TRANSIT SERVICE OPTIMIZATION PROCEDURES FOR SLOW GROWTH COMMUNITIES. 1986 ANNUAL CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS VOLUME 2

With the slowdown in the Alberta economy, the city of Edmonton Transportation Department has implemented service optimization techniques to improve transit planning capabilities and to implement efficiency measures in order to achieve civic financial objectives with minimum negative impacts on the transit users. To commence the process, it was necessary to determine the supply and demand characteristics. A comprehensive transit passenger survey was undertaken to determine the market composition, origin and destination patterns, transfer patterns, method of payment, boarding and alighting profiles, vehicle travel time, schedule adherence, and other information. A set of service evaluation and optimization procedures were developed to assess demand/supply and operating strategies using the survey data. In parallel, a computer-aided transit planning model (EMME/2 Transportation Planning System) was put on stream to test alternative network structures. For the covering abstract of the conference see IRRD 291005. (Author/TRRL)