Strategic and Operational Strategies to Inform First- and Last- Mile Services: Case Studies for Robinson and Moon Townships

US Transportation Collection2020PDFTech ReportGrahn, RickQian, SeanCarnegie Mellon University's Traffic21 Institute and Mobility21 (National University Transportation Center)United States. Department of Transportation. University Transportation Centers (UTC) ProgramUnited States. Department of Transportation. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and TechnologyMobility21, Carnegie Mellon UniversityPennsylvaniaUnited StatesCase studiesCostsEvaluation and assessmentMobilityPerformance measurementPublic transitReliabilityRidesourcingSimulationTravel demand69A3551747111Final Research ReportTraditional public transit is designed to serve high-density, urban areas with concentrated travel patterns using fixed routes and schedules. Mobility gaps exist for populations who are captive to public transit and need to travel to locations where public transit does not cover. Emerging technologies enable bridging such a gap by providing flexible mobility services and informing travelers real-time service information. One such example is to complement public transit mainlines with first- or last-mile mobility services (FMLM). This project developed a generalized model to evaluate user costs (wait time and in-vehicle time), agency costs (costs to provide mobility services), and system reliability for an integrated public transit, transportation network company (TNC), and FMLM service considering uncertain rider demand and network dynamics. Various supply (number of vehicles, TNCs) and operations strategies (stop aggregation, fixed-route + on-demand) are fully examined to provide performance insights for an existing FMLM service in Robinson Township, Pennsylvania and a proposed FMLM service in Moon Township, PA, both of which are growing suburban areas in Southwestern PA.120