[SBC] Fw: Bike Racks on Buses Facts Sheet

[walker2468 at earthlink.net]

FYI. 

Future agenda item: survey bus stops in Somerville for bike rack installation.

-Greg

-----Forwarded Message-----
>From: Jeff Rosenblum <rosenblum.jeff at gmail.com>
>Sent: Feb 6, 2007 4:48 PM
>Subject: Bike Racks on Buses Facts Sheet 
>
>
>MBTA Bike & Transit Colleagues-
>
>I thought you might find this factsheet useful, pasted below.
>
>Also, a reminder that David Loutzenheiser's excellent "Bicycles on 
>Transit Policies for all US Rail Systems and Large Bus Systems," last 
>updated March 2006, can be downloaded here:
>
>http://www.livablestreets.info/files/Loutzenheiser_BikeTransitComparison_March06.pdf
>
>Best,
>Jeff Rosenblum
>livablestreets.info
>
>
>Bike Racks on Buses Facts Sheet
>(compiled by Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin)
>
>General Statistics
>
>*	Over 40,000 buses (of the 75,000 active buses) of over 300 transit 
>agencies are equipped with bike racks. (NCTR)
>*	An estimated 670,000 bikes-on-transit (included bus and rail) trips 
>were provided each month as of 2002. (NCTR)
>*	For most agencies with 100% coverage, it took two to three years to 
>fully equip their fleet. (NCTR)
>*	The number of fleet vehicles an individual transit company equipped 
>with bike racks ranged from just 47 to over 1600. (NCTR)
>
>
>
>Congestion
>
>*	According to the Surface Transportation Policy Project’s American 
>Dream Report the average American household spends just under one-fifth 
>of their household income on transportation. They argue that this high 
>level of expenditure prevents some families from attaining home 
>ownership. (NCTR)
>*	In the 10 most congested areas, each rush hour traveler “pays” an 
>annual virtual “congestion tax” of between $850 and $1,600 in lost time 
>and fuel and spends the equivalent of almost 8 work days each year stuck 
>in traffic. (FDOT)
>*	 According to the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI), in 2003,
>congestion in the top 85 US urban areas caused 3.7 billion hours of 
>travel delay and 2.3 billion gallons of wasted fuel, for a total cost of 
>$63 billion. (FDOT)
>*	Evidence suggests that each additional 10 minutes in daily commuting 
>time cuts involvement in community affairs by 10%. (FDOT)
>
>
>Environmental & Health Benefits
>
>*	 “Many of the beneficial returns of BOB programs are not
>quantifiable. These include increased mobility and safety, and the 
>long-term health benefits of bicycling.” (NCTR)
>
>*	Based on VMT (Vehicle Miles Traveled) calculation it is estimated that 
>the RTD bike on bus service has reduced regional VMT by approximately 
>547,119 to 745,167 miles a year. (RTD)
>
>
>Ridership Increases
>
>*	A study showed that approximately 50% of RTD’s BOB trips were made by 
>new transit passengers which specified they would not have used transit 
>for the trip they were making if the buses had not been equipped to 
>carry bikes. (RTD)
>*	Just in the three years between 1996 (the first year of the Boulder 
>bike rack program) and 1999, Boulder’s bike on bus ridership doubled. (RTD)
>*	One in four BOB users is new to transit, and of those new transit 
>riders, over 80% site the ability to access transit by bicycle as the 
>reason they now use transit. (NCTR)
>*	The three-quarters of BOB patrons that were not new to transit
>reported increased transit use after they started using BOB services. 
>(NCTR)
>
>
>Expanded Service Area
>
>*	About two thirds of all those surveyed use the transit service
>because it enables them to cover a greater distance than they would be 
>able to cover with their bike or transit alone. (RTD)
>*	Approx 61% of BOB commuters bicycle more that one mile to access
>transit but 80% travel less than one mile after getting off the bus and
>bicycling to their place of work. (NCTR)
>*	PSTA’s survey showed 70% of BOB users had either driven alone or
>carpooled prior to switching to transit and bicycling. (NCTR)
>*	27% of BOB users responding to PSTA’s survey indicated that they
>would be forced to drive their cars if they were not able to integrate
>bicycling and transit (NCTR)
>*	Approximately half of those surveyed would not take transit if the 
>buses were not equipped to carry bikes. (RTD)
>
>
>Frequency of Use
>
>*	65% of respondents reported using BOB four or more days per week; over 
>40% of BOB users reported 11 or more boardings per week (NCTR)
>*	Approximately 60% of BOB riders use transit for other trips in
>addition to commuting. (NCTR)
>*	Approximately 72% of BOB patrons use the service to commute to work (NCTR)
>*	Of those who responded that they were new transit riders, over 83% 
>stated that BOB was indeed the reason for their switch to transit. (NCTR)
>*	70% of BOB users surveyed had been combining bicycling and transit for 
>over a year, and almost 33% have been doing so for over three years.
>(NCTR)
>
>
>Ridership Demographics
>
>*	65% of BOB users surveyed are between 25 and 44 years of age.
>(Individuals under age 18 could not be surveyed.) (NCTR)
>*	Over 45% of those surveyed come from households without cars. (NCTR)
>*	According to the survey, 60% of BOB users reported not holding a
>valid driver’s license. (NCTR)
>*	BOB users are usually males who earn under $30,000 or even under
>$20,000 a year. Hispanics and African Americans exist in higher 
>proportions in the BOB user population than compared to the general 
>public. (NCTR)
>*	21% of individuals combining bicycling and transit earn over
>$70,000/year. These individuals choose to combine bicycling and transit 
>for exercise, to avoid traffic congestion, and for environmental 
>reasons. (NCTR)
>*	PSTA has the highest ratio or women at almost 15% of BOB users;
>their results also showed that female BOB users are predominantly less 
>than 25 years of age. (NCTR)
>
>
>Costs & Staffing
>
>*	 “Currently, the investments made in terms of maintaining racks and 
>administering or marketing the program is minimal and considered part of 
>day-to-day operations.” (NCRT)
>*	Most agencies estimate that administering their program is about a 
>quarter of the effort of one of their staff members or .25 fulltime
>equivalence. (NCTR)
>*	When transit agencies first implemented their BOB programs, capital 
>funds, grant money, or operating funds were used to retrofit buses with 
>racks. (NCTR)
>*	RTS estimated that over the lifetime of their BOB program they have 
>spent less than $2500 on marketing the service. (NCTR)
>
>
>Delays & Service Changes
>
>*	 “Very few schedule delays have been reported” by the agencies that 
>were surveyed and there was “no systematic impact on scheduling 
>adherence.” (TCRP)
>*	As stated by LYNX, “For one-third the cost of one new bus, LYNX
>could reach more customers with bike racks. It expands access to transit
>from ¼ mile walk buffer to a 1 mile bike buffer, allowing our service to
>reach more customers.” (NCTR)
>
>
>Repair & Maintenance
>
>*	Most agencies noted that maintaining the bike racks was minimal; one 
>agency reported that bike rack maintenance represents one-quarter of 1% 
>of their entire maintenance budget. (TCRP)
>*	Based on the responses from the survey, the cost to maintain each bike 
>rack is roughly $50 to $100 per year. (TCRP)
>*	One agency reported that its bus bike racks were maintained for 6 to 7 
>years before they needed to be replaced. (TCRP)
>
>
>Rack Capacity & Bike Parking
>
>*	While only 8% of those surveyed indicated that bicycle parking racks 
>were available at the bus stops they use, 22% reported that they would 
>lock up their bicycle at the stop if parking racks were available, and 
>the bus arrived with full racks. Additionally, 43% stated that they 
>would park their bicycles at a bus stop if they could not afford to wait 
>for the next bus to arrive. (NCTR)
>*	The provision of bicycle parking is an important strategy in
>overcoming rack capacity limitations and encouraging bicycle-to-transit
>trips (NCTR)
>*	Transit agencies that invest in bicycle parking and provide a large 
>supply of quality racks and lockers that are placed in the right 
>locations will, it is predicted, see bikes-to-transit trips eclipse 
>bikes-on-bus boardings.
>
>
>Sources
>
>
>
>A Return on Investment: Analysis of Bikes-on-Bus Programs. 2005. 
>National Center for Transit Research (NCTR)
>
>14 Florida transit agencies and four outside agencies participated in 
>the study.
>
>
>RTD Bike-n-Ride Survey. 1999. Regional Transporation District (RTD)
>
>Survey of both Denver’s and Boulder’s Bike-n-Ride programs
>
>TCRP Synthesis 62. Integration of Bicycles and Transit: A Synthysis of
>Transit Practice. 2005—Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP)
>
>56 North American transit agencies were surveyed for this report
>
>National Strategy to Reduce Congestion on America’s Transportation Network.
>
>2006—Federal Department of Transportation (FDOT)
>