Building Transit Ridership

Addresses transit's ridership and its share of the travel market. The research explored a variety of different public policies and transit management actions that can potentially influence transit ridership, particularly in comparison to local travel by private vehicle.

This report consists of a Handbook and a Workbook. The Handbook identifies and describes passenger amenities and transit vehicle characteristics that attract ridership and explores how amenities may affect ridership. The Workbook includes information gathered from passenger surveys, focus groups, discussion sessions, and transit agency staff on the effect of recently implemented transit amenities on passengers. As a companion to the Workbook, a disk, "The Transit Design Game, " enables transit agencies to survey their customers about their priorities for enhancements and estimate the potential effect of enhancements on ridership. The intended audience includes transit planners, designers, general managers, and project managers; transportation policy makers; city and regional planners; and suppliers, vendors, and manufacturers.

"TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Report 111: Elements Needed to Create High-Ridership Transit Systems explores the strategies used by transit agencies to create high ridership. The report includes case studies that focus on the internal and external elements that contributed to successful ridership increases and examines how the transit agencies influenced or overcame internal and external challenges to increase ridership. The report includes a companion interactive CD-ROM that contains a database of individual transit agency ridership strategies linked to the strategies and examples presented in the report. The CD-ROM also contains a brochure that outlines the key elements identified in this report for increasing and sustaining ridership." -- publisher's website.

What are the best transit cities in the US? The best Bus Rapid Transit lines? The most useless rail transit lines? The missed opportunities? In the US, the 25 largest metropolitan areas and many smaller cities have fixed guideway transit—rail or bus rapid transit. Nearly all of them are talking about expanding. Yet discussions about transit are still remarkably unsophisticated. To build good transit, the discussion needs to focus on what matters—quality of service (not the technology that delivers it), all kinds of transit riders, the role of buildings, streets and sidewalks, and, above all, getting transit in the right places. Christof Spieler has spent over a decade advocating for transit as a writer, community leader, urban planner, transit board member, and enthusiast. He strongly believes that just about anyone—regardless of training or experience—can identify what makes good transit with the right information. In the fun and accessible Trains, Buses, People: An Opinionated Atlas of US Transit, Spieler shows how cities can build successful transit. He profiles the 47 metropolitan areas in the US that have rail transit or BRT, using data, photos, and maps for easy comparison. The best and worst systems are ranked and Spieler offers analysis of how geography, politics, and history complicate transit planning. He shows how the unique circumstances of every city have resulted in very different transit systems. Using appealing visuals, Trains, Buses, People is intended for non-experts—it will help any citizen, professional, or policymaker with a vested interest evaluate a transit proposal and understand what makes transit effective. While the book is built on data, it has a strong point of view. Spieler takes an honest look at what makes good and bad transit and is not afraid to look at what went wrong. He explains broad concepts, but recognizes all of the technical, geographical, and political difficulties of building transit in the real world. In the end,Trains, Buses, People shows that it is possible with the right tools to build good transit.

The report documents and presents how the image of transit can be strengthened by building on existing positive perceptions. The research provides a communications strategy to guide national, regional, and local efforts to enhance the image and visibility of transit in order to create a more positive and supportive environment.