ATTACHMENT 4A Transit Operations Quarterly Report For the Period April 1, 2017 – June 30, 2017 (Q4 of FY17) Page 1 of 59 Contents BACKGROUND .............................................................................................................. 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................. 4 KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS ............................................................................. 8 RIDERSHIP ................................................................................................................... 12 ROUTE PERFORMANCE ............................................................................................. 25 CUSTOMER FEEDBACK ............................................................................................. 41 FARE COLLECTION SYSTEM .................................................................................... 58 Page 2 of 59 BACKGROUND NCTD produces this Quarterly Performance Report to provide information regarding the performance of its operations. The data contained in this report for Fiscal Year 2017 is unaudited and subject to change. In December 2015, NCTD awarded a new contract to Bombardier Transportation (Holdings) USA, Inc. (Bombardier) for combined SPRINTER and COASTER operations and maintenance. Revenue operations by Bombardier commenced with an early start in mid-June 2016, three weeks before the beginning of FY2017, July 1, 2016. The Bombardier contract with NCTD included a more robust capital project program approximating $5 million annually compared to the prior rail operations and maintenance contract in effect during 2nd Quarter FY2016. In the 4th Quarter of FY2017, NCTD reclassified actual capital activity costs of $3.3M from Bombardier contractual operating and mobilization costs to better represent actual operating cost performance for the rail modes for the full twelve months of FY 2017. This reclassification provides a better apples to apples comparison with prior year financial and operational performance. NCTD has also implemented automatic passenger counters (APC) for COASTER operations and has received certification from the Federal Transit Administration to use this technology for the counting of passengers. The use of APCs are more accurate than the manual methodology previously used by NCTD. Comparison of prior ridership conducted based using the manual methodology with APCs may result in significant variations with the APC technology being the most accurate method. Final and audited financial and performance results will be provided as part of NCTD’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. Page 3 of 59 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Ridership Performance NCTD’s ridership performance is consistent with the nation-wide trends of decreased transit ridership, which can be attributed to increased usage of automobiles as measured by vehicle miles traveled and record automobile sales. Increased automobile usage has also been driven by low gasoline prices. Transit ridership has also been impacted by the growing popularity of transportation network companies (TNCs), like Uber and Lyft. NCTD is taking proactive steps to address declining ridership and customer revenue trends. Actions include: 1. Final Board approval of route changes that will be implemented in October 2017. These changes will improve productivity and support increased ridership. 2. Board approval to forward proposed fare change recommendations to SANDAG that would be implemented in July 2018. 3. Engaging with customers via survey to garner feedback about NCTD’s services. Ridership across all modes (BREEZE, COASTER, SPRINTER, LIFT, and FLEX) decreased by 7.02% in FY17 Quarter 4 compared to FY16 Quarter 4 and decreased by 8.63% for the full twelve months of FY17 when compared with FY 16. Customer revenue declined by 7.10% in Quarter 4 and 9.72% for the full twelve months of FY 17. Ridership for NCTD’s fixed-route bus (BREEZE) and rail services (COASTER and SPRINTER) decreased by 7.28% in Quarter 4 when compared with FY16 Quarter 4 and decreased by 8.79% decrease for FY17 (July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017) when compared with FY 16 (July 1, 2015 through June 30, 2016). BREEZE and SPRINTER services are scheduled to support seamless transfers between the modes. Due to a strong interdependence of the two modes, ridership is expected to consistently trend in the same direction. However, this was not the case in FY17 Quarter 4 as SPRINTER ridership declined by 1.62% while BREEZE declined by 9.4%, due to an increase in student SPRINTER ridership. BREEZE Routes 335, 392, 395, have the poorest performance. The NCTD Board of Directors have approved the elimination and or modification of the following routes effective with the October 8, 2017 service change. Page 4 of 59 Table 1: NCTD service changes effective October 8, 2017. During Quarter 4 for FY 17, the SPRINTER experienced significant ridership increases at stations utilized by students with the largest ridership increases occurring at the CSU San Marcos Station (26.46%), the Rancho Del Oro (7.59%), and the Palomar College Stations (6.83%). The significant ridership increases at these stations can be attributed to additional incentives for student ridership. Ridership at the remaining 12 SPRINTER stations declined by 3.12% with the largest decline (12.79%) in ridership at the SPRINTER Civic Center - Vista Station. The COASTER experienced a decline of 6.85% during Quarter 4 for FY17 and 6.50% for the full twelve months of FY17. Solana Beach Station had a significant increase (15.38%) in ridership in FY17 Q4 due to an NCTD marketing campaign to ride COASTER to the San Diego County Fair in Del Mar. However, Solana Beach Station had the largest decrease (20.54%) in ridership for the entire FY17. Oceanside Transit Center had greatest decrease in ridership (23.55%) during FY17 Q4, yet only decreased 2.69% for Page 5 of 59 FY17. The drop in ridership during FY17 Q4 is attributable to passenger confusion caused by SANDAG construction at Platform 3. FLEX ridership decreased in FY17 Quarter 4 by 19.19%% compared to FY16 Quarter 4 and was down by 16.82% for the full twelve months of FY17. This can be partially attributed to the decline in ridership on the COASTER. The two on-demand FLEX zones serve the Poinsettia, Encinitas, and Solana Beach COASTER stations. This performance trend was similar for Sorrento Valley COASTER Connection routes (operated by San Diego Metropolitan Transit System), which are scheduled for seamless connection with COASTER trains. Ridership on these routes decreased by an average of 8.7% in FY17 Quarter 4 when compared FY16 Quarter 4. FLEX routes 373 and 374 are also scheduled for elimination effective with the October 8, 2017 service change. LIFT ridership decreased by 3.07% for Quarter 4 2017 and increased by 1.25% for the full twelve months of FY17 when compared with FY16. The quality of paratransit service declined in FY17 Q4 as the contract approached its end. The average call response time nearly doubled (173% increase) and the average length of calls increased by 36.51%. On-time performance declined by 3.97% during FY17 Q4. Farebox Recovery Farebox recovery decreased for every NCTD transit mode (15.0%), with the exception of SPRINTER, which had an increase of 57.9%. The sharp increase of SPRINTER farebox recovery during FY17 Q4 is consistent with the increase in SPRINTER ridership by college students, who recently received additional subsidies for student passes, giving students additional incentive to ride SPRINTER to campus. Farebox recovery decreased for all modes during FY17 (twelve months), with a system farebox recovery of 15.0%. On-Time Performance NCTD has established on-time performance goals for each of its modes. Following is a summary of the modal performance compared with the goal for both the quarter and full twelve months of FY 17. • BREEZE fixed route on time performance goal is 90.00%. FY17 Quarter 4 performance was 90.09% and FY17 performance (twelve months) was 89.48%. • SPRINTER rail on time performance goal is 98.00%. FY17 Quarter 4 performance was 98.60% and FY17 performance (twelve months) was 99.10%. • COASTER rail on time performance goal is 95.00%. FY17 Quarter 4 performance was 91.40% and FY17 performance (twelve months) was 93.10%. • LIFT ADA Paratransit service on time performance goal is 95.00%. FY17 Quarter 4 performance was 88.59% and FY17 performance (twelve months) was 89.20%. • FLEX on time performance goal is 95.00%. FY17 Quarter 4 performance was 98.13% and FY17 performance (twelve months) was 98.00%. Page 6 of 59 BREEZE on-time performance improved by 2.20% in FY17 Q4 and 1.39% during FY17 (twelve months). The improved on-time performance is attributable to adjustments in bus schedules, which benefited the performance of BREEZE Routes 305, 306, and 347. COASTER on-time performance decreased by nearly 5.42% from FY16 Quarter 4. The declining on-time performance is attributable to construction activity and the performance of the COASTER operations contractor. There are more than six (6) projects totaling $427 million under construction that are impacting COASTER operations. The construction impacts have resulted in railroad closures, longer travel times, and delays. Unfortunately, NCTD cannot eliminate all of the construction delays. However, NCTD, SANDAG, and the construction contractors are working on strategies to minimize the impact of construction on train service. On June 18, 2016, Bombardier Transportation (Holdings)