Transit Barriers, Bus Schedules, Route Available to the public through the National Technical Information Service Maps, Transit Scheduling, Transit (NTIS), 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, VA 22161, (703) 487-4650, and Literacy, Major Activity Centers, Non- through the NCTR web site at http://www.nctr.usf.edu/ Users 19. Security Classif. (of this report) 20. Security Classif. (of this page) 21. No. of pages 22. Price Unclassified Unclassified 175 Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-69) TECHNICAL REPORT STANDARD TITLE PAGE State of Florida Department of Transportation Public Transit Office 605 Suwannee Street Tallahassee, FL 32399-0450 (850) 414-4500 Project Manager: Tara Bartee Planning Administrator National Center for Transit Research Center for Urban Transportation Research University of South Florida 4202 E. Fowler Avenue, CUT 100 Tampa, FL 33620-5375 (813) 974-3120 Project Director: Dennis Hinebaugh, Transit Program Director Project Manager: Jennifer A. Hardin, Research Associate Project Staff: Lisa Tucker, Research Assistant Linda Callejas, Research Assistant The opinions, findings and conclusions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the U.S. Department of Transportation or the State of Florida Department of Transportation. OPERATIONAL BARRIERS & IMPEDIMENTS TO TRANSIT USE Introduction Currently, there are 22 fixed-route bus transit systems in operation within the state of Florida. These systems operate in a variety of environments, from large, densely populated urban areas such as Miami, Florida, to more rural environments such as those found in Ocala, Florida, and Indian River, Florida. The systems also vary in size, from those operating more than 200 buses to systems operating 1 to 9 vehicles. Despite all of this variation, the 22 fixed-route bus systems in Florida all share a common goal – to increase ridership and enhance community mobility. Increasing transit ridership is a complex task that may involve a multitude of important variables, including many that are actually external to the transit system, such as land use and density (i.e., location and concentration of residences, employment centers, and other commercial/recreational areas), income, and auto ownership rates. The external conditions, while having tremendous impact on ridership, are, in many ways, outside the control of individual transit systems. However, a number of the variables that may affect transit ridership can be influenced by public transit systems. By addressing these variables, transit systems may be able to accomplish the goals of both increasing ridership and enhancing community mobility, even in situations where the external variables mentioned previously are not particularly favorable for transit. The individual decision to use public transit as a means of personal transportation is a somewhat multifaceted process. The decision requires that potential passengers have knowledge of available transit services, information on how to use the service, as well as information related to the cost and method of payment for the service. Potential passengers will also base their decision to ride on whether or not the transit service travels to the places they would like to go at times that they would like to travel. Individual riders must know where to go to catch a bus, how to recognize bus stops, and perhaps even how to transfer between vehicles. Passengers must also understand bus schedules and route maps in order to plan their trip. The decision to use transit will also be impacted by the level of safety and comfort associated with the bus stop environment, as well as the overall experience on board a transit vehicle. Each of these variables represents a potential barrier to using public transit. If potential passengers experience difficulties related to any of these variables, their decision to use public transit may be reversed. Many of the potential barriers described in relation to the transit experience may be rectified by transit systems with relatively little expense. The objective of the present project is to identify those issues or problems encountered by existing and potential transit users in the overall transit experience that may become barriers to using transit. This document presents the results of these efforts. This report is divided into two parts with a total of four distinct chapters. Part One is dedicated to the identification of potential barriers to accessing transit experienced faced by non-users. Chapter One contains an extensive review of Final Report Introduction i OPERATIONAL BARRIERS & IMPEDIMENTS TO TRANSIT USE local, state, and national literature pertaining to potential barriers to using transit in the United States. Chapter Two presents the results of a review of the barriers identified by current transit on-board passenger surveys conducted by CUTR for transit systems throughout the state of Florida. The information presented herein is drawn primarily from comparable customer satisfaction data collected from nine transit systems of varying size in Florida. Part Two builds on the identification of potential barriers presented in Part One by selecting two of the potential barriers (transit information and scheduling for major activity centers) for further investigation in the field through various types of observational tests. Chapter Three, the first chapter included in Part Two, examines the potential for printed transit information materials to become a barrier to transit use by presenting the results of field tests designed to measure the understandability and effectiveness of existing printed transit information in Florida. The chapter closes with recommendations offered to improve the user-friendliness and usability of printed transit information materials. Chapter Four focuses on transit scheduling to serve major activity centers. The field tests conducted for this chapter compare transit access to identified major activity centers in 13 communities throughout Florida with the operating hours associated with each activity center and offers recommendations for further assessment of transit scheduling practices. Final Report Introduction ii OPERATIONAL BARRIERS & IMPEDIMENTS TO TRANSIT USE Table of Contents Introduction .................................................................................................................. i PART ONE: IDENTIFICATION OF POTENTIAL BARRIERS & IMPEDIMENTS TO TRANSIT USE Chapter One: Transit Barriers Literature Review ........................................................ 2 Public Transit