Richard R. Wallace

WHO NOTICED, WHO CARES? PASSENGER REACTIONS TO TRANSIT SAFETY MEASURES

Safety and security are important considerations for the transit operator, but few empirical studies exist that measure the effectiveness of measures taken to improve transit safety either on actual crime (or other incident) data or transit passengers’ perceived safety. The current study focuses on the links between transit safety measures implemented in the Ann Arbor, Michigan, area; the visibility of these improvements to transit passengers; and perceived levels of safety. The findings indicate that the characteristics of passengers’ riding patterns, and whether a safety measure was noticed, all played some role in determining perceived safety. Additionally, ridership patterns and personal characteristics also affected whether passengers noticed safety enhancements. Of the measures undertaken, increased police presence and increased lighting proved most effective in increasing perceived levels of safety, and these also were the most visible. Safety measures also had their largest positive effect on perceptions in association with those transit places and situations perceived as least safe. In a similar vein, although women felt less safe overall than did men, they were more likely to notice safety enhancements and to feel safer as a result. Future efforts to build on this research should incorporate actual crime statistics, thereby extending the models discussed and providing a comprehensive view of the relationships among crime, safety enhancements, and passenger perceptions.

TRANSIT-PASSENGER PERCEPTIONS OF TRANSIT-RELATED CRIME REDUCTION MEASURES

Violent crimes against public transit bus operators and passengers in Michigan were studied. The study was funded by the Michigan Department of Transportation and conducted by the University of Michigan in early 1999. A survey approach examined transit passenger perceptions of numerous transit-related crime reduction measures, primarily patrol and security, design actions, and technological innovation. The respondents ranked emergency telephones for passengers and increased lighting as the best crime prevention measures. The survey was part of a wider study that also surveyed transit agencies and transit vehicle operators.

PUBLIC CHOICE IN TRANSIT ORGANIZATION AND FINANCE: THE STRUCTURE OF SUPPORT

The nature of support for public transit spending and organizational structure in a heavily automobile-dependent region is explored thorough structural equation modeling based on survey data from 500 randomly selected households in southeast Michigan. Alternative factors underlying support for transit taxation are tested, including congestion relief, environmental conservation, social service provision, perceived future need, and general attitude toward government spending. The study finds a surprisingly strong endorsement of transit as a necessary social service and concludes that in automobile-dependent areas, transit’s primary task when appealing for locally generated financing is to demonstrate its success in serving as the bottom-line guarantor of mobility for the young, elderly, disabled, unemployed, and poor.

PART 2: Paratransit: Paratransit Customer: Modeling Elements of Satisfaction with Service

Because of the arrival of advanced public transportation systems (APTS) and other changes in the transit environment, the study of the paratransit customer deserves increased attention. Demographic and other characteristics of paratransit customers in southeastern Michigan are presented, and the development of a causal model of the factors affecting customer satisfaction with paratransit service is begun. Such models, which analyze the covariance structures of variables and factors hypothesized to exhibit causal relations, can help researchers and transit operators gauge the potential of improving customer satisfaction through system changes, such as the addition of APTS. Furthermore, these models can suggest which elements of customer satisfaction are most affected by specific system changes. A key finding from the modeling effort is that characteristics specific to the customers, such as personal mobility, contribute substantially toward explaining customer satisfaction. The causal modeling also revealed that transit system characteristics contribute substantially to customer satisfaction, too, especially to customer satisfaction with the trip reservation process. Thus, system enhancements, such as APTS, have ample potential to increase customer satisfaction. Finally, directions for future research aimed at improving and enhancing the developed causal model are discussed and recommended, including specification of the data needs of such research.

Meeting clients' needs for paratransit: An examination of agency preferences for remote scheduling and dispatch

The application of ITS to public transportation has spawned a renewed interest in paratransit, because APTS offer transit agencies the opportunity to better meet the ever-changing trip demands of the paratransit environment. Furthermore, advanced scheduling and dispatch (ASD) systems allow for remote scheduling and dispatch, which allows transit operators to offer intensive users of paratransit the ability to reserve trips through direct computer access to the transit agencys reservation and dispatch system. In the US, where the elderly and disabled populations represent a large fraction of paratransit users, social-service agencies catering to these populations stand as important intermediaries between transit operators and their riders and therefore are ideal users of the remote capabilities of ASD. Despite this clear link between such agencies and paratransit, no research exists on agency preferences for and attitudes toward ASDs remote capabilities. The current study begins to fill this gap. To do so, the authors conducted predominantly qualitative telephone interviews with representatives of 13 agencies in the Detroit metropolitan area who use the paratransit services offered by the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation. Respondents, consisting of both agency directors and transportation coordinators, were asked to evaluate their current service, rate possible service changes incorporating ASD and remote capabilities, and to describe elements of their ideal paratransit systems, including trip reservation and dispatch operations. Among the key findings, agency representatives have indicated that their clients rely heavily on public transportation. They hope to see SMART efficiently and effectively provide transportation within Southeast Michigan to their clients. Agency representatives believe that a regional transportation system will provide such service and both ASD and automatic vehicle location (AVL) will provide the technology required to form a regional transportation system.