Transit Ridership - Why the Decline and How to Increase Hosted by the Virginia Transit Association 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 Questions: Type questions into the box at bottom of webinar panel. Panelists will address all questions at end of webinar (include panelist name.)
Transit Ridership - Why the Decline 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
Ridership Trends and Challenges February 8-9, 2018 BART Board Workshop 2018 4
Nationwide change in ridership Year-to-year % change 7.8% 4.1% 4.4% 3.1% 6.1% 4.2% 3.5% 1.5% 3.3% 5.6% 1.4% 2.8% 1.2% 3.3% 6.1% 0.2% 2.2% 0.2% -2.6% -1.9% -1.6% -5.8% 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Heavy Rail (includes BART) BART Source: APTA, unlinked trips by calendar year 5
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 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 6
2007 JUL 2007 SEPT 2007 NOV 2008 JAN 2008 MAR 2008 MAY 2008 JUL 2008 SEPT 2008 NOV 2009 JAN 2009 MAR 2009 MAY 2009 JUL 2009 SEPT 2009 NOV 2010 JAN 2010 MAR 2010 MAY 2010 JUL 2010 SEPT 2010 NOV 2011 JAN 2011 MAR 2011 MAY 2011 JUL 2011 SEPT 2011 NOV 2012 JAN 2012 MAR 2012 MAY 2012 JUL 2012 SEPT 2012 NOV 2013 JAN 2013 MAR 2013 MAY 2013 JUL 2013 SEPT 2013 NOV 2014 JAN 2014 MAR 2014 MAY 2014 JUL 2014 SEPT 2014 NOV 2015 JAN 2015 MAR 2015 MAY 2015 JUL 2015 SEPT 2015 NOV 2016 JAN 2016 MAR 2016 MAY 2016 JUL 2016 SEPT 2016 NOV 2017 JAN 2017 MAR 2017 MAY 2017 JUL 2017 SEPT 2017 NOV Ridership, Employment, Gas Prices, Congestion & Vehicles per Household 140 Congestion 130 Ridership 120 Employment 110 100 Vehicles/HH Gas price 90 80 70 60 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) February 8-9, 2018 BART Board Workshop 2018 7
Weekend and Off-peak Ridership Decline FY17 vs. FY16 Change in Median Ridership Weekday Peak Weekday Off-peak Saturday Sunday -1.3% -4.8% -6.6% -7.3% Source: Financial Planning Dept., DAS 8
Why Fewer Weekend Rides? Reasons for riding less on weekends multiple response Not going to as many events/places near BART on the weekends 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 working weekends, schedule changed, laid off, retired, etc.) 35% 30% 30% 26% 23% 23% 20% 18% 16% 15% 13% PROMOTION PRODUCT PLACE PLACE PRODUCT PRODUCT PRICE PRODUCT PRODUCT NON-BART NON-BART Sources: BART Surveys, May/June 2017, n = 158; May/June 2016, n = 253 Source: Ridership Survey, May/June 2017; n = 158 BART Marketing & Research 9 Dept.
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.) (up from 9% in prior year) *Response category written in under Other Source: BART Survey, May/June 2017; n = 115 February 8-9, 2018 BART Board Workshop 2018 10
Competing TNC trips Disproportionately Eastbay, Westbay, and Airports February 8-9, 2018 11 BART Board Workshop 2018 11
SFO Ground Transportation Trends 800,000 TNC pickups + dropoffs 700,000 600,000 BART entries + exits SFO parking exits Taxi pickups Limo TNC 500,000 400,000 300,000 BART SFO parking 200,000 100,000 0 Taxi Limo Source: BART Financial Planning and SFO February 8-9, 2018 BART Board Workshop 2018 12
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 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% BART Marketing and Research Department 14
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 Marketing March 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.
From this... to this 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
Capturing New Riders New residents Increase employer programs Individualized marketing along new lines Same tactic on those lines that have capacity Increase off-peak ridership Partnerships 18
Lowering the Barrier to Access 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
The Customer Experience 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
King County Metro Transit Factors 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 From 8,700 households with access To frequent (15 min or better) service To 28,000 households with access To 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
Transit Ridership - Why the Decline and How to Increase Questions and Answers
Transit Ridership - Why the Decline and How to Increase Contact Information Aaron Weinstein - Aweinst@bart.gov JC Vannatta - vannattj@trimet.org Ted Day - Ted.Day@kingcounty.gov
Transit Ridership - Why the Decline and How to Increase Thank You For Attending! Virginia Transit Association 1108 East Main Street, Suite 1108 Richmond, VA 23219 804.643.1166 www.vatransit.com