Intermodal Trip Planning with New York City Transit
INTERMODAL TRIP PLANNING FOR NEW YORK CITY
BACKGROUND
MTA New York City Transit (NYCT) uses StrataGen’s ADEPT platform to
manage client eligibility, capture trip requests, schedule and dispatch
over 27,000 paratransit trips a day. Growth in paratransit ridership and
associated expenses rose consistently over the past two decades at almost
20 percent a year, from 400,000 trips in 1994 to over 7.4 million in 2010.1
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
MTA New York City Transit (NYCT), a StrataGen
customer since 2003, had witnessed growth
in ridership and associated expenses rise over
the past two decades at 16 percent a year from
400,000 trips annually to over 7.4 million.
THE CHALLENGE
In 2010, the MTA mandated that all divisions take cost-cutting measures,
with a goal to reduce operating budgets by $525 million annually2,
without material disruption to services or deviation from the Americans
with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulations, translating into an approximately
20 percent budget reduction requirement for NYCT.
In 2010, NYCT collaborated with StrataGen
to devise Intermodal Trip Planning (ITP), an
American with Disabilities Act (ADA)-friendly
solution that leverages existing fixed route
networks to supplement efficient paratransit
operations.
THE SOLUTION
Prioritized to align with ADA standards and maintain service commitments,
NYCT consulted with StrataGen to devise a solution that leveraged New York
City’s existing fixed route network to supplement paratransit operations.
The service, called Intermodal Trip Planning (ITP), would utilize existing
fixed route networks to determine cost-effective routing alternatives for
riders who are qualified to use multiple travel modes (bus and possibly
ferry and subway) in the execution of a single trip.
Trips would be routed efficiently between more affordable provider options
and paratransit solutions within the confines of allowed maximum ride
times, based on the conditional eligibility of each rider on a case-by-case
basis. The scheduling workflow would be embedded in the existing ADEPT
scheduling engine so that operational functionality wouldn’t disrupt call
flows or impede dispatch operations.
Partnering with StrataGen, NYCT developed a comprehensive conditional
rider eligibility concept that flexibly factored physical disability, age,
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ITP allows for single or multiple modes of
transportation in the execution of a single
trip and incorporates conditional eligibility
requirements. Embedded in New York City’s
existing ADEPT scheduling engine, the
functionality works seamlessly with dispatch
operations.
A phased introduction started in late 2010,
initially encompassing a small percentage of
conditionally eligible riders before expanding
to a larger population through feeder services.
With ITP, NYCT observed a quick return on
investment (ROI) in just 3 months. Specific
benefits of the cost reduction measures which
included ITP were:
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visibility, weather and various other criteria that helped determine who
could benefit from ITP trips under revised standards. NYCT estimated that
nearly 45 percent of riders were potentially eligible for ITP service.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (Continued)
• Reduction in total trips by 24,882 in 2010,
reduced by 1,251,082 in 2011
Before launching the ITP initiative in late 2010, NYCT implemented a
communication plan to set public expectations. NYCT introduced ITP service
in November 2010, initially including a small percentage of conditionally
eligible riders. In time, the service was incrementally expanded to a larger
population of conditionally eligible riders. The first phase of ITP service
offered riders either a paratransit trip or a full fixed route trip.
• Reduction in cost per trip by $2.35 in 2010
and $4.81 in 2011
• Reduction in call handling workload at call
centers
• Annual passenger trip growth curtailed by
14 percent
In early 2011, NYCT added the feeder service into the equation. In this
second phase, riders could get a paratransit trip, a full fixed route trip or
a combination of both where the first segment of a trip is a paratransit
ride to a bus stop or a transit center and the rider would complete the
remainder of the trip on the fixed route network.
RESULTS
NYCT observed a quick return on investment (ROI) in just three months.
In the two months it was operational in 2010, ITP service reduced NYCT’s
total trips provided by 24,882 (0.33 percent of annual trips). The reduction
in total trips in 2011 was 1,251,082, approximately 18 percent of all annual
trips3 . NYCT suspects that some riders who qualified for ITP service and
received ITP trips eventually stopped calling to request paratransit services,
once they understood that the fixed route network could cater to their
transportation needs.
COST
SAVINGS
Reduction of trips by 18%
annually in 2011
NUMBER
OF TRIPS
During this time, the average cost per trip fell $2.35 in 2010 and was further
reduced $4.81 per trip in 20114. Call center operators saw an unexpected
decrease in telephone traffic handling, as riders who had been offered ITP
alternatives became less dependent on paratransit services. NYCT expects
that over the coming years approximately 20-25 percent of all incoming
trip requests will be accommodated by feeder trips, while six percent of
trip requests will be serviced by fixed route options only.
ITP service, along with a number of other cost reducing measures like
better management of load times, stricter enforcement of rules and
elimination of costlier providers effectively accomplished two things:
reduced rate of growth in ridership and reduced operational expenses.
NYCT observed only a six percent increase in ridership in 2010 (14 percent
below expectations) and nearly an eight percent increase in 2011, as
opposed to the typical 16 percent annual average growth rate the division
had observed since 19945.
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1
NYCT Paratransit Cost Savings Initiatives, March 4, 2011
2
http://www.mta.info/news/pdf/Agenda2011.pdf
3
Paratransit’s 2010-2011 Cost Reductions- MTA,
New York City Transit Department of Buses, June 2010
4
Paratransit’s 2010-2011 Cost Reductions- MTA,
New York City Transit Department of Buses, June 2010
5
NYCT Paratransit Cost Savings Initiatives, March 4, 2011
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