SEGMENTED STRATEGIC PLANNING: AN INCREMENTAL APPROACH TO TRANSIT PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION

Strategic planning (SP) is a process commonly used by private firms and public agencies; however, rarely does the final plan result in full-scale implementation and significant service improvements. This is often the case with transit, as general resistance from passengers and transit operators frequently greets large-scale change in the system. An alternative for SP, proposed in this paper, is the segmentation of services for purposes of input, planning, and implementing change within transit services. A series of orchestrated, low-level strategic plans has the potential to build incrementally and provide equal if not better results than the more common systemwide strategic plan. Knoxville Area Transit (Tennessee) is cited as an example of a large transit system using this new approach. Segmented SP is not a replacement for urban transport planning, but a way to transform the broad goals of efficient, effective and customer oriented transportation into service specific actions that markedly improve image, attitude, and passenger service quality.