ROUTE OVERVIEW. Comprehensive Route Evaluation ROUTE 3 WARWICK AVE

Transcription

1 Comprehensive Route Evaluation ROUTE 3 WARWICK AVE ROUTE OVERVIEW Route 3 operates between Warwick and downtown Providence, primarily via Warwick Avenue. Other principal arterials include Oakland Beach Avenue, West Shore Road, Allens Avenue, and Eddy Street. FIGURE 1 ROUTE MAP Route 3 serves the following areas, activity centers, and transit facilities: Areas Warwick Cranston Providence Activity Centers Warwick Public Library Gorton Junior High School Bishop Hendricken High School Meadowbrook Shopping Center Gateway Shopping Center Pilgrim High School Pilgrim Senior Center Johnson & Wales Harborside Culinary Arts Museum PAIS High School Rhode Island Hospital Women & Infants Hospital Hasbro Children s Hospital Downtown Providence Transit Centers Kennedy Plaza West West Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates Inc. 1

2 ALIGNMENT AND SERVICE PATTERNS Route 3 operates primarily on Warwick Avenue, Narragansett Boulevard, and Allens Avenue shown in Figure 1. The route splits into two branches at the southern end, with termini at Warwick Neck Avenue and Barton Avenue and at Oakland Beach Avenue and Parkway. Exceptions to these two primary alignments are as follows: On school days, two afternoon inbound trips operate via Eddy Street to serve the Providence Academy of International Studies (PAIS) High School. When schools are not in session, these trips follow the primary variant. On weekdays, one AM peak inbound trip and one early afternoon outbound trip serves the front door of Rhode Island Hospital. On weekends, all trips serve Johnson & Wales Harborside campus. On Sundays, one inbound trip and one outbound trip operate only between Johnson & Wales Harborside and Kennedy Plaza. TABLE 1 SERVICE VARIANTS TRIPS PER DAY VARIANT ORIGIN DESTINATION UNIQUE FEATURE WEEKDAY SAT SUN INBOUND D4V1P2 Warwick Neck & Barton Kennedy Plaza 15 D4V2P1 Kennedy Plaza 14 D4V6P1 Kennedy Plaza Via Eddy St on school days 1 D4V7P1 Warwick Neck & Barton Kennedy Plaza Via Eddy St on school days 1 D4V8P1 Kennedy Plaza Serves RI Hospital front door 1 D4V4P1 Kennedy Plaza Via J &W Harborside 8 8 D4V5P2 Warwick Neck & Barton Kennedy Plaza Via J & W Harborside 7 6 D4V5P1 J & W Harborside Kennedy Plaza 1 OUTBOUND D5V2P2 Kennedy Plaza 16 D5V3P1 Kennedy Plaza Warwick Neck & Barton 17 D5V6P1 Kennedy Plaza Serves RI Hospital front door 1 D5V4P1 Kennedy Plaza Via J & W Harborside 8 8 D5V5P2 Kennedy Plaza Warwick Neck & Barton Via J & W Harborside 7 6 D5V5P1 Kennedy Plaza J & W Harborside 1 Service is through-routed with Route 33 Riverside, which provides continuing service to East Providence and Riverside. Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates Inc. 2

3 SIMILAR ROUTES AND TRANSFER OPPORTUNITIES Between Cranston and downtown Providence, Routes 1 Eddy and 3 are intertwined. The two serve different alignments, but do provide service to overlapping service areas (see Figure 2). The two routes crisscross a few times as they head south. Route 1 FIGURE 2 ROUTES 1 AND 3 terminates just north of T.F. Green Airport, while Route 3 continues south past the airport. Both routes offer frequent service all day. Kennedy Plaza in downtown Providence is a central transfer point for most RIPTA services. Route 3 provides through-city service with Route 33 Riverside at Kennedy Plaza. On-street connections can also be made with the following routes: Route 29 Kent County at Oakland Beach Avenue and Sandy Lane, and also at West Shore Road and Beach Avenue. Route 1 Eddy / Gaspee on Warwick Avenue at Post Road, on Warwick Avenue at Narragansett Parkway, on Warwick Avenue at Broad Street, and in the downtown segment north of Public Street. SCHEDULE Route 3 operates seven days per week. Weekday inbound service from Oakland Beach begins at 5:11 AM and service from Warwick Neck begins at 5:23 AM. The last inbound trips depart from the two termini at 7:3 PM and 8:1 PM, respectively. Weekday outbound service to Warwick Neck begins at 5:5 AM and to Oakland Beach at 6:1 AM. The last outbound trips depart Kennedy Plaza at 9:31 PM and 8:27 PM, respectively. Service on the trunk operates approximately every 2 minutes during peak periods, every 29 to 42 minutes during the midday, and every 37 minutes at night. In addition, service alternates between the two outer legs, meaning that service frequencies along the branches are twice as long as on the trunk. Overall, service frequencies are very irregular. Saturday inbound service begins at 5:59 AM (from Oakland Beach) and the last inbound trip departs from Oakland Beach at 7:59 PM. Outbound service begins at 7:46 AM (to Oakland Beach), and the last outbound trip departs Kennedy Plaza at 9:46 PM. Saturday service operates consistently every 6 minutes along the trunk and every 12 minutes along the branches. Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates Inc. 3

4 TABLE 2 SCHEDULE SUMMARY SERVICE DAY SPAN OF SERVICE ONE-WAY TRIPS HEADWAY IB OB (MIN) WEEKDAY 5:11 AM 9:31 PM Early AM 5:11 AM 6:59 AM AM Peak 7: AM 8:59 AM Midday 9: AM 2:59 PM PM Peak 3: PM 5:59 PM Night 6: PM 8:55 PM SATURDAY 5:59 AM 9:46 PM SUNDAY 6:48 AM 8:46 PM Data is based on RIPTA schedules current to May 212. Span of service indicates the span from the departure time of the first scheduled trip to the departure time of the last scheduled trip. Sunday inbound service begins at 6:48 AM (from Oakland Beach) and the last inbound trip departs from Oakland Beach at 7:1 PM. Outbound service begins at 6:48 AM (to Oakland Beach), and the last outbound trip departs Kennedy Plaza at 8:46 PM. Sunday service operates every 53 to 55 minutes along the trunk, and twice as long along the branches. RIDERSHIP Route 3 serves 1,39 passengers per weekday, 62 passengers per Saturday, and 45 passengers per Sunday (see Table 3). In terms of weekday ridership, Route 3 is RIPTA s 18 th highest ridership route. On weekdays, ridership is largely oriented toward commute trips to and from downtown Providence. However, midday ridership is also relatively strong. On average, weekday service carries 2.9 passengers per trip, but during the AM peak inbound and PM peak outbound, ridership averages 27. and 32.7 passengers per trip, respectively. Saturday service carries a similar number of riders per trip as weekday service, at 2.4. Sunday service carries fewer riders, at 15.1 per trip. TABLE 3 RIDERSHIP BY TIME PERIOD SERVICE DAY RIDERSHIP RIDERSHIP PER TRIP RIDERSHIP PER TIME PERIOD HOUR IB OB* TOTAL IB OB* TOTAL IB OB* TOTAL WEEKDAY , Early AM AM Peak Midday PM Peak Night SATURDAY SUNDAY Performance information is based on data from RIPTA. * Ridership for outbound trips uses outbound offs due to through-routing to Route 33 at Kennedy Plaza Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates Inc. 4

5 WEEKDAY RIDERSHIP BY STOP Weekday ridership is moderate to strong throughout most of the route, including on the two outer branches (see Figures 3 and 4). On inbound trips, there are: 7 boardings and three alightings on the Warwick Neck branch. The highest volume stop is the outer end stop, with 23 boardings. 13 boardings and 1 alightings on the Oakland Beach branch. The highest volume stop is the outer end stop, with 34 boardings. 186 boardings and 29 alightings along Warwick Avenue north of where the two outer branches join. The highest ridership stop is at Shaw s, where there are 42 boardings and five alightings. 33 boardings and six alightings along the short segment of Norwood Avenue between Warwick Avenue and Narragansett Boulevard. 13 boarding and 2 alightings along Narragansett Boulevard. Only 1 boardings and 11 alightings along Allens Avenue. 74 boardings and 13 alightings along Eddy Street south of Rhode Island Hospital. A total of 51 of these boardings and four alightings are at Eudora Street. 46 boardings and 13 alightings at Eddy Street at Rhode Island Hospital. 13 boardings and 54 alightings between Rhode Island Hospital and downtown Providence. The large majority of passengers (79%) travel to and from downtown Providence, and there are 56 alightings at Weybosset Street and 4 at Kennedy Plaza. FIGURE 3 WEEKDAY RIDERSHIP BY STOP MAP Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates Inc. 5

6 FIGURE 4 WEEKDAY RIDERSHIP BY STOP Ons and Offs by Stop Weekday Inbound Oakland Beach Branch On Offs Load Warwick Neck Branch Primary variants Eddy St (school trips) RI Hospital Front Door Load: Passengers On-Board Between Stops Oakland Beach Near Side Oakland 72 Oakland Beach Oakland Beach Far Side Holt Oakland Beach Opposite Limestone Oakland Beach Opposite Victory Oakland Beach Opposite Willow Green Warwick Ave Opposite 2485 Warwick Warwick Ave Near Side Old Warwick Warwick Ave Opposite Greylawn Warwick Ave Near Side Vernon Warwick Ave Opposite Edgehill Warwick Ave Between Dayton & Lyndale Warwick Ave Far Side Magnolia Warwick Neck Near Side Garfield Warwick Neck Far Side Studley Samuel Gorton Near Side Palmer Long Meadow Opposite Draper Draper Opposite Sunset West Shore Rd Opposite Church West Shore Rd Far Side Tidewater West Shore Rd Near Side Bush West Shore Rd Opposite Hart West Shore Rd Far Side Francis West Shore Rd Near Side Allard West Shore Rd Near Side Rock West Shore Rd Opposite 515 West Shore West Shore Rd Far Side Circuit West Shore Rd Near Side Twin Oak West Shore Rd Near Side Osprey Warwick Ave Near Side Squantum Warwick Ave Opposite Blanchard Warwick Ave Far Side Namquid Warwick Ave Near Side Dawson Warwick Ave Near Side Waldron Warwick Ave Far Side Urban Warwick Ave Near Side Washington Warwick 76 Warwick Ave Warwick Ave Near Side Post Warwick 468 Warwick Ave Warwick Ave Opposite Woburn Warwick 222 Warwick Ave Warwick 118 Warwick Warwick Ave Near Side Bartlett 178 Norwood 9 Norwood Narragansett Blvd Opposite Aurora Narragansett Blvd Far Side Bay View Narragansett Blvd Between Washington & 934 Allens Allens Ave Far Side Carolina Allens Opposite Ellenfield Allens Far Side 642 Allens Allens Near Side 5 Allens Allens Near Side Lehigh 284 Allens Allens Opposite 253 Allens Eddy St Opposite Applegate Eddy St Opposite Ashmont Eddy St Far Side Sherbourne Eddy St Near Side Blackstone Eddy Ri Hospital Richmond Near Side Elm Richmond Near Side Weybosset Kennedy Berth N Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates Inc. 6

7 Ridership on the route variants is mixed. In both directions: The PAIS High School variants serve approximately 35 boardings and alightings. The Rhode Island Hospital front door weekday trips serve only three boardings and alightings. Weekend service to Johnson & Wales Harborside Campus serves 37 boardings and alightings on Saturdays and 47 on Sundays. Outbound ridership by stop is generally the reverse of inbound ridership. RIDERSHIP BY TRIP Weekday Ridership by Trip Route 3 carries a combination of work and non-work trips, though the work trips are predominant (see Figure 5). Inbound ridership is higher than outbound ridership during the AM, while the reverse is true for trips after 3: PM. Other characteristics include: Most trips carry at least 2 riders, though a few early AM, evening, and scattered trips throughout the day carry fewer riders. Ridership is generally highest on AM peak and PM peak trips. Most AM peak inbound trips average 25 to 3 passengers, while most PM peak outbound trips exceed 3 passengers. The highest ridership trip (5:7 PM outbound) averages 42 passengers. Midday ridership is moderate, sustained by non-work trips. After 5: PM, ridership begins to fall significantly. Trips after 7: PM carry fewer than 15 riders. FIGURE 5 WEEKDAY RIDERSHIP PER TRIP 6 5 Weekday Inbound Outbound 4 Riders per Trip :11 5:23 5:45 5:5 6:3 6:1 6:25 6:3 6:38 6:5 7:1 7:9 7:2 7:3 7:41 7:5 8: 8:1 8:21 8:3 8:4 8:49 9:5 9:25 9:3 9:54 9:55 1:15 1:3 1:54 11:6 11:29 11:42 12:3 12:2 12:37 12:56 13:11 13:35 13:44 14:6 14:26 14:3 14:56 15:1 15:2 15:41 15:49 16:4 16:11 16:3 16:37 17:2 17:7 17:31 17:37 17:59 18:5 18:19 18:39 19:3 19:4 19:26 19:51 19:53 2:1 2:55 Although most passengers travel to and from downtown Providence, there is also a moderate amount of ridership turnover along the route, and as a result, maximum loads average 79% of total ridership per trip. On average, maximum loads are below 3 on all trips except for two, which are the 6:5 AM inbound trip with an average maximum load of 31 passengers and the 5:7 PM outbound trip with an average Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates Inc. 7

8 maximum load of 35 passengers (see Figure 6). As with all routes, there is a day-to-day variability in loads, and occasional trips have loads that exceed seated capacity (36 passengers). Of 854 observed trips, 3% had loads that where greater than 36, and only.6% had loads that exceeded 43 passengers, or 12% of seated capacity. FIGURE 6 WEEKDAY MAXIMUM LOAD PER TRIP 6 5 Weekday Inbound Outbound 4 Riders per Trip :11 5:23 5:45 5:5 6:3 6:1 6:25 6:3 6:38 6:5 7:1 7:9 7:2 7:3 7:41 7:5 8: 8:1 8:21 8:3 8:4 8:49 9:5 9:25 9:3 9:54 9:55 1:15 1:3 1:54 11:6 11:29 11:42 12:3 12:2 12:37 12:56 13:11 13:35 13:44 14:6 14:26 14:3 14:56 15:1 15:2 15:41 15:49 16:4 16:11 16:3 16:37 17:2 17:7 17:31 17:37 17:59 18:5 18:19 18:39 19:3 19:4 19:26 19:51 19:53 2:1 2:55 Saturday Ridership by Trip Saturday ridership is more consistent throughout the day due to far fewer work trips, and for most of the day ridership averages from 2 to 3 passengers per trip (see Figure 7). However, ridership is low on trips after 5: PM, falling to less than 1 riders. One exception is the outbound trip just after 7: PM, which carries over 25 riders. FIGURE 7 SATURDAY RIDERSHIP PER TRIP 6 5 Saturday Inbound Outbound :59 6:58 7:7 7:59 8:7 8:58 9:7 9:59 1:7 1:58 11:7 11:59 12:7 12:58 13:7 13:59 14:7 14:58 15:7 15:59 16:7 16:58 17:7 17:59 18:7 18:58 19:7 19:59 2:7 21:7 Riders per Trip Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates Inc. 8

9 Sunday Ridership by Trip Ridership on Sunday trips is also relatively consistent, with most trips carrying 15 to 2 riders. The first trip of the day, an inbound trip just before 7: AM, has high ridership, which indicates that there may be demand for very early trips. Trips after 6: PM average only six passengers. FIGURE 8 SUNDAY RIDERSHIP PER TRIP Sunday Inbound Outbound :48 7:45 8:4 8:34 8:4 9:25 Riders per Trip 9:33 1:2 1:26 11:11 11:19 12:6 12:12 12:57 13:5 13:52 13:58 14:43 14:51 15:44 16:29 16:37 17:24 17:3 18:15 18:23 19:1 19:16 2:9 PERFORMANCE Although Route 3 is one of RIPTA s higher ridership routes, its productivity is below average (see Table 4). It s cost per passenger, at $4.1, is 29% higher than average, and it carries 27. passengers per vehicle hour, which is 19% below average. Although the route ranks 18 out of 54 in terms of weekday ridership, its number of passengers per service hours ranks only 3 th. The major reasons for the below average productivity are that the route is relatively long and the amount of ridership turnover on the route is fairly low (21%). For much of the day, more service is provided than is warranted by demand. However, with less service, service to the outer branches would be very infrequent. TABLE 4 PERFORMANCE MEASURES PERFORMANCE MEASURE ROUTE 3 SYSTEM AVG Operating Cost per Passenger $4.1 $3.12 Passengers per Revenue Vehicle Hour Passengers per Revenue Vehicle Mile Total Vehicle Hours per Revenue Vehicle Hour Average Speed (mph) Bus Stops per Mile Performance data is from RIPTA. Saturday and Sunday service performance is similar Route 3 has high ridership, but productivity is below the system average. Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates Inc. 9

10 OVERALL ASSESSMENT Overall, Route 3 is a strong route that serves a strong transit market. To a certain extent, it provides more service than is warranted by demand for much of the day, but with less service on the trunk, too little service would be provided to the outer branches due to the alternating branch service. Thus, the below average productivity is largely an unavoidable function of the geography at the outer end of the route that requires separate branches to Warwick Neck and Oakland Beach. A major problem with the route is its schedule, which is overly irregular. Some of this is a product of the route variants to the front door of Rhode Island Hospital and PAIS High School, but most of it appears to be to cycle buses as quickly as possible. The irregular schedules that result are likely less convenient than slightly less frequent service that runs on predictable patterns. Finally, Route 3 is intertwined with Route 1 Eddy, which also has two outer branches. As described further below, these two routes could be realigned to provide simpler service that would likely provide better service. SERVICE OPTIONS There are a number of changes that could improve service and productivity: Reconfigure Routes 1 Eddy and 3 Warwick: Route 1 carries more ridership along Eddy Street than Route 3 does along Narragansett Boulevard and Allens Avenue. Like Route 3, it also has two branches. By swapping different segments between the two routes and reconfiguring branches, ridership could be shifted from Route 1 to Route 3, and the two-branch service on Route 1 could be reduced to a single alignment. This would potentially: Increase ridership on Route 3 sufficiently to support the provision of 15 minute trunk service during peak periods. With alternating outer end trips, service to the outer ends could be improved to every 3 minutes. Frequency improvements could also be made during off-peak periods and on weekends. Greatly simplify Route 1 service and allow service levels to be better matched to demand. These changes could be implemented as illustrated in Figures 9 and 1. In summary: Route 1 s inner end would be shifted from Eddy Street to Narragansett Boulevard and Allens Avenue, and Route 3 s inner end would be shifted from Narragansett Boulevard and Allens Avenue to Eddy Street. Route 1 s Narragansett Parkway branch would become part of Route 3 Warwick Neck branch. Improve Service Frequencies: With the changes described above, it is likely that there would be sufficient demand to support service on the trunk every 15 minutes during peak periods and every 15 minutes during the midday. Operate Service with Consistent Schedules: Route 3 operates with very irregular schedules. Whether the changes described above are or are not made, Route 3 should be rescheduled to provide consistent service to improve passenger convenience. Discontinue Front Door Service to Rhode Island Hospital: Two trips operate to the front door of Rhode Island Hospital, but serve almost no ridership. All service should operate directly along Eddy Street, which is a two minute walk from the front door of the hospital. Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates Inc. 1

11 FIGURE 9 EXISTING ROUTE 1 AND 3 SERVICE FIGURE 1 POTENTIAL CHANGES TO ROUTE 1 AND 3 SERVICE Begin Sunday Service Earlier: The first Sunday inbound trip at 6:48 AM carries 18 passengers and is one of the highest ridership trips of the day. High ridership indicates that there is likely demand for earlier service, and the start of service could be shifted earlier to approximately 6: to 6:3 AM. Uncouple From Route 33 Riverside: The through-route of Route 3 with Route 33 Riverside adds complexity to an already complex route. Furthermore, the two routes serve very different markets and there does not appear to be a service advantage to market them as a through-route pair. The uncoupling of the two routes would provide greater scheduling flexibility on Route 3. Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates Inc. 11