Pace, the Suburban Bus Service of northeastern Illinois, provides bus service to the six collar counties around Chicago, Il. To accommodate all transit markets, Pace provides different types of bus routes. These include fixed routes, express routes, and feeder routes and others. Feeder routes, which link residential areas to commuter rail stations, travel through neighborhoods picking up residents and taking them to the commuter rail station. Pace had identified decreases in ridership on several routes. This presentation will discuss the use of GIS to target market potential bus riders and how it helped to increase ridership.
Pace, the Suburban Bus Service of the Regional Transportation Authority, operates in the six county suburban area of Chicago. Pace operates over 240 fixed bus routes and covers a service area of nearly 3,500 square miles. Service is operated from 9 garages owned by Pace and by contracted providers spread throughout the region.
On a typical weekday, Pace operates approximately 600 fixed-route buses through 267 communities. Because of the diversity of the service area, Pace provides a wide variety of service types including:
Traditional Fixed-Routes (line-haul services)Pace also operates various paratransit services including some specifically designed to meet the ADA requirements. Other paratransit services operate for people with mobility limitations or who are elderly while some are open to the general public. Service is based on the characteristics of the service area and the funding agreements with the local sponsor. Pace operates approximately 325 vehicles each day serving nearly 225 communities. These service types are listed below.
ADA Paratransit ServicesIn addition to fixed-route and paratransit services, Pace operates a large vanpool program. Over 300 vanpools are in operation and include traditional vanpools (VIP), ADA vanpools (for persons with disabilities traveling to work sites or workshops) and employer shuttles. The vanpool service options are listed below.
Vanpool Incentive Program (VIP)Pace began development of a geographic information system (GIS) approximately 10 years ago. The GIS system was implemented at Pace to develop relational data bases and monitor the performance of services. By linking data from a variety of services, Pace was able to better evaluate and analyze the performance of routes.
As the geographic information system became more sophisticated, the number and types of applications increased. These changes have allowed Pace to target potential riders and market services to the individuals or groups. Targeting riders and developing marketing strategies using the geographic information system and its associated database comprise the focus of the remainder of this paper.
One of the most exciting developments in the use of GIS technology in transit is the ability to target potential riders of Pace services. The ability to systematically map the locations of potential riders is a key function of the GIS which allows Pace to address the individuals or groups that may be well served by transit options. Examples of this are described in the following sections.
As previously mentioned, Feeder routes transport passengers from residential neighborhoods to Metra Stations in the morning and return home during the evening hours. Feeder route passengers can be a difficult market to serve, in large part, due to the competitive edge provided to people who drive to the station and park.
Recently, Pace developed strategies to target potential feeder bus riders using GIS technology. Initially, planners at Pace needed to identify those individuals who drive and park daily at the regions rail stations. Conversations with staff at Metra, indicated the license plate survey (conducted every two years at all stations) may be the best source of data.
The surveyor counts the total number of spaces, the number of spaces occupied, and the license plate number of the occupied space. The license plate information is sent to the Illinois Secretary of State's office and a list is generated showing the address, state, and zip code of the car registration.
The data generated through this process can be used to generate a map showing the origins of passengers going to the Metra stations. Since this map is a display of origins of riders traveling to specific Metra stations, the map also serves as a geographical display of potential feeder bus riders. This multi-step approach creates a target market that Pace uses to focus service information.
Pace works closely with school districts to maximize service safety and availability to student riders. At the beginning of a new school year, slight route or timing modifications may be needed to better serve schools along the routes. These adjustments are made while maintaining the integrity of the route and schedule to other primary ridership generators.
In a manner similar to the Feeder route data described above, Pace obtains information on potential riders of Pace service from cooperating school districts. This data includes the location of the students (often indicated by closest intersection) sorted by the destination school. This data allows Pace to determine potential riders by plotting the data and the service routing.
Once this information is developed, a large group of potential riders serves as a target market for route and service information. The service is then marketed to the target group in order to increase ridership on the route.
The geographic information system has additional capabilities in addressing student ridership when large-scale changes occur within a district. For example, in Waukegan, the school district modified the grade levels assigned to each campus of the consolidated district. Rather than have freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors at each of their two campuses, the district consolidated freshmen at one site and placed sophomores, juniors and seniors at the second site.
This type of change within a district provides another opportunity to utilize GIS. By mapping the locations of students by grade level, the travel patterns for each campus can be projected. The students then serve as a target market to address specific route information. Specific informational pieces are developed explaining the service options and routes required to reach final destinations.
Further, as the end of one school year approached, the opportunity exists to target market the parents of students leaving eighth grade (since they become potential riders the following year). Having this information several months in advance allows parents to plan for the transportation needs of their children as they enter high school.
Pace provides subscription bus services to several large companies or business parks throughout the six-county area. Subscription routes require passengers to pay their monthly fare in advance and commit to riding the service for the upcoming month. Routes require at least 30 passengers (60 trips) per day to operate.
One subscription route that Pace operated to the Prairie Stone site in Hoffman Estates originated in the southwest suburb of Burr Ridge (Route 1012). Ridership on the route diminished over time to the point that the route faced elimination. Data was gathered from the large employers in Prairie Stone (particularly Sears) to determine if other passengers might be enticed to ride if the route were extended farther south.
Data from Sears indicated a potential group of employees began their trips from Romeoville or Bolingbrook. The origins of these employees were supplied to Pace and geo-coded for analysis. Based on this work, the route was extended to another park-and-ride operated by Pace in Bolingbrook. The residents identified by Sears became the target market for the service and specific information pieces were developed.
This process was not enough to save the service from Burr Ridge to Hoffman Estates, but it allowed the route to be continued for several months. Subscription markets are particularly tough to maintain as people gradually move closer to their work sites and the long-distance subscription routes wither. The application of GIS to this problem helped target a new market of potential riders and allowed for additional months of operation.
As required by law, service is provided within three - quarters of a mile on either side of a fixed- route service. Eligible riders, as certified through the process established by the RTA, provide a target market for Pace.
The GIS allows specific boundaries to be identified to determine exactly who is eligible for the ADA service. Information can then be sent to the target market describing the eligibility requirements, service parameters, and options for transferring to fixed-routes.
Targeting the population eligible for ADA service also provides information on who is not eligible for the specific ADA service. This creates an addition target market who might be interested in alternative Pace services such as non-ADA paratransit and vanpool. The boundaries defined in the GIS program generate additional markets comprised of those residents who are outside the area.
The applications described in the above sections represent examples of areas where Pace has used GIS to target market specific groups of potential passengers. In the following section, the technical aspects of how GIS was used in the Feeder Bus analysis in Elmhurst.
The records Pace received from Metra were geo-coded and a file of over 47,500 records of potential bus riders was created. Using Arcview, Pace targeted potential bus riders starting with Route 642 - Southwest Elmhurst.
First, Route 642, the Union Pacific West Line, the Elmhurst Metra Station, and the City of Elmhurst were selected and drawn. Next, the point shapefile of selected Elmhurst station potential bus riders were drawn. A 1/4 mile buffer was calculated around the route. Using the 'Select by Theme' option in Arcview, those addresses that fall completely within the buffer were selected. Finally, these selected addresses were exported to a file.
The technical processes of GIS were used to create a file that could be used by the Pace Communications Department. Communications sent a four-color flyer that included a map of the route, the service schedule, and a free ride coupon to the selected addresses. This process has been successfully used to increase public knowledge of the route.
The procedure described in the previous section is followed in analyzing data and creating a data base for target marketing other Pace services. The source of input records (e.g., Metra, school district, large corporations) varies depending on the target audience and service being provided, but the procedure is essentially the same.
Historically, efforts to increase public awareness of Pace routes included public hearings, advertisements in local newspapers, placing schedules and maps at local businesses and rental communities, inserting flyers in utility bills, and where applicable, installing additional bus stop signs.
The development of target marketing using the geographic information system enhances Pace's capabilities to reach out to potential riders and provide specific information about service offerings that could benefit them. This approach has become standard practice for all routes that fail to meet the benchmarks adopted by the Board of Directors.