Impacts of Express Lanes on Transit Mode Share. Shift Several questions within the 2009 questionnaire were designed specifically to determine whether there was any mode shift to transit as a result of Express Lanes implementation. Respondents were asked to indicate how they made this trip prior to riding the 95 Express bus service. Their responses were cross-tabulated against the length of time they had been using the 95 Express service, in order to isolate those who had switched to using the 95 Express following Express Lanes implementation in December 2008. See Table 23 for results. Table 23 How long have you been riding the 95 Express bus vs. previous mode How long have you been riding the 95 Express bus? How did you make this trip prior to riding the 95 Express bus? Less than 5 months 5 - 12 months Over 1 year Total N % N % N % N % Travelled alone by car 13 48.1% 26 51.0% 128 50.0% 167 50.0% Carpooled in HOV lane 0 0.0% 3 5.9% 11 4.3% 14 4.2% Used other bus service 2 7.4% 5 9.8% 20 7.8% 27 8.1% Used other transit service 2 7.4% 8 15.7% 21 8.2% 31 9.3% Did not make this trip 9 33.3% 3 5.9% 15 5.9% 27 8.1% Have always used the 95 Express bus 1 3.7% 6 11.8% 56 21.9% 63 18.9% Other 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 5 2.0% 5 1.5% Total 27 100% 51 100% 256 100% 334 100% The first point to note from Table 23 is that very few respondents (27) had been riding the service for less than 5 months. This in itself shows that 95 Express ridership consists primarily of people who have been using the service prior to Express Lanes implementation, and therefore their core decision about whether or not to use transit on the corridor must be assumed to be unaffected by the project. Secondly, there are so few respondents riding for less than five months that this sample size (27 responses) is insufficient for the purposes of making any statistically robust inferences about mode shift to transit, though it can be seen that the most frequently cited responses within this group were ‘travelled alone by car’ (13 respondents) and ‘did not make this trip’ (nine respondents). However, 50 percent of the total sample stated that their prior travel mode for the trip was travelling alone by car, with this proportion being approximately the same whether respondents had been riding for less than five months, five to twelve months, or over one year. This suggests that the 95 Express service as a whole has had some success over time in attracting auto users to transit, and that the rate at which private auto users switch to the 95 Express has not been a...
Impacts of Express Lanes on Transit Mode Share. Shift Several questions in the 2009 and 2010 questionnaire were designed specifically to determine whether there was any mode shift to transit as a result of Express Lanes implementation. Respondents were asked how long they have been riding the 95 Express Bus Service. They were also asked how they made the trip prior to using the 95 Express Bus. Table 30 below is a cross tab of new riders, that is to say riders that began using the 95 Express Bus Service after December 2008. The first column represents those who began riding the 95 Express Bus during Phase 1A. The second column represents those who began riding the 95 Express Bus during Phase 1B (i.e., after the 3 new routes began). The third column represents the total new riders. Table 30: Previous Travel Modes of New 95 Express Bus Service Riders When did you start riding the 95 Express Bus Service? How did you make this trip prior to riding the 95 Express bus? Between December 2008 and December 2009 Sometime during 2010 Total N %Total N %Total N %Total regular lanes Travelled alone by car in HOV/I-95 Express lanes *Travelled alone by car in regular and/or I-95 Express Lanes *Travelled alone by car in regular lanes and used other transit service Carpooled in regular lanes Carpooled in HOV/I-95 Express lanes Used other bus service Used other transit service
Impacts of Express Lanes on Transit Mode Share. Shift When did you start riding the 95 Express Bus Service? How did you make this trip prior to riding the 95 Express bus? Between December 2008 and December 2009 Sometime during 2010 Total N % Total N % Total N % Total
(i. e. Tri-Rail/MetroRail) *Used other bus service and used other transit service Did not make this trip Have always used the 95 Express **Other Total 179 100.0% 622 100.0% 801 100.0% *Multiple response categories **Includes additional multiple responses What the third column in the table shows is that 38% of all new 95 Express Bus riders used to drive alone in some form. It also shows that 45% used to take some other form of transit. Within that 45% figure are 34% who used to take Tri-Rail and Metrorail. The survey also asked respondents to indicate if the opening of the Express Lanes influenced their decision to ride the 95 Express Bus. As Table 31 below indicates, 53% of new 95 Express Bus riders said the opening of the Express Lanes did influence their decision to ride the 95 Express Bus. This is a positive indicator of the Express Lanes ability to influence mode choice. Sometime during 2010 Total 95 Express bus? 2009 N % N % N % Yes 48 43.6 102 59.3 150 53.2 No 62 56.4 70 40.7 132 46.8 Total 110 100.0 172 100.0 282 100.0 Five main conclusions can be drawn from the I-95 Express Lanes Project and the 95 Express Bus Service.
1. The 95 Express Bus Service has benefitted from the implementation from the HOV to HOT conversion in the areas of travel times and on-time performance.
2. The 95 Express Bus Service has attracted choice riders and seen an increase in ridership despite rising unemployment in Miami-Dade County.
3. The transit surveys revealed that the UPA Project did influence people’s decision to use the 95 Express Bus Service.
4. The decreases seen in average vehicle occupancy and transit mode share in the I- 95 Express Lanes are due to the influx of toll paying single occupant vehicles.
5. The 95 Express Bus Service contributed to increased total person throughput in the Express Lanes while HOV2 and 3 person throughput dropped in these lanes. The 95 Express Bus Service had a modest on-time performance record prior to the HOT lane conversion. In 2008, it was on-time 76.2% of the time. By 2010, on-time performance improved to 81.1%. Actual travel times on the Express Lanes improved over the course of the project from 25 minutes to around 8 minutes. As a result, Miami-Dade Transit was able to trim the scheduled travel times of the ori...
