US transit management and performance: local and national priorities and the impact of technology

Local transit agencies in the United States have expressed reservations about the Urban Mass Transportation Administration's data reporting requirements under Section 15 of the Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964, as amended. These reservations result from perceived differences between local and national priorities for transit management and performance monitoring. The estimation of total annual passenger miles has been a point of particular concern, because of the cost of collecting passenger mile data and its apparent lack of utility to local transit agencies. An alternative methodology for producing the required passenger miles statistic was developed by the Orange County Transit District in California. Evaluation of this methodology reveals that passenger mile data could be useful in planning local transit services. The ability to produce reliable passenger mile estimates for route level demand analysis is available through modification of existing local data collection and analysis procedures using appropriate information technologies. Coordination between UMTA and local agencies would make the integration of passenger mile data collection and analysis into local transit service planning both feasible and more desirable. The use of passenger miles data in local service evaluation could yield significant improvements in transit productivity, due to the broader range of consumer behavior represented by this measure.