Comprehensive
Operations Analysis
Background
■ On March 6, 2014, Escambia County Board of County
Commissioners approved an agreement between
Escambia County, Florida and Nelson/Nygaard Consulting
Associates, Inc. to conduct a Comprehensive Operations
Analysis (COA) of Escambia County Area Transit (ECAT).
■ Nelson/Nygaard has completed the technical analysis of
existing services and has gathered stakeholder and public
input through a transit survey and a series of individual and
focus group interviews.
Background
Some of Nelson/Nygaard previous experience with Transit
Comprehensive Operations Analysis and other transit plans:
■ Mobile, AL
■ Huntsville, AL
■ Jacksonville, FL
■ Miami, FL
■ Springfield, MA
■ Cincinnati region, OH
■ Denton County, TX
■ Corpus Christi, TX
■ Working now in Hartford, CT and Little Rock, AR
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Background
Key ECAT COA Upcoming Events:
■ September 9th – September 10th 2014
– 1 ECAT Employee Workshop and 2 Public Workshops
■ September 9th – October 1st 2014
– Public Feedback Period on Route Recommendations
■ End of November/early December 2014
– Final COA Report submitted to Escambia
County/ECAT Staff
■ Early 2015
– Final COA Report presented to Escambia County
Board of County Commissioners
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Market Analysis
■ Population and Employment Density - strongest indicators of
transit viability
■ Socio-Economic Characteristics - highlight transit need
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Low-Income Population
Disabled Population
Senior Population
Youth Population
Population without Access to a Vehicle
■ Major Activity Centers - transit trip generators
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Large Employers
Multi-Family Housing
Hospitals
High Schools / Colleges
Inter-City Transportation Hubs
Grocery / Retail Stores
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Market Analysis
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Market Analysis
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System Performance
■ Focused on several
performance metrics
– Ridership - total passenger
activity per day
• By Stop - geographic
utilization
• By Trip - temporal
utilization
– Ridership per Revenue
Hour – return on
investment
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System Performance
Weekday Passengers
Weekday Revenue Hours
Weekday Passengers per Revenue Hour
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Route Profiles
PERFORMANCE
MEASURE
WEEKDAY
ROUTE 6
Bus Stops per Mile
Late Arrivals (%)
Early Departures (%)
SATURDAY
SYSTEM
AVG
ROUTE 6
SUNDAY
SYSTEM
AVG
SYSTEM
AVG
9.3
3.5
8.6
3.8
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0.4
13.3
17.3
2.8
17.2
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20.6
4.0
2.2
8.3
3.3
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11.76
Source: ECAT performance data
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Stakeholder and Public Input
■ Nearly 300 completed transit surveys
– 56% riders
– 44% non-riders
■ Stakeholder interviews / focus groups
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Mass Transit Advisory Committee
Escambia County Commission
Pensacola City Commission
Navy Federal Credit Union
Pensacola State College
CareerSource Escarosa
NAS Pensacola
Escambia County School District
Escarosa Coalition on the Homeless
Santa Rosa Island Authority
Agency for Persons with Disabilities
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Stakeholder and Public Input
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Stakeholder and Public Input
Service Hours vs. Frequency
More Frequent Stops vs. Faster Service
Serve New Areas vs. Improve Existing Service
Fewer Transfers vs. More Frequent Service
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Stakeholder and Public Input
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Stakeholder and Public Input
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Recommended Approach
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General Design Principles:
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Service Should be Simple:
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Service Should Operate at Regular Intervals:
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Routes should operate along the same alignment in both directions to make it easy for riders to
know how to get back to where they came from
Routes Should Serve Well Defined Markets:
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The fewer directional changes a route makes, the easier it is to understand. Circuitous
alignments are disorienting and difficult to remember
Routes Should be Symmetrical:
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In general, people can easily remember repeating patterns, but have difficulty remembering
irregular sequences
Routes Should Operate Along a Direct Path:
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For people to use transit, service should be designed so that it is easy to use and intuitive to
understand
To make service easy to understand and to eliminate service duplication, routes should be
developed to serve clearly defined markets
Service Should be Well Coordinated:
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At major transfer locations, schedules should be coordinated to the greatest extent possible to
minimize connection times for the predominant transfer flows
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Recommended Approach
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Specific ECAT Goals:
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Create a network of strong “stand-alone” routes
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Reduce redundancy
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Introduce elements of a grid-system
Focus amenities on major transfer locations
Introduce (or encourage) innovative services
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Take people where they want to go anyway
Offer multiple “pivot points”
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Within ECAT
Between ECAT and other partners
Co-locate hubs with major destinations
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Each should included at least some high density residential and at least one major destination
(preferably grocery store)
“Flex” routes
Community shuttles
Vanpools
Park & rides
Adjust schedules and routes by service period
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Align with ridership demand
Attract new users
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Recommended Approach
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