Strategies to achieve goals

In order to increase ridership and transit mode share and meet the ultimate goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and traffic congestion, a portion of the population who primarily use an automobile for transportation will need to make alternative travel choices. This target group is referred to as “choice” riders because they have other options for transportation and will only choose to use transit if they see it as a better option than their single-occupant vehicle.

Text box P - Captive vs. choice riders (click to read)

Some people who use public transit have no other options to meet their transportation needs and are therefore dependent on public transit, e.g. school students, people without a car, or a license, or mobility issues. These people are referred to as “captive” transit riders.

When people have a car or other means of transportation available to them but make an active choice to use public transportation, they are considered “choice” riders. Because they have other choices for their travel, they will normally choose public transportation only when it is perceived to be better than their other choices. This perception could be based on many factors: cost, comfort, convenience, travel time, socializing, or ethics.

Figure 17 - Potential and actual transit ridership groups (click to read)

BC Transit’s customer satisfaction survey results (2013) show that province-wide, 53 percent of people surveyed commute to work or school and have a vehicle available for these trips if they need it. To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, transit promoters could target these people to convince them to make that choice of transit over vehicle use.

Figure 17-a - Potential transit commuters in B.C. (click image to enlarge)

However, not everyone has the option of giving up their vehicle for their commute. Over one-third of the commuters surveyed reported that their employment requires them to use their own vehicle. The remaining two-thirds of “choice” commuters however, would be a potential target group for BC Transit to try to convert.

Potential “captive” commuter population

On average across British Columbia, 6 percent of people surveyed by BC Transit in 2012/13 do not have a vehicle available to them for work or school commuting. This largely comprises the “captive” transit rider group, although some of these people might commute by walking, cycling, or carpooling rather than transit. The highest proportion of this group, almost one-third, is in the 15-24 year old age bracket (29 percent in 2012).

Victoria and Whistler have a higher proportion of the population without access to a vehicle for commuting to work or school, with 10-11 percent in this “captive” population group. Connected with this trend is that Victorians, Whistlerites and those living in Tier 3 communities have fewer cars per household (1.8 or 1.9 cars) than others in the province (2 cars).

Potential “choice” and “captive” populations in the Capital Regional District – beyond commuting

Looking beyond commuting travel and considering all trips taken, the picture is quite different. Within the Capital Regional District area, according to the Origin and Destination Study 2011, just over one-third of all non-vehicle trips were taken by “choice”, in that a vehicle was available to the traveler. For the remaining two-thirds, a vehicle was not available, so that traveler was “captive” to transit, walking or cycling.
This suggests that there is a fairly large pool of potential “captive” population that could ride transit in Victoria. It helps to explain that 11 percent of Victoria’s survey respondents take transit for their non-commuting travel, and another 22 percent cycle, walk or use a variety of transportation modes. Future growth would likely have to come from choice riders.

Figure 17-b - Profile of regular riders vs. non-riders (click image to enlarge)

In some communities, ridership will likely increase by expanding transit services into areas where an existing demand for services is not currently being met.

In other communities where transit services largely meet existing demand, more significant change will need to occur to shift people from automobiles to transit. Transit systems will need to be seen as a better alternative to personal vehicles and consumers will need to change their travel behaviour.

Text box Q - Factors encouraging ridership growth (click image to enlarge)

For example, in Victoria, there are plans to introduce rapid transit to achieve a substantial shift in transportation choices for commuters.

Text box R - Rapid transit in the Victoria Regional Transit System (click to read)

Over the past four years, the Victoria Regional Transit System has been challenged to grow ridership at the same rate as it has been increasing its transit service hours. This results in diminishing returns on investment in part because the transit system is generally able to meet existing demand, but it is more difficult to attract new riders without innovation or change.

It is in this context that the Victoria Regional Transit System is considering options for rapid transit. Rapid transit is seen as a way to address the increasing traffic congestion between the rapidly growing western communities and downtown Victoria. Rapid transit is intended to provide an attractive, convenient, integrated, environmentally responsible, sustainable and affordable alternative to single occupancy vehicles.

Rapid transit is designed to operate in an exclusive right of way, thereby bypassing traffic congestion and arriving faster than a bus stuck in traffic or than a person driving their own car in congestion.

The Victoria Regional Rapid Transit project is still in the planning phase. A local funding taskforce has been established to consider funding for the longer-term project, which includes the option of rail-based rapid transit. In the shorter term, plans are being considered for actions to give transit priority in some key travel corridors. This is intended to allow transit to reduce travel times and encourage commuters to switch from single occupancy vehicles to transit.

In order to attract more people to transit, it is useful for transit systems to understand the key factors that influence peoples’ satisfaction with transit services. In addition, it is important to assess which of these factors the transit agency can influence, and what the potential costs and benefits of addressing each factor would be.

BC Transit has done some analysis of these service satisfaction factors using a “penalty/rewards” framework.

Figure 18 - Using penalty/rewards analysis to understand customer satisfaction (click to read)

Customers’ perceptions of a company depend on the services provided and their own expectations for these services. The penalty/reward analysis can help to assess how much a low or high score on a particular aspect of service affects overall customer satisfaction with the service. By analyzing customer satisfaction survey results, researchers can classify service aspects into four categories:

Figure 18 - BC Transit's penalty/rewards framework (click to enlarge)

Their research found that the key attributes that affect overall customer satisfaction with transit are:

Personal safety while riding the bus
Clean and well maintained buses
Courteous bus drivers
On-time service

In addition, factors such as daytime service frequency and trip duration are classified as strong “linear” attributes. This means that being rated poorly on these attributes will result in overall dissatisfaction, and being rated highly will result in satisfaction. The research states that because of this linear relationship, good customer ratings on these attributes are important.

The frequency of evening service is a strong reward attribute, suggesting it has potential to add value and satisfaction among transit users but may not be a first priority for attracting new riders. Other factors such as overcrowding, reasonable fare prices, and payment options were found to be minor contributors to overall customer satisfaction.

To consider: Do we fully understand the most important factors that influence British Columbians' satisfaction with transit services and their travel mode choices (this may differ by region and community)?

Strategies to achieve goals

To consider: Do we fully understand the most important factors that influence British Columbians' satisfaction with transit services and their travel mode choices (this may differ by region and community)?

Which of these factors are within the control of BC Transit? The Ministry? Local governments?

Are the benefits greater than the costs of the option(s) being considered to change transportation behaviour?