Free New Year’s Eve rides

Many transit systems offer this.  It can be a good marketing touchpoint.  Chicago's subway and bus system, CTA, and the Metra commuter rail system are two such agencies.

Regional and multi-state inter city bus transportation. Thanksgiving is a time of big travel.

 This was in the Thanksgiving entry, but should be separated out.

==========

One overlooked segment in regional transportation planning is inter-city bus service/travel. 

Blog entries

-- "Inter-city bus services," 2009

-- "Intercity bus services are typically a gap in transportation planning," 2014

Resources

-- "Building a better bus hub at Union Station," Washington Post, 2011

-- "The Navigator: Greyhound, leaving passengers out in the cold," Washington Post Travel Section, 2014

-- Intercity Bus Program Strategic Direction Report, Texas Department of Transportation, 2019

-- "States Work to Fill Gaps with Branded, Subsidized Intercity Bus Services," Eno Center for Transportation

-- "Emergent Curbside Intercity Bus Industry: Chinatown and Beyond," Transportation Research Record, 2009

-- "The Curbside Bus Industry: A New Era of Bus Travel, masters thesis by Eileen Collins The Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development at DePaul University in Chicago has done a fair amount of research as well, in part focusing on the Midwest. -- Intercity Bus Research webpage
-- The Return of the Intercity Bus: The Decline and Recovery of Scheduled Service to American Cities, 1960 - 2007

Greyhound is the major US company, and over the last ten years it's been owned by foreign firms.  The previous owner sold off the real estate--many inner city terminals are big and worth a lot as redevelopment opportunities.  

Abandoned Greyhound bus terminal in Oakland, California.  Many stations were built during the era of art deco architecture and have wonderful details.

As terminals close, buses stop on the street, people queue outside with no protections.  Professor Joseph Schweiterman of DePaul University is rare in that he tracks this form of transportation and he wrote about it for MSNBC News ("Thanksgiving is a stressful time to travel. Why it may get worse for these passengers.").  

From the article: 

The past few months have been tough for many passengers using bus stations and curbside spots across the country. Amid a worsening bus station crisis, some city officials have become downright hostile to the key service because of perceptions that it causes theft, loitering and loss of neighborhood aesthetics. While dozens of airport terminal improvements are providing new conveniences for flyers, and as new federal dollars flow for train upgrades, more and more riders of intercity buses are, quite literally, being left out in the cold. 

... On Greyhound, the bus travel giant that reaches more U.S. cities than any other line, stations with spacious and climate-controlled waiting rooms have been shuttered in Charlottesville, Virginia, Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio; Erie and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Knoxville, Tennessee; Louisville, Kentucky; Portland, Oregon, and Tampa, Florida. This has forced lines to move to curbside spots or more remote locations separated from downtown. Greyhound and its partners have suspended service entirely from two state capitals, Jackson, Mississippi, and Little Rock, Arkansas, because of their inability to find workable stations. Concern is high that Greyhound stations in Chicago; Charlotte, North Carolina; Cleveland; Dallas, and Kansas City, Missouri, could be the next to go. 

This crisis is unfolding as intercity bus lines more broadly seem to be enjoying a post-pandemic bounce... More people ride intercity buses than trains, but the lack of high-quality station arrangements raises questions about the mode’s future opportunities.

Three factors are at the root of the crisis. Many municipal governments, once allies, have adopted aggressive not-in-my-backyard stances toward intercity buses, fueled by the perception that bus stations may be unsafe places that generate criminal activity. Adding to this problem, dozens of stations came into the fold of a private real-estate holding company...

Meanwhile, many City Halls appear indifferent, highlighting the lack of clout bus travelers have in policymaking. ... Meanwhile, many City Halls appear indifferent, highlighting the lack of clout bus travelers have in policymaking.

Common sense dictates that intercity bus lines start using public transit terminals with around-the-clock security, restrooms and indoor waiting areas. The federal government has made giving intercity bus lines “reasonable access” to these facilities a funding requirement.

What to do about bus rider customer experience.  Note in my typology on the transit network at multiple scales ("Reprint (with editing): The Meta-Regional Transit Network," 2009), a commenter had to point out to me that I failed to include buses.  I have written about this from time to time, including problems with the set up at DC's Union Station, by comparing it to Toronto and Montreal ("Union Station bus terminal, DC," 2011).

Great 1950s brochure on the Port Authority Bus Terminal in NYC.  Flickr photo by Karen Yang (also see the brochure cover and back panel.)

There are a few examples I've come across where inter city buses are incorporated into existing public transit stations, although it isn't always done well.  DC's Union Station, Charlottesville, even the Silver Spring Transit Center are examples.  Hatmburg's bus terminal is adjacent to the main train station.  In Liverpool they have a separate intercity bus station, a number of blocks away from the main train station  and adjacent local public bus station, and but it's run by the local transit authority.  In Essen, the inter city buses stage at the back of the station.  (That's where I first saw bike racks placed on the back of intercity buses.)

One way to build stronger support for this, at least in core metropolitan areas, where commuter bus service exists, is to include better services for both commuter bus passengers and inter city bus passengers.  Similar to the decline in amenities and customer experience for inter city bus, commuter buses tend to use the public transit shelter infrastructure.

 

A start would be to require center cities to include provisions for inter city bus transit and services into local transportation plans, and for states to have equivalent plans.

Colorado may be the national leader, as it has created a statewide inter city bus transportation program called Bustang (with a derivative called Snowstang for ski service).  I don't know how it works though at the nexus of street, bus, terminal, and passengers.  And the state is still served by for profit bus services.  

Union Station Denver's underground bus terminal is used by public transit buses, I don't think inter city bus.  Design wise it's a great example of how a bus terminal can be integrated into transit stations.  Although this rendering is more lively than the actual.

"Grand Opening for New Denver Union Station Bus Concourse, Designed by SOM," 

SOM press release, 2014

When Greyhound was last up for sale, I suggested that Amtrak buy it ("Two train/regional transit ideas: Part 1 | Amtrak should acquire Greyhound," 2021).  Amtrak does provide some inter city bus service, called Amtrak Thruway, to fill in access gaps to its route network, even in outstate Maryland.

Upholstered cushions affixed to a wall bench by a bus stop on wall by a bus stop on Hackney Road (Bethnal Green/Shoreditch, London) upholstered by the trainees in the Shoreditch Design Rooms upholstery program

Reddit photo. 

-- Shoreditch Design Rooms

Also see: 

-- "Bus shelters as social spaces," 2020

-- "Pathetic not revelatory: Quality of bus stop study in San Francisco," 2021

-- "Transit, stations, and placemaking: stations as entrypoints into neighborhoods," 2013

Digital ad screens in NYC Subway stations display weekend service closure maps

Reddit photo from r/nycrail.

In 2018, I had a meeting and walking tour of part of London with Ivan Bennett, who had been product design manager for the London bus system--it was a fabulous experience, about 6 hours.  

-- "Thinking systematically about bus transit service improvements: spurred by Columbia SC, Edmonton AB, and Baltimore," 2017
-- "Branding's (NOT) All You Need for Transit," 2018

One of the points he made along the way was about digital screens being able to display different kinds of maps much more easily.  

For example, at night, the display of a digital bus system map could be limited to the night time bus route network.  

This is another example of the positive opportunities offered by digital display screens for transit system maps.  

Previously, NYC Subway used posters to present this information, which had to be printed and put up.

Boston Orange Line closure and responses including promoting biking

When various segments of Metrorail lines are shut down for months in the DC Metropolitan area for rehabilitation, I've suggested that a "corridor management" approach should be taken, and alternative modes promoted, like commuter rail and bus ("Transportation network interruptions as an opportunity: Part 2," 2016, "Washington Post letter to the editor on repair-related closure of Rockville and Shady Grove Stations and corridor management," 2021).  Too often that hasn't been done.

The Safetrack signage was kind of "half-a@#$%."

I do remember early on though when Metrorail promoted using bikes instead, with the addition of various yard signs with routing information.  

The signage promoted the "Safetrack" detour.  But there wasn't an active companion program helping people with the switch.

The Orange Line is a heavy rail line serving Boston and the inner ring suburbs of Malden, Medford and Somerville. Pre-covid it had more than 200,000 daily riders.

It's shut down for a month for repair.  Note that property interests are concerned about the decline in transit quality generally as a potential hindrance to their getting tenants ("The Orange Line shutdown puts developers building by the T in a tricky spot," Boston Globe).

-- Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said with the closure, other transit options should be free.  Some are, including shuttle buses.

-- MBTA produced a good guide on options, A Rider’s Guide to Planning Ahead: Upcoming Orange & Green Line Service Suspensions August – September 2022.

-- The City has a nice website laying out options, Orange Line Shutdown in Boston, with more detailed information for different rider groups like students, seniors and the disabled, etc.

-- One of the options are free passes to use the bike sharing system during the shutdown ("MassDOT Releases Bicyclist Guide Ahead of Orange Line Closure Beginning August 19")

-- The MBTA is allowing people with Charlie Card transit fare media cards to ride rail commuter lines for free ("MBTA Releases Travel Plan for Orange, Green Line Shutdowns: Read It Here," NBC10), although I don't know if that adequately serves the people left without the Orange Line.

Fortunately, the Haverhill MBTA Commuter rail line parallels the Orange Line and terminates at North Station.

-- The Globe has an article ("In Orange Line closure, bicyclists see silver lining") about the response by the Boston Cyclists Union.  And yes, these kinds of closures should really be seen as opportunities to promote biking.  From the article:

... The city’s cycling community sees the situation as the perfect opportunity to introduce, or reintroduce, people to biking and bike commuting.

That’s why the Boston Cyclists Union members were at Forest Hill station on Sunday morning. The group offered free tune-ups before leading a group on a practice commute along the Southwest Corridor and Columbus Avenue to downtown.

Under a pop-up tent, a cyclists union mechanic showed a rider how to adjust his brakes and check for bent spokes. On the other side of the tent, another cyclists union volunteer helped figure out what parts were needed to reattach a front wheel. About 30 people turned out in total.

The cyclists’ union has been in conversation daily with City Hall and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation about the closure, said Eliza Parad, the group’s director of organizing.

The additional traffic, shuttle buses, and the ever-present potholes could still be dangerous, especially on Columbus Avenue where cyclists must share the road with cars, Parad said. ...

Mayor Michelle Wu, a frequent Orange Line rider, has been publicly promoting bike commuting in recent days. She led two group cycle commutes from her Roslindale neighborhood to City Hall last week.

Patrick Snyder, 23, hopes the closure will lead to more bike safety infrastructure. He was injured in a bicycle crash in April 2021 in the Boston area and only started biking again after a stint in the cycle-friendly Netherlands. Now he will be among several Boston Cyclists Union members leading group commutes on weekday mornings from various locations along the Orange Line.

The Cyclist Union effort is a good one. 

But a lot more needs to be done than merely saying: ride a bike.

There need to be routes, secure bike parking, and opportunities to test out biking by borrowing a bike, lock, and helmet without having to buy them first.

-- "Revisiting assistance programs to get people biking: 18 programs," 2020
-- "May is National Bike Month too: Part 1 -- a good time to assess planning and programming," 2021
-- "World Bicycle Day is today: Ideas for making transportation cycling irresistible," 2021

That being said the various steps that MBTA, the City, the Cyclists Union, and other organizations have taken are quite remarkable compared to what I remember from the various rail shutdowns in the DC area.  The bicyclist guide, the Rider Guide by MBTA are quite good.

====

WRT developers concerned about the decline in transit quality as a hindrance, maybe that can get anti-transit developers like Larry Hogan of Maryland on board.  But I doubt it.  Note that Massachusetts has a tradition of Republican governors over the last 20 years, and they haven't ignored transit.  They haven't always done the right things.  But it hasn't been ignored.

That isn't the case in many other places.

Detailed service improvement plan for SEPTA Market-Frankford Line is a model for other transit systems

In writing ("Train service in Greater Manchester needs to be reorganized?") about service failures of the railroad commuter service program south of London, I referenced a report-analysis commissioned from experienced railroader Chris Gibb.  It made very detailed and incisive recommendations about the problems and potential solutions.

(Separately, I remember reading detailed improvement recommendations by the labor union working on NYC Subway and by contrast, politically oriented but content-less recommendations by the union working on the WMATA Metrorail system.)

Granted busline improvement programs in places like Seattle ("How Seattle Got More People to Ride the Bus," City Lab) and Salt Lake City ("New and Improved: Expanded Service Hits Salt Lake City ," press release), mostly focused on upping frequency, have had positive results seen in significant ridership increases, even as transit ridership tends to be dropping somewhat on a national basis ().  In both cities, improvements have been funded by city-specific funding initiatives separate from the multi-jurisdictional serving agencies ("UTA unveils improved bus shelters and signs funded by Salt," Salt Lake Tribune).

The PATH system too, has a substantive system improvement program underway that is quite quantifiable ("Port Authority announces plan to increase PATH capacity," ABC7 NYC).

The Philadelphia Inquirer has a story, "The Market-Frankford Line is SEPTA's workhorse. A 'dramatic change' to service starts soon," on SEPTA's various measures for the Market-Frankfort elevated line, which is the system's busiest single line, with over 180,000 daily riders.

Given the rise in new residential development in the area immediately served by the line, ridership has significantly increased, and the agency has had to respond to deal with crowding and other problems.

In terms of baseline service, the line operates with peak frequencies of four minutes across the peak travel periods, from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m, and less frequent service outside of those periods.

Service improvements include:

• Elimination of skip/stop service, where during peak service, A trains skipped certain stations and B trains skipped other stations; leading to long waits on the part of some riders. The elimination of skip-stops will improve service from a train every eight minutes to a train every four minutes during peak hours.
• From 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., frequencies will improve from a train every 10 minutes to a train every six minutes.
• From 7 p.m. to 8 p.m., frequencies will improve from a train every 10 minutes to a train every eight minutes.

According to the PI:

The skip-stop service’s end impacts eight stations, mostly concentrated on the east end of the line, at the Berks, York-Dauphin, Huntingdon, Somerset, Tioga, and Church stations, as well as Millbourne and 63rd Street on the west end.

They are also reconfiguring train seating to add more space for standing--they are 20% of the way through, and hope to install real-time information on train arrivals, but no money has been allocated for such an improvement.

(I know one of my complaints with DC's Metrorail is the surcharge for rush hour during the periods when service is much less frequent.)

That being said, SEPTA has other issues, including problems with structural integrity of the train cars which has created service problems and some advocates argue that the system needs to be "more transparent and open" about what's going on ("Market-Frankford Line issues underscore need for more transparency from SEPTA," PI).

Vancouver TransLink releases Customer Experience Action Plan

-- bus stops, shelters, and transit stations are marketing touchpoints for transit
-- transit's "killer app" is speed and convenience and ideally cost over competitive modes
-- to be most successful transit needs to be offered within an integrated product-service system
-- transit is a mass service and likely to be less comfortable compared to personal mobility delivered by an automobile

So transit ought to be positioned and provided in a manner that is at some level, reasonably competitive with other modes.

I've mentioned the Liverpool--Merseytravel--rail system as a standout in terms of design, branding, and the provision of highly visible customer service stations at main train and bus stations.  In the rail hubs, these include restroom facilities.





Restrooms in transit facilities in the US tend to either not be offered (WMATA has restrooms but you have to get an attendant to let you in) or grim.

Translink, the transit agency for Metro Vancouver, has already been implementing various improvements to the customer experience, such as signage and digital information improvements, wi-fi across the system, air conditioning, and last December, approving a program for installing restrooms at major hubs.

This week, Translink released the 2019-2025 Customer Experience Action Plan, which outlines 64 actions across three areas: (1) services; (2) information; and (3) people.

Focusing on all elements of the customer experience, and repositioning the organization around "putting customers first" are pathbreaking for transit agencies in North America.

The previous decision to add restrooms reflects a greater focus on ensuring the quality of the customer experience to increase satisfaction and ridership.  From "TransLink approves introduction of washrooms into the public transit system," Daily HIve Vancouver:

According to TransLink’s research, public transit authorities in Toronto, Boston, and Edmonton provide washroom facilities for customers, and they use a mixed-approach of implementation and operations. Other major agencies in Washington DC, Los Angeles, and Chicago do not provide facilities.

A survey conducted by the public transit authority earlier this year found that 72% of the respondents indicated washroom facilities would improve the transit experience, and over 20% of daily transit users who responded said they had adjusted their transit travel behaviour at least weekly due to the lack of washrooms.

Approximately a quarter of respondents stated they would use the transit system more often if washrooms were more widely available.

These pages from the Customer Experience Plan "jumped out at me" (along with the four pages of actions, some of which have already been completed).













Given the increased competition for riders pre-disposed to use sustainable modes ("I finally figured out why mobility services are buying other mobility services: they're acquiring customers already familiar with smart mobility;" Uber wants to compete with public transit. These experts are horrified," CNN), transit agencies are going to have to work harder to compete for riders, and to maintain ridership in the face of increased competition, competition that frequently is subsidized by venture capital and leadership more accustomed to acting quickly.

Otherwise, it reminds me of some of my reservations about "open government" and how becoming "more digital" doesn't necessarily make a government more citizen-centric ("All the talk of e-government, digital government, and open source government is really about employing the design method").

Note that while it is not stated directly, the point in this entry, "Branding's not all you need for transit," about "treating transit as a design product" subsumes the point about putting customers first and having a defined Customer Experience Plan in this point:

Within an integrated transit organization and delivery system, the second element is treating transit as "a design product" and ensuring that each and every element within the system of providing transit and mobility services is designed to be effective, efficient, successful, powerful and connected.

TransLink must be doing something right.  They are one of the few transit agencies in North America that is adding riders rather than losing them.

A definite shout out is due SWCA--Sheldan Wood Creative Associates--the design and communications firm that did the design for the planning document.  SWCA produces a wide variety of design products for TransLink including infographics.

While in the past I have mentioned TransLink planning documents as North American best practice, in particularly biking and park and ride, as well as general transit planning--of course, the City of Vancouver is a leader in urban planning especially urban design too--perhaps in terms of the three points I make in "Branding's not all you need for transit" in terms of:

…. a comprehensive approach [is required] for the design and delivery of successful transit as a system. Delivering transit as an integrated system is what will increase transit ridership in substantive ways.

The first element is an integrated transit/mobility system a la the German transport association model. That means that at the regional scale, all the transit and mobility agencies are part of one overarching organization focused on integrating services, planning, routes, and fares.

Within an integrated transit organization and delivery system, the second element is treating transit as "a design product" and ensuring that each and every element within the system of providing transit and mobility services is designed to be effective, efficient, successful, powerful and connected.

the third element, tying it all together, is an integrated branding system. Branding is more than a font or a logo. It includes design within every element of the system, in all its aspects, from signage to liveries for trains and buses, routes, stations and stops, a combined call center, wayfinding systems, etc.

TransLink should also be touted.

WMATA Metrobus proposes to go cashless on limited stop (rapid) bus services

I didn't write about it, but last Monday was the deadline to submit comments about WMATA's plans to go cashless on the limited stop bus services, to reduce dwell time, both from taking cash for fares or adding cash to a SmarTrip card, which is a cumbersome and time consuming process at the fare machine on the buses.

-- Printed survey

I answered the online survey and submitted a brief set of "comments."  Mostly the submission was photos of marketing by Transport for London about places where people can put money cash or credit on their Oyster cards, outside or or external to transit stations.

User experience.  While I support moving to cashless to speed up bus service, I argued that moving to cashless without having fare card machines outside of train stations and greater attention paid to  locations where riders can put money on their SmarTrip cards in more convenient ways does riders a disservice.  Access to farecard services outside of the Metrorail system is the primary point as it relates to "user experience."

(The sections on:

The London Underground (Transport System) as a Design Artifact

Transit Systems and Legibility

Connectivity and access as questions of usability in mobility planning

Wayfinding

Overuse of the subway map concept as a way of representing information

from the entry "World Usability Day," discuss "transit user experience" matters in greater depth.)

Machines for buying Metrocards and adding money to them (either cash or credit) are only located within Metrorail stations.

Farecard machines aren't present on the surface at major bus stops where lines intersect--although the big hulking machines could be replaced by smaller ATM-like machines for non-station locations.

Note the the Transport for London ticket machine in the center of the picture above.  It's small enough to be able to be built into building facades, just like an ATM.  (One issue with stand-alone machines is security.  And admittedly, one issue with machines outside of Metrorail stations is the cost to service and operate them.)

Some retail stores service SmarTrip cards.  While there aren't WMATA fare machines outside of transit stations, it is possible to put money on cards at CVS Pharmacy, Giant Supermarkets, and Walmart stores, and certain other outlets.  Some sell the cards too (Giant, Walmart primarily).

Earlier this year CVS threatened to stop doing so because of problems working with WMATA ("CVS Agrees to Continue Selling Metro's SmarTrip Cards," NBC4).

It used to be that there was SmarTrip signage on some of the storefronts.  Even when present the materials aren't particularly noticeable.

Yesterday, I looked at the facades of five CVS stores in DC and Silver Spring, Maryland and didn't see any signage for the SmarTrip card program.  And Giant has a decal at the entryway stating all the non-grocery services they provide (selling stamps, etc.) and this decal does not list selling or adding money to SmarTrip cards.

Transport for London's marketing of off-transit Oyster card services.  That's why I submitted images from London.

Like this storefront in Hackney Borough on the Mare Street pedestrian mall, about one block from the Hackney Central London Overground Station.  Note the lighted sign reproductions of the Oyster card, communicating very clearly that the store offers Oyster-related services.

One of the marketing programs for off-site Oyster card money-adding services is called "Oyster Ticket Stop" and TfL provides a variety of graphic design treatments for affixing to storefronts.

Some materials refer to this service not as a "Ticket Stop" but a "Oyster Card Top-up"

Other stores even provide walk up windows.

Note that these are independent stores, not chains, and chain stores, with their own brand design requirements aren't likely to go for the same treatment, which in the examples shown above, tend to be garish.  

But it is possible to do something tasteful, such as this "Moneygram" sign posted in a window at a CVS store in Silver Spring.

Oyster Ticket Stop sites incorporated into transit mapping.  Unfortunately, I forgot to mention in the submission that station wayfinding signage and area map brochures for London train stations stations also show the location of Oyster Ticket Stops.  I can't remember if this extends to the maps in bus shelters.  Ticket Stop locations are not included on the Legible London wayfinding signage system (Bus stops are indicated.) 

Wayfinding Map brochure, Continuing Your Journey from Highbury & Islington London Underground Station

The ability to put money on fare cards outside of Metrorail stations needs to be heavily and creatively marketed.  One example is the "Orca To Go" program in Greater Seattle.

Transit marketing materials in St. Louis, by My House of Design

Billboard on the introduction of limited stop bus service in Los Angeles, branded MetroRapid, c. 2003 

This bag is offered to retailers, with the map diagram of the London Underground on one side and the option to imprint store information on the other.

And this should include advertising within the transit system at stations and on buses and trains.

In the surface transit network, locations where SmarTrip cards can be purchased and/or serviced should be indicated on WMATA maps at bus shelters and in dedicated signage at bus stops.

Airports.  I neglected to mention that there should be farecard machines at the BWI and Dulles Airports, since both are served by Metrobus but without the ability to buy a farecard.  Although technically this isn't part of the proposed expansion of the cashless bus program, although it is related to the general question of ensuring access to SmarTrip cards at main points within the system.

Actually at BWI, since there is a light rail station there (I haven't used it, I'll check it out the next time I'm there), you could buy a CharmCard and use it on Metrobus because the CharmCard and SmarTrip cards are inter-operable, meaning they can be used on transit in either Baltimore or the Washington area.

But that element of the transit card isn't well marketed, e.g., at BWI Airport the transit fare card should be marketed as usable on both Washington and Baltimore local transit systems.

(Baltimore) MTA farecard machine

Still, the bus stops at BWI are located away from the light rail station and so additional fare card machines should be made available in the surface mobility service area.

Like what Montreal's transit system does.  The Trudeau Airport is served by bus but not rail.  They call the bus the "747."

Of course, when the Dulles Metrorail station opens this won't be an issue any longer.

Good transit planning resource

It's rare it seems for transportation master plans to reference broader policy documents, to make comparisons to peer systems, etc.

One of the many reasons I find exceptional the Seattle Urban Mobility Plan is because of the breadth of its "Briefing Book," many chapters on best practices, including a comparison to what it has defined as "peer transit systems."

-- Best Practices in Transit, Seattle Urban Mobility Plan

Separately, I am a fan of the King County Metro Transit agency's service metrics.

In the comment thread on the recent piece, "Will buses ever be cool?," I mentioned the concept of the "High-Frequency Network" as part of what I would call the "Primary Transit Network" of a community.

It turns out that in the preparation of the in Nashville/Davidson County nMotion transit planning process, among other elements, they produced a scad of papers on best practice:

Scenarios Details: Strategy Papers
These reports take a detailed look at some of the strategies and issues across all 3 scenarios. To view the comments received on these reports please visit our discussion forum.

• Access to Transit 
• Airport Service
• Better Local Service
• Branding
• Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)
• Commuter Rail 
• Downtown Circulation 
• Express Bus on Shoulder
• Express and Reverse Commute
• Express Regional Service
• Freeway Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)
• Frequent Transit Network
• Light Rail
• Make Service Faster
• Make Service Simpler
• More Service for Longer Hours
• Non-Downtown Service
• Passenger Experience
• Rapid Bus
• Streetcar
• Transit Priority

Rome 2 Rio is an incredible website integrating all forms of mobility to get from one place to another--globally!

US intercity bus service map produced by Michael Buiting.

In a back and forth set of comments spurred by Larry Littlefield's post which in passing discussed inter city bus service in New York State, we were talking about bus route network maps.

In the old days, railroads and intercity bus systems like Greyhound and Trailways published complete maps of their route systems.

Now it's very hard to find such maps. Michael Buiting produced one on his own.  See the past blog entry, "Inter-city bus services are typically a gap in transportation planning."  The entry references some academic research and other writings on the subject.

Larry said you can't find these kinds of maps for Coach USA/Megabus services at the scale of a state or region, let alone a complete network map.

Yes you can plug in stuff online, but you can't get a sense of the full system and all its possibilities, counter to "the old days."  (Similarly, regularly published complete guides for railroad passenger and airline service provided this function, showing all available services.)

Mein Fernbus/Flixbus, Germany.  I mentioned that when I was in Germany, I saw a variety of intercity bus companies in service, near train stations in Essen and Hamburg.  (In Hamburg the Intercity bus terminal, ZOB, is in close proximity to the train station.)

Because some of the Mein Fernbuses I saw had rear-mounted bike racks, I looked into their services more--note they have since merged into Flixbus.

They publish route maps comparable to the maps once published by Greyhound and Trailways, even differentiating between their day and night networks, but I like best an earlier version of their night map (below).

It turns out their website and computing systems are developed by stfalcon, a Ukrainian firm.

Were I in charge of finding a programming team to set this up for a transit system, they'd be one of the contenders, clearly.  This webpage discusses the work stfalcon has done for Mein Fernbus.

Rome2Rio Global Travel Planning website. While tracking done some URLs, I came across Rome2Rio, a travel search and ticketing website that has managed to integrate airplanes, trains, intercity bus, ferry, local transit services, and taxis into one system.

It's pretty remarkable.

US and Canadian inter city bus service map, based on route information collected by Rome2Rio.

But they don't have a function where you can produce and print out master route systems maps as a website user, although on occasion they have blogged about doing it themselves, such as when they added US and Canadian inter city bus coverage to their system.

Wanderu.  Note I have mentioned/used Wanderu to do bus trip planning in the US, as they have a master set of information.  But Rome2Rio takes integration and mode coverage to a whole new level.

Core values and WMATA: customer service and charging for services not received

In the recent reporting on WMATA's (Metrorail in the DC metropolitan area) revenue projections for the coming years and discussion about potentially raising fares, one of the revenue sources mentioned is from people who enter a station and then exit it within a short time, presumably without riding a train, the presumption being that service problems led them to change their mind about proceeding ("Could an Entry/Exit 'Grace Period' Boost Metro Customer Satisfaction," Washington City Paper.

The revenue from this is $2 million annually.  And so the system is hesitant to change the programming for this type of "use" because they'd lose the revenue.

But making money off people who are dis-served, in fact not even served at all, is unethical.

A mission- and values-driven organization would not hesitate in making the right decision and stopping the practice.

This is the kind of behavior that would be protested were it from a prominent retailer.

Washingtonian Magazine doesn't agree ("Metro Shouldn't Reward People for Bailing on Trains.")  It's discussion is focused on finances, and the fact that peer systems also charge people similarly for "bailing on a train."

Applying customer service principles to services provided by government agencies.  From the standpoint of best in breed customer service, if you don't provide the service, you shouldn't get paid for it.  But that doesn't mean its easy for governments to do, especially when typically service (and maintenance) functions are underfunded.  See "How US state governments can improve customer service" and "Implementing a citizen-centric approach to delivering government services," both from McKinsey.

The past blog entry, "Level of Service and Level of Quality aren't just concepts from transportation planning," discusses locating "client" service centers for social services agencies far from where clients live.

This can be an issue with human and social services, medical and health care, and the timing and location of public meetings and hearings.  In the 2009 round of proposing amendments to the city's Comprehensive Plan, I suggested reconceptualizing the Plan as the city's "business plan," although by statute it deals only with land use, by default it is the only "master plan" the city has, to include an element on citizen engagement.  I didn't suggest metrics for service provision, but I did include discussion on holding meetings in accessible and central locations.  It's worth exploring that concept further.

Seattle Customer Bill of Rights.  In 2008, the City of Seattle created a "Customer Bill of Rights" to guide their approach to dealing with "customers."  From the webpage:

Many City employees take great pride in providing excellent customer service. But over the years our system has become bureaucratic and unresponsive. We can always do better.

In 2008, as part of our Customer Service Initiative, we adopted a Customer Bill of Rights that sets clear standards and expectations for our customers when conducting City business. Whether it's water and power, roads, or public safety, our customers are entitled to prompt, efficient and easily accessible service from the City of Seattle.

There are four elements to their Bill of Rights, that services be easy and understandable; responsive; fair; and results-oriented.

Charging for services not rendered is not "responsive," "fair," nor "results-oriented" but it is "easy and understandable," although for the service provider, not the customer.

Transit rider bill of rights.  Apparently. a number of transit agencies have created customer charters such as Boston's MBTA Customer Bill of Rights.  The Transportation Research Board aims to study the issue ("What does a "Customer Bill of Rights" mean for Transit Users and Transit Providers?").

Best practice resources.  I looked at some of the articles on the topic in Governing Magazine, but they didn't really address the issue very well.  Most were more focused on small pieces of the problem or digital communications elements of improving responsiveness by government agencies.  While that's important, it's secondary to the primary point of being focused on providing excellent, quality service to customers of government agencies.

That's a point I made in this blog entry, "All the talk of e-government, digital government, and open source government is really about employing the design method," explaining that if a government isn't responsive at the most basic level, adopting digital communications strategies and focusing on "open data" misses the point.

I came across some interesting reports.  In The road ahead for public service delivery, produced by PwC UK, they start off making a point I hadn't considered, that collectively government agencies are the biggest customer service providers of all.

The report, Re-Imagining Customer Service in Government (by GovLoop), outlines five principles for reshaping how government serves its customers:

• Design With the Customer In Mind
• View Customer Service in the Context of the Mission
• Share Resources Across the Agency
• Tie Customer Service to Open Government
• Consider Lessons Learned from the Private Sector

Note that I am not always a fan of the "customer approach" on the part of government, because it can cheapen the relationship between citizen and government by disconnecting from government the fact that government is created "by the people."  Instead of citizens we become customers.

On the other hand, when government agencies provide services, the activities should be expected to be delivered well, and so applying customer services best practices, standards, and expectations should be standard operating procedure, as is the expectation in Seattle.  Also see "A Framework for Advancing a Culture of Customer Service in Health and Human Services.

The opportunity for WMATA to be a world leader in transit customer service rather than a laggard. Unlike the discussion in the Washingtonian Magazine article, where it is explained that WMATA's practice of charging a fee for service not rendered is standard practice in the industry, and they need the revenue, why shouldn't the agency be very clear about what providing a service means, and that when they don't provide service they shouldn't profit from their failure.

In terms of my point that "world class cities don't just take, they give," nothing prevents WMATA from deciding to practice world-class level service/best practice, to be a leader rather than a follower and change the practice.

-- Best Practices in Transit, Seattle Urban Mobility Plan
-- Best Practices in Evaluating Transit Performance, Florida Department of Transportation

-- From Here to There: A creative guide to making public transport the way to go, EMBARQ
-- King County Metro Service Guidelines, Seattle

Critical analysis and critical analysis of retail, communities, etc.

Urbanophile has a piece, "Creating a Culture of Honest Critique," about how the Dallas Morning News has hired an architecture critic, in association with the University of Texas at Arlington, to up the level of critical analysis for the paper and the architecture beat. The critic, Marc Lamstetter, started off with a serious critique of the new George W. Bush Presidential Center and Library, and apparently the bracing review has ruffled feathers.

Aaron goes on to discuss what we might call the cheerleader issue and how most communities aren't comfortable with hard core critical analysis.  He focuses on "small towns" but I think this is an endemic problem regardless of the size of a community.

I call what I do critical analysis" but most people seem to take it as "(personal) criticism" and they don't like it.  And elected officials in particular prefer to shoot the messenger rather than dealing with message.

2. Along with the cheerleading thing, lately I have noticed advocacy organizations recommending to their members that they don't criticize elected officials, who for the most part, support their positions, as elected officials believe that they are doing all that they can, and that should be respected, rather than focus on the negatives of compromise, stalling, and sub-standard efforts and realization.

Image from Waymarking.com.

That's why I was surprised to see this piece in yesterday's New York Times, "A Whole Town in Colorado Pushes to Improve Its Customer Service," about Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and its initiative on improving the customer service quality of local businesses, in response to "average" ratings on the survey question "How likely is it that you would recommend us to a friend or colleague?"  Analysis of the data found low scores concerning quality and service at local stores and restaurants.

A couple years ago, I wrote a piece ("Speaking of unsatisfactory visitor experiences: the breakfast at Hotel Harrington sucks") that suggested that local convention and visitors bureaus should do "mystery shopper" surveys of local establishments, to provide businesses with third party "objective" evidence about the quality of service, and the need to improve.

This is because many businesses catering to tourists--this is a problem in cities like DC or even Gettysburg, Pennsylvania--are comfortable providing bad service or food knowing that most customers won't be coming back anyway.

3. Relatedly, I argue about the difference between uniqueness and exceptionalism in communities.

All places are unique. But most places function similarly based on various elements and characteristics. That's why I am able to compare places, make recommendations, write plans, etc. But as long as people focus on uniqueness and are unwilling to compare, too often they end up embracing mediocrity and improvement takes a long time to happen, if it ever does. See "Chauvinism, mediocrity, and robust systems" from 2008.