00939805

Component

Northwest Arkansas, like other small urban/rural areas, faces serious challenges in providing adequate public transportation, including transportation services for the disadvantaged. The area has experienced explosive growth in the past decade, which has undoubtedly affected the status of public transportation. A 1992 report, submitted to the Governor's Task Force on Public Transportation Issues, stated that "transportation still surfaces as one of the top social problems in Arkansas." It also reported lack of transportation for medical services, lack of transportation for work, difficulty traveling for food and retail shopping, and inability to travel from rural areas to major activity centers within the state. Unmet transit needs for the four-county area (Washington, Benton, Carroll and Madison Counties) included those of the elderly, low-income adults, the disabled, and children. This project assessed these various transportation providers to determine service area, fleet size, total ridership, type of service, and sources of funding, as well as any restrictions on the funds. Users of public transportation services were also contacted to assess quality of service and level of service satisfaction. Data were collected through surveys of both the service providers and the users of transportation services, and through the US Census. In addition, key municipalities in the study area that sponsor services through transportation providers were interviewed to obtain their experience with transit services in the area. The information was used to identify where problems and gaps in service currently exist. Another objective of the project is to better quantify public transportation needs in Northwest Arkansas. The paper includes the methods used for needs assessment, the survey instruments developed for the transportation providers and users, and the findings of the study. It is anticipated that this study will provide a blueprint for other small urban/rural areas to conduct transit assessment studies in their areas. Because the public transportation challenges faced by the study area are by no means unique to the area, it is also anticipated that some of the observations of the study may be applicable to other fast-growing small urban/rural areas as well.

The CD-ROM contains the proceedings of the sixth, seventh and eighth conferences. The eighth conference proceedings were published in October 2001.

English

p. 214-225

2002

Eighth TRB Conference on the Application of Transportation Planning Methods

References (4) ; Tables (11)

Aged; Children; Customer satisfaction; Financing; Level of service; Low income groups; Needs assessment; Persons with disabilities; Public transit; Quality of service; Ridership; Rural areas; Small towns; Transit riders; Transportation disadvantaged persons; Travel surveys

Fleet size

Arkansas

Highways; Passenger Transportation; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; Society; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning

TRIS, TRB

Mar 20 2003 12:00AM

• A BEST PRACTICE TRUCK FLOW ESTIMATION MODEL FOR THE NEW YORK CITY REGION
• A PRACTITIONER'S ALGORITHM FOR QUASI-DYNAMIC TRAFFIC ASSIGNMENT
• ADDRESSING ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE (EJ) THROUGH COMMUNITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT (CIA)
• AN ANALYSIS OF TRAFFIC GROWTH RATES ON THE TEXAS-MEXICO BORDER
• B-NODE MODEL: NEW SUBAREA TRAFFIC ASSIGNMENT MODEL & APPLICATION
• CONGESTION PRICING AND ROADSPACE RATIONING: AN APPLICATION TO THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY BRIDGE CORRIDOR
• CORRIDOR SIMULATION STUDY FOR THE BRIDGE OF AMERICAS, EL PASO, TEXAS
• DEVELOPMENT OF AN ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE ANALYSIS METHODOLOGY FOR GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION'S MULTIMODAL TRANSPORTATION PLANNING TOOL
• ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF RAISED MEDIANS IN TEXAS: METHODOLOGY AND CASE STUDY RESULTS
• ENHANCING PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT THROUGH THE FULL UTILIZATION OF COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY
• FINANCING THE REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION PLAN: BALANCING EXPECTATIONS WITH FISCAL CONSTRAINT
• FLEXIBLE FUNDING: TRENDS AND POSSIBILITIES
• FLORIDA URBAN LAND USE ALLOCATION MODEL (ULAM)
• GIS APPLICATIONS USING DIGITAL ORTHOPHOTO DATA
• HIGHWAY ECONOMIC REQUIREMENTS SYSTEM FOR INDIANA: STATEWIDE PLANNING APPLICATIONS
• IMPLEMENTING THE LAND USE AND TRANSPORTATION POLICY IN OREGON'S 1999 HIGHWAY PLAN
• IMPROVED PLANNING DATA COLLECTION USING HANDHELD COMPUTERS
• LAND DEVELOPMENT AND ACCESS MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR INTERCHANGE AREAS
• LESSONS LEARNED: ACCESS MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS IN SELECTED STATES
• MAKING LIFE EASIER FOR PLANNERS, ELECTED OFFICIALS, AND THEIR CONSTITUENTS: VISUALIZING THE INTERACTION OF TRANSPORTATION AND LAND USE
• MODIFICATIONS TO TRADITIONAL EXTERNAL TRIP MODELS
• ORIGIN AND DESTINATION ESTIMATION IN NEW YORK CITY USING AUTOMATED FARE SYSTEM DATA
• PROCEEDINGS OF THE EIGHTH TRB CONFERENCE ON THE APPLICATION OF TRANSPORTATION PLANNING METHODS, CORPUS CHRISTI, APRIL 22-26, 2001
• PROVIDING PUBLIC ACCESS TO TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS AND FUNDING WITH A VISUAL, INTERACTIVE TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM
• PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT PLAN FOR THE KELLY PARKWAY CORRIDOR STUDY
• PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT: "DO YOU HAVE A 'POLICY' OR A 'PLAN'?"
• QUICKRIDE: THE KATY HOT LANE PROJECT IN HOUSTON
• RECENT EXPERIENCE WITH TIME OF DAY MODELING
• RECOMMENDED GUIDELINES FOR THE CALIBRATION AND VALIDATION OF TRAFFIC SIMULATION MODELS
• STATEWIDE PLANNING TOOL TO SUPPORT MULTIMODAL DECISION-MAKING
• SUBURBAN FIXED RAIL TRANSIT PLANNING IN NORTHERN VIRGINIA
• SURVEY DATA REPAIR USING HOT-DECK IMPUTATION PROCEDURE
• TCSP: DEVELOPING INNOVATIVE COMMUNITY BASED PLANNING TOOLS
• THE ROLE OF FIXED COMMITMENTS IN SHAPING ACTIVITY-TRAVEL PATTERNS
• THE TRIUMPH OF THE TRIVIAL MPO
• TRAFFIC FORECASTING TOOL (TFT): A GIS-BASED FORECASTING APPLICATION FOR THE INDIANA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
• TRANSPORTATION DECISION MAKING PROCESS
• TRAVEL DEMAND MODELING AND CONFORMITY DETERMINATION: THE ATLANTA REGIONAL COMMISSION CASE STUDY
• USING A TRADITIONAL TRAVEL DEMAND FORECASTING MODEL TO PERFORM VARIABLE PRICING ANALYSIS
• USING TRANSIMS IN TRANSPORTATION DECISION MAKING
• VALUE PRICING PROJECTS AROUND THE UNITED STATES