The Service Planning Process

Involves changes in where, when, and how services run in response to changing factors like land use, travel patterns, and resources
Service goals:
- Provide a network of quality transit services for citizens and tourists
- Measure the service delivered by the transit agency within the existing budget
- Promote a positive alternative to auto travel by encouraging choice riders to use transit, which in turn will help reduce traffic congestion, air pollution, and energy consumption
- Provide adequate service for the elderly, young, people with disabilities, and low-income populations
- Run buses in a safe, clean, and in a convenient way
Planners should place emphasis on providing bus service to key activity areas such as employment, shopping, medical, and education, considering:
- A transit network with routes and stops consistent with currend demands
- A convenient schedule that riders can understand
- A reliable transit service
- Coordinated transfer opportunities
- Effective integration with other public transportation systems like BRT or LRT
- Amenities at station and stops
- Reasonable fares
- Park-and-ride and parking facilities, when appropriate

Service Standards and Performance Measures

Flexible service allows for deviations from the predefined route path to provide service to transit riders who live in surrounding areas
Areas with a very low population density may require some level of minimal transit service
Service availability measures a commuter’s ability to access and use transit
- Service area characteristics
- Service coverage
- Route layout and design
- Stop location and spacing

Service coverage is commonly determined by a percentage of the population that live within a quarter mile of a bus stop
- 20,000 persons/sq. mi. or higher: A quarter-mile walking distance
- 10,000 - 20,000 persons/sq. mi: A quarter to half a mile
- 5,000 - 10,000 persons/sq. mi: A half mile to a three-quarter mile
- 0 - 5,000 extremely low density: One mile or greater
Factors affecting route spacing include:
- Geographic conditions
- Roadway layout
- Population density
- Activity centers
Service directness is the degree of which a route deviates from the shortest path of the route, from beginning to end
Narrow and winding residential streets aren’t conducive to large bus operation
The FTA requires transit service policies and standards for 5 specific items:
- Vehicle load
- Vehicle assignment
- Vehicle headway
- Distribution of transit amenities
- Transit access

Service frequency is the number of directional bus trips within a specified period of time (ex: 3 buses per hour)
Headway refers to the amount of time between consecutive trips (ex: 20-minute headway)

\[\begin{equation} headway = \dfrac{1}{frequency} \end{equation}\]

A common mistake is to communicate that the transit agency is providing more service by increasing headways, when the opposite is true in reality
- Instead, communicate that the agency is providing additional service, or a particular route will be running more frequently
3 types of headways:
- Based on policy: Typically used when passenger loads don’t conform to loading standards
- Based on demand: Provide the best possible service to passengers based on bus loading standards
- Based on the clock-face: Run on consistent intervals (ex: every hour) so that it’s easier for passengers to remember the arrival times of buses at particular stops
Span service is the number of hours and days that the service functions

The development of service standards should be open to the public, and they should be given the opportunity for input into the process
Requests for service changes and new services can be requested by anyone
Often, the transit agency has an advisory group that meet as needed for service changes to address the following:
- Identify issues, opportunities, and concerns
- Ensure that proposed service changes will operate reliably and safely
- Identify actions that may be needed to implement changes

Since most systems are public-funded, the transit manager needs to improve productivity and effectiveness by providing the most rides possible with existing funds
The need for better productivity has to be balanced with maintaining a LOS that retains current riders and, hopefully, attracts new ones

Performance indicators usually have three categories:
- Cost-efficiency
- Cost-effectiveness
- Service effectiveness
Service input statistics include:
- Number of operators
- Number of vehicles
- Service hours
- Total dollar cost of operating the service
Most transit properties measure service output in terms of revenue vehicle miles or revenue vehicle hours, while consumption is measured most often as the number of passengers

Poor-performing services that don’t meet minimum standards may be considered for corrective actions such as:
- Schedule adjustments: Frequency and service span
- Route modifications: Productivity and cost-effectiveness
- Elimination: Underperforming ridership with little growth

The evaluation of new service proposals will take place as proposals are received or needs are identified
Ridership and cost projections for new and altered services should be prepared whenever service changes are proposed
The final and most important step in the evaluation process is the corrective actions that will be taken by the manager or policy board to increase the efficiency or effectiveness of the system