Category: Service Planning

Coordinated SRTP & Corridor Study

~ transportationanalytics

Client: Solano Transportation Authority (STA)

(c) 2013, Wikimedia user "WikiLeon" / Used with permission under Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 3.0 Unported license.
(c) 2013, Wikimedia user “WikiLeon” / Used with permission under Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 3.0 Unported license.

As an outgrowth of the Bay Area’s regional Transit Sustainability Project, Solano County transportation officials sponsored a project to coordinate planning for the five transit operators in the County by aligning their Short Range Transportation Plans into a single composite effort.  The study also focused on comprehensive planning for the Solano Express intercity bus services jointly funded by multiple jurisdictions in Solano County.

Transportation Analytics prepared the bulk of the financial sections for each operator’s SRTP, including 10-year operating budget forecasts, year-by-year capital programs, and detailed fleet plans.  While each transit operator maintained responsibility for their own performance metrics and service planning, a significant effort was made to harmonize forecast assumptions and key inputs across jurisdictions.  In particular, the integrated financial model developed for this project that accounted for the evolving details of Solano Express service plan, fleet replacement, and financial contributions.  The model also showed the combined capital program for all five operators and identified the total unfunded capital need by project type, which will help STA advocate for funding more effectively in the future.

Bayview Hunters Point Mobility Study

~ transportationanalytics

Client: San Francisco County Transportation Authority (SFCTA)

BVHP_MobilityStudyCover

Numerous community-based organizations (CBOs) serve the residents of Bayview Hunters Point in San Francisco and provide transportation to their youth & senior program clients.  This project brought together neighborhood stakeholders with multiple city organizations to collaboratively develop a business plan for a shared van shuttle service that would offer improved mobility and connections within the community while maximizing use of scarce resources.

Transportation Analytics provided all of the financial analysis for the business plan.  Early tasks focused on a benchmarking evaluation of the CBOs’ current transportation costs, both individually and in terms of the total resources being spent on transportation services.  Based on the proposed operating plan for the shared service, Transportation Analytics created a   financial model that demonstrated estimated costs for prospective participants under multiple scenarios.  The business plan is now being used as the basis for development of formal MOUs in preparation for detailed service planning activities.

Marin Transit Service Delivery Evaluation

~ transportationanalytics

Client: Transportation Authority of Marin (TAM)

ID-100130964_papaija2008_FreeDigitalPhotos-net
Image courtesy of papaija2008 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Under a task order funded by MTC, Transportation Analytics joined Transportation Management & Design, Inc. in assessing the risks and benefits of potential changes in the structure of local transit service delivery in Marin County.  Specifically, proposals were being considered to transition some service hours currently provided by Golden Gate Transit to Marin Transit’s contract operator, and concerns had been raised about organizational capacity and service quality impacts related to the change.

The TMD team assessed the impacts of the transition on customers, employees, operations, functional responsibilities, and physical assets.  Transportation Analytics’ role included evaluating the provision of customer service functions and researching available vehicle fleets to validate service capacity under different service scenarios.

EBBP: Express Bus Business Plan

~ transportationanalytics

Client: Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA)

Proposed Express Bus Network

This study was part of VTA’s Comprehensive Operations Analysis (COA), a market-based effort to systematically review all transit services in the County, in this case highway-based commuter bus services.  Major employers in Silicon Valley have begun to offer high quality transportation options to help attract good employees, and VTA wanted to evaluate their own services with the goal of growing ridership and partnering with employers to offer a comprehensive transit network.  After the team completed the market analysis and strategic direction assessment, Transportation Analytics provided the financial analysis of operating costs and revenues that helped shape the proposed 2015 Operating Plan.  In particular, we developed an interactive planning tool that was used to identify a cost-neutral scenario, and we quantified the impact of multiple options for interim deployment of network improvements.  The first phase of route improvements launched in early 2012.

TSP: Transit Sustainability Project

~ transportationanalytics

Client: Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC)

The Transit Sustainability Project was a major regional effort to conduct a systematic assessment of the 28 transit operators in the San Francisco Bay Area, with a particular focus on future cost-containment and strategies to make services more customer-oriented.  Multiple consulting teams were engaged to develop recommendations for financial, service, and institutional strategies, and to provide technical assistance to local agencies.  Transportation Analytics provided services on three separate consulting contracts.  First, Ms. Dorinson collaborated with Cambridge Systematics on the development and roll-out of their Transit Competitiveness Index tool.  This web-based application helps planners understand the demand factors that influence travel in local and regional origin-destination markets.  Ms. Dorinson provided all of the user training and support for the tool and developed the final report documenting its key capabilities.  With Parsons Brinckerhoff, Ms. Dorinson helped research institutional best practices at peer transit agencies.  In particular, she highlighted innovative mechanisms to foster collaboration between transit agencies in ways that leverage peer experience and help to reduce costs.  Finally, with Transportation Management & Design, Inc., Ms. Dorinson supported the Transportation Authority of Marin in assessing the potential risks and benefits of potential changes in the structure of transit service delivery in Marin County.  She evaluated the provision of customer service functions and helped research available vehicle fleets.

Light Rail Transit System Analysis

~ transportationanalytics

Client: Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA)

(c) 2010, WikiCommons user XAtsukex. Some rights reserved.

Santa Clara County is expected to experience considerable population and employment growth over the next 20 years, and travel patterns may be significantly altered with the much-anticipated arrival of BART.  This study was Phase 2 of VTA’s Comprehensive Operations Analysis (COA), a market-based effort to systematically review all transit services in the County.  Transportation Analytics was a key part of the consulting team, facilitating the early technical workshops on conceptual alternatives and working with VTA staff to bring these alternatives through a three phase refinement process.  At each stage, the team worked together to analyze data on ridership, revenues, user benefits, required capital investments, and estimated operating costs.  Ms. Dorinson’s role on the project was to synthesize these results and help develop recommendations for near-term and long-term changes to the LRT network.  Once final scenarios were established, she conducted a cost-benefit analysis that measured the relative impact of each potential project scenario and prioritize capital projects for future implementation.  The initial recommendations for re-structuring the LRT network were approved by the VTA Board in May, 2010 and the Phase 1 service changes were implemented in October, 2010.