1 Contents Executive Summary ..................................................................................................................................................................... 2 TCAT Quick Stats ......................................................................................................................................................................... 3 Service Metrics ............................................................................................................................................................................ 4 Fixed-Route Ridership ............................................................................................................................................................. 4 System Ridership 2004 – 2013 ............................................................................................................................................ 4 Ridership by Route 2012 – 2013 ......................................................................................................................................... 7 Ridership by Stop - 2013 ..................................................................................................................................................... 8 Ridership by Hour - 2013 ................................................................................................................................................... 11 Ridership by Month - 2013 ................................................................................................................................................ 12 Ridership by Fare Type 2008 – 2013 ................................................................................................................................. 13 Service Productivity ............................................................................................................................................................... 15 Other Ridership ..................................................................................................................................................................... 16 Vanpool ............................................................................................................................................................................. 16 Bicycles .............................................................................................................................................................................. 16 Half-Fare & Mobility Devices............................................................................................................................................. 16 Gadabout & Paratransit .................................................................................................................................................... 17 Operations Metrics ................................................................................................................................................................... 18 Bus Narratives ................................................................................................................................................................... 18 Vehicle Metrics by Series ...................................................................................................................................................... 21 Fuel Efficiency by Series .................................................................................................................................................... 21 Labor Hours per 1,000 Miles Driven by Series .................................................................................................................. 21 Parts Cost per 1,000 Miles Driven by Series ...................................................................................................................... 22 Road Calls per 1,000 Miles Driven by Series ..................................................................................................................... 22 Vehicles by Rank.................................................................................................................................................................... 23 Other Maintenance Metrics .................................................................................................................................................. 24 Road Calls .......................................................................................................................................................................... 24 Inspections ........................................................................................................................................................................ 24 Preventive Maintenance Services (PMs) ........................................................................................................................... 25 Accidents & Incidents ........................................................................................................................................................ 25 Other Metrics, Projects, & Challenges ...................................................................................................................................... 27 Fuel Costs .......................................................................................................................................................................... 27 Operating Budget and Budget Challenges ........................................................................................................................ 27 Marketing & Communications Initiatives .......................................................................................................................... 28 Website and Trip Planner Usage ....................................................................................................................................... 30 Human Resources ............................................................................................................................................................. 31 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................................................... 32 Prepared by Matt Yarrow Service Analyst June, 2014 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY At TCAT, every year brings the fulfillment of work done in previous years. In 2013, TCAT continued to reap the benefits of hard work from previous years. Ridership increased for the seventh straight year to a record 4,388,699 rides. Continued growth in ridership is likely due to, among other things, an increasing willingness to use public transportation among college students and younger workers, high gas prices, and TCAT's efforts to accommodate demonstrated and latent ridership demand. Green Street Station continued to be TCAT’s most popular stop, followed closely by the Seneca Street Station. The maintenance team was able to keep an aging fleet in excellent condition, as evidenced by an inspection pass rate of 95% by the end of 2013. TCAT bus operators provided 120,663 hours of transit service to the community with an accident rate so low that distance between incidents is measured in hundreds of thousands of miles. In 2011, the American Public Transit Association recognized TCAT as an industry role model by awarding the organization its highest recognition for systems its size. In 2012, TCAT surpassed the 4 million ride mark and entered into a new APTA size category: 4 million to 30 million rides per year. In 2013, TCAT added 260 thousand new rides to its ridership total, showing that local residents are increasingly utilizing and appreciating TCAT’s service. When compared with other transit systems in upstate New York and beyond, TCAT has shown more consistent growth and higher rates of commuting by bus. TCAT is part of what makes Ithaca and Tompkins County unique and vibrant. “TCAT ridership has trended upward for the past several years to an all-time high of nearly 4.4 million annual trips in 2013 – phenomenal for a service area of our size! We need to maintain that momentum with consistent and adequate funding. Clearly, investment in public transit nets dividends that benefit the local economy, the environment and the overall quality of life for all of our citizens” Looking toward future challenges, TCAT staff focused their 2013 efforts on identifying funding for a technology project that would bring real-time information to our -Joe Turcotte, TCAT General Manager passengers, while streamlining many of the administrative and maintenance tasks that we perform daily. With funding in place, this project will move forward in 2014. Growing awareness that TCAT’s facility, bus fleet and transit system are being utilized at or near their maximum capacity has lead TCAT staff and the TCAT board to consider options for a new facility and to work to secure capital funding that will allow TCAT to function efficiently and effectively in the foreseeable future. TCAT depends on the local community to help fund its mission of providing safe, high quality, reliable and efficient public transportation. This includes financial support but also the foresight to consider transit as integral to local planning efforts and development projects. This yearbook considers in detail TCAT’s ridership patterns, efficiency, and internal performance; we hope that it gives community members and decision-makers the information required to promote and support this critical community service. All throughout the year, bus operators provided the customer service that keeps passengers returning to the buses, and the maintenance team provided the vehicle service that keeps the buses running in top condition. 2014 and beyond will bring new challenges, but TCAT knows that every successful year builds on the hard work of previous years. TCAT… We’ll Get You There! 2 TCAT QUICK STATS In 2013, TCAT… …boarded 4,388,699 riders on fixed routes; …operated 1,584,294 revenue miles; …operated 120,663 revenue hours. As of December 31, 2013, TCAT… …operated 33 routes (32 fixed routes & 1 hybrid fixed/ demand responsive route); …had 53 vehicles (50 transit buses & 3 mini-buses). According to the US Census Bureau… …Ithaca had an estimated population of 30,515 in 2013; …Tompkins County had an estimated population of 103,617 in 2013; TCAT recorded 42.4 rides per capita in 2013 (based on the population of Tompkins County) According to the Census Transportation Planning Product (based on 2006-2010 five year estimates)…. Means of transportation to work (workers 16 years and over) Geographical Area United States US - Urban US - Rural New York State New York City Metro Ithaca Syracuse Buffalo Albany Binghamton Rochester 3 Bus or All Public Trolley Transportation 2.7% 3.3% 0.4% 6.6% 8.5% 11.5% 7.6% 7.7% 9.5% 6.4% 8.3% 4.9% 6.3% 0.6% 26.5% 30.5% 11.8% 7.6% 9.9% 9.9% 6.5% 8.4% SERVICE METRICS FIXED-ROUTE RIDERSHIP System Ridership 2004 – 2013 At the close of 2013, TCAT completed its seventh straight year of ridership growth, ending with 6.3% more boardings than 2012, for a total of 4,388,699 unlinked passenger trips. Figure 1: Growth in TCAT Ridership 2004 - 2013 TCAT Annual Ridership: 2004 - 2013 5.0M 4,388,699 Ridership in millions 4.5M 3,944,625 4.0M 3,351,792 3.5M 4,128,242 3,106,215 3,094,360 3,577,579 3.0M 3,317,711 3,065,309 2.5M 2,739,660 2.0M Annual Percent change in ridership: 1.5M 12.9% -0.9% 1.3% 6.8% 1.0% 6.7% 10.3% 4.7% 6.3% 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 1.0M 2004 In 2005, ridership jumped close to 13% as Hurricane Katrina caused a spike in gas prices (a 22% increase in Upstate NY) and consumers looked to transit to reduce their commuting costs. Also in 2005, Cornell began a program that provided free bus passes to first-year students. After a year of stagnant growth in 2006, TCAT’s ridership resumed its steady increase in 2007. 2008 brought another spike in gas prices, as did the “Great Recession” of the late 2000s. The rate of growth decreased in 2009 as gas prices plummeted 27.7% in Upstate New York, but remarkably stayed positive. 2010 was a year of significant change for TCAT. TCAT implemented a new, rechargeable, durable plastic fare card and offered premium fare media, such as RFID-enabled stickers. TCAT simplified its fare structure into day-based and ride-based passes that could be purchased in any desired increment. Implementation of the recommendations from the Transit Development Plan of 2009 restructured and streamlined the fixed-route system and introduced TCAT’s first demand-response services (Rt. 41). Finally, TCAT unveiled the flagship Green Street Station, with an indoor waiting area and food concession area. These positive changes, coupled with another sharp rise in gas prices, generated high ridership growth in 2010 and 2011. In 2012, there was a fare increase for trips originating in Zone 2 (rural areas) from $1.50 to $2.50. However, outbound trips originating in Zone 1 continued to be priced at $1.50. Despite this fare increase and service cuts on Routes 14, 52, 54, 68, and 83, TCAT ridership continued to increase in 2012. The first half of 2013 brought a high rate of growth in ridership (8.7%), this rate slowed in the second half of the year (3.9%). Overall, this represented a gain of 260,500 rides in 2013. Several national and regional trends deserve mention as factors that likely have contributed to continued ridership increases. First, the gas prices are frequently cited as a factor influencing transit ridership. In Upstate NY, 2013 gas prices were down slightly as compared to 2012, but remained quite high compared to 2009 and 2010. Michael Melaniphy, the president of APTA (American Public Transportation Association), stated in a New York Times article that as the economy picked-up and unemployment fell in 2013, more people are using transit to commute to work. Another key factor is that young people are at the leading edge of a national trend of decreasing vehicle miles; from 2001 to 2009 the average annual vehicle miles 4 traveled by 18-34 year-olds dropped 23%. Given that Ithaca is a college town with large numbers of young people, it is likely that this trend toward less car miles is playing out locally, contributing to increased transit ridership. Table 1: 2013 Growth in Bus Ridership for Select Cities and 2013 US Averages by City Size Location of Transit System Ithaca, NY Albany, NY MTA - New York City Buffalo, NY Champaign-Urbana, IL State College, PA Chapel Hill, NC Madison, WI Ann Arbor, MI US cities by population Below 100,000 inhabitants 100,000 to 499,999 inhabitants 500,000 1,999,999 inhabitants 2 million+ inhabitants US Total Ridership (Bus) US Total Ridership (All Modes) 2013 Unlinked Passenger Trips 4,388,699 15,976,900 811,905,900 21,725,800 12,532,300 7,281,100 6,957,400 14,740,700 6,504,900 2013 Ridership Growth Rate 6.31% 5.17% 1.81% -6.77% 11.31% 7.65% 4.48% 1.02% 0.51% 190,029,000 462,210,000 1,016,253,000 3,689,377,000 5,357,870,000 10,652,391,000 3.83% 0.60% -1.07% -0.11% -0.10% 1.09% Data from APTA: http://www.apta.com/resources/statistics/Documents/Ridership/2013-q4-ridership-APTA.pdf TCAT’s bus ridership tops the growth rates reported by APTA for other NY cities (see Table 1). It also outpaces the growth rate for small cities under 100,000 inhabitants. It is notable that transit systems that serve large universities, such as in State College PA and Champaign-Urbana IL, showed some of the highest ridership growth in the country in 2013. This underlines the importance of young riders in the growth of transit ridership. Table 2: Ridership by Route Type, 2004 – 2013 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Urban Total Campus Campus Day Campus Night Urban 2,400,221 902,264 805,922 96,342 1,497,957 2,735,944 1,026,261 912,409 113,852 1,709,683 2,674,183 876,575 777,038 99,537 1,797,609 2,713,008 850,437 752,856 97,581 1,862,571 2,862,428 848,242 743,487 104,755 2,010,748 2,869,689 833,048 718,450 114,598 2,036,641 3,089,507 1,040,386 903,188 137,198 2,049,121 3,407,935 1,154,271 979,944 174,327 2,253,664 3,591,621 1,200,811 995,650 205,161 2,390,810 3,839,443 1,271,435 1,027,417 244,018 2,568,008 Rural Total Rural Large Rural Min. Total 339,439 244,298 95,141 2,739,660 358,416 260,432 97,984 3,094,360 391,126 276,983 114,143 3,065,309 393,207 270,646 122,561 3,106,215 455,283 300,824 154,459 3,317,711 482,103 311,317 170,786 3,351,792 488,072 298,674 189,398 3,577,579 536,690 339,617 197,073 3,944,625 536,621 334,036 202,585 4,128,242 549,256 336,086 213,170 4,388,699 Ridership increased in all three route categories in 2013 – urban, rural and campus-specific routes. Between 2004 and 2013, urban, non-campus routes provided the largest absolute contribution to ridership increases (1,070,051 additional rides in 2013 compared to 2004) as well as the greatest increase as a percentage of 2004 ridership (71.4% Table 3: Absolute & Relative Ridership Changes 2004 - 2013 greater in 2013 compared to 2004). See below for 2004 2013 # Change % Change additional information on urban routes. Though ridership from rural routes represents a smaller fraction of overall TCAT ridership, that fraction has grown steadily over the past decade. Rural routes registered an additional 209,817 rides, an increase of 61.8%, compared to 2004 ridership. See below for additional information on rural routes. 5 Urban Total Campus Campus Day Campus Night Urban 2,400,221 902,264 805,922 96,342 1,497,957 3,839,443 1,271,435 1,027,417 244,018 2,568,008 1,1439,222 369,171 221,495 147,676 1,070,051 60.0% 40.9% 27.5% 153.3% 71.4% Rural Total Rural Large Rural Min. Total 339,439 244,298 95,141 2,739,660 549,256 336,086 213,170 4,388,699 209,817 91,788 118,029 1,649,039 61.8% 37.6% 124.1% 60.2% Campus route ridership has grown as well, though not as strongly as other routes. From 2004 to 2013, rides on campus routes increased 40.9%, representing an additional 369,171 rides. Campus night and weekend-only routes, formerly known as the “Blue Light Routes”, grew at a faster rate than other route categories – close to 19% in 2013 and 153.3% in the period between 2004 and 2013. See below for additional information on campus routes. Urban Routes Urban routes include routes 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 30, 31, 32, 51, 70 and 72. Figure 2: TCAT Ridership on Urban Routes 2004 - 2013 TCAT Ridership: Urban, Non-Campus Routes Urban 3.0M % Change from Previous Year 30% Boardings/ Year % Change from Previous Year Ridership on urban routes has 25% steadily increased, without a 2.5M single decrease in the past 20% decade. Urban routes showed 2.0M 14.1% especially strong increases in 2005 15% and 2011; growth on urban routes 10% 1.5M 10% 7.4% was above the ten-year average in 6.1% 2013. It is important to note that 8.0% 5% 1.3% 1.0M 5.1% 0.6% the ridership on many of these 3.6% 3.6% 0% routes is heavily influenced by the 0.5M patterns of campus life at Cornell -5% and Ithaca College. Route 10 in particular provides frequent 0.0M -10% 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 service between downtown and Cornell and utilized routinely by Cornell students and staff. Nevertheless, strong growth in urban routes indicates that people in Ithaca’s urban core find the TCAT’s service useful. It also underlines the important of high population density areas in sustaining and growing TCAT’s ridership. Boardings/ Year % Change from Previous Year Rural Routes Figure 3: TCAT Ridership on Rural Routes 2004 - 2013 TCAT has traditionally divided TCAT Ridership: Rural Routes rural routes into “minimum Rural Min. Rural Large % Change from Previous Year service” and “large market” routes. Rural “minimum 600K 30% service” routes have a few peak 25% hour trips and perhaps one mid500K 20% day trip. These routes include 15.8% 20, 22, 36, 37, 40, 53, 65, 74, 75 400K 15% & 77. “Large market” routes 10.0% 9.1% 10% generally serve outlying villages 5.9% 300K and may have additional service 5% 2.4% 1.2% 0.0% throughout the day. These 5.6% 200K 0% routes include 21 0.5% (Trumansburg), 41 (Freeville/ -5% -8.6% 100K Etna), 43 (Dryden), 52 -10% (Caroline), and 67 (Newfield). 0K -15% These divisions are used for 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 analysis and description only and are not meant to imply hierarchy or priority. After a zone 2 fare increase in 2012 halted ridership growth for rural routes, it is a positive sign that 2013 brought modest growth to this route category. 6 Figure 4: TCAT Ridership on Campus Routes 2004 - 2013 Campus Routes Ridership on Cornell campus routes received a large boost in 2005 with the distribution of OmniRide passes to all students. It received another very large boost in 2010 with the expansion of Rt. 82 to East Hill Plaza. TCAT Ridership: Campus Routes Campus Night Campus Day % Change from Previous Year 40% 1.4M 1.0M Boardings/ Year During the intervening years, ridership on campus routes actually decreased. At the same time, use of non-campus routes (such as the Rts. 10 & 30) by Cornell affiliates increased. Thus, it’s likely that the decrease in campus route ridership was not a decrease in actual ridership, but rather a shift to other routes. 30% 24.9% 20% 13.7% 10.9% 0.8M 4.0% -3.0% 0.6M 5.9% 10% -0.3% 0% -7.1% -1.8% -10% 0.4M -14.6% 0.2M % Change from Previous Year 1.2M -20% -30% 0.0M 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Night service increased significantly on routes 11 and 90 in the middle of 2011. Although, campus night service is a small percentage of total campus ridership, it did grow substantially in 2013 – at a rate of 18.9%. Ridership by Route 2012 – 2013 From 2012 to 2013, changes in ridership by route ranged from a high of 28% (Rt. 90) to a low of -28% (Rt. 17). The average increase in ridership across all routes was 6.3%. Routes 90 and 93 – which link the Commons and SE Ithaca to Cornell and Collegetown – exhibited important increases in 2013. Another fast-growing route is the 15 – serving Southside and the southwest shopping district and linking to Cornell through interlined routes 32 and 72. Interestingly, the number of rides per trip averages 29 rides on weekends and 23 rides on weekday trips indicating a high demand for access to weekend shopping. Figure 5: Percent Change in Ridership by Route 2012 - 2013 % Change in Ridership by Route 2012-2013 35% Percent Change by Route 30% 90 Average Percent Change = 6.3% 93 25% 20% 15 72 22 15% 10% 70 75 92 32 14 10 30 40 53 83 51 20 82 37 81 5% 11 67 52 36 43 0% 65 21 41 74 -5% -10% 7 Route numbers 77 31 13 Route 30 gained the most rides (55,072) between Table 4 Routes Sorted by Route Number 2012 and 2013, contributing to the strong gains on urban routes. Route 10 came in second place with 38,589 rides more in 2013 over 2012. Routes 32 and 15 and weekend only routes 72 and 70 also showed important ridership increases in 2013. It is not surprising that dispatch was regularly adding backup busses to address overcrowding on routes 30, 32, and 70 by the spring of 2013. In the fall of 2013, these backup buses were added to the regular schedule, however peak hour crowding is the norm for many routes that travel the route 30/32 corridor from downtown through central campus. Rt. - Destination Recodes 2012 2013 ∆# ∆% 454 94 -360 N/A 10 CU-Commons 440,588 479,177 38,589 8.76% 11 IC-Commons 205,351 211,803 6,452 3.14% 13 Northside-Mall 56,821 52,522 -4,299 -7.57% 14 West Hill 112,295 122,536 10,241 9.12% 15 SW Shopping 98,672 119,338 20,666 20.94% 17 TCAT-Fall Creek 49,501 35,285 -14,216 -28.72% 20 Enfield 46,152 48,314 2,162 4.68% 21 Trumansburg 106,919 105,454 -1,465 -1.37% 22 Taughannock 7,685 8,896 1211 15.76% 30 Commons-Mall 707,786 762,858 55,072 7.78% There were a few routes that had negative growth 31 NE Ithaca 121,426 114,359 -7,067 -5.82% in 2013. Heading the list is route 17, which 32 Airport 256,010 282,637 26,627 10.40% connects the TCAT garage to the Commons and 36 South Lansing 19,617 19,736 119 0.61% the beginning of other routes. In the past there have been problems with erroneous coding of 37 North Lansing 27,687 28,852 1,165 4.21% rides on the route 17; the ridership total in 2013 is 40 Groton 34,581 37,004 2423 7.01% a more accurate (lower) count. Because of its 41 DR Freeville 19,445 19,060 -385 -1.98% operational importance and the convenience it 43 Dryden-TC3 141,337 141,701 364 0.26% offers residents of the Fall Creek neighborhood, 51 Eastern Hts 134,821 143,075 8,254 6.12% route 17 is not considered a candidate for route 52 Caroline 43,990 45,327 1,337 3.04% restructuring. Route 13 lost about 4,300 rides in 2013 – a somewhat disappointing performance for 53 Ellis Hollow 13,747 14,690 943 6.86% a key urban route. TCAT’s Service Planning 65 Danby 21,251 20,991 -260 -1.22% department has analyzed this route in depth and 67 Newfield 41,547 42,849 1,302 3.13% made an effort to talk to riders to see if changes in 70 Wkend Mall 152,984 175,402 22,418 14.65% the route could improve its utility for residents of 72 Wkend Airport 53,012 62,534 9,522 17.96% the Northside and Fall Creek neighborhoods. 74 Wkend Groton 4,468 4,339 -129 -2.89% Barring a major system restructuring, no clear list of route changes emerged from this analysis, 75 Wkend Dryden 7,628 8,587 959 12.57% however minor changes will be made to improve 77 Wkend Warren 451 433 -18 -3.99% transferability with other routes. Route 31 was on 81 C.U. Weekday 548,821 569,609 20,788 3.79% a detour alignment for all of 2013 due to 82 C.U. Weekday 394,393 411,312 16,919 4.29% construction in the Warren Rd corridor. This is the 83 C.U. Weekday 51,894 55,395 3,501 6.75% most parsimonious explanation for a dip in 90 C.U. Night 44,631 57,270 12,639 28.32% ridership on this route. Route 77 offers a very 92 C.U. Night 116,019 129,310 13,291 11.46% minimal service on Saturdays only and is thus 93 C.U. Night 46,258 57,950 11,692 25.28% affected by small changes in the number of rides – in fact, this route only lost 18 rides in 2013. The TOTAL 4,128,242 4,388,699 260,457 6.31% other routes with negative growth were rural routes indicating a possible lingering effect of the Zone 2 fare increase in 2012. However, the loss in ridership on these routes was negligible and some fluctuation is expected year to year. Ridership by Stop - 2013 For 2013, all boarding locations were analyzed and grouped by the closest bus stop. In previous years this analysis was done at the time point level. A time point is a stop that appears in TCAT’s published schedules and at which drivers must wait until the published time to proceed if they are running early. Data at the time point level includes boardings at any stop after that 8 time point and before the next time point that the bus passes. The data for 2013 are more precise, as they have been manually assigned to all existing stops, even infrequently used stops not appearing in TCAT’s schedules. The most popular stop in this analysis is Green @ Commons, the location of TCAT’s flagship Green Street Station. On average more than 1,000 rides are initiated at Greet St every day. Seneca @ Commons, the stop paired with Green Street Station on the north side of the Commons, has the second largest number of boardings. Together, the downtown stops comprise 15.1% of all TCAT boardings. Uris Hall, Statler Hall, and Sage Hall are TCAT’s three primary stops on Cornell’s Central Campus. These th th three stops account for 11.3% of TCAT boardings. College @ Dryden and Schwartz Performing Arts Center are the 5 and 7 most popular stops; together, these Collegetown stops make up 6.4% of TCAT boardings. Rockefeller Hall and Goldwin Smith th Hall are paired stops on East Ave and together account for 6.0% of ridership in 2013. Finally, Shops at Ithaca Mall came in 11 place with 127,127 rides in 2013. Figure 6: 2013 Ridership by Stop – Stops with most boarding Rural stops (defined as those stops Annual Ridership at Stops with over 100,000 boardings - 2013 in Fare Zone 2) have lower ridership Schwartz PAC as compared to the urban and 145,378 Sage Hall 144,636 campus stops; nevertheless, these Risley Hall 148,797 College @ Dryden rural routes provide a critical service 134,633 to Tompkins County residents. The Statler Hall 149,525 Dryden Village and TompkinsRockefeller Hall Cortland Community College (TC3) 132,946 stops on Rts. 43 and 75 are the most Goldwin Smith Hall Seneca @ popular rural stops. The main stop in 130,439 Commons 292,218 Groton at the Express Mart on Main St is third most utilized rural stop. Uris Hall Across Trumansburg has four stops in the Street 130,141 rural ridership chart above; all the Shops at Ithaca Trumansburg stops generated more Green @ Commons Mall 127,127 than 28,000 rides in 2013. The 371,663 remaining rural stops with significant A Lot 106,747 Kennedy Hall 103,901 ridership are distributed fairly evenly among the rural routes. The maps in Figure 8 provide a spatial representation of the most popular stops in 2013. Figure 7: 2013 Ridership by Stop – Rural Stops Annual Ridership at Rural Stops - 2013 TC3 Dryden Village Campus 56% Suburban 13% Rural 4% Other Rural Groton Main St Trumansburg Park-n-ride Urban 27% Trumansburg W Main St Trumansburg Central School Enfield Park-n-Ride Enfield Center Aubles Trailer Park Newfield -TownHall 9 Caroline Town Hall Figure 8: Maps showing the magnitude of annual ridership at the stop level both county-wide and in the Ithaca area 10 Ridership by Hour - 2013 With the 6.3% growth in ridership, the average boardings per hour grew across the board in 2013, however the boarding patterns by hour and day stayed remarkably consistent from 2012. It is worth noting that ridership growth did tend to be higher in the evenings after 7 pm and on the weekends. General hourly ridership patterns are as follows: Weekday ridership spikes dramatically in the morning hours, reaching its high point between 8 and 9 a.m. with an average of 1,683 boardings in that hour. Ridership drops, and plateaus by 10 a.m. at approximately 900 boardings per hour until 4 p.m. when boardings spike again at an average of 1,446. Ridership trails off steeply until 7 p.m., at which point Figure 9: 2013 Average Ridership by Hour and Day of Week the rate of decrease levels off. Average Ridership per Hour - 2013 2,000 Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri. Sat. Sun. 1,800 1,600 Boardings per Hour 1,400 1,200 1,000 800 600 400 200 11 PM - 12 AM 10 PM - 11 PM 8 PM - 9 PM 9 PM - 10 PM 7 PM - 8 PM 6 PM - 7 PM 5 PM - 6 PM 4 PM - 5 PM 3 PM - 4 PM 2 PM - 3 PM 1 PM - 2 PM 12 PM - 1 PM 11 AM - 12 PM 10 AM - 11 AM 8 AM - 9 AM 9 AM - 10 AM 7 AM - 8 AM 6 AM - 7 AM 5 AM - 6 AM 4 AM - 5 AM 3 AM - 4 AM 2 AM - 3 AM 1 AM - 2 AM 0 12 AM - 1 AM The early morning hours of Saturday see a small bump between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. as late-night Friday bar-hoppers go home for the night. Saturday ridership picks up later in the morning than weekday ridership and shows a single “hill” rather than two distinct peaks. Boardings reach a maximum between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., but do not decrease sharply. Instead, they trail off slowly, until the average number of Saturday boardings actually exceeds the average weekday boardings at 9 p.m. The early morning hours of Sunday see the same bump in ridership as the early morning hours of Saturday. Ridership for the rest of Sunday follows a similar pattern with a smaller magnitude as Saturday until 6 p.m. At this point, most routes stop operating and ridership trails off. Figure 10: Ridership by Day of Week - 2013 Total & Average Boardings by Day of Week 14,000 700,000 12,000 600,000 10,000 500,000 8,000 400,000 6,000 300,000 4,000 200,000 2,000 100,000 0 11 800,000 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Total 684,841 724,153 721,115 722,644 743,522 328,374 203,551 Avg. 13,170 14,199 14,140 14,169 14,299 6,315 3,914 0 Total Boardings by Day of Week Avg. Boardings by Day of Week 16,000 As shown in the ridership by day graph, weekdays see higher ridership than weekends. Fridays, which have benefited from night service increases both in the early hours and after 9 p.m., have the highest average ridership, with 14,299 rides. Mondays have the lowest average weekday ridership, with 13,170 rides. Low ridership on Saturdays and Sundays reflects the lack of commuter traffic and TCAT’s reduced service levels. Ridership by Month - 2013 TCAT’s annual ridership patterns reflect the collegiate academic year, with ridership peaks in the spring and autumn while classes are in session. After recording more than 400,000 riders in one month for the first time ever in April 2011, TCAT had six months of 400k+ ridership in 2013. These are the months that classes are in session for at least 3 weeks out of the month. As expected, the majority of ridership occurs on weekdays with weekends making up a small fraction of total boardings by month. Figure 11: Weekday, Weekend and Total Boardings by Month - 2013 Total Boardings and Weekday/Weekend Boardings by Month - 2013 500,000 450,000 400,000 Total Boardings 350,000 300,000 250,000 200,000 150,000 100,000 50,000 0 Jan. Feb. March April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Total Rides 326,686 454,678 410,813 467,720 341,496 211,455 247,982 299,024 445,813 469,429 414,263 299,340 Total Wkday 290,913 397,804 355,393 413,075 286,439 181,759 223,619 260,785 378,253 410,892 354,336 260,481 Total Wkend 35,773 56,874 55,420 54,645 55,057 29,696 24,363 38,239 67,560 58,537 59,927 38,859 The annual average boardings per weekday is 14,897, with a peak monthly average of 19,890 occurring in February and a low of 9,088 weekday average rides in June. Over the course of 2013, weekend average ridership is only 37% of weekday average ridership. Weekend ridership is above 40% of weekday ridership in September and October as new students venture out on weekends to explore the area and go shipping at the Shops at Ithaca Mall or the SW Ithaca Commercial district. Figure 12: Average Weekday and Weekend Boardings by Month - 2013 Average Weekday and Weekend Boardings by Month - 2013 25,000 Average Boardings 20,000 15,000 10,000 5,000 0 Jan. Feb. March April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Avg. Wkday 13,223 19,890 16,923 18,776 13,020 9,088 10,165 11,854 18,012 17,865 17,717 12,404 Avg. Wkend 4,472 7,109 5,542 6,831 6,882 2,970 3,045 4,249 7,507 7,317 6,659 4,318 12 Ridership by Fare Type 2008 – 2013 As a percentage of total boardings, Cornell fare types remain the most common of all fares, comprising 71.4% of 2013 ridership. This is a slight increase from 2012, when Cornell rides accounted for 70.6% of TCAT ridership. Cash rides are the second most common fare type, at 11.7% but they have been decreasing from their high of 14.5% in 2008. Figure 13: Ridership by Fare Type - 2013 Ridership by Fare Type - 2013 TCAT passes are the third most common fare type. Their use has increased from 8.3% of total rides in 2008 to 10.3% of total rides in 2013, which represents a 65.5% increase in the number of rides taken with TCAT passes of during this period. The simplification of the fare structure in 2010, new discounts on bulk ridebased passes, and the convenience of the reusable electronic fare card (TCard) most likely have contributed to the increase in the share of rides taken with a pass and decreased the use of cash at the farebox. Cash TCAT Passes Cornell Ithaca College TC3 Student Government Other 71.4% 10.3% 11.7% 2.8% 2.9% 0.5% 0.3% Rides taken with an Ithaca College or TC3 ID card have represented the largest percentage increases from 2008 to 2013. Ithaca College rides increased 102.1%, from 1.9% of total system ridership to 2.9% of total system ridership, or 128,614 rides. TC3-specific passes were introduced in 2010; in just one year their use jumped 71% to a total of 17,317 rides. In 2013, TC3 passes logged 23,871 rides, which represents a slight decrease from 2012 – perhaps indicating that route 43 is at capacity. TC3 kicks off a new farm-to-table restaurant and educational program in downtown Ithaca in Fall 2014, which may lead to increases in TC3 ridership. Table 5 gives a complete accounting of how ridership by fare type has changed from 2008-2013. 13 Figure 14: Ridership by Fare Type 2008 - 2013 Ridership by Fare Type 2008 - 2013 5,000,000 4,500,000 4,000,000 Boardings/ Year In 2012, a new rural fare zone (Zone 2) was introduced into the fare structure. In order to keep the categories consistent through time, Zone 2 was not broken out as a separate category in the table on the following page. However, the number of rides that initiated in Zone 2 decreased slightly from 171,693 in 2012 to 170,036 in 2013. This represents just 3.9% of the total ridership in 2012. Overall, the fare increase in Zone 2 has had a fairly minor impact on ridership. Other 3,500,000 3,000,000 IC 2,500,000 TCAT 2,000,000 Cash 1,500,000 Cornell 1,000,000 500,000 0 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 14 2008 Cash 481,290 N/A Adult N/A Youth N/A Half 276,095 TCAT Passes 56,633 Ride Passes 182,097 Day Passes 0 Other Passes 37,365 Youth 2,382,602 Cornell All-County Pass Tompkins County Only 1,736,136 479,088 Zone 1 Pass 115,634 Eve + Weekend Pass 205 90s Routes Only 51,539 Not Specified 63,650 Ithaca College N/A Faculty/ Staff N/A Student Semester 0 Student 15-Ride Pass 0 Student Month Pass 0 TC3 Student 0 Unlimited Pass 0 Limited Pass 11,272 Government 3,676 City of Ithaca 7,596 Tompkins County 102,807 Other 30,334 Other 72,473 Transfers 3,317,716 Total Fare Type Table 5: Ridership by Fare Type 2013 11.7% 9.4% 1.1% 1.2% 10.3% 3.1% 5.7% 0.2% 1.4% 71.4% 0.0% 55.5% 10.9% 4.6% 0.0% 0.5% 2.9% 1.1% 1.0% 0.6% 0.2% 0.5% 0.4% 0.1% 0.3% 0.1% 0.2% 2.8% 0.0% 2.7% 100.0% 2012 12.4% 9.9% 1.2% 1.3% 10.4% 3.3% 5.7% 0.1% 1.3% 70.6% 0.0% 54.5% 11.5% 4.1% 0.0% 0.5% 3.0% 1.1% 1.2% 0.5% 0.1% 0.6% 0.5% 0.1% 0.3% 0.1% 0.2% 2.7% 0.1% 2.6% 100.0% 2011 13.2% 10.6% 1.2% 1.4% 10.7% 3.5% 5.9% 0.1% 1.1% 69.1% 0.2% 52.3% 12.6% 3.8% 0.0% 0.2% 2.9% 1.2% 1.2% 0.4% 0.1% 0.4% 0.3% 0.1% 0.3% 0.1% 0.2% 3.4% 0.6% 2.8% 100.0% 2010 12.7% 10.4% 0.9% 1.4% 11.5% 3.2% 6.6% 2.9% 0.6% 70.7% 0.5% 53.3% 12.8% 3.9% 0.0% 0.2% 2.0% 1.1% 0.9% 0.0% 0.0% 0.3% 0.2% 0.1% 0.3% 0.1% 0.2% 2.4% 0.0% 2.4% 100.0% 2009 13.7% 11.3% 0.8% 1.6% 9.4% 2.6% 5.4% 1.4% 1.3% 72.5% 0.5% 53.3% 13.8% 4.2% 0.0% 0.7% 1.8% 1.0% 0.8% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.3% 0.2% 0.2% 2.3% 0.1% 2.2% 100.0% 2008 14.5% N/A N/A N/A 8.3% 1.7% 5.5% 0.0% 1.1% 71.8% 0.0% 52.3% 14.4% 3.5% 0.0% 1.6% 1.9% N/A N/A 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.3% 0.1% 0.2% 3.1% 0.9% 2.2% 100.0% 2013 514,408 414,691 47,199 52,518 454,077 134,502 249,326 8,110 62,139 3,134,298 0 2,435,977 477,574 200,236 88 20,423 128,614 47,500 44,667 27,861 8,586 23,871 18,630 5,241 11,893 3,235 8,658 121,538 1370 120,168 4,388,699 2012 510,997 408,571 49,050 53,376 430,863 135,700 235,349 4,831 54,983 2,913,855 142 2,250,147 474,200 169,031 109 20,226 123,231 45,814 49,471 21,770 6,176 25,356 19,252 6,104 11,722 2,747 8,975 112,218 2,898 109,320 4,128,242 2011 520,536 416,422 47,822 56,292 421,411 139,217 233,180 5,439 43,575 2,725,731 7,055 2,062,831 498,508 150,135 139 7,063 114,502 45,698 47,817 15,716 5,271 17,317 13,560 3,757 11,588 2,931 8,657 133,540 23,927 109,613 3,944,625 2010 456,010 373,571 32,069 50,370 412,548 113,008 237,837 103,662 19,744 2,528,728 17,127 1,907,606 458,384 139,239 280 6,092 71,570 38,404 33,166 0 0 10,129 7,777 2,352 11,807 4,306 7,502 86,786 0 86,786 3,577,579 460,515 378,627 28,165 53,724 313,396 85,648 180,060 47,689 45,149 2,430,129 17,348 1,786,268 461,981 141,735 180 22,617 61,275 32,831 28,444 0 0 0 0 0 10,876 5,318 5,557 75,626 1,870 73,756 3,351,817 Percentage of Total Annual Rides by Fare Type 2009 Number of rides by Fare Type 0.7% 5.4% 7.6% 4.4% -5.9% 0.0% 8.3% 6.3% 6.9% 64.5% 31.5% 102.1% 135.7% 5.5% 18.2% 32.3% 2008-2013 2012-2013 Percent Change SERVICE PRODUCTIVITY Service productivity measures the broad trend of how much ridership is gained per unit of service delivered. The most common units of measure are trips per revenue mile and trips per revenue hour. In 2012, system-wide averages were 2.64 riders per revenue mile and 34.5 riders per revenue hour. In 2013, these measures were 2.77 riders per revenue mile and 36.4 riders per revenue hour, representing modest increases of 4.9% and 5.4% respectively. These are likely the highest service productivity measures TCAT has ever experienced; the modest increases in these metrics reflect the strains on TCATs system, especially at peak hours. When the buses are full, there is little room for increased efficiency. Unsurprisingly, routes that travel through areas of high density during peak transit use hours, namely urban and campus routes, are the most productive based on these measures. Rural routes seem highly unproductive based on these measures. Rural routes must travel far distances over longer trips in order to pick up riders. A better measure of rural route productivity would be the utilization of the capacity of the bus—i.e. how “full” the bus is. Because TCAT has the technology to count passengers only as they board, and not as they disembark, there is no easy and standardized way to measure the “fullness” of buses without actually riding the buses and handcounting passengers. TCAT staff has documented very full buses on rural routes 43, 40 and 21 during certain trips. The average revenue speed is not a productivity measure per se, given that it does not include ridership. However, 2013 revenue speed numbers show that rural routes operate at a speedier 22.7 miles per hour, while campus and urban routes average 10.2 MPH. Table 6: Fixed-Route Service Productivity Riders Urban Total Campus Campus Day Campus Night Urban 3,839,443 1,271,435 1,027,417 244,018 2,568,008 948,628 268,165 200,978 67,187 680,463 549,256 336,086 213,170 635,665 359,185 276,480 4,388,699 1,584,294 Rural Total Rural Large Rural Min. Total/ Avg. Rev. Miles 92,702 30,198 24,540 5,658 62,504 Riders/ Hr. 41.4 42.1 41.9 43.1 41.1 Rev. Speed 10.2 8.9 8.2 11.9 10.9 0.9 0.9 0.8 27,962 15,978 11,983 19.6 21.0 17.8 22.7 22.5 23.1 2.77 120,663 36.4 13.1 Rev. Hrs Figure 15: Riders per Revenue Mile by Route Category - 2013 Riders per Revenue Mile by Route Category - 2013 Route Category Average = 2.77 6.0 5.1 5.0 3.8 3.6 4.0 3.0 2.0 1.0 0.9 0.8 Rural Large Rural Min. 0.0 Campus Day Campus Night Urban Figure 16: Riders per Revenue Hour by Route Category - 2013 Riders per Revenue Hour by Route Category - 2013 Route Category 50 45 41.9 43.1 Average = 36.4 41.1 40 35 30 25 21.0 17.8 20 15 10 5 0 Campus Day 15 Riders/ Mi. 4.0 4.7 5.1 3.6 3.8 Route Category Campus Night Urban Rural Large Rural Min. OTHER RIDERSHIP The discontinuation of service to Schuyler County in January 2011 triggered the formation of the first vanpool group in the region. By the end of 2011, a second group had formed. Total vanpool ridership in 2013 was down from 2011 and 2012 due to a couple passengers dropping out of the program. Bicycles In 1996, TCAT became the first agency in New York State to install bicycle racks throughout its fleet. Today, all 53 TCAT vehicles are equipped with bicycle racks mounted on the bus. Figure 17: Vanpool Ridership 2013 TCAT Vanpool Program Ridership 2011 - 2013 600 Total Rides per Month Vanpool 500 400 300 200 100 2011 In 2013, the number of bikes apparently decreased to 33,534 from 38,116 in 2012. However, this decrease may reflect incomplete collection of bike data on the part of TCAT operators. Many drivers and riders have indicated that the number of bikes boarded has not shown a decrease. In fact, there are numerous documented instances when the bike racks are full and the bus cannot accept an additional bike. 40,000 Half-Fare & Mobility Devices 15,000 TCAT’s vehicle fleet is universally accessible to people who use mobility devices such as wheelchairs. In 2013, TCAT transported approximately 1,674 passengers with their mobility devices. This is a decrease of 3.1% from the 1,727 wheelchairs transported in 2010 and an increase of 47% over 2012. The increase in paratransit rides operated by Gadabout may have contributed to this decrease in passengers transported with their mobility devices on TCAT from 2010-2012. In 2013, the number of paratransit rides actually decreased for the first time since 2009, indicating that some of these passengers may have returned to TCAT. 10,000 TCAT offers a 50% discount off cash rides and ride-based passes for seniors ages 60 and older, Medicare recipients, and people with disabilities. In 2012, TCAT recorded a total of 103,253 half-fare rides taken, or 2.5% of total ridership, in 2013, 103,271 half-fare rides were taken, or 2.4% of total ridership. 2012 2013 0 Figure 18: Bicycles on TCAT Buses 2010-2013 Bikes on TCAT Buses 2010 - 2013 35,000 30,000 25,000 20,000 5,000 0 2010 2011 2012 2013 Figure 19: Number of TCAT Riders with Mobility Devices 2010 – 2013 2,000 Riders boarding with Mobility Devices 2010 - 2013 1,600 1,200 800 400 0 2010 2011 2012 2013 16 Gadabout & Paratransit Table 7: Gadabout Service Statistics 2008 - 2013 As required by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, TCAT contracts with Gadabout to provide complementary paratransit to people who are unable to take fixed-route transit due to their disability. In addition to TCAT’s paratransit service, Gadabout also provides transportation for senior citizens in Tompkins County. Total Gadabout trips decreased 3.3% from 2012 to 2013, the first time since 2009 that Gadabout has experienced negative annual ridership growth. This relatively minor drop comes after Gadabout ridership increased 5.0% from 2008 to 2013, driven by increases in ADA trips. ADA trips increased 56.6% from 2008 to 2013, while non-ADA trips decreased. 2008 Ridership 20,221 ADA Trips %∆Prev. Year 8.2% 43,588 Non-ADA Trips %∆Prev. Year 11.2% Total Trips 63,809 %∆Prev. Year 10.3% Service & Productivity Rev. Hrs 21,409 Rev. Miles 378,402 Rev. Speed 17.7 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 20,764 2.7% 41,246 -5.4% 62,010 -2.8% 22,515 8.4% 40,113 -2.7% 62,628 1.0% 26,578 18.0% 38,658 -3.6% 65,236 4.2% 32,462 22.1% 36,845 -4.7% 69,307 6.2% 31,657 -2.5% 35,351 -4.1% 67,008 -3.3% 21,864 389,508 17.8 22,645 397,755 17.6 23,893 417,856 17.5 27,416 468,004 17.1 28,340 474,123 16.7 Figure 20: Gadabout Ridership 2008 - 2013 Gadabout Ridership: ADA & Non-ADA Rides 2008 - 2013 80,000 15% 70,000 10.3% 60,000 In fact, non-ADA trips have decreased in five out of the past six years primarily due to economic factors. People who qualify for ADA service but who previously didn’t bother with the certification process have now become certified to take advantage of the lower TCAT half fare. As seniors and people with disabilities have less disposable income for trips and shopping, they cut back on their use of transportation services. Finally, other consumers of Gadabout’s services, such as nursing homes, have cut back on their contracts as their budgets have shrunk. 10% 6.2% Rides 50,000 40,000 1.0% 4.2% 5% 30,000 20,000 0% -2.8% -3.3% 10,000 0 -5% 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Non-ADA 43,588 41,246 40,113 38,658 36,845 35,351 ADA 20,221 20,764 22,515 26,578 32,462 31,657 %∆ 10.3% -2.8% 1.0% 4.2% 6.2% -3.3% Figure 21: Gadabout Service Efficiency Measures Gadabout Trips v. Revenue Miles Total Trips Gadabout Trips v. Revenue Hours Rev. Miles Total Trips 80,000 600,000 70,000 500,000 60,000 400,000 50,000 40,000 300,000 30,000 200,000 20,000 100,000 10,000 0 0 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Rev. Hrs 80,000 40,000 70,000 35,000 60,000 30,000 50,000 25,000 40,000 20,000 30,000 15,000 20,000 10,000 10,000 5,000 0 0 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Gadabout’s revenue mileage has steadily increased since 2008 (and before); anecdotally, Gadabout reports an increase in trips with a rural origin or destination. Gadabout’s revenue hours decreased from 2006 to 2008 as they improved their scheduling processes, but increased from 2009 to 2013, again, reflecting the increasingly rural nature of their clients. 17 OPERATIONS METRICS Bus Narratives Thanks to federal stimulus funds, TCAT was able to purchase 15 new buses for delivery in 2011. TCAT’s 2011 federal stimulus procurements included 2 hybrid diesel/ electric buses from Gillig (vehicles 1102 & 1103), 6 diesel buses from Gillig (vehicles 1104 through 1109) and another 7 from Orion of New York State (vehicles 1110 through 1116). No new vehicles were added in 2012 or 2013. As of December 31, 2013, TCAT’s inventory included 53 vehicles with an average age of 7.13 years. TCAT anticipates needing to retire 22 vehicles (the 2001 Nova and 2002 New Flyer series, the trolley, the 30’ International, “Old 914” and the T-kittens (610-612)) by 2014. As discussed below in “Vehicle Metrics by Series,” these vehicles are among the most costly to maintain in terms of parts cost, labor time, and road calls/ disruptions to service. As of the time of writing, TCAT had two 40’ Gillig buses on order and secured options to purchase five additional Gilligs and four under 30’ cutaway buses (T-kittens). These new buses will be a welcome addition to the fleet; however, replacement of aging buses remains a high-priority task for TCAT’s leadership. Table 8: 2013 Fleet Summary Bus Nos. Year Total # Age Replacement Year 914 1991 1 22 2003 73 2001 1 12 2013 101 - 108 2001 8 12 2013 201-204, 206-209 2002 8 11 2014 601-608 2006 8 7 2018 610-612 2006 3 7 2013 613-615 2006 3 7 2018 701-703 2007 3 6 2019 704 2007 1 6 2014 901-902 2009 2 4 2021 2011 2 2 2023 2011 6 2 2023 2011 7 2 2023 11021103 11041108 11101116 Type of Vehicle Transit Bus Trolley Transit Bus Transit Bus Transit Bus Mini-Bus Transit Bus Transit Bus Transit Bus Transit Bus Transit Bus Transit Bus Transit Bus Body Power Manufacturer Length (ft.) Width (in.) Diesel 35 96 Chance Diesel 30 96 41 Nova Diesel 40 102 39 38 New Flyer Diesel 40 102 38 28 Gillig Diesel 40 102 16 6 Ford Gas 23 93 38 28 Gillig Hybrid 40 102 38 28 Gillig Hybrid 40 102 22 11 International Diesel 30 96 38 28 Gillig Diesel 40 102 38 25 Gillig Hybrid 40 102 38 28 Gillig Diesel 40 102 36 41 Orion Diesel 40 102 Seats Stands 38 20 Orion 28 21 37 As of 12/31/2013 Table 9, below, shows the principal maintenance metrics for each individual bus, by vehicle series. 18 Table 9: 2013 Bus Statistics 2013 Miles Traveled Fuel Gallons of Fuel Used Maintenance Miles per Gallon Labor Hours Parts Cost per Mile Major Road Calls (84) Rd. Calls/ 1K Mi. Orion '91 914 21,974 5,510 3.99 425.6 $9,469.23 $0.43 4 5 0.40 Trolley 73 5,286 1,452 3.64 191.2 $4,124.45 $0.78 0 1 0.19 101 32,050 7,881 4.07 290.8 $15,648.80 $0.49 8 4 0.37 102 20,999 5,232 4.01 302.3 $14,444.32 $0.69 3 4 0.33 103 31,328 8,407 3.73 335.3 $14,592.82 $0.47 4 3 0.22 104 19,319 4,987 3.87 395.3 $32,292.60 $1.67 7 4 0.57 105 31,992 8,143 3.93 338.1 $15,690.82 $0.49 10 3 0.41 106 31,058 8,260 3.76 484.6 $16,593.25 $0.53 2 6 0.26 107 33,639 8,347 4.03 370.0 $15,653.08 $0.47 2 7 0.27 108 31,577 7,846 4.02 419.2 $23,063.73 $0.73 5 5 0.32 TOTAL 231,962 59,103 N/A 2935.7 $147,979.42 N/A 41 36 N/A AVG. 28,995 7,388 3.92 367.0 $18,497.43 $0.64 5.13 4.50 0.33 201 31,629 7,683 4.12 371.5 $15,123.62 $0.48 2 4 0.19 202 24,264 6,260 3.88 327.8 $15,118.59 $0.62 8 6 0.58 203 26,327 6,959 3.78 390.5 $14,052.57 $0.53 7 1 0.30 204 35,058 9,407 3.73 357.6 $8,585.88 $0.24 5 3 0.23 206 20,271 5,494 3.69 588.7 $58,843.92 $2.90 6 7 0.64 207 23,302 5,961 3.91 411.1 $15,426.16 $0.66 2 2 0.17 208 32,905 8,272 3.98 412.5 $15,980.45 $0.49 6 4 0.30 209 29,840 7,852 3.80 372.0 $18,748.37 $0.63 3 6 0.30 TOTAL 223,596 57,887 N/A 3231.6 $161,879.56 N/A 39 33 N/A AVG. 27,950 7,236 3.86 404.0 $20,234.95 $0.72 4.88 4.13 0.32 601 30,649 7,670 4.00 225.4 $7,842.10 $0.26 3 2 0.16 602 40,459 10,396 3.89 290.2 $7,359.89 $0.18 4 2 0.15 603 39,195 10,158 3.86 279.4 $6,778.79 $0.17 1 1 0.05 604 40,194 10,137 3.97 231.6 $7,433.56 $0.18 1 2 0.07 605 39,559 10,120 3.91 324.0 $12,996.68 $0.33 3 6 0.23 606 39,798 10,044 3.96 297.1 $10,832.99 $0.27 3 2 0.13 607 42,560 10,707 3.98 227.3 $4,916.33 $0.12 4 4 0.19 608 40,034 10,610 3.77 338.4 $10,003.56 $0.25 3 1 0.10 TOTAL 312,448 79,841 N/A 2213.4 $68,163.90 N/A 22 20 N/A AVG. 39,056 9,980 3.91 276.7 $8,520.49 $0.22 2.75 2.50 0.13 609 6,441 1,032 6.24 68.5 $777.57 $0.12 1 1 0.31 610 17,907 2,821 6.35 121.0 $2,913.57 $0.16 2 1 0.17 611 23,796 3,764 6.32 191.9 $4,375.27 $0.18 0 4 0.17 612 25,584 3,845 6.65 168.2 $3,559.40 $0.14 1 6 0.27 TOTAL 73,728 11,462 N/A 549.6 $11,625.81 N/A 4 12 N/A AVG. 18,432 2,865 6.43 137.4 $2,906.45 $0.16 1.00 3.00 0.22 613 27,698 6,239 4.44 250.6 $12,316.56 $0.44 3 2 0.18 614 24,708 5,539 4.46 227.9 $6,910.73 $0.28 1 2 0.12 615 28,595 6,229 4.59 254.4 $12,065.67 $0.42 7 3 0.35 TOTAL 81,001 18,006 N/A 732.9 $31,292.96 N/A 11 7 N/A AVG. 27,000 6,002 4.50 244.3 $10,430.99 $0.39 3.67 2.33 0.22 Gillig (2006) New Flyer (2002) Nova (2001) Bus No. Ford Vans (2006) Cost of Parts Road Calls Minor Road Calls (85) Series Hybrids (2006) 19 Mileage 2013 Bus No. Miles Traveled Fuel Gallons of Fuel Used Maintenance Miles per Gallon Labor Hours Cost of Parts Road Calls Parts Cost per Mile Minor Road Calls (85) Major Road Calls (84) Rd. Calls/ 1K Mi. 701 25,090 5,312 4.72 164.5 $11,926.16 $0.48 0 7 702 24,059 5,548 4.34 290.1 $14,891.07 $0.62 2 5 0.28 0.29 25,474 5,995 4.25 289.8 $17,265.72 $0.68 1 3 0.16 74,623 16,855 N/A 744.4 $44,082.95 N/A 3 15 N/A AVG. 24,874 5,618 4.43 248.1 $14,694.32 $0.59 1.00 5.00 0.24 Int'l 704 23,891 2,912 8.20 256.3 $7,707.40 $0.32 1 1 0.08 901 31,535 8,328 3.79 269.8 $18,893.35 $0.60 0 2 0.06 902 37,576 10,080 3.73 314.1 $11,721.80 $0.31 2 7 0.24 TOTAL 69,111 18,408 N/A 583.9 $30,615.15 N/A 2 9 N/A AVG. 34,556 9,204 3.75 291.9 $15,307.58 $0.44 1.00 4.50 0.16 1102 36,997 8,032 4.61 243.7 $9,944.69 $0.27 3 4 0.19 1103 35,991 7,640 4.71 213.6 $5,106.42 $0.14 3 3 0.17 TOTAL 72,988 15,672 N/A 457.2 $15,051.11 N/A 6 7 N/A AVG. 36,494 7,836 4.66 228.6 $7,525.56 $0.21 3.00 3.50 0.18 1104 40,679 10,725 3.79 221.4 $6,644.80 $0.16 2 6 0.20 1105 41,103 10,751 3.82 224.9 $7,920.46 $0.19 5 10 0.36 1106 35,246 9,661 3.65 210.4 $10,803.54 $0.31 2 5 0.20 1107 36,742 9,592 3.83 233.7 $5,418.48 $0.15 1 4 0.14 1108 37,575 10,106 3.72 229.5 $7,634.31 $0.20 2 10 0.32 1109 34,695 9,386 3.70 265.5 $6,384.62 $0.18 5 9 0.40 TOTAL 226,040 60,222 N/A 1385.4 $44,806.21 N/A 17 44 N/A AVG. 37,673 10,037 3.75 230.9 $7,467.70 $0.20 2.83 7.33 0.27 1110 41,438 11,330 3.66 196.4 $9,060.01 $0.22 7 3 0.24 1111 41,304 11,162 3.70 269.4 $10,051.43 $0.24 3 5 0.19 1112 37,932 10,319 3.68 214.3 $9,110.64 $0.24 2 4 0.16 1113 82,170 10,305 3.74 177.7 $7,847.20 $0.10 2 3 0.06 1114 39,329 10,700 3.68 193.5 $8,091.59 $0.21 1 3 0.10 1115 34,145 9,259 3.69 260.9 $8,042.68 $0.24 3 2 0.15 1116 43,404 11,670 3.72 217.6 $8,289.74 $0.19 1 4 0.12 TOTAL 319,722 74,743 N/A 1529.7 $60,493.29 N/A 19 24 N/A AVG. 45,675 10,678 3.69 218.5 $8,641.90 $0.19 2.71 3.43 0.13 TOTAL 1,736,370 422,073 N/A 15,237 $637,291.44 N/A 169 214 N/A AVG. 32,311 7,909 4.01 282.70 $11,878.94 0.37 3.17 4.02 0.22 TOTAL 1,434,030 360,078 N/A 12,752.9 $535,238.61 N/A 145 173 N/A AVG. 34,394 8,711 3.86 304.8 $12,866.61 $0.37 3.51 4.20 0.22 TOTAL 228,612 50,533 N/A 1,934.5 $90,427.02 N/A 20 29 N/A AVG. 28,577 6,317 4.52 241.8 $11,303.38 $0.40 2.50 3.63 0.21 TOTAL 73,728 11,462 N/A 549.6 $11,625.81 N/A 4 12 N/A AVG. 18,432 2,865 6.43 137.4 $2,906.45 $0.16 1.00 3.00 0.22 Orions (2011) Gilligs (2011) Hybrids (2011) 703 TOTAL Gillig (2009) Hybrids (2007) Series Mileage Fleet Diesel Hybrid Ford Vans 20 VEHICLE METRICS BY SERIES Figure 22: Fuel Efficiency by Vehicle Series Fuel Efficiency by Series Most vehicles in the TCAT fleet got 3.8 to 4.7 miles to the gallon (MPG) over the course of 2013. The main outlier is the 2007 International which cruised in at an impressive 8.2 MPG. This vehicle has a smaller, efficient diesel engine and a lighter chassis than the other buses. Fuel Efficiency (MPG) by Vehicle Series 9 8.2 8 7 6.4 6 4.7 5 4.5 4.4 4.0 4 The second most fuel efficient vehicles are the 2006 Ford Vans. They are smaller vehicles with a lighter chassis and are the only gasoline-powered vehicles in the fleet. 3.9 3.9 3.9 3.8 3.8 3.7 3.6 3 2 1 0 The three hybrid series and the 1991 Orion were in the mid-upper efficiency range – breaking 4 MPG. A hybrid diesel/ electric engine increases fuel efficiency from the typical 3.86 MPG of a diesel bus to 4.52 MPG, an improvement of about 17.2%. Hybrid diesel/ electric buses cost approximately $100,000 - $200,000 more than a non-hybrid diesel bus. The fuel cost savings from hybrids do not cover the increased purchase cost. Unfortunately, the newer 2009 and 2011 Gilligs and the 2011 Orions appear to be less efficient than very similar vehicles only a few years older. Labor Hours per 1,000 Miles Driven by Series There are not many surprises in the distribution of labor hours among bus type. It is probably fair to say the trolley’s novelty has long since worn out. In 2013, the trolley was on the top of the list of vehicles requiring the most work to maintain per mile driven. The 1991 Orion also had elevated labor hours per 1k miles driven; several costly structural job were done on this bus including a new wheelchair lift. Figure 23: Labor Hours per 1k Miles The 2001 Novas and 2002 New Labor Hours per 1,000 Miles Driven Flyers require a lot of work to maintain. These vehicles are known 40 36.2 for problems with their series 40 35 engines and fuel injectors. The 2006 and 2007 hybrids also necessitate many labor hours. The hybrids have more (electronic) parts than the diesels and replacing these parts when they fail adds to labor hours. The vehicles that take the least work to maintain are the newest vehicles: the 2011 hybrids, Gilligs and Orions. 21 30 25 19.4 20 15 10 5 0 5.5 6.1 6.3 7.1 7.5 8.4 9.0 10.0 10.7 12.7 14.5 Parts Cost per 1,000 Miles Driven by Series Topping the list of the most expensive vehicles to maintain in terms of parts cost are the 2001 Novas, the 2002 New Flyers and the trolley. A unique (and older) vehicle in the fleet, the trolley parts costs are unfortunately quite high. As previously mentioned, the Novas and New Flyers are known for engine Figure 24: Parts Cost per 1k Miles by Series problems, and many of the vehicles Parts Cost per 1,000 Miles Driven had engine replacements or partial $900 “in-frame” replacements in 2013. The vehicles requiring the least cost in parts to maintain were the Ford Vans followed by the 2011 Gilligs and Hybrids. The Ford Vans use many basic automotive parts that can be acquired very inexpensively directly from a consumer parts supplier, helping to keep their parts cost down. The 2011 Gilligs and Orions had a fair amount of warranty work done in 2013, especially on the emission control system. Luckily for TCAT, the cost of warranty work doesn’t figure into parts or labor costs. $780 $800 $724 $700 $591 $600 $500 $386 $400 $300 $200 $638 $431 $443 $323 $218 $219 $158 $198 $206 $100 $- Road Calls per 1,000 Miles Driven by Series Vehicles with more road calls tend to be older, like the 1991 Orion, the 2001 Novas and the 2002 New Flyers. These vehicles are known to be “quirky”—for example, if they hit a pothole or curb, they will require a road call to reset the bus leveling mechanism. The 2011 Gilligs had numerous road calls due to the “check engine light” that would come on and require that the bus be taken back to the garage for evaluation. This issue was associated with faulty emission control systems that were fortunately still under warranty. Figure 25: Road Calls per 1k Miles by Series The 2006 and 2007 Hybrids also have Road Calls per 1,000 Miles Driven a significant number of road calls. Again, this series appears to have 0.45 0.41 reoccurring problems, especially with 0.40 electronic components. 0.33 0.35 The vehicle series that had the fewest road calls were generally the newest vehicles and the vehicles that drive fewer miles. Since vehicles are serviced preventively based on both the number of miles driven and the length of time since their last service, vehicles that are driven less are often serviced on a shorter mileage interval than their counterparts that are used daily. This may account for their solid maintenance performance. 0.32 0.30 0.27 0.25 0.22 0.20 0.13 0.15 0.10 0.16 0.16 0.18 0.22 0.24 0.19 0.08 0.05 0.00 22 VEHICLES BY RANK Based on the metrics of fuel efficiency, labor hours per 1,000 miles driven, parts cost per 1,000 miles driven, and road calls per 1,000 miles driven, which are TCAT’s “best” vehicles? Each vehicle series was ranked according to the metrics on the previous pages. The best vehicle series for a given metric (e.g. highest fuel efficiency or least parts cost) was assigned 1 point, while the worst vehicle series was awarded 13 points (there are currently 13 vehicle series in the fleet). The points for each metric were summed to determine the total number of points and the series rank. Table 10: Bus Series Ranked by 2013 Performance By Vehicle Age 23 Orion ('91) 1 Hybrids ('11) 13 Trolley ('01) 13 13 13 6 45 2 Ford Vans ('06) 2 5 1 7 15 13 Nova ('01) 7 10 11 12 40 3 Int'l ('07) 1 9 6 1 17 12 New Flyer ('02) 9 11 12 11 43 4 Gillig ('06) 8 4 4 2 18 8 Gillig ('06) 8 4 4 2 18 5 Orions ('11) 12 1 5 3 21 Ford Vans ('06) 2 5 1 7 15 Gilligs ('11) 11 2 2 10 25 8 Hybrids ('06) 4 7 7 8 26 7 Hybrids ('06) 4 7 7 8 26 7 Hybrids ('07) 5 8 10 9 32 8 Gillig ('09) 10 6 9 4 29 7 Int'l ('07) 1 9 6 1 17 9 Hybrids ('07) 5 8 10 9 32 5 Gillig ('09) 10 6 9 4 29 10 Orion ('91) 6 12 8 13 39 3 Hybrids ('11) 3 3 3 5 14 11 Nova ('01) 7 10 11 12 40 Gilligs ('11) 11 2 2 10 25 New Flyer ('02) 9 11 12 11 43 Orions ('11) 12 1 5 3 21 Trolley 13 13 13 6 45 Age 8 3 3 Vehicle Series Labor Hours 12 Parts Cost 8 Road Calls 13 Total Rank 39 By Rank Fuel Efficiency 6 Rank 6 12 13 Vehicle Series Fuel Efficiency 3 Labor Hours 3 Parts Cost 3 Road Calls 5 Total Rank 14 According to this analysis, the 2011 Gillig hybrids, 2006 Ford Vans and the 2007 International are the “best” vehicles in TCAT’s fleet, followed by the 2006 Gilligs and the 2011 Orions. The trolley has the worst ranking followed by the 2002 New Flyers and the 2001 Novas. This suggests that TCAT should retire the 2002 New Flyers and 2001 Novas as soon as they reach retirement age and replacement buses have been procured. There is already a campaign underway to retire the trolley as it not only performs poorly in the four metrics examined here, but it is also uncomfortable and noisy. Figure 26: Total Ranked Value for Bus Series - 2013 Vehicles by Series, Ranked - 2013 Rank Total (smaller numbers are better) 45 23 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 OTHER MAINTENANCE METRICS Figure 27: Road Call Totals and Road Call/ 1k Revenue Miles Road Calls The number of road calls per 1,000 revenue miles closely mirrors the absolute number of road calls per year. That is, in years where there are fewer road calls, the rate of road calls is correspondingly lower, regardless of the number of miles driven. This seems to suggest that the total number of road calls in any year is not dependent on the total miles driven. Road calls may be more dependent on other variables, such as fleet age or rate of on-time maintenance servicing. Major & Minor Road Calls, 2007-2013 Major Road Calls 0.30 600 0.30 0.27 0.25 0.28 0.24 0.24 500 Total Annual Road Calls Road Calls/ 1k Rev. Miles 0.24 0.25 121 400 135 0.20 170 118 182 300 196 200 0.15 214 0.10 391 326 305 251 100 287 186 169 2013 had 383 total road calls, up from 382 in 2012. However, the 0 number of road calls per ride went 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 down in 2013 to its lowest level since 2007, indicating that an average passenger now experiences the lowest number road calls in recent history. Road Calls/ 1,000 Miles Minor Road Calls 0.05 0.00 Interestingly, the number of major road calls in 2013 was actually the highest since 2007. This may be partially due to problems with check engine lights on some of the 2011 buses. The DEF (Diesel Exhaust Fluid) system, which increases combustion efficiency, would trigger the check engine light and reduce the buses’ power output. This in turn requires that the buses to be brought back to the garage. Inspections TCAT’s vehicles are thoroughly inspected by NYSDOT on a regular basis. The TCAT maintenance team has spent considerable effort over the past seven years to bring the 18-month average inspection pass rate above 90%, which they have maintained since March 2010. The 18-month pass rate as of December 2013 was 95.0%. Figure 28: 18 - Month Vehicle Inspection Pass Rate 18-Month Inspection Pass Rate, 2006-2013 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% October '13 December '13 July '13 April '13 January '13 October '12 July '12 April '12 January '12 October '11 July '11 April '11 January '11 October '10 July '10 April '10 January '10 October '09 July '09 April '09 January '09 October '08 July '08 April '08 January '08 October '07 July '07 April '07 January '07 October '06 July '06 April '06 0% 24 Preventive Maintenance Services (PMs) Until September of 2013, TCAT preventively serviced its vehicles every 3,000 miles or 90 days, whichever was sooner. This servicing plan was more aggressive than the typical 6,000 mile public transit schedule; however it did mean that buses had to be removed from service at a greater frequency so that the maintenance department could work on the buses. In September 2013, preventative maintenance services began to be performed ever 6,000 miles. This shift temporarily helped the maintenance department catch up with its PM services and attain a 90% on-time rate by December 2013. However, taken as a whole, 2013 was a less than stellar year for on-time PM performance, with a 62% on-time rate. It is worth noting if a 300 mile buffer is added to the scheduled service mileage, the on-time performance jumps to 83%. This indicates that in most cases maintenance staff was able to get to overdue buses within a day or two to complete the overdue PM services. Because TCAT was not able to add buses to the fleet in 2012 and 2013, our bus spare ratio is lower than allowed by the FTA. This affects the maintenance department, making it is harder to hold a bus out of service during peak service hours. In addition, those buses that were out of service for warranty repair were often unusable for extended periods waiting on the manufacturer’s mechanics to come to Ithaca. In any case, preventative maintenance is an area that TCAT will take steps to improve in 2014. Figure 29: Preventative Maintenance Services Completed vs. Percent Services Overdue Services Completed v. Percent Services Overdue Services 60% 70 50% 60 40% 50 40 30% % Overdue Preventive Maintenance Services Completed 80 % Overdue 30 20% 20 10% 10 0 0% Accidents & Incidents TCAT had a total of 47 accidents and incidents in 2013, a decrease of 9.6% from 52 in 2012 and decrease of close to 40% from 2010. The absolute number of accidents and incidents was the lowest since data began to be collected using these categories in 2006. The number of accidents per 100,000 revenue miles was the second lowest in the past seven years. This is a very positive trend for TCAT. It is important to note that the vast majority of the accidents that occurred in 2013 were very minor such as bus mirrors hitting the mirrors of other vehicles on Ithaca’s narrow streets or slight bumps or scrapes on buses being moved around in the TCAT garage. Table 11 shows how many of the 44 accidents in 2013 were determined to be preventable after an internal review by TCAT’s safety staff. Only 2 accidents were considered to be “major collisions” by TCAT staff in which significant damage was done to a bus or other vehicle. The Public Transportation Safety Board’s (PTSB) requires every transit system to give the PTSB notice 25 of the following occurrences: (a) all accidents that result in a fatality; (b) all accidents that result in five or more injuries that require medical attention; and (c) all accidents caused by mechanical failure, including, but not limited to, all fires that occur in revenue service. If a PTSB report is filed, it indicates a serious accident occurred. Fortunately, there were zero PTSB reports filed in 2013 (Table 12). The final two columns in the table below indicate whether an insurance claim was filed against TCAT for damage resulting from an accident or whether TCAT filed claims against another party’s insurance. It is clear from the data in this table, that the number of serious accidents is very low. TCAT takes all accidents seriously and activley promotes a culture of safety among our drivers. Figure 30: Accident and Incidents per Year 2007 - 2013 Accidents & Incidents, 2007 - 2013 5.0 4.6 4.5 80 Total Annual Accidents and Incidents 3.8 3.9 3.7 70 4.0 3.3 3.5 60 3.0 2.8 3.0 50 2.5 40 2.0 30 1.5 20 1.0 10 0.5 0 Accidents and Incidents per 100,000 Revenue Miles 90 0.0 2007 Preventable 2008 2009 Unpreventable 2010 Undetermined 2011 2012 2013 Other Incidents Per 100k Miles It is difficult to pin down the underlying causes of changes in the number of accidents and incidents. Many of these events occur seemingly randomly as several spontaneous and unforeseen factors align. There is a weak correlation between the number of accidents and the number of revenue miles and revenue hours. Other variables that may affect the number of accidents: the length of experience of TCAT bus drivers, the comprehensiveness of driver safety training, the severity of the winter and the total traffic volumes on the roads. In order to reduce the “preventable” accidents, those that the driver may have been able to avoid, TCAT offers in-depth, comprehensive training for new drivers which exceeds industry requirements. Table 11: 2013 Accident Metrics Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total Total Accidents 2 5 2 2 10 1 1 2 4 4 2 9 44 Preventable Accidents 1 2 2 1 7 0 0 1 1 2 1 7 25 # Major Collisions 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 # PTSB report 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Ins. Claim Against TCAT 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 6 Ins. Claim Against Other 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 5 26 OTHER METRICS, PROJECTS, & CHALLENGES Fuel Costs Annual Total & Average Diesel Costs, 2007 - 2013 Annual Cost Avg. Cost/Gallon $1.8M $3.49 $3.44 $1.6M $4.00 $3.60 $3.42 $1.4M $3.00 $2.68 $2.49 $1.2M $3.50 $2.15 $2.50 $1.0M $2.00 $0.8M $1.50 Avg. Cost/ Gallon In 2013, diesel prices were lower than 2012, the first decrease in prices since 2009. TCAT paid an average of $3.42 per gallon in 2013, a decrease of 5% from 2012, yet still 59.3% higher than 2009. Figure 31: Annual Diesel Costs 2007 - 2013 Annual Diesel Cost In 2013, TCAT used close to 420,000 gallons of fuel - 97% of which was diesel - at a cost of $1,386,148. TCAT bought approximately 1.6% less diesel in 2013 than it did in 2012. $1,386,148 $1,480,759 $1,478,617 $1,166,180 $888,817 $1,271,236 $935,359 Fuel costs are a significant $0.6M portion of TCAT’s operating $1.00 $0.4M costs and innovations that could help reduce the amount $0.50 $0.2M of fuel required are duly $0.0M $0.00 considered by TCAT. In late 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 or early 2015, TCAT is expected to take delivery of a hydrogen fuel-cell bus. The bus will be provided free of charge for a 2-year period and will give TCAT a chance to evaluate the performance of this new technology in our unique transit system. Operating Budget and Budget Challenges With rising personnel costs and health insurance premiums, and shrinking federal, state, and local funding, TCAT continues to face an extremely challenging budget environment. TCAT’s year-end 2013 preliminary budget indicates that both the revenue and expenditures were over $300,000 more than the 2013 operating budget. Luckily, the actual revenue is greater than the actual expenditures leading to a projected surplus of $87,561. It is likely that this surplus will increase by $247,000 if the case currently being brought against an ex- employee of TCAT for grand larceny is successful in recouping the embezzled funds. The TCAT board and management team are firmly committed to ensuring that such incidents do not occur in the future. Figure 32: Actual 2013 Year-end Revenues Actual 2013 Revenues 3% 6% 6% 6% 36% 10% 13% 20% State Operating Assistance Passenger Revenue City Partner Share County Partner Share CU Bulk Fares Federal Operating Assistance Cornell Partner Share Other Revenue There are a few reasons that explain the projected surplus: (1) there was an increase in passenger revenue due to increased ridership over budgeted ridership 27 revenue figures; (2) NY Statewide Mass Transportation Operating Assistance (STOA) was greater than the budgeted amount due to increased ridership; (3) fuel and parts costs came in under budget for 2013; (4) TCAT employees did not receive raises in 2013. Figure 32 shows that STOA provides the largest source of revenue; STOA is administered by NY Department of Transportation and the amount received by each transit provider is based on the number of rides and revenue miles per year. The Cornell bulk fare program provided close to $2.6 million in 2013; 3.1 million rides were taken in 2013 using Cornell credentials. NonCornell passenger fare revenue came in third place at close to $1.7 million. Partner shares came in at $829,432 in 2013 – representing a total of 18.9% of total revenue. Figure 33: Actual Year-end 2013 Expenditures by Department and Expense Category Actual 2013 Expenditures by Department 1% 5% 4% 1% Actual 2013 Expenditures by Category 1% 4% 1% 6% 7% 6% 8% 64% 18% 42% 12% 20% Operations GM, HR & Finance General Undistributed Marketing Vehicle & Facility Maintenance Operations Admin & Safety Maintenance Administration Service Development Employee Wages Fuel Parts Expense Utilities Employee Benefits Service Contracts Insurance Bus & Facility Other Expenses The 2013 operating expenditures are broken down in Figure 33 by TCAT department and expense category. The operations and maintenance departments make up 82% of departmental expenses, indicating that the vast majority of TCAT’s budget is allocated to providing convenient and safe transit service. The second graph in figure 32 shows a majority of operating expenditures goes to TCAT’s employees in the form of wages and benefits. The third largest cost category is fuel – underlining the potential impact that alternative fuel vehicles could make to TCAT’s bottom line. Despite the challenging budget environment in 2014 and beyond, TCAT is dedicated to pursuing projects that will continue to improve our service. Currently, TCAT is taking steps to issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a contractor that would design and install an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) that will provide real-time information to passengers in improve efficiency within TCAT. Other budget priorities are the replacement of buses in the fleet that have surpassed their 12-year useful life and improvement/expansion of TCAT’s facility. The increasing ridership levels have placed strains on the current facility. These projects are part of TCAT’s capital budget which is funded primarily through Federal grant money. Marketing & Communications Initiatives Promoting service, informing passengers and reaching out to the community remained top priorities for TCAT’s communications and marketing two-full time and two part-time staff members in 2013. In addition to greeting visitors to the TCAT facility, handling mail and conference room scheduling, TCAT’s customer service representatives answer up to 90 phone calls per day, many of which entail trip planning, Route 41 demand-and-response scheduling, bus pass reloading and lost-and- found inquiries. The customer service representatives are responsible for filling large Tcard bus pass orders as well as reconciling bus passes sold at 20 local outlets. 28 Outreach and educational efforts in 2013 included on-site visits to Dewitt Middle School, BOCES, Cornell University new student orientation and Streets Alive! During these events, TCAT staff interacted with passengers and potential passengers, demonstrated the fare box and bike racks, and answered general questions regarding the transit system. In 2013, TCAT’s graphics artist designed and developed five print advertisements for local publications in addition to creating a 70+ page TCAT Schedules & Service Guide for each of TCAT’s three service periods. The graphics artist designed and developed posters to communicate upcoming changes, winter holiday service, bus stop relocations, detours, significant changes to schedule affecting a specific stop and handouts notifying passengers of specific changes. The graphics artists’ other creations included a ride guide specifically for new Ithaca College Students, a service summary flier for guests staying at the Holiday Inn going to Cornell Commencement as well as 68 summary schedules over the course of the year to be posted at specific bus stops. The department also designed and developed a recruitment poster for TCAT’s human resources department. To alert the community about detours, service adjustments and other TCAT news, the department issued a total of 80 alerts and/ or press releases. The department also provided content and photographs for New York Public Transit Association’s report “Ensuring the Future of Transit Service to Upstate Communities,” which stresses the need for more predictable and adequate funding for upstate New York transit agencies. The department coordinates and facilitates the TCAT Citizens Advisory Committee, a group of TCAT riders who meet monthly with staff to provide feedback on TCAT services. In 2013, membership grew substantially to 14 members who represent a broad range of ridership. The department is also responsible for TCAT’s ADA paratransit and half- fare application process as well as facilitating the TCAT Transportation Accessibility Committee, which meets monthly. In 2013, the department processed 136 ADA paratransit applications and 87 half- fare applications. In addition, the department researched and created a more comprehensive half-fare policy. The department planned the annual employee recognition banquet in February as well as a fall festival luncheon for employees on-site at the transit facility in November. Figure 34: Marketing & Communications Outreach at Streets Alive! 29 Website and Trip Planner Usage Thousands of Views per Month Figure 35: 2013 Page Views for TCAT Trip Planner and Schedule Information TCAT’s website continues to be a critical source of information for our riders. 2013 Page Views for Trip Planner and Route/Stop Schedules Route and schedule information is listed in several formats so that every user can 120K find the information they are looking for in an easy-to-understand layout. TCAT’s 100K trip planner (Next Insight) records aggregate data about trip searches and 80K schedule page views. Overall, there were 2.94 million pages views in 2013, 1.01 60K million sessions and 210,600 users. The route schedule pages were viewed 40K 954,000 times. Stop pages were viewed 394,000 times, with the most viewed 20K stops being Sage Hall, Seneca @ Commons, Schwartz Performing Arts 0K Center, Statler Hall, College@ Dryden, Green @ Commons, Shops at Ithaca Mall Highland @ Wyckoff, Triphammer @ Route Views Stop Views Hanshaw and Baker Flagpole with approximately 50% of all stop-level views. TCAT’s homepage (tcatbus.com) is managed separately than the route schedule and trip planner pages – data indicate that there were 50,000 sessions on the homepage in 2013 (a different metric from page views). Figure 32 shows how page views for the Next Insight pages fluctuated by month in 2013. It is evident that the pattern closely follows the 2013 monthly ridership pattern. It is interesting to note, however, that the biggest peak in page views is in September when new students are learning to navigate TCAT’s system. In May 2014, a rider survey carried out on TCAT’s buses asked respondents where they got information about TCAT’s routes, schedules and policies. The responses confirm the importance of the website as the primary information source for riders when it comes to accesses TCAT’s service. Figure 36: Percent of Survey Respondents getting TCAT Service Information from different Sources Rider Survey: Where do you get your information about TCAT bus service? (Service Info/Schedules/Policies) (n = 1,327) TCAT Website 78.3% Brochures/signs on buses 22.6% Brochures/signs at bus stops 22.5% TCAT bus operator 16.0% Other websites 5.8% Telephone to TCAT front desk 5.8% Social Media (Facebook, Twitter) 4.6% Newspaper 1.5% Radio 1.2% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Percent of Respondents 30 Human Resources TCAT’s Human Resources Department in 2013 heavily emphasized staff development, which is essential to ensuring company-wide stability as well as meeting the demands of a growing system. The department provided training to all TCAT departments covering a broad range of topics that employees encounter on a day-to-day basis. For the administrative staff, those subjects were aimed at improving interviewing skills, attendance policies, payroll processes and workers’ compensation reporting. HR also presented the four-part series, “Race: The Power of an Illusion,” a highly acclaimed film that underscores the power and importance of diversity and inclusion. The film was well received and was followed by compelling discussion among staff members. The department also offered a four-part workshop called “Retirewise,”which covered financial planning and goal setting for retirement. For TCAT’s bus operators, HR held four sessions of training on myriad topics covering the Americans with Disabilities Act and assisting passengers with mobility devices; bikes and buses - sharing the road with bikes; and how best to serve a diverse community. For the maintenance crew, TCAT’s Safety Department provided communication training on changes to labeling requirements for hazardous materials. Figure 37: TCAT HR Outreach Poster In addition to staff development, HR also worked on staffing levels via numerous recruitment efforts that included more aggressive advertising and other outreach efforts. The department completed 73 interviews and coordinated ten recruitment classes in 2013. TCAT ended the year with 113 full-time and five part-time employees. Other completed projects and activities in 2013 included the implementation of a flexible work schedule for the administrative staff, the offering of AFLAC voluntary benefits to all employees, the HR careers tab on the TCAT website, as well as meeting the demands of the Wage Theft Prevention Act and EEO-1 reporting. The department also coordinated employee benefit renewals; open enrollment, including domestic partnership re-verification; and shoe and tool allowance elections. For 2014, the department’s goal is to continue to recruit for bus operator and grow, develop and diversify its entire workforce – all key elements in ensuring TCAT’s success going forward. 31 Conclusion This yearbook shows that 2013 was another good year for TCAT. Ridership took a substantial step upward, adding 260,000 new rides in 2013. TCAT’s ridership growth of 6.31% rate easily surpassed the US average for cities fewer than 100,000 inhabitants (3.83%). It is clear from the transit utilization rate in our service area that residents of Ithaca and Tompkins County use transit at a higher rate than other NY cities outside of the New York City Metro area. Ridership increases underlie an improvement in TCAT’s service productivity measures. 2013 showed that once again TCAT is providing an efficient and well-utilized service to the local community. Operations and bus maintenance metrics showed that TCAT has done an excellent job in keeping our fleet in good condition and our passengers safe. Our 95% average inspection pass rate was at an all-time high for TCAT as of December 2013. Given the demands on the fleet due to bus overcrowding, a low spare ratio and maintenance issues with certain bus models, the preventative maintenance service on-time performance was reduced somewhat in 2013. However, this did not seem to affect the number of road calls which remained essentially unchanged from 2012. The number of accidents and incidents was down close to 10% in 2013 from 2012 – the lowest level on record. TCAT came in on-budget in 2013, with a small surplus due primarily to increased revenue from ridership gains. However, TCAT’s will need to find additional sources of funding moving forward. Although the economy is slowly coming back from the 2008 recession, the local jurisdictions have kept their funding levels essentially flat for several years running. TCAT needs additional capital funding for new buses, additional capacity at our facility, and technological up-dates. It also needs additional operational funding to help address overcrowding issues on some routes and to permit additional service where growth in Tompkins County makes transit a viable transportation option. Undoubtedly 2014 and beyond will bring new challenges, but TCAT employees are dedicated to building on the hard work of previous years. See you on the bus! Figure 38: Panoramic Photo of a bus pulling out of the TCAT garage to go into revenue service 32 33