PLANNING TECHNIQUES FOR INTERCITY TRANSPORTATION SERVICES. FINAL REPORT

This report describes a process to help the public sector better understand the roles of privately provided intercity services in rural and low-density areas. It presents several methodologies that can be applied to answer basic questions state and local officials might have about the cost of, and demand for, specific services. The document first sets forth a simple process for planning intercity passenger or freight services: identification of problems and opportunities, assessing the public interest, project analysis, and analysis of costs and benefits. The document then reviews methods to estimate the costs of intercity bus services, regional airline services, and rail branch lines. It discusses approaches to estimate ridership on intercity bus and airline services, as well as some qualitative factors which influence system demand. The techniques involve simple formulas which can be computed using a pocket calculator.