Metro's $250,000 ridership study
You'll recall that Metro commissioned a study to figure out why bus ridership has steadily declined over the past several years. We've offered our own (free of charge) reasons, but strangely, Metro officials still felt the need to spend $250,000 to figure it out. Tom Bazan got his hands on the study and here is the summary and the recommended fixes:
In order to make significant gains in ridership METRO must…
-- Improve the efficiency of the system – Commuters will not ride the bus if they believe their trip will be longer than if they drove alone.
-- Change the negative stereotype associated with riding the bus – Commuters shouldn’t need to justify to their peers why they are taking the bus.
In a market where 66% of residents are opposed to riding the bus, METRO must find ways to incrementally increase ridership.
-- Target segments of the population open to trying the bus
-- Target segments of the current riders open to riding more frequently
Ways to increase ridership:
-- Improve security at Park ‘n Rides and at stops
-- Improve security on the bus
-- Make it easy to find information on how to use the system, routes, schedules
-- Expand the number of direct and express routes, especially from Park ‘n Rides
-- Add more bus shelters
-- Initiate training for bus drivers focusing on people skills
And there you have it. That's what a quarter of a million dollars bought Harris County residents/taxpayers. Oh sure there are lots of pages in the Power Point study -- 70 to be exact -- but that's the summary.
You'll notice that the study does not recommend cutting bus routes as a means of increasing ridership. Amazing!
I'll add that stories like the one Rad Sallee brought us in August also show why Metro has a bus ridership problem:
Then there's Terrence Wilson, who was paralyzed from the waist down in a motorcycle accident 24 years ago. Wilson, 49, depends on Metro buses and his motorized wheelchair to get around.
Because many streets in his Acres Homes neighborhood lack sidewalks, Metro built a concrete slab on the shoulder for his wheelchair, he said. But over the years, his regular bus was replaced with a circulating shuttle, and then Metro shortened that route. It no longer passes his home, and Wilson said he now rides his chair in the street for a risky 1 1/2 miles to reach the bus stop.
That doesn't seem ideal.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/26/05 09:47 AM | Print |
Previous Entry | Home | Next Entry
ADVERTISING
DISCLAIMER
All content © 2004-09, blogHOUSTON and the respective authors.
blogHOUSTON.net is powered by Nucleus.
Site design and Nucleus customization are by Kevin Whited.