Gateway EMX Performance Review
PlannedRidership Projectionsvs. Observed Performance
BRT is a hybrid transit servicethat typically has the following characteristics:Bus system advantagesof at-grade street operations and route designflexibility.Moreextensive stop infrastructurethan a standard City bus routeServicedesign that is capable of handling high traveler volumes efficiently in dense urban areas.Eugene/Springfield MSA population ranked 29thout of 30 and 22ndout of 30 in population density for U.S. communities with BRT
What is “BRT” ?
Quantify the Gateway EMX operational performance through ridership countsCompare observed ridership to the planning documents’ projected ridershipCollect Gateway EMX qualitative data for a generalized quality assessmentAssess the Overall Performance of the Gateway EMX Project
Performance Review Objectives
Literature and Policy ReviewPeak Period Onboard Ridership CountsFull Day Transit Stop Ridership CountsQualitative Field Data Collection of Notes and Observations by Principal InvestigatorDataAnalysisCompare manual count analysis to APC dataIdentify Analysis & Data Limitations/ Additional Research OpportunitiesConclusions
Methodology
Sacred Heart Station Ridership was counted89% to 83% belowthe 2025 EA projected ridership1Centennial Station Ridership was counted62% to 36%belowthe 2025 EA projected ridership11EA stands for Environmental Assessment which was the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) document that was the planning document used to justify the Gateway EMX project
Transit Stop Utilization Results
The planned BRT capacity utilization rate in the EA wasonly 20.5%by 2030Onboard PeakHourCounts were taken on April 14, 2015The counted busses in the Gateway EMX had utilization ratesbelow 7%The utilization rates for the Gateway EMX were66.2% belowthe EA 2030 projection
Peak Period Capacity Utilization
Primary limitation of the original analysis was sample size for the manual count dataAPC data has its own limitations, but is a good comparative data set. LTD provided average boardings and alightings for October 2015.The APC data showed modestly better performance than the manual count data:Sacred Heart Station Ridership was counted89% to84%belowthe 2025 EA projectedridershipCentennial Station Ridership was counted48%to12%belowthe 2025 EA projectedridership
Automated Passenger Counts
APC Data Utilization Analysis
Gateway EMX Appears Convenient and ReliableAttractive Stop Architecture and Bus designsAppears to be operated in a safe and conscientious mannerStations are cleanPayment system is convenient and intuitiveTight stop spacing on the loop portion of the route combined with low ridership does not impart a sense of “rapid” service
Qualitative Assessment
Original EA utilization rate projection of 20.5%was deemed to be“Efficient”Observed useoftheGateway EMX routeappears to be two thirds or more below planned projectionsAt 13mph average, the Gateway EMX is notrapid service. Other standard bus routes in the LTD system operate at similarspeeds
Conclusions
Increased land developmentin the corridormayincreaseridershipover time butit appears insufficient to achievethe original ridershipprojections, - most likely by a significant marginThe Gateway EMX’s light usage was in sharp contrast to the Franklin EMX which was observed to be much more intensive and consistent with the academicliterature for BRT operations
Conclusions
Are other LTD transit services being curtailed in order to continue to run the Gateway EMX at current operational levels or are additional tax revenues beingsoughttoavoid curtailment?What changes to the service might be possible to maintain a high quality service but move in the direction of attaining originally projected utilization rates?
Questions for the Future
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