West Virginia transit needs study

PDFResearch PaperPublic transitRural transitBus transitNeeds assessmentTravel demandLevel of serviceTransportation disadvantaged personsWest Virginia. Dept. of TransportationWeaver, PatriciaSchauer, PeterNTL-PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION-PUBLIC TRANSPORTATIONNTL-PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION-Bus TransportationNTL-PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION-ParatransitNTL-PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION-Social ImpactsNTL-ECONOMICS AND FINANCE-Economic ImpactsNTL-PLANNING AND POLICY-Transit Planning and PolicyNTL-PLANNING AND POLICY-Travel DemandNTL-REFERENCES AND DIRECTORIES-StatisticsAGR-PASSENGERS-TransitUS Transportation CollectionIn West Virginia, the Division of Public Transit of the West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT) administers all federal and state programs relating to public transportation programs. The West Virginia Division of Public Transit funds 187 cities, counties, and nonprofit organizations that provide service in all 55 counties. These services are provided with just over 1,000 vehicles. There are 17 general public systems providing service in 28 counties. Approximately 7.5 million miles of passenger service are provided annually to more than 5.58 million passengers in West Virginia systems. This study was commissioned by the West Virginia Division of Public Transit to assess the public transit services in the state to provide the basis for determining the costs to sustain or improve existing mobility. This study employed three demand estimation equations for nonurbanized areas of the state. Two approaches, referred to as the APTNA equation and the Peterson & Smith model, are proportional demand equations applying trip rates to stratified population groups. These equations were based on data collected from states with relatively high levels of services with state funding. A third equation applied in this study is based on a model developed under the Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) of the Transportation Research Board, under contract to the Federal Transit Administration. This equation requires an established level of service indicator, in this case, annual service miles, to estimate nonprogram trips. Program-related trips are estimated from program populations and associated trip rates together with annual service miles. Total estimated demand for West Virginia's 55 counties is 20.68 million trips. Currently, 5.58 million of these trips are provided by West Virginia transit providers funded by the Section 5307, 5310, or 5311 programs. Existing transit services satisfy approximately 27 percent of estimated demand, resulting in a deficit of 15.1 million trips. Tables, graphs, 122 p