01029358

Component

The San Francisco Bay Area has an extensive network of express bus routes serving nearly 140,000 trips per day. To better understand the demand for express buses, we surveyed passengers on 28 express bus routes operated by six transit agencies in four corridors. Freeway flyers, express bus to rail, and limited stop buses operating on arterials were included in the route sample. A total of 5477 surveys were handed out on board with 3353 returned for a response rate of around 60%. Results revealed significant differences between services and passengers in different corridors and by time of day. As might be expected, peak-hour express bus passengers made mostly work trips, while mid-day users made trips for various purposes and had lower employment rates and lower incomes. A less-predictable finding was that the poorer passengers paid full cash fares more often and made more transfers than their wealthier counterparts. Further, although most of the bus routes serve park and ride lots, a surprising 50% of all riders walk from their homes to the bus in the morning, with AM walk access rates as high as 68% for some express bus lines. Most also walk from the express bus stop to their final destinations. The survey results illustrate both the great potential of express services to serve a wide variety of trips in certain markets, as well as the greater attention planners much pay to the diversity of user needs in making changes or improvements to services.

01020180

06-2474

English

19p

2006

Transportation Research Board 85th Annual Meeting

CD-ROM

Figures (6) ; References (3) ; Tables (1)

Arterial highways; Bus routes; Bus transit; Bus transportation; Bus travel; Corridors; Express buses; Fares; Highway corridors

Bus service

San Francisco Bay Area

Highways; Motor Carriers; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2006 Paper #06-2474

TRIS, TRB

Mar 3 2006 11:00AM