Does Transit Service Reliability Influence Ridership?

Abstract:

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.

Publications:

Does Transit Service Reliability Influence Ridership? (Full Report)

Research Brief

Authors:

SRINIVAS S PULUGURTHA, PHD, PE, FASCE

Dr. Pulugurtha is currently working as a Professor & Research Director of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He is also the Director of the Infrastructure, Design, Environment, and Sustainability (IDEAS) Center at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

RAUNAK MISHRA, MTECH

Mr. Raunak Mishra is pursuing his PhD in the Infrastructure and Environmental Systems (INES) program at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. His areas of interest are traffic safety, connected and automated vehicles, transit systems, and traffic operations.

SRAVYA L JAYANTHI, MS

Ms. Sravya L. Jayanthi is a former graduate student in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where she earned her Master’s degree focusing in Transportation Engineering. Her areas of interest are transit systems, traffic safety, and traffic operations.

Published:

November 2022

Keywords:

Reliability

Ridership

Transit

Road network

Socioeconomic

Land use characteristics

Correlation

Bus stop

Demographic