pacific nw transportation consortium region 10 Pactrans

Planning Tools for Transit Managers to Improve Efficiencies & Prepare for the Post-Covid Environment

PI: Jake Wagner (UW), jake.wagner@wsu.edu, ORCID: 0000-0002-1614-4282

Co PIs: none

AMOUNT & MATCH: $40,000 from PacTrans; $40,000 Match

PERFORMANCE PERIOD: 3/16/2021 – 3/15/2022

STATUS: Completed

CATEGORIES: Public Transit, COVID-19, Efficiency

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DESCRIPTION: Pullman Transit is the leading rural transit system throughout Washington and within the region, providing over 1.4 million rides annually. Like most transit networks, Pullman Transit is faced with challenging questions in their effort to meet service demands and community needs in a financially sustainable way. Where should bus stops be located? How frequently should each stop be serviced? Which routes should be driven to ensure all stops are serviced while minimizing rider travel time? What should the rider fare be? The answers to these questions are vital to the smooth and efficient operation of any transit network, but transit planners are typically left without the tools they need to make these important decisions.

The objective of this project is to develop a spatial transit demand model that will serve as the foundation of a transit planning decision support tool. This tool will further empower local transit planners with the timely information they need to make informed transit planning decisions. The tool will help planners optimize daily operation decisions, identify transit service gaps, and efficiently respond to both demand shocks (such as the COVID-19 pandemic) and supply shocks (such as a temporary reduction in fleet size).