Hosted by the Virginia Transit AssociationVirginia Transit Association Virginia Transit Association...

Hosted by the

Virginia Transit Association


1108 East Main Street, Suite 1108

Richmond, VA 23219

804.643.1166

www.vatransit.com

Transit Ridership - Why the Decline

and How to Increase

Transit Ridership - Why the Decline and

How to Increase

• Questions:

Type questions into the box

at bottom of webinar panel.

Panelists will address all

questions at end of webinar

(include panelist name.)


and How to Increase

• Panelists

– Aaron Weinstein, Chief Marketing Officer, San Francisco

Bay Area Rapid Transit District

– JC Vannatta, Director of Communications and Marketing,

Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District (TriMet) in

Portland, Oregon

– Ted Day, Transit Planner, King County Metro Transit, WA

February 8 - 9, 2018 BART Board Workshop 2018

Ridership Trends and Challenges

4

Nationwide change in ridership

4.1%3.1% 3.5%

-2.6%

1.5%

3.3%

1.4%

2.8%3.3%

0.2%

-1.6%

4.4%

6.1%

4.2%

-5.8%

-1.9%

5.6%

7.8%

1.2%

6.1%

2.2%

0.2%

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Year-to-year % change

Heavy Rail (includes BART) BART

5

Source: APTA, unlinked trips by calendar year

Potential Ridership Factors(partly drawn from APTA Webinar, Dec 2017)

1. Population

2. Employment, School Enrollment

3. Travel time competitiveness –Congestion Impacts

4. Changes in time expectations –immediate gratification

5. App-based door to door services – TNC and bikeshare –off-peak impacts

6. Car ownership, financing/leasing costs

7. Cost competitiveness/Pass sales

6

7. Low gas prices

8. Affordable Housing/Gentrification

9. Suburbanization

10. Immigration policy

11. Telecommuting

12. Service issues

13. Construction outages

14. Homelessness

15. Perceptions of personal security

16. Local issues

Ridership, Employment, Gas Prices, Congestion & Vehicles per Household

BART Board Workshop 2018 7February 8 - 9, 2018

60

70

80

90

100

110

120

130

140

2007

JU

L

2007

SEP

T

2007

NO

V

2008

JA

N

2008

MA

R

2008

MA

Y

2008

JU

L

2008

SEP

T

2008

NO

V

2009

JA

N

2009

MA

R

2009

MA

Y

2009

JU

L

2009

SEP

T

2009

NO

V

2010

JA

N

2010

MA

R

2010

MA

Y

2010

JU

L

2010

SEP

T

2010

NO

V

2011

JA

N

2011

MA

R

2011

MA

Y

2011

JU

L

2011

SEP

T

2011

NO

V

2012

JA

N

2012

MA

R

2012

MA

Y

2012

JU

L

2012

SEP

T

2012

NO

V

2013

JA

N

2013

MA

R

2013

MA

Y

2013

JU

L

2013

SEP

T

2013

NO

V

2014

JA

N

2014

MA

R

2014

MA

Y

2014

JU

L

2014

SEP

T

2014

NO

V

2015

JA

N

2015

MA

R

2015

MA

Y

2015

JU

L

2015

SEP

T

2015

NO

V

2016

JA

N

2016

MA

R

2016

MA

Y

2016

JU

L

2016

SEP

T

2016

NO

V

2017

JA

N

2017

MA

R

2017

MA

Y

2017

JU

L

2017

SEP

T

2017

NO

V

Wkday ridership index

Gas price index

Employment index

Congestion index

Vehicles/HH index

12 per. Mov. Avg. (Wkday ridership index)

12 per. Mov. Avg. (Gas price index)

12 per. Mov. Avg. (Employment index)

Congestion

Ridership

Employment

Gas price

Vehicles/HH

Weekend and Off-peak Ridership Decline

Source: Financial Planning Dept., DAS

FY17 vs. FY16Change in Median Ridership

8

-1.3%

-4.8%

-6.6%-7.3%

Weekday Peak Weekday Off-peak Saturday Sunday

35%

30%

30%

26%

23%

23%

20%

18%

16%

15%

13%

Not going to as many events/places near BART on theweekends as I used to

BART service not frequent enough on weekends

Concern about crime on BART

BART is too dirty

BART weekend track closures

BART reliability concerns (in general)

BART fares too expensive

Travel time too long using BART

Due to issues on weekdays (crowding, delays),I try to avoid BART on weekends now

Changed my home or work location

Change in weekend employment (no longer workingweekends, schedule changed, laid off, retired, etc.)

PRODUCT

Why Fewer Weekend Rides?Reasons for riding less on weekends – multiple response

PRODUCT

PROMOTION

PRICE

Source: Ridership Survey, May/June 2017; n = 158 BART Marketing & Research Dept.

NON-BART

NON-BART

PRODUCT

PRODUCT

PRODUCT

PLACE

Sources: BART Surveys, May/June 2017, n = 158; May/June 2016, n = 253

PLACE

9

What Weekend Mode Instead of BART?

Q: [Now please take a moment to think about the last weekend trip you took, where you could have taken BART, but decided not to. (In other words, your destination was near BART, and you were traveling during BART’s service hours, but you decided to use another type of transportation instead.)]

How did you get to your destination instead of using BART for this trip? (Please choose your primary mode.)

Source: BART Survey, May/June 2017; n = 115

*Response category written in under Other

(up from 9% in prior year)


11

Competing TNC trips

• Disproportionately

Eastbay, Westbay, and

Airports


Source: BART Financial Planning and SFO

SFO Ground Transportation Trends

0

100,000

200,000

300,000

400,000

500,000

600,000

700,000

800,000 TNC pickups + dropoffs

BART entries + exits

SFO parking exits

Taxi pickups

Limo


Limo

Taxi

SFO parking

BART

TNC

Complimentary TNC trips

• About half at SF, Oakland, and Berkeley business district stations

• About half at the remaining stations

13

TNCs Impacts On Support For

Transit

BART Marketing and Research Department 14

Q: How much do you agree or disagree with each of the following statements?

Statement

Strongly

Agree +

Agree Neutral

Disagree +

Strongly

Disagree

Don’t

Know

A. In the future, Uber and Lyft will continue to cost too much

much for everyday use, so we will still need public transit

transit like BART as an affordable option. 68% 17% 11% 4%

B. In the future, Uber, Lyft, and self-driving cars will make it

56% 26% 13% 5%

C. In the future, Uber, Lyft, and self-driving cars will make

make traffic worse, so public transit like BART will be even

even more important to keep the Bay Area moving. 54% 23% 18% 5%

D. In the future, Uber, Lyft, and self-driving cars will provide

provide convenient, on-demand service that makes

traditional public transit like BART less relevant. 22% 23% 50% 4%

Tips

1. Understand ridership decline causes

2. Develop comprehensive 3-P’s plan

a) Price

b) Product

c) Promotion

3. Have a strategy for aligning the organization behind it

15

Ridership MarketingMarch 14, 2018

Presented by:

JC Vannatta, Director of Communications & Marketing

Our Vision: To do our part in making our community the best place to live in the country.

Ridership Assessment • Set up internal SWAT team to assess

• Many factors as to why

• No silver bullets how to fix

• Need to develop strategy

• Continually monitoring

17

From this... …to this

• New residents

• Increase employer programs

• Individualized marketing along new lines

• Same tactic on those lines that have capacity

• Increase off-peak ridership

• Partnerships

18

Capturing New Riders

• Electronic Fare (launched new system)

• More ways to pay, don’t have to think about it

• Low Income Fare (launching this summer)

• Access to service (expanding service levels)

19

Lowering the Barrier to Access

• Customer Experience audit

• Where to invest money (cleanliness, amenities, etc.)

• Technology – give our riders ease of access

• Make sure we’re listening

• Riders Club

• Customer service in Social Media

20

The Customer Experience

King County Metro TransitFactors Contributing to Ridership Growth

Significant Regional Growth

• Tech Industry Growth (Amazon, Google, Microsoft)

• More than 1,000 people are moving to Seattle each week!

• Desirable climate and culture.

• City of Seattle of policies are encouraging higher density housing clustering around transit.

Major Transit Capital Improvements

• Sound Transit expanded Light Rail north of Seattle in 2016.

• Metro RapidRide (BRT) program implemented six lines between 2012 and 2015.

• Geographic constraints limit ability to expand road capacity.

• More expansion to come: 62 more miles of Light Rail, three new regional BRT lines, 13 more RapidRide lines, more Commuter Rail capacity.

Fare policies

• Low-income fare instituted in 2016 accounting for five million trips in 2016.

• Regional fare integration for ORCA users.

• Fare simplification and free youth fares coming in 2018.

Partnerships

• State Commute Trip Reduction Law requires large employers to have employee transportation plans.

• ORCA Business Passport is comprehensive transportation program as an employer benefit, covering most transit, vanpool, guarantee ride home.

• City of Seattle buys 280,000 annual hours of transit service, largely in off-peak to encourage and support 24-hour transit use.

• Metro consults with major employers and educational institutions when considering changes.

Service Redesign

• Eliminate duplication

• Integrate with regional transit network

• Consolidate service to provide frequent service throughout the day

• Create simple and direct routes

• Space stops appropriately

• Improve speed and reliability

Service Redesign

To 28,000 households with accessTo frequent (15 min or better) service

From 8,700 households with accessTo frequent (15 min or better) service

Challenges

• Bounce back from recession

• Few available vehicles for adding peak service

• Shortages of bus drivers and mechanics

• Bus garages are near or at capacity

• Uber, Lyft, etc. are a viable option for many riders


and How to Increase

Questions and Answers


and How to Increase

• Contact Information

– Aaron Weinstein - [email protected]

– JC Vannatta - [email protected]

– Ted Day - [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]



Thank You

For Attending!


1108 East Main Street, Suite 1108

Richmond, VA 23219

804.643.1166

www.vatransit.com


and How to Increase

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