WORKSHOP ON SYSTEMS OPERATIONS. SYSTEMS OPERATIONS

Demand analysis methods usually predict transit travel by using models derived from highway planning practice. Until the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1962, highway and transit planning were done separately; The legislation required comprehensive, continuing and coordinated planning. Traditional transportation planning is based on aggregate sequential demand models which forecast the number of trips being produced or attracted to a particular location; the trips are then allocated to travel zone by mode and logical travel routes. Predicting transit travel demand has resulted in an overemphasis on capital investment and underemphasis on service design. Transit demand analysis should be based on the fact that transit is a commodity to be packaged, priced and sold. Techniques for analyzing transit demand must be compatible with a systems management planning process. Unlike the highway demand methods, transit systems have the potential to compile a complete data set daily which could allow adjustments based on a trend. The difficulty is that equipment and techniques for doing this are usually beyond the resources of the average transit system. Because future transit services will be competing in a more deregulated environment, analytical methods must recognize that there are numerous transit products, including taxis, vans and regular transit vehicles. Operations managers require a market-oriented approach to travel demand that postures alternatives in terms of service variables.