Article Abstracts


Volume 1, No. 4, 1997

Developing Customer Based Measures of Overall Transportation Service Quality in Colorado: Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches
Lawrence F. Cunningham, University of Colorado at Denver
Clifford E. Young, University of Colorado at Denver &
Moonkyu Lee, Yonsei University

Abstract
Measurement of customers’ perceptions of service quality is crucial to successful service management. This article focuses on the measurement of service quality in Colorado’s transportation system, including all transportation modes, transportation infrastructure issues, and special emphasis on public transportation in metropolitan areas. It discusses quantitative and qualitative approaches to transportation service quality measurement. The study also contrasts the results of quantitative and qualitative measurements and methodologies for assessing transportation service quality. Finally, the paper offers recommendations for the use of these methodologies by transportation planners, especially those operating in the public transportation sphere.

Transit Subsidies in New York and Chicago: Local, State, and Federal Assistance in a Historical Context
Eric Petersen, Northwestern University

Abstract
Nearly all studies of the impact of government subsidies on the transit industry have excluded systems with rail transit. Thus, previous findings cannot simply be extended to transit systems in major metropolitan areas. As a preliminary step in addressing the issue of subsidies and large transit systems, this paper presents historical information on the financial state of the two largest transit systems in the U.S.—Chicago’s CTA and New York’s NYCT. In addition, the subsidies to each system are broken down by level of government—federal, state, and local. The patterns for the two systems are quite different. The CTA remained in relative financial health longer than the NYCT. While the CTA’s operating expenses have stabilized recently, its ridership levels (and revenues) have declined sharply. In terms of subsidies, the CTA receives most of these funds at the regional, not state or local, level. In contrast, NYCT’s revenues were actually greater in 1995 than they were in 1954 (in constant dollars). However, its operating costs ballooned throughout the 1980s and only recently have been contained. Subsidies to the NYCT come almost equally from state and local sources.

Evaluation of Automatic Vehicle Location Technologies for Paratransit in Small and Medium-Sized Urban Areas
Gary S. Spring, North Carolina A&T State University &
John Collura & Kenneth B. Black, University of Massachusetts

Abstract
This paper presents an evaluation framework designed for small and medium-sized city automatic vehicle location (AVL)-based paratransit systems and describes the application of that framework to one such paratransit system in North Carolina. Issues addressed include the benefits of implementing AVL, whether AVL for paratransit can be used effectively in small to medium-sized cities, and the problems associated with implementing such technologies. The paper is meant to provide guidance for other similar AVL evaluation efforts. A controlled before and after study approach is used to evaluate the AVL system in the City of Winston-Salem, North Carolina (population 265,878). Key findings are that the paratransit system’s efficiency improved slightly with AVL but that demand variables did not change significantly relative to non-AVL equipped vehicles. Reasons for this outcome are examined.

Design and Development of a Bus Stop Inventory to Support an Intelligent Transportation System: The MARTA Experience
Wayne Sarasua, Georgia Institute of Technology
Robert Awuah-Baffour, Bradley University
Mark Fawley, TRW
Carlton Byars, MARTA &
Jeffery Orton, Utah Transit Authority

Abstract
Bus stops are a critical element in any transit system. The advent of Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) technologies in the area of transit has developed a need for transit agencies to keep an up-to-date inventory of bus stop data. Unfortunately,most transit agencies do not have a bus stop inventory that can adequately support Advanced Public Transportation System (APTS) applications, and many other transit agencies do not have an inventory at all. The design, development, and maintenance of a bus stop inventory that will support an array of available APTS applications is described in this paper. Procedures used in the development of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority bus stop inventory are highlighted. The lessons learned from MARTA’s experience should be valuable to other transit agencies that are planning to or are in the process of implementing an APTS.

Markets, Politics, and Environmental Policy Issues for Public Transit
David A. Hensher, The University of Sydney &
Michael E. Beesley, London Business School

Abstract
Economic deregulation of local bus services remains controversial in terms of the claimed gains and losses relative to competitive regulation in the form of competitive tendering or negotiated protected monopoly. The uncertainty over demonstrable net benefits has delayed, if not eliminated, any prospects for unleashing market forces in London where competitive tendering is claimed by its supporters to be at least as attractive as economic deregulation in terms of quantity and quality of service. While the literature has focused predominantly on the economic and social impacts of market reforms, some of the changes have brought about environmental gains and losses. These rarely have been documented, being overshadowed by the initial objectives motivating economic reform. One particular feature of economic deregulation in the United Kingdom (and to a lesser extent in Australia and New Zealand) has been the noticeable increase in minibus services. The impact that economic deregulation has on entrepreneurial innovation has been neglected in the public transport literature, yet it is a centerpiece of competitive strategy. We use the experience with minibuses in Britain to show how markets create environmentally compatible incentives. Environmental gains attributable to market reform counter in part the negative evidence that minibuses in Britain have “failed” to stimulate an aggregate increase in ridership. Without knowing the counterfactuals, one might speculate that the outcome would have been even worse without the introduction of the minibus.