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What Makes People Choose the Bus?

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Better Buses, Better Cities

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Abstract

One of the most corrosive ideas in the transportation world, one that shows up in both the technical literature and politicians’ attitudes, is the belief that most people who ride the bus have no alternative, and they’ll keep riding regardless of how bad the service gets.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Jon Hilkevitch, “New CTA Boss Dorval Carter Jr.’s View: Faster Buses, Quieter Riders on Phone.” Chicago Tribune, June 14, 2015. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/ct-cta-president-getting-around-met0615-20150614-column.html

  2. 2.

    David Crowley and Brandon Hemily, “Profiling Transit Ridership.” Strategic Transit Research Program Synthesis, Canadian Urban Transit Association, November 2000.

  3. 3.

    Edward A. Beimborn, Michael J. Greenwald, and Jia Xia, “Transit Accessibility and Connectivity Impacts on Transit Choice and Captivity.” Center for Urban Transportation Studies and Department of Urban Planning, University of Wisconsin–­Milwaukee, Transportation Research Board, 2003.

  4. 4.

    Gregory Thompson, Jeffrey Brown, Torsha Bhattacharya, and Michal Jaroszynski, “Understanding Transit Ridership Demand for a Multi-­Destination, Multimodal Transit Network in an American Metropolitan Area, Research Report 11-­06.” Mineta Transportation Institute Publications, 2012.

  5. 5.

    Katherine Gregor, “10 Reasons to Love a Streetcar.” Austin Chronicle, July 20, 2007. http://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2007-07-20/505120/

  6. 6.

    Ralph Buehler and John Pucher, “Demand for Public Transport in Germany and the USA: An Analysis of Rider Characteristics.” Transport Reviews 32, no. 5 (September 2012): 541–­567. https://nhts.ornl.gov/2009/pub/demandforpublictransport.pdf

  7. 7.

    Los Angeles Metro, “On-­Board Survey Results +Trend Report Fall ’17.” http://media.metro.net/projects_studies/research/images/infographics/2017_fall_onboard_survey_results.pdf

  8. 8.

    For King County, see King County Metro Transit. “2016 Rider Survey Report.” March 2017. https://kingcounty.gov/~/media/depts/transportation/metro/accountability/reports/2016/2016-rider-survey-final.pdf. For New York, see NuStats, “2008 New York Customer Travel Survey: Final Report.” August 2009. http://web.mta.info/mta/planning/data/NYC-Travel-Survey/NYCTravelSurvey.pdf

  9. 9.

    Joe DeLessio, “Governor Cuomo Says the MTA’s New Wi-­Fi-­Equipped Buses Will Have ‘Almost a Ferrari-­Like Look.’” New York Magazine, March 8, 2016. http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2016/03/mtas-new-buses-will-have-wi-fi.html

  10. 10.

    Adella Santos et al., “Summary of Travel Trends: 2009 National Household Travel Survey.” https://nhts.ornl.gov/2009/pub/stt.pdf

  11. 11.

    Daniel Kay Hertz, “Undercounting the Transit Constituency.” City Observatory, February 23, 2016. http://cityobservatory.org/undercounting-the-transit-constituency-2/

  12. 12.

    Michael Manville et al., “Falling Transit Ridership: California and Southern California.” Southern California Association of Governments, January 2018. https://www.scag.ca.gov/Documents/ITS_SCAG_Transit_Ridership.pdf

  13. 13.

    Douglas Hanks, “With Metrorail So Costly, Mayor Touts a Miami Commuting on High-­Tech Buses.” Miami Herald, November 1, 2017. https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article182190971.html

  14. 14.

    Douglas Hanks, “As Transit Ridership Drops, Miami-­Dade Wants to Cut Bus Stops and Outsource Routes.” Miami Herald, May 5, 2017. https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article148954014.html

  15. 15.

    Transit Alliance, “Where’s My Bus?” https://transitalliance.miami/campaigns/where-s-my-bus/ridership

  16. 16.

    Transit Alliance, “Mobility Scorecard.” https://transitalliance.miami/campaigns/mobility-scorecard

Authors
  1. Steven Higashide
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© 2019 Steven Higashide

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Higashide, S. (2019). What Makes People Choose the Bus?. In: Better Buses, Better Cities. Island Press, Washington, DC. https://doi.org/10.5822/978-1-64283-015-6_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.5822/978-1-64283-015-6_2

  • Publisher Name: Island Press, Washington, DC

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-64283-097-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-64283-015-6

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