Does Transit Service Reliability Influence Ridership?

This research focused on analyzing the association between transit service reliability indicators and ridership. Further, the effect of road network, demographic, socioeconomic, and land use characteristics on transit service reliability was analyzed. The analysis was conducted at a bus stop level. Bus arrival/departure and ridership data from the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) was obtained. The road network, demographic, socioeconomic, and land use characteristics were captured within 0.25-mile and 0.50-mile buffers. Pearson correlation analysis was conducted to understand the association between road network, demographic, socioeconomic, and land use characteristics and bus transit service reliability measures. The results show that bus transit service reliability has a substantial impact on ridership and is influenced by road network, demographic, socioeconomic, and land use characteristics within the bus stop vicinity. The findings help public transportation agencies to effectively utilize available resources, plan, and provide equitable services to all riders.

University: 
Mineta Consortium for Transportation Mobility
UNC Charlotte
Principal Investigator: 
Srinivas S. Pulugurtha, PhD
PI Contact Information: 

Director of IDEAS Center
Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering
The University of North Carolina at Charlotte
9201 University City Boulevard
Charlotte, NC 28223-0001
Tel. (W): +1 704 687 1233
E-mail: sspulugurtha@uncc.edu 

Funding Source(s) and Amounts Provided (by each agency or organization): 

U.S. Department of Transportation, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

Total Project Cost: 
37,500
Agency ID or Contract Number: 
69A3551747127
Dates: 
November 2022
Project Number: 
2118

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CSUTC
MCEEST
MCTM
NTFC
NTSC

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