Development of Innovative Transit Services Using Market Research Techniques

The private sector has used market research techniques to determine the characteristics of their markets and marketing to develop and encourage the use of their products and/or services. The public sector transit industry is starting to use these techniques to draw and retain passengers. The Miami-Dade Transit Agency (MDTA) has been applying such conventional business market research and marketing techniques to design services, facilities, and a marketing program for those services and facilities. This paper discusses two cases where those functions played a vital role in the design and operation of new and successful suburban transit service in Miami-Dade County, Florida.