Transit – Page 3 – ACCESS Magazine

Discounting Transit Prices

Cornelius Nuworsoo

Public transit operators in the United States have long known that fare hikes do not increase total revenues. Although while fare reductions might boost ridership, they can also reduce total revenues and thus increase reliance on subsidies. Transit operators trying to balance their budgets need new strategies that can produce more revenue than costs. Some transit agencies have tried selling steeply discounted unlimited-ride transit passes to groups, such as students at a university or employees at a large company. Such deep-discount group-pass programs are paid for either by participants through payroll deductions or school fees, by an employer or school, or by some combination of both. Most existing programs are either employer-based or campus-based. A few neighborhood-based passes are issued through neighborhood associations. Programs typically include: (a) universal coverage of members of an identified group, (b) unlimited rides by group members within a specified period, and (c) deep discounts of from forty to ninety percent of regular pass prices. Some programs also include guaranteed rides home.

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2017-05-30T22:30:45+00:00Categories: ACCESS 26, Spring 2005|Tags: Transit|

Brazil’s Buses: Simply Successful

Aaron Golub

During the next hour, about three hundred buses will come screaming down the avenue below my apartment here in the Copacabana district of Rio de Janeiro. Although three hundred buses an hour is a lot, many avenues in many cities in the world have even higher bus flows. But these three hundred Brazilian buses are different from most. They average less than three years of age, they’re full size (forty feet plus), and carry 85 passengers each. The higher flows in other cities generally consist of older or smaller minibuses. The Brazilian buses are owned by private operators, many with fleets ranging in the hundreds—and a few in the thousands. Most important, they make a profit, receiving no support or subsidy from any public agency. Indeed, buses are big business in Brazil, and have been for decades.

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2017-05-30T22:32:43+00:00Categories: ACCESS 24, Spring 2004|Tags: Regional & International Development, Transit|

On The Back Of The Bus

Theodore E. Cohn

You'll no doubt be surprised to read that transit buses get rear-ended more often than passenger cars do. You’re surprised, I suspect, because buses are so large and obvious. Who could fail to see that bulky bus? Who could fail to know it moves slowly and stops often? These collisions are a tremendous waste of resources. Crashes injure both bus patrons and passengers in other vehicles, damage expensive equipment, cause delays and service disruptions, worsen traffic congestion, lessen acceptance of transit as a travel choice, and they’re expensive. A 1997 estimate found that each crash cost $54,000. Plus, we find, these crashes are largely preventable.

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2017-05-30T22:51:16+00:00Categories: ACCESS 21, Fall 2002|Tags: Technology & Innovation, Transit, Transportation Safety|

Middle Age Sprawl: BART and Urban Development

John Landis and Robert Cervero

BART was the first American rail rapid transit system to be built in modern times, and its arrival was greeted with worldwide attention. BART is famous. Its fame is attached to its favorable image as the answer to the problems of the modern American metropolis. And the extent to which it has succeeded, or failed, to live up to expectations is an important lesson for other cities wanting to emulate it.

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2017-05-31T21:36:01+00:00Categories: ACCESS 14, Spring 1999|Tags: Design‚ Development‚ and Housing, Transit, Transportation & Land Use|

Lost Riders

Brian D. Taylor and William S. McCullough

During the early years of the Great Depression, public transit ridership plummeted by one-third, marking the 20th century trend toward private automobile travel. Sixty years later, transit riding again dropped during the economic recession between 1989 and 1993 , particularly on the nation’s largest transit systems. Although the economy recovered during the mid-1990s and transit patronage stabilized nationally, ridership has not returned to pre-recession levels.

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2017-05-31T21:37:55+00:00Categories: ACCESS 13, Fall 1998|Tags: Equity in Transportation, Transit, Travel Behavior|

Does Contracting Transit Service Save Money?

William S. McCullough, Brian D. Taylor, and Martin Wachs

Reflecting the international trend toward privatizing government services, many scholars and elected officials favor contracting out public transit services. During the 1980s many states and the federal government implemented policies that explicitly favored private-sector participation in the provision of transit service. Proponents continue to argue that contracting will bring dramatic cost savings and improved service and have recently convinced many transit agencies to switch to contracted service.

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2017-05-31T22:37:52+00:00Categories: ACCESS 11, Fall 1997|Tags: Transit, Transportation Finance & Pricing, Transportation Policy & Planning|

There’s No There There: Or Why Neighborhoods Don’t Readily Develop Near Light-Rail Transit Stations

Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris and Tridib Banerjee

In 1990 Los Angeles inaugurated the Blue Line amidst much fanfare as the first increment of a long-awaited light-rail system. The rail line connects downtown Los Angeles to Long Beach, traversing twenty-two miles of the poorest and most neglected neighborhoods in South Central Los Angeles. After six years, ridership has risen significantly, but areas around stations remain unchanged - disinvested, forsaken, and decaying – denying planners' dreams of transit villages and depriving surrounding communities of their hopes for a better economic future.

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2017-05-31T22:40:08+00:00Categories: ACCESS 09, Fall 1996|Tags: Design‚ Development‚ and Housing, Transit, Transportation Policy & Planning|

SmartMaps for Public Transit

Michael Southworth

Many people find the prospect of travel by public transit complex and unpredictable, rather than inviting. Riders must be able to read English, understand complex route maps and schedules, and figure out fares. Some must be able to use electronic ticket and information devices. These systems may seem simple, but many transit users have difficulty making sense of the transit information that’s usually available. Most systems ignore the special needs of children, foreigners, and users who are illiterate, sight-impaired, hearing-impaired, or otherwise disabled.

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2017-05-31T23:06:48+00:00Categories: ACCESS 08, Spring 1996|Tags: Technology & Innovation, Transit, Travel Behavior|

Transit Villages: From Idea to Implementation

Robert Cervero

One of the more disappointing transportation trends of the 1980s was mass transit's declining market share of metropolitan trips throughout the United States. Despite the infusion of tens of billions of dollars in public assistance for constructing new facilities and supporting bus and rail operations, transit's nationwide share of total commute trips fell from 6.4 percent in 1980 to 5.3 percent in 1990. In California, while transit journeys rose in absolute numbers during the 1980s (one of the few states where this was the case), transit's share of commute trips fell in the state's four largest metropolitan areas, despite their new rail systems: greater Los Angeles–5.4 to 4.8 percent; San Francisco Bay Area– 11.9 to 10 percent; San Diego–3.7 to 3.6 percent; and Sacramento –3.7 to 2.5 percent.

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2022-09-28T23:09:11+00:00Categories: ACCESS 05, Fall 1994|Tags: Design‚ Development‚ and Housing, Transit|

It Wasn’t Supposed to Turn Out Like This: Federal Subsidies and Declining Transit Productivity

Charles Lave

Consider the urban transit "problem." In the 1960s the problem was declining transit patronage. Finances received little discussion because the industry was essentially self-supporting: operating costs were so low that passenger revenues covered costs. In the 1990s "problem" has a whole new meaning: financial deficits. Today, most transit revenue comes from governments, not passengers, and the result is continual fiscal crisis-the search for money to continue the subsidies.

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2022-09-28T19:14:20+00:00Categories: ACCESS 05, Fall 1994|Tags: Planning History, Transit, Transportation Finance & Pricing|