Transit agencies across the nation are increasingly using electronic fare payment methods to speed passenger boarding, reduce the cost of fare collection, provide various other rider benefits, and support more complex fare transactions. This project, jointly sponsored by WSDOT and Sound Transit, explored the use of fare transaction data gathered from the Puget Sound region’s ORCA transit cards to produce information that can help improve transit agency operations and planning.
This initial phase of the project developed and tested a methodology and tool set for converting electronic fare payment data from regional ORCA (One Regional Fare Card for All) transit fare cards into information that describes the performance of the transit system and how customers use it. This information can significantly benefit the transportation planning processes for both transit agencies and metropolitan planning organizations.
This project obtained and analyzed two nine-week data sets. The first covered February 17, 2015, to April 14, 2015. The second covered March 26, 2016, to May 27, 2016, which was shortly after a new light rail station had opened in Seattle. These data were provided and utilized under a strict set of privacy and security controls.
The project developed ways to combine ORCA payment data with data from transit agency operations files, transit service support files, Washington state Commute Trip Reduction program files, and non-transit-related files such as census data and data on street networks, sidewalks, and land use. Combining data from those sources with ORCA fare data allowed the researchers to estimate ridership patterns and other information useful for transit planning and operational needs. For example, the resulting information included matrices of rider origins and destinations by day of week and time of day, rider transfer locations, and transfer details such as the distances riders walked in order to transfer and the time they needed to make those transfers.
The project team, including staff from the WSDOT, Sound Transit, the Puget Sound Regional Council, and the University of Washington, recommended that the various ORCA agencies work together to develop a single system that will make the use of ORCA data an ongoing activity and will allow all ORCA agencies to access those analytical capabilities. Ideally, ORCA data would be routinely processed through the steps described in this document and routinely used for a variety of planning and operational analyses. Such a system is well within the technical capabilities of the region.
Authors:
Mark E. Hallenbeck
Eric Howard
Dmitri Zyuzin
Washington State Transportation Center–UW
Ryan Avery
Miki Verma
UW Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Sponsor: WSDOT
WSDOT Technical Monitor: Alan Soicher
WSDOT Project Manager: Doug Brodin