Empirical Models of Transit Service Areas

Empirical tools for planning access to transit systems are developed. Transit access is defined as those portions of the journey spent getting to the transit system, and then from the transit system to the destination point. The usual transit modes include the following: walking, park-and-ride, kiss-and-ride, paratransit feeder, transit feeder, taxi and bicycle. The impact of the access characteristics on transit ridership and the normative definition of the area accessed by the transit system are explored. The models presented concern bus routes (in Vancouver, St. Louis and Washington, D. C.) and commuter rail and express bus service (in northeastern New Jersey). The models determine normative classifications for transit service areas on the basis of access distance and time.