BUS TRANSIT MONITORING STUDY: DATA REQUIREMENTS AND COLLECTION TECHNIQUES

The purpose of the study is to develop a comprehensive statistically-based data collection manual that will enable transit operators to collect passenger-related data in a cost-effective manner which maximizes the usefulness of the overall data base. This first interim report presents the results of the first two tasks of the study, which were to identify current data collection techniques and data requirements. These two closely related tasks were conducted in parallel through three major activities: (1) a literature review; (2) a review of material collected by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and the Tidewater Transportation Commission in Norfolk, Virginia in a study for UMTA, focusing on service evaluation techniques; and (3) discussions with forty-one transit properties in the United States and Canada.