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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTrolley Efficiency AssessmentMEMORANDUM To: Sandra Harris, Deputy Director City of Miami, Department of Resilience & Public Works, Transportation Division From: Clarence Eng, FAICP Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc. Date: January 29, 2020 Subject: MIAMI TROLLEY EFFICIENCY STUDY — EFFICIENCY ASSESSMENT MEMORANDUM TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Executive Summary 2 II. Overview 3 System Characteristics 3 III. Evaluation Methodology 6 IV. Evaluation 7 Productivity: Passengers per Operating Hour 7 On -Time Performance 8 Operating Speed 8 Evaluation Summary 9 V. Route -by -Route Recommendations 10 Lowest Performing Routes 12 Highest Performing Routes 24 Other System Recommendations 35 VI. Summary of Recommendations 38 kimley-horn.com 655 North Franklin Street, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33602 813-635-5586 1 I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Miami Trolley Efficiency Study was prepared to identify the potential ways to improve trolley service and operational efficiency, identify areas in greatest need of improvement, and to guide how the City of Miami should approach changes to future Miami Trolley service. The study completed an initial review of the existing trolley service conditions, evaluated individual route performance using available data, documented the operating statistics (i.e., weekday and weekend productivity, ridership, on -time performance and operating speed), and identified overall systemwide improvement and specific route recommendations. The Miami Trolley system is comprised of 12 existing routes operating generally with 15 to 30- minute frequency (headways) throughout the week. The study evaluated the performance of the routes based on data collected through the TSO Mobile system, and identified opportunities to improve poorer performing routes and overall systemwide performance. The City's ability to optimize service efficiency can be improved with systemwide improvements and implementing key strategies, including: Develop Service Standards and maintain a suite of Key Performing Indicators (KPI) to inform future service changes and monitor ongoing service efficiency. Enhance Data Collection and Reporting systems to ensure accurate data collection and enable effective reporting, improve KPI performance monitoring and decision -making, improve asset management and the ability to evaluate and effectively implement service adjustments (stops, routes, etc.) Implement Best Practices for Bus Stop inventory, placement, design, and standards to enhance overall passenger experience and route operational efficiencies, including access, trip speed and duration, and reliability. Complete a System Network and Route Alignment Optimization to improve route efficiency and reduce service duplication. Adjust Service Span to align service supply with higher and lower demand for service along individual routes. Update Route Schedules to more accurately reflect actual travel times and the anticipated service frequency, and as a result, improve the system's on -time performance. Enhance Service on select, high performing routes to improve service and potential ridership capture Implement Transit Signal Priority to reduce transit vehicle delays and improve operational efficiencies. Routes within the Miami Trolley system differ in the transit connections provided, the employment and population densities served, and the legibility of their route alignment. The routes that exhibit higher route productivity (passengers per operating hour), on -time performance, and operating speed tend to have simplified route patterns without significant deviations and serve higher density areas. The higher performing routes include Little Havana, Allapattah, and Brickell. Conversely, routes with lower ridership typically have more complex or circuitous route patterns, and have segments served by other routes or services. The study recommends route modifications to include simplifying and streamlining lower performing routes, consolidating or removing stops, consolidating routes, and modifying operating schedules. A table summarizing and prioritizing the recommendations is included at the end of the memo. 655 North Franklin Street, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33602 813-635-5586 2 II. OVERVIEW The Miami Trolley system is operated by City of Miami, serving multiple neighborhoods within city limits. It connects to Miami -Dade Transit, the Miami Beach Trolley, the regional rail network, and Coral Gables Trolley. Technical data analysis was conducted on the 12 trolley routes operated by the City of Miami that were in operation at the time of the data collection and had data available. The analysis includes the Flagami route (began service in July 2018), but does not include the new Liberty City route that began service in August 2019. The results from this analysis were summarized in the Existing Conditions Memorandum. The transit data used in the study were collected and reported through the TSO Mobile online interface. Additional operational information was provided by the City of Miami. Based on the findings of system route characteristics, on -time performance, ridership, and operating conditions, the efficiency assessment identified a number of service inefficiencies and opportunities for service enhancements. The Efficiency Assessment Memorandum summarizes the final observations, assessments, and recommendations for service modifications. System Characteristics The Miami Trolley system services 41 percent of the City jurisdiction within a quarter mile of its stops, a service area of approximately 24 square miles. The system provides service along major corridors covering areas with populations between 10,000 to 25,000 residents per square mile. The system map and a quarter mile service area zone can be referenced in Figure 1. As noted in the Existing Conditions memorandum, the 10 routes were evaluated based on the data period from 8/12/2019 to 8/18/2019. The Health District route did not have a complete data set for the same period used for the other routes. Therefore, ridership and OTP statistics for the Health District route is from the period between 8/19/2019 and 8/25/2019. The Flagami route was added to this efficiency assessment using weekday data from 1/22/19, 1/31/19, 2/6/19 and Saturday data from 2/2/19. Only on those specific dates, vehicles with Automatic Passenger Counters (APC) were assigned to the route for the specific purpose of collecting data. Data for the Flagami route was not available within the August period used for the other routes. Additionally, weekend ridership and OTP statistics are incorporated in this memorandum for Saturday (8/17/2019) and Sunday (8/18/2019) with the exception of Flagami and Health District routes. Due to insufficient data on the same weekend as the other routes, the Health District weekend data is from 8/24/2019 and 8/25/2019. The Overtown route does not operate on weekends. Only six routes operate on Sundays. All 12 routes' characteristics are summarized in Table 1. kimley-horn.com 655 North Franklin Street, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33602 813-635-5586 3 Table 1. Route Characteristics Frequency (min) Average Weekday Ridership Average Saturday Ridership Average Sunday Ridership Passengers per Weekday Operating Mile Passengers per Weekday Operating Hour OTP Weekday /Weekend Stops per Mile Allapattah Biscayne Brickell Coconut Grove Coral Way Flagami' Health District2 Little Haiti Little Havana Overtown 3 Stadium Wynwood 15 1,469 1,001 15 779 1,442 941 15 1,200 1,940 534 20 413 397 251 20 1,354 996 445 25 488 441 - 15 95 50 - 25 189 564 234 15 2,684 2,332 922 30 330 - 30 595 451 - 25 350 417 - 3.0 28 60% / 43% 6.6 1.2 9 54% / 43% 6.1 1.5 18 62% / 64% 5.8 0.5 5 26% / 18% 4.1 1.5 13 40% / 43% 4.9 0.6 5 31%/26% 4.0 0.4 2 40%/61% 6.2 0.6 5 32% / 26% 7.1 4.1 40 65% / 59% 5.6 3.5 25 6% / N.A. 7.2 3.5 18 13% / 13% 5.3 1.7 11 26% / 23% 6.7 1 Ridership for Flagami route is for the following dates: weekday 1/22/19, 1/31/19, 2/6/19, and Saturday 2/2/19. 2 The Health District route did not have a complete data set for the selected period used for other routes; ridership and OTP results are from the period between 8/19/2019 and 8/25/2019. 3 Overtown does not operate on weekends kimley-horn.com 655 North Franklin Street, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33602 813-635-5586 4 Legend Miami Trolley tJ r�l -=1Allupettell <.:. Biscayne • fileHeuith District Bnckell • Coconut Grove• esmai Coral Way • F'againi City and Transportation Network City of Miami J Miami International Aiport Miami -Dade Transit Route Duplicated Alignment Little Hain Litte Havana Overtown Stadium Wynwa od ,� .... _. .... _ r i RO5EUA LL llR k�.t � Virgin Gardens= y vaS6TH ST 1 z \ '[HST SW 2-1TH ST SEYkLLAAVE Coral it METER RD • Miami \Ii Lay AVE E Y CORAL NAY Ay A`STA SLA AVE ♦F :bTH ST 1 NV, L 4 r H ST 1 Sources: City of Miami. Miami -Dade Transit, US Census horn.com S\Y „ND ST Figure 1. Miami Trolley Service Area FT - Miami Shores -,- . 1 9TH ST • sw 1 ST 025 0.5 655 North Franklin Street, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33602 813-635-5586 5 III. EVALUATION METHODOLOGY The Kimley-Horn team developed an evaluation methodology to grade route performance and efficiency. The evaluation was prepared to assist the City of Miami in identifying areas where performance and service enhancements are needed. Since the City of Miami does not have adopted key performance indicators or established standards for key performance indicators, the consultant team applied typical performance categories used by the industry in system evaluation and performance monitoring. The analysis method consisted of four performance evaluation metrics: 1. weekday productivity (passengers per operating hour), 2. weekend productivity (passengers per operating hour), 3. on -time performance, and 4. operating speed (vehicle operating miles per vehicle operating hours). Details for each of the evaluation metrics are described in the corresponding sections below. Routes is assigned a point for each metric that meets or exceeds the system averages. Route points are then totaled and summarized and used as the route performance indicator. It should be noted that merely meeting the system average does not necessarily indicate that a route is performing well. The City of Miami is encouraged to formally adopt key performance indicators and performance standards for use in future evaluations. The Guidelines for Municipal Transit Programs in Miami -Dade County ("Miami -Dade County Guidelines", March 2016) does include boardings per operating hour as a performance metric. It identifies a standard of 6.9 passengers per hour for all of the systems in the County, which includes services operating in much less dense regions of the County. It does not provide suggestions for any other performance metrics included in this document. kimley-horn.com 655 North Franklin Street, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33602 813-635-5586 6 IV. EVALUATION Productivity: Passengers per Operating Hour To evaluate existing productivity, all 12 routes are analyzed by the metric of number of passengers per operating hour for each route for both weekdays and weekends. Operating hours are defined as the hours each route is in service and picking up and dropping off passengers. The systemwide averages are 15 passengers per operating hour for weekdays and 12 passengers per operating hour for weekends. Each route that has an average above the system average is awarded one point for weekday and one point for weekend towards the total evaluation. Evaluation points are summarized in Table 2. Table 2. Passengers Per Operating Hour by Route WEEKDAY WEEKEND AVERAGE PASSENGERS WEEKDAY AVERAGE PASSENGERS WEEKEND ROUTE WEEKDAY PER PRODUCTIVITY WEEKEND PER PRODUCTIVITY RIDERSHIP OPERATING SCORE RIDERSHIP OPERATING SCORE HOUR HOUR Allapattah Biscayne Brickell Coconut Grove Coral Way Flagami Health District Little Haiti Little Havana Overtown Stadium Wynwood Systemwide 9,458 1i 1,469 779 1,200 413 1,354 488 95 189 2,684 330 28 9 18 5 13 5 2 5 40 25 595 18 350 11 0 0 0 0 f 0• MEN 1,001 2,383 2,474 648 1,441 441 50 798 3,254 19 15 24 4 8 5 1 10 24 451 13 417 13 I13,358 12 kimley-horn.com 655 North Franklin Street, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33602 813-635-5586 7 On -Time Performance On -Time Performance (OTP) measures schedule adherence and the reliability of service. Routes are considered on -time if they are no more than 5 minutes late and no more than 1 minute early. Systemwide OTP average is calculated to be at 38 percent. Each route is awarded one point if its OTP is above the system average. All routes that exceeded the systemwide OTP average for weekday also met for weekend, and vice versa. Evaluation points are summarized in Table 3. Table 3. On -Time Performance by Route Allapattah Biscayne Brickell Coconut Grove Coral Way Flagami Health District Little Haiti Little Havana Overtown Stadium Wynwood Systemwide WEEKDAY OTP 60% 54% 62% 26% 40% 31% 40% 32% 65% 6% 13% 26% 38% WEEKEND OTP OTP SCORE 43% 43% 64% 18% 43% 26% 61% 26% 59% 13% 23% 38% 0 0 0 0 0 0 Operating Speed Operating speed is defined as the amount of vehicle operating miles traveled divided by the amount of operating hours. Operating miles and operating hours are defined as when the vehicles are in service and picking up and dropping off passengers along their routes. These numbers are taken from the schedules provided by the City of Miami and do not necessarily reflect actual in-service time. Given the low OTP this likely significantly overstates actual operating speed, but actual operating speed by route information was not available from the TSO Mobile interface. The systemwide Operating Miles per Operating Hours average is calculated to be 8.6. Each route is awarded one point if its Operating Miles per Operating Hours ratio is above the system average. Evaluation points are summarized in Table 4. kimley-horn.com 655 North Franklin Street, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33602 813-635-5586 8 Table 4. Operating Speed: Operating Miles Divided by Operating Hours by Route ROUTE OPERATING MILES/ OPERATING SPEED OPERATING HOURS SCORE Allapattah Biscayne Brickell Coconut Grove Coral Way Flagami Health District Little Haiti Little Havana Overtown Stadium Wynwood Systemwide • 1 9.0 7.7 11.5 10.1 8.6 8.7 5.7 7.1 9.7 7.3 4.9 6.3 8.6 I 0 ii • 1 • 1 • 1 • 1 • 0 • 0 • 1 • 0 7 0 0 Evaluation Summary In order to inform the recommendations for efficiency improvements for each route, the four metrics that were analyzed for each route are compiled in Table 5 below. The four metrics include: weekday passengers per operating hour; weekend passengers per operating hour; on - time performance; and operating speed (vehicle operating miles per vehicle operating hours). Compared to the system averages for each metric, the six lowest performing routes are: Coconut Grove, Flagami, Health District, Overtown, Wynwood, and Little Haiti. Little Haiti scored the lowest with zero points, with the other five scoring one point. Compared to the system averages for each metric, the 6 highest performing routes, in order of highest to lowest, are: Allapattah (4 points), Little Havana (4 points), Brickell (4 points), Biscayne (2 points), Coral Way (2 points), and Stadium (2 points). Table 5. Route Performance Score Totals WEEKDAY PRODUCTIVITY SCORE WEEKEND PRODUCTIVITY SCORE OTP SCORE OPERATING SPEED SCORE TOTAL ROUTE PERFORMANCE SCORE Allapattah Little Havana Brickell Biscayne Coral Way Stadium Coconut Grove Flagami Health District Overtown Wynwood Little Haiti a kimley-horn.com 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 655 North Franklin Street, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33602 813-635-5586 9 V. ROUTE -BY -ROUTE RECOMMENDATIONS Based on the four performance evaluation metrics, recommendations are made for each route, with a particular focus on the areas in which each of the lowest performing routes do not meet system standards. The four categories used to identify low performing routes are performance metrics. There are numerous factors that contribute to routes meeting those metrics. Riders are more likely to use routes that are frequent, operate when they need to operate, are reliable, and go where they need to go. Thus, there is an inter -relation between OTP and operating speed and productivity. But there are also numerous factors that contribute to OTP and operating speed performance. In order to develop effective recommendations, these contributing factors were analyzed for each route to target the areas that will be most effective in improving overall performance. To increase productivity, the following categories are evaluated: productivity at the edges of the span of service; productivity of weekend service; and route frequency. By assessing productivity of the span, recommendations identify the opportunity to focus service within the time periods when there is the greatest demand for the service. To address OTP and operating speed issues, bus stop spacing and excessive dwell time are analyzed. Close stop spacing can result in excessive delays and reliability issues. The Miami - Dade County Guidelines recommend a minimum bus stop spacing distance in urban areas to be 1/8 of a mile (660 feet) and suburban areas to be 1/8 to 1/4 of a mile (660-1,320 feet). The Guidelines also establish standards for stop frequency and recommends a maximum of five stops per mile of service for high density, central business, and shopping centers. All routes in the system have stop spacing of less than a quarter mile and the system has an average of six bus stops per mile of service, exceeding the Miami -Dade County Guidelines. Maps of average ridership for each stop for each route are included in Appendix A. Excessive dwell time may indicate challenges with congestion, stop placement, or other factors that then lead to excessive delays and reliability issues. Since stops with high ridership inherently have more dwell time, dwell time is normalized based on the number of riders per trip at each stop. For each route, as a general standard, stops were identified that have an average dwell time above 2 minutes with an average per -trip ridership activity (boardings plus alightings) of less than 0.5 riders. The alignment of each route is also evaluated since it can affect both productivity and OTP. In particular, many of the routes were observed to meander or loop, both of which can result in very long travel times for users or longer access distances. It also creates challenges in route legibility, which may intimidate many potential users. Some routes have shared alignments with other routes that can be consolidated or have reductions in frequency. A shared alignment is a duplication of service that can unnecessarily disperse riders amongst two routes if both routes cover the same start and end locations for those riders. There is relatively minimal duplication of routes within the existing system. Generally areas of duplication are short segments where the duplication is necessary to facilitate transfers or does not significantly effect productivity. However, the Health District and Stadium routes have significant overlap and may be ripe for consolidation or optimization. The areas of overlap are shown on Figure 2. kimley-horn.com 655 North Franklin Street, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33602 813-635-5586 10 Legend Miami Trolley Allapattah i Health District Ommiseffisceyme Little Haiti © Brickell Little Havana ig -.Coconut Grove Overtown (COei=noCaral Way O Stadium 4 iisFlagami •Wynwood City and Transportation Network L City of Miami Miami -Dade Transit Route Duplicated Alignment 1 a i INrld1 _1 1 1 1 1 ■ W FL) L LGLER ST 1 GRAND AVE f • NE36THS ST ST NW 29TH ST SW1ST Si‘ 1 11 I'Z k i, I t��- , NW 6 H ST NE 6TH S'I • --�RICKI N'ACKER CSW 1 r SE 1ST ST f l A 0 0.25 0.5 1 Miles Sources: City of Miami, Miami -Dade Transit, US Census kimley-horn.com Figure 2. Duplicated Route Alignments 655 North Franklin Street, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33602 813-635-5586 11 Recommendations are provided on a route -by -route basis below, followed by a prioritized summary. Recommendations are focused on the six lowest performing routes but are provided for all routes in the system. Lowest Performing Routes Little Haiti • Productivity: The route runs from 6:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. with weekday productivity at 5 riders per operating hour. Ridership peaks between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. Total boardings per hour are below 20 before 8:00 a.m. There are three in-service vehicles during the entire operating period. Recommend decreasing frequency before 8:00 a.m. to two vehicles. Weekend ridership is significantly better than the weekday at 10 riders per service -hour. • OTP/Operating Speed: This route operates at a 25-minute headway and has a low number of daily trips. Travel speed is 7.1 mph on weekdays. Recommendations to increase operating speed and OTP include consolidating stops along the following segments that have high stops per mile: o Outbound/Northbound ■ 36th Street (from NW 2nd Avenue to NE 2nd Avenue): 4 bus stops within 2,683 feet (0.5 mi). ■ NE 2nd Avenue (from NW 36th Street to NE 54th Street): 6 bus stops within 5,438 feet (1.03 mi). ■ NW 2nd Avenue (from NW 54th Street to NW 75th Street): 10 bus stops within 6,755 feet (1.28 mi). ■ N Miami Avenue (from NW 75th Street to NW 84th Street): 5 bus stops within 3,105 feet (0.6 mi). o Inbound/Southbound ■ NE 2nd Avenue (from NW 54th Street to NW 75th Street): 10 bus stops within 6,706 feet (1.3 mi). ■ N Miami Avenue (from NW 75th Street to NW 84th Street): 5 bus stops within 3,136 feet (0.6 mi). ■ NW 2nd Avenue (from NW 54th Street to NW 36th Street): 10 bus stops within 5,438 feet (1.03 mi). • Dwell Time: Stops that have dwell time above two minutes with per -trip ridership activity below 0.5 need to be investigated further and may be considered for elimination. For this route they include: o NE 2nd Avenue & NE 40th Street o NE 2nd Avenue & NE 43rd Street • Alignment: There are minimal service duplications along the alignment of this route. Loop alignments are generally much less productive than bi-directional alignments due to increased complexity in rider understanding of the service and longer distances to access one of the trip directions. While all portions of the loop perform similarly, it is recommended to reconsider the loop alignment and NE 61st Street spur. Recommended improvements for the Little Haiti route are shown in Figure 3. kimley-horn.co 655 North Franklin Street, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33602 813-635-5586 12 NW 87TH ST NE 87TH ST NW Miami Ct NW 82ND ST Consider removing or consolidating low -ridership stops. 1 Stops along this segment are closely spaced. Consider consolidating stops. NW 46TH Investigate why these low -ridership (<0.5 boardings per trip) stops have high dwell times (>2 min per trip). Consider removing or consolidating low -ridership stops. kimley-horn.com 0 NW715TST NE 69TH ST NW 36TH 9TH ST I NI s 791 A 19 9NA''VOSl= 111 N n z Consider removing low -ridership stops. Little Haiti Trolley Miami Trolley Routes Miami -Dade Transit 0.25 1 0.5 0.75 General Recommendations: • There is a weekday average of 22 boardings before 8:00 a.m. Consider decreasing the number of vehicles on Little Haiti before 8:00 a.m. from three to two vehicles. • Loop routing, while beneficial for increasing coverage, increases travel times and degrades service quality for riders. Consider eliminating the NE 61 st Street spur. Alternatively, consider realigning this route entirely to a bi-directional alignment. These stops are low -ridership and are closely spaced together (6 stops over 1.03 miles). Consider removing or consolidating some of these stops. 1 crcr 4 L 111 ( Daily Weekday Boardings • 0-2 • 3-5 • 6-10 • 11-15 • 16-30 E 291H ST 1 Figure 3. Little Haiti Route Recommendations 655 North Franklin Street, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33602 813-635-5586 13 Wynwood • Productivity: This route meets the weekend system productivity average but falls well short on weekdays. Average hourly ridership declines significantly after 7:00 p.m. Therefore, it is recommend to decrease or eliminate service after 8:00 p.m. While ridership is also much lower prior to 2 p.m., since only two vehicles operate on the route, there is not an opportunity to reduce service levels while maintaining at least a 30- minute headway. • OTP/Operating Speed: The route OTP is below the system average (weekday: 26%, weekend: 23%). The route travels at 6.3 mph, slower than the system average of 8.6 mph. The route has an average of 6.7 bus stops within 1 mile. Recommendations to increase operating speed and OTP include consolidating stops along the following segments that have high stops per mile: o Outbound/Northbound ■ Along NW 2nd Avenue (from NE 20th Street to NW 26th Street): 5 bus stops within 2,168 feet (0.4 mi). ■ Along NW 2nd Avenue (from NE 26th Street to NW 36th Street): 5 bus stops within 3,217 feet (0.6 mi). o Inbound/Southbound ■ Along N Miami Avenue (from NE 36th Street to NW 26th Street): 6 bus stops within 3,217 feet (0.6 mi). • Dwell Time: Stops that have dwell time above two minutes with per -trip ridership activity below 0.5 need to be investigated further and may be considered for elimination. For this route they include: o NW 1 Avenue (SB) • Alignment: Wynwood has minor duplications with two other routes: Little Haiti and Biscayne. Loop alignments are generally much less productive than bi-directional alignments due to increased complexity in rider understanding of the service and longer distances to access one of the trip directions. Portions of the loop experience very little ridership, particularly in the inbound direction. It is recommended to reconsider the loop alignment. Recommended improvements for the Wynwood route are shown in Figure 4. kimley-horn.com 655 North Franklin Street, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33602 813-635-5586 14 36TH 9T Consider removing or consolidating low -ridership stops. 'r NW 29TH ST qk "V 24TH AIN N 23RD ST NW 22ND ST NW 20TH ST Stops along this segment are closely spaced. Consider consolidating stops. kimley-horn.com 17TH ST 0 0.1 0.2 N 14TH ST NE 29T NE 28TH S General Recommendations: • Ridership on this route decreases significantly after 7:00 p.m. Consider decreasing or eliminating service after 8:00 p.m. • Consider eliminating the loop at the northern end of this route and replacing it with a bi-directional alignment along NW 2nd Avenue. Portions of this loop already overlap with the Little Haiti route, and ridership is low at the stops on the loop. Daily Weekday Boardings o 0-5 • 6-10 • 11-20 • 21 - 30 31 - 60 Consider removing low -ridership stops or remove loop entirely. Investigate why this low -ridership (<0.5 daily boardings per trip) stop has high dwell times (>2 min per trip). Adrienne Argil -Mentor Wynwood Trolley Miami Trolley Routes Miami Dade Transit 0.4 0.6 0.8 11 Miles TH ST 1 M Figure 4. Wynwood Route Recommendations 655 North Franklin Street, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33602 813-635-5586 15 Overtown • Productivity: This route does not have any productivity issues as it has 25 passengers per service -hour on weekdays, well above the system average. There is no weekend service. • OTP/Operating Speed: On -time performance is the lowest in the system with only 6 percent. Travel speed on this route is at a low 7.3 mph, below system average. This route has an average of over 7 bus stops per 1 mile given its short length. Recommendations to increase operating speed and OTP include consolidating stops along the following segments that have high stops per mile: o Along NW 10th Street (from NW 6th Street to NW 20th Street): 8 bus stops within 6,336 feet (1.2 mi). o Along NW 7th Avenue (from NW 20th Street to NW 10th Street): 6 bus stops within 4,329 feet (0.8 mi) o Along the alignment (NW 2nd Avenue, NW 8th Street, NW 5th Avenue, NW 6th Street): 11 bus stops within 7,128 feet (1.35 mi). • Dwell Time: Stops that have dwell time above two minutes with per -trip ridership below 0.5 need to be investigated further and may be considered for elimination. For this route they include: o NW 8 Avenue • Alignment: This route has minor duplications with two other routes: Health District and Stadium. Loop alignments are generally much less productive than bi-directional alignments due to increased complexity in rider understanding of the service and longer distances to access one of the trip directions. Ridership is consolidated amongst only a handful of stops, with other stops experiencing little to no ridership. It is recommended to reconsider the loop alignment and focus on making the route more efficient between the stops with high levels of activity. Recommended improvements for the Overtown route are shown in Figure 5. kimley-horn.com 655 North Franklin Street, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33602 813-635-5586 16 Investigate why this low -ridership (<0.5 daily boardings per trip) stop has high dwell times (>2 min per trip) Consider removing or modifying NW 8th Street Rd alignment to remove loop routing and low ridership stops. 1► Y - ) Hopkins NW 7TH WF These stops are low -ridership and are closely spaced together (6 stops over 0.8 miles). Consider - i removing or consolidating some of these stops. General Recommendations: • Loop routing, while beneficial for increasing coverage, increases travel times and degrades service quality for riders. Consider realigning this route entirely to a bi-directional alignment. W 14TH ST Consider removing or modifying NW 95 T Oth St alignment to remove loop routing and low ridership stops. rAinur Merlin Lounae NW6T LAGLEPOT SW 1ST ST - z Overtown Trolley Miami Trolley Routes Miami Dade Transit 0 0.125 0.25 0.5 0.75 Histori verto Station vern Cente Station Daily Weekday Boardings 0-5 • 6-10 • 11 -20 21 -30 31 -60 SW 8TH ST 1 kimley-horn.com Miles Figure 5. Overtown Route Recommendations 655 North Franklin Street, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33602 813-635-5586 17 Health District • Productivity: Productivity is the worst in the system with an average of 5 riders per operating hour for weekday and 1 rider per operating hour for weekends. Ridership peaks between 3:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m., with 16 percent of all daily ridership occurring within that hour. Ridership is substantially lower in all other hours, notably after 8:00 p.m. Therefore, it is recommend reducing to one vehicle or eliminate service after that time. • OTP/Operating Speed: Weekday OTP is just above the system average at 40 percent. Average travel speed is 5.7 mph, below the system average of 8.6 mph. Recommendations to increase operating speed and OTP include consolidating stops along the following segments that have high stops per mile: o Outbound (along NW 7th Avenue, NW 18th Street, NW 9th Avenue, NW 15th Avenue, Highland Road, NW 14th Street, and NW 12th Street): 10 bus stops within 8448 feet (1.6 mi). • Dwell Time: Stops that have dwell time above two minutes with per -trip ridership activity below 0.5 need to be investigated further and may be considered for elimination. For this route they include: o Courthouse o Jackson DTC o UM Sickle Cell Center • Alignment: This route is the shortest route (2.9 miles) in the system. Fifty-five percent (or 1.6 miles) of the Health District alignment is also served by the Stadium or Allapattah routes. Eliminating service duplication can increase operation efficiency. This route should be looked at more closely to possibly be integrated with the Stadium route by slightly modifying alignments and frequency of service to cover other parts of the service area. In addition, loop alignments are generally much less productive than bi-directional alignments due to increased complexity in rider understanding of the service and longer distances to access one of the trip directions. Ridership is consolidated amongst only three stops, with nearly half of all ridership at those stops. It is recommended to reconsider the loop alignment and focus on making the route more efficient between the stops with high levels of activity. Recommended improvements for the Health District route are shown in Figure 6. kimley-horn.com 655 North Franklin Street, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33602 813-635-5586 18 NW 16TH ST NW 14TH ST Santa Clara Station NW 19TH S N --1 • D m Civic � Center Station NW 1 UMH 2TH ST spital mni Consider eliminating the loop west of NW 12th Ave. i Health District Trolley Miami Trolley Routes Miami -Dade Transit Lindsey Ha NW 20TH S7 General Recommendations: • This route the lowest productivity route with 5 riders per revenue service hour. Ridership drops substantially after 8:00 p.m. Consider eliminating service after that time or reducing the number of operating vehicles on the route to one after that time. • This route is the shortest in the system and ridership is concentrated at three stops. Fifty-five percent of this route overlaps with other routes in the system. Consider consolidating this route with the Stadium route. NW 19TH ST \y0� NW 18TH TER Tr S • NW 17Th ST m NW 15TH ST O 0 0.075 0.15 kimley-horn.com 0.3 0.45 ti NW 14TH ST 3 35 w 2 H Stops along this segment are closely spaced. Consider consolidating stops. 9T Culmer . S€etiort Daily Weekday Boardings • 0 0 1 - 5 Q 6-10 Q 11-15 16-20 0.6 Miles Figure 6. Health District Route Recommendations 655 North Franklin Street, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33602 813-635-5586 19 Flagami • Productivity: This route averages 5 riders per operating hour on both weekdays and weekends. With a headway of 25 minutes there is not an opportunity to further decrease service and still provide sufficient frequency. Reduction of weekday span and elimination of weekend service should be considered. • OTP/Operating Speed: Route OTP is below the system average (weekday: 31 %, weekend: 26%). Average travel speed for this route is 8.7, just above system average. For bus stop spacing, this route has an average of 4 bus stops per mile which meet the walkability standards and are located at reasonable distance apart. Recommendations to increase operating speed and OTP include consolidating stops along the following segments that have high stops per mile: o Outbound/Westbound ■ Along NW 37th Avenue (between NW 21 st Street and NW 7th Street): 5 bus stops within 3,165 feet (0.6 mi). ■ Along NW 7th Street (between NW 37th Avenue and NW 57th Avenue): 12 bus stops within 10,770 feet (2.04 mi). ■ Tamiami Boulevard (from SW 6th Street to SW 71 st Avenue): 3 bus stops within 2,195 feet (0.4 mi). ■ NW 4th Street (from SW 61 st Avenue to SW 69th Avenue): 4 bus stops within 4,059 feet (0.8 mi) o Inbound/Eastbound ■ On SW 8th Street (between SW 71st Avenue to SW 62nd Avenue): 6 bus stops within 4,266 feet (0.8 mi). • Dwell Time: Stops that have dwell time above two minutes with per -trip ridership activity below 0.5 need to be investigated further and may be considered for elimination. For this route they include: o SW 42 Ave (EB) o SW 70 Ave (EB) o NW 38 Ave (WB) o SW 57 Ave (EB) • Alignment: Flagami is the longest route (18.1 miles) in the Miami Trolley system. The route alignment has numerous deviations, which causes it to be quite complicated to understand for the user and is not competitive in terms of travel time. It is strongly recommended that the route be streamlined to provide more direct service. Recommended improvements for the Flagami route are shown in Figure 7. kimley-horn.com 655 North Franklin Street, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33602 813-635-5586 20 General Recommendations: • The Flagami route is the longest in the system. Its circuity makes it difficult for riders to navigate and significantly increases travel times. Consider modifying this route to multiple community circulators connecting to the Miami Intermodal Center. D L) Consider removing or consolidating low -ridership stops. ,,,. AL4t#171 1 71:-NW_4th St_ i1 Flagami Trolley Miami Trolley Routes — — — Miami Dade Transit Miles 0 0.175 0.35 0.7 1.05 1.4 kimley-horn.com Miami International Airport IV1. .st.St- ' Miami Intermod Cente Consider removing or consolidating low -ridership stops. W Fla•ler St Investigate why these low -ridership (<0.5 daily boardings per tirp) stops have high dwell times (>2 min per trip). Figure 7. Flagami Route Recommendations W 2nd Ter W 2nd St ler.t-- irl Investigate why these low -ridership (<0.5 daily boardings per trip) stops have high dwell times (>2 min per trip). 655 North Franklin Street, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33602 813-635-5586 21 Coconut Grove • Productivity: The route averages 5 riders per operating hour on weekdays and 4 riders per operating hour on weekends, both well below system averages. Ridership is highest in the morning and early afternoon, but decreases significantly after 7:00 p.m. It is recommended to terminate the weekday service at 8:00 p.m., or reduce frequency to two vehicles (30-minute headway) at that time. Due to low ridership, it is recommended to consider eliminating or reducing frequency during weekends. • OTP/Operating Speed: Route OTP is significantly below the system average (weekday: 26%, weekend: 18%). This route operates at a scheduled 20-minute headway and operates with three vehicles. The average travel speed on this route is 10.1 mph, which is higher than 10 other routes in the system; this suggests that solutions that would improve on -time performance on other routes would not be effective here, as the route already has relatively high travel times. These factors suggest that this route is simply too long for a 20-minute headway to be realistically attainable, which then leads to poor on -time performance. Therefore, on -time performance could be improved by modifying the internal schedules to set a more realistic headway goal. • Dwell Time: Stops that have dwell time above two minutes with per -trip ridership activity below 0.5 need to be investigated further and may be considered for elimination. For this route they include: o Aviation Ave (EB) o Coconut Grove Station • Alignment: This route only has minimal overlap with the Brickell route. The route alignment is quite indirect with several deviations. There are only a handful of stops along the route that have significant ridership, particularly in the outbound direction. It is recommended to modify the route alignment to make the service more direct, focusing on the higher ridership stops. Recommended improvements for the Coconut Grove route are shown in Figure 8. kimley-horn.com 655 North Franklin Street, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33602 813-635-5586 22 SW 2STH TER Douglas Park (SB) SW 40TH ST z 7J f o POINCIANAIAVE General Recommendations: • Ridership on this route decreases significantly after 7:00 p.m. Consider terminating weekday service at 8:00 p.m. Alternatively, reduce the number of vehicles assigned to this route to two vehicles at that time. • Revise internal schedules on this route to set a more realistic headway goal. • This route has few passengers per revenue hour; this could be a product of the circuitous nature of this route. Consider providing a more linear alignment which connects the high -ridership stops on this route. Consider truncating route at City Hall to focus on higher ridership segment. SW 27TH ST z II li SW7TH S II 1 Coconut Gray GRAND AV BIRD AVE 0 0.1 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 Miles kimley-horn.com Station Investigate why these low -ridership (<0.5 daily boardings per trip) stops have high dwell times (>2 min per trip). Daily Weekday Boardings • 0-5 • 6-10 • 11-15 16-20 21 -30 Figure 8. Coconut Grove Route Recommendations 655 North Franklin Street, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33602 813-635-5586 23 Highest Performing Routes Although the highest performing routes are performing above system averages, there can still be room for improvement for certain performance metrics. Specific areas of improvement for these routes are noted below. Biscayne • Productivity: The route meets the system's weekend productivity average, but is well short on weekdays at 9 boardings per operating hour. Ridership is relatively constant throughout the day, but then drops off significantly starting at 7:00 p.m. It is recommended to reduce service levels by one or two vehicles after 8:00 p.m. to better align service levels with ridership. • OTP/Operating Speed: This route has an average of 6.1 bus stops per mile which is just above the system average. Route efficiency can be improved by the consolidation of bus stops located in close proximity to each other. This consolidation will further increase OTP as well as the operating speed. Segments recommended for stop consolidation are as follows: o Outbound/Southbound ■ Biscayne Boulevard (from within 4,315 feet. ■ Biscayne Boulevard (from within 6,177 feet (1.17 mi). o Inbound/Northbound ■ Biscayne Boulevard (from 4,315 feet. ■ Biscayne Boulevard (from 6,864 feet (1.3 mi). ■ Biscayne Boulevard (from within 3,055 feet (0.6 mi). • This route is one of the longer routes in the system, with a peak round-trip cycle time of 90 minutes. Ridership seems to be much stronger in the southern portion of the alignment. It may be beneficial to split the route into two alignments near Omni to better align service with demand and reduce travel time variability, thereby increasing reliability. NE 29th Street to NE 18th Street): 6 bus stops NE 15th Street to SE 2nd Street): 9 bus stops NE 29th Street to NE 18th Street): 6 stops within SE 2nd Avenue to NE 15th Street): 9 stops within SW 15th Road to SW 7th Street): 5 bus stops Recommended improvements for the Biscayne route are shown in Figure 9. kimley-horn.com 655 North Franklin Street, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33602 813-635-5586 24 TH ST 1 0l Biscayne Trolley Miami Trolley Routes Miami -Dade Transit 1 ' CC/ NE Miami-Ct us ---- —. --- 29TH ST Consider removing or consolidating low -ridership stops. Consider removing or consolidating low -ridership stops. m S 7TH ST S5I�T_H . T Brickell Metromov Consider removing or consolidating lowridershipstops. 0 0.1750.35 Daily Weekday Boardings • 0-3 • 3-10 • 10-15 • 15-35 • 35 - 100 0.7 1.05 kimley-horn.com 1.4 Miles General Recommendations: • Ridership on this route drops significantly after 7:00 p.m. Consider removing one or two buses from service after 8:00 p.m. • This is one of the longest routes in the system, with a round trip travel time of 90 minutes. Consider splitting this route into two alignments. Figure 9. Biscayne Route Recommendations 655 North Franklin Street, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33602 813-635-5586 25 Coral Way • Productivity: This route does not meet system averages for productivity in either the weekday or weekend periods. Ridership is fairly strong throughout the day, but steadily drops after the p.m. peak period. It is recommended to consider increasing headway to around 30 minutes after the p.m. peak period to better align service with demand. • OTP/Operating Speed: The route operates just above the systemwide OTP average. Average speed is right as the system average. Therefore, the middling OTP performance is likely due to insufficient layover and recovery time. Therefore, it is recommended to revise schedules or increase the number of buses to provide for increased layover and recovery time. Although this route has an average of 4.9 bus stops per mile which is in the range of a desirable density, route efficiency can be improved by the consolidation of bus stops located in close proximity to each other. This consolidation will further increase OTP as well as the operating speed. Segments recommended for stop consolidation are as follows: o Along SW 3rd Avenue Southbound direction (between SW 32nd Road and SW 17th Road): 8 bus stops within 5,808 feet (1.1 mi). Recommended improvements for the Coral Way route are shown in Figure 10. kimley-horn.com 655 North Franklin Street, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33602 813-635-5586 26 General Recommendations: • Ridership on this route drops after the p.m. peak period. Consider increasing the scheduled headway on this route to 30 minutes in the evenings. j NW 11TH ST m z. : SR 836 EXPY g3fi a N z� 5 NW 7TH ST I w " {j i f Coral Way Trolley Miami Trolley Routes Miami -Dade Transit i-- ti im No l rn SW 1fiTH ST � I I I i Giralda Ave Stop �f. -3"T--- ✓ I lar_s ViTtST'S 1 SW 7TH ST t HistoricOverto ; os NW 7T E:T—N 6TH ST Station �o J Government L S a Stationnon 1 ▪ 4 G Y rn Consider removing or consolidating low -ridership stops. D .=T I G .N m Me ^.rail ation 15aS4T:0 SE, 3RDST Broken Metr`a-rail Statio`n� 'rk% Port Miami North p ART eC vo Daily Weekday Boardings ® 0-5 ® 6-10 • 11 -20 • 21 -30 ® 31 -60 RICKENBACKER CSWY� 0 0.25 0.5 1 1.5 2 kimley-horn.com Miles Figure 10. Coral Way Route Recommendations 655 North Franklin Street, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33602 N A 813-635-5586 27 Stadium • OTP: Route OTP is significantly below the system average at 13 percent. Although the stops per mile are in the range of a desirable density at 5.3 stops per mile, some consolidation of stops may be able to increase OTP as well as the low operating speed. Segments recommended for stop consolidation are as follows: o Outbound/Southbound ■ Along NW 20th Street (between NW 12th Avenue and NW 7th Avenue): 4 bus stops within 2,640 feet (0.5 mi). • Alignment: There are multiple route alignment duplications observed on this route. The northern portion of the route shares an alignment with the Health District route. The southern portion also shares alignment with the Little Havana Route. This route should be further analyzed as it may be able to be consolidated with the Health District route providing a more efficient service. In addition, there are multiple loops along the alignment, which generally experience poorer performance. It is recommended to reconsider the alignment to reduce the number of loops. Recommended improvements for the Stadium route are shown in Figure 11. kimley-horn.com 655 North Franklin Street, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33602 813-635-5586 28 Consider removing or consolidating low -ridership stops. NW 20TH S NW 7TH 5T 0 0.1250.25 oCivic_ Center Station NW 11TH 0.5 Santa Clara st. r NW 14 ST 0 75 Stadium Trolley Miami Trolley Routes ----- Miami Dade Transit y 1Hopkins Culmer Station 6- NW 7TH S NW 6TH ST Daily Weekday Boardings W FLAGLER ST SW 1ST ST kimley-horn.com 51-120 1 Miles General Recommendations: • Portions of this route's alignment overlap with the Health District route. Consider consolidating the Stadium and Health District routes into one. • Loops increase travel times and reduce service quality for riders. Consider eliminating loops along this route and replacing with a bi-directional route connecting major ridership generators. Figure 11. Stadium Route Recommendations 655 North Franklin Street, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33602 813-635-5586 29 Allapattah • OTP/Operating Speed: this route has an average of 6.6 bus stops per mile which is above the system average. Route efficiency can be improved by the consolidation of bus stops located in close proximity to each other. Segments recommended for stop consolidation are as follows: o In the Westbound direction ■ NW 14th Street (from Biscayne Boulevard to NW 3rd Avenue): 4 bus stops within 3,400 feet. ■ NW 20th Street (from NW 3rd Avenue to NW 7th Avenue: 3 bus stops within 2,150 feet. ■ NW 20th Street (from NW 14th Avenue to NW 27th Avenue): 11 bus stops within 6,864 feet (1.3 mi). o In the Eastbound direction: ■ NW 20th Street (from NW 24th Avenue to NW 14th Avenue): 9 bus stops within 5,385 feet (1.02 mi). ■ NW 20th Street (from NW 12th Avenue to NW 3rd Avenue): 6 bus stops within 4,880 feet. ■ NW 14th Street (from NW 3rd Avenue to Biscayne Boulevard): 5 bus stops within 3,400 feet. Recommended improvements for the Allapattah route are shown in Figure 12. kimley-horn.com 655 North Franklin Street, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33602 813-635-5586 30 F To NW 17THtkT Daily Weekday Boardings • 0-10 • 10-20 • 20-35 • 35 - 55 • 55-150 20TH Sll Consider removing or consolidating low -ridership stops. TH ST rvvv rTH ST 0 0.1250.25 0.5 0.75 1 kimley-horn.com SR 836 EXPY Miles Civ!c Center Station 'Ativ Ri NW 25TH ST Allapattah Trolley Miami Trolley Routes • —------- Miami -Dade Transit Consider removing or consolidating low -ridership stops. Consider removing or consolidating low -ridership stops. i I ILWE Station Figure 12. Allapattah Route Recommendations NE6`HS 655 North Franklin Street, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33602 Fail° cs`Nv PORT BLVD 813-635-5586 31 Little Havana • OTP/Operating Speed: Although this route has an average of 5.6 bus stops per mile which is in the range of a desirable density, route efficiency can be improved by the consolidation of specific bus stops located in close proximity to each other. This consolidation will further increase OTP as well as the operating speed. Segments recommended for stop consolidation are as follows: o W Flagler Street (between NW 27th Avenue and NW 37th Avenue): 7 bus stops within 5281 feet (1 mi). o SW 8th Street (between NW 27th Avenue and NW 37th Avenue): 8 bus stops within 5281 feet (1 mi). Recommended improvements for the Little Havana route are shown in Figure 13. kimley-horn.com 655 North Franklin Street, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33602 813-635-5586 32 General Recommendations: • Consider splitting into two routes with bi-directional service on W Flagler St and SW 8th St M A! 11TH ST Little Havana Trolley Miami Trolley Routes 0 0.15 0.3 0.6 kimley-horn.com II 1 I i I� I 1 •. t.14I ❑ i NW 7TH ST g 11 N I d d.l zl ¢I xll j RI; 1-4 I I N 1l I z II I --•I Ali I .. 0.9 1.2 Miles W FLAGLER ST Consider removing or consolidating low -ridership stops. NW 11TH Figure 13. Little Havana Route Recommendations t ulmer Station Daily Weekday ! Boardings im • 0-20 Yz • 21 - 40+� • 41 -75 ® 76 - 150 151-300 Bricke Statid 655 North Franklin Street, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33602 813-635-5586 33 Brickell • Productivity: Route productivity is generally strong for this route; however, it drops off considerably after 7:00 p.m. It is recommended to reduce service levels by one or two vehicles after 8:00 p.m. to better align service levels with ridership. Recommended improvements for the Brickell route are shown in Figure 14. General Recommendations: • Ridership on this route decreases significantly after 7:00 p.m. Consider removing one or two vehicles from operations on this route after 8:00 p.m. Brickell Trolley Miami Trolley Routes Miami -Dade Transit SW 27TH ST SW 22 Miami City Hall 0 0.15 0.3 0.6 kimley-horn.com SW 7TH ST SW 15TH ST I m Brickell Metromover RICKENBAGKER CSWY -' f` v •s. Daily Weekday Boardings 0-10 11-20 • 21 -40 O 41 -80 • 81 -250 0.9 1.2 Miles Figure 14. Brickell Route Recommendations 655 North Franklin Street, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33602 N A 813-635-5586 34 System Recommendations In addition to the route -specific recommendations, there are other recommendations for implementation to increase overall efficiency and quality of service for the system and/or the ability to monitor the system. The additional recommendations include establishing and monitoring key performance indicators, implementing bus stop best practices, improvements to data management, and transit signal priority improvements. Key Performance Indicators and Performance Standards The City of Miami does not have adopted performance standards for the Miami Trolley system. The City does have OTP thresholds established for each route per the vendor contract, but those are not actively monitored, and the routes fall well short of the thresholds. Therefore, while this analysis compares route performance between routes within the system, the opportunity for a comprehensive evaluation of the performance of any given route against adopted standards is not possible. It is beneficial to have adopted standards to provide a target for route performance and to justify route investments, route changes, or even route elimination to the public. Examples of key performance indicators that the City of Miami should consider include: Boardings per Operating Hour Boardings per Operating Mile Cost per Rider On -Time Performance Service Frequency Mechanical Failures Missed Trips Monitoring these indicators would allow for the City to better monitor Miami Trolley's performance and make it easier to identify areas of improvement. These indicators would assist the City with: Monitoring vendor performance Providing information for service planning and future route optimization Monitoring schedule effectiveness Adjusting schedules to better align user expectations Ensuring a minimum standard of service for customers Providing justification to City responses to requests by others for route or stop changes (such as deviations, stop additions, frequency changes, or span changes) It is recommended that the key performance indicators listed above, and standards for each indicator, be adopted prior to a significant network reconstruction to help guide those efforts. Data Collection To enable the monitoring of key performance indicators, it is recommended that the City improve its system of collecting operating and ridership data. Currently, some operating and ridership statistics can be retrieved through pre -established query reports from TSO Mobile; however, there is no established system in place for regularly reporting this data. Additionally, in kimley-horn.com 655 North Franklin Street, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33602 813-635-5586 35 its current format the data must be significantly cleaned in order for it to be usable, which is a labor-intensive process. Recommended steps to achieving an improved data collection system include: 1) establish a regular data reporting system with the vendor or operator, 2) develop a process for verifying the data provided, such as in -person passenger counts or data collected from a second source, 3) take the necessary steps to ensure that regularly -reported data is in a clean, usable format. Bus Stop Best Practices The bus stop is the first point of contact between many customers and the transit system. Location, spacing, and design of bus stops influence the system performance and efficiency. Therefore, it is important to prioritize customer convenience, accessibility, and safety when designing and placing bus stops. A bus stop policy can be established that clearly defines the criteria and guidelines for bus stop installation, operation, and maintenance that meet performance objectives. Bus stop policy should, at the minimum, consider the following areas: Standard considerations: category of stops, amenities Placement considerations: Far -Side, Near -Side, and Midblock Stops Bus stop zone design types: Curbside, Bus Bay, Island, Bulb -out Bus stop design: bus pad, signal synchronization, roadway dimension, turning movement, vertical and horizontal clearance, signage, ADA sidewalk. Bus stop location and distance between stops influence the walkability of riders and accessibility to the transit system. The Transportation Research Board (TRB) has published reports showing that a reasonable walking distance for transit riders is of a mile (1320 feet). It is recommended to develop a standard for bus stop spacing and consolidate bus stops that are less than a sixth of a mile apart. Eliminating low efficiency and closely -spaced bus stops can increase average bus speed, decrease route travel time, and improve the overall customer experience. Bus stops should generally be located where there is concentrated commercial, residential, and industrial development or at intersections of arterial or major collection streets. The removal of each stop should be carefully considered to avoid impacts to facilities accessed by seniors, those with disabilities, and children, who may have reduced mobility to access stops further away. In addition, before stop removal, the existing sidewalk infrastructure should be reviewed to ensure that other nearby stops remain accessible. A balance is required between having too few stops and too many stops to avoid making the service being less desirable due to the increase in walking distance for some riders. Data System Management General recommendations to improve the Miami Trolley bus stop system management are as follows: 1) update systemwide bus stop list to establish unique bus stop identification numbers, 2) update active bus stop inventory 3) create a GIS layer that breaks out the route into segments between each stop, 4) general data proper identification to eliminate "Out -of -Route" and "Out -of -Stop" designations. 1. The assignment of a unique identification number to each bus stop in the system is critical for both operators and customers to identify the point of access to the bus service. According to the TSO Mobile data interface, the Miami Trolley bus system has kimley-horn.co 655 North Franklin Street, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33602 813-635-5586 36 over 540 active stops. Currently, each bus stop in the system is identified by name. Depending on the route, the same stop might be identified differently which creates rider confusion and poses operational challenges. The bus stop sequence on each route should be in addition to the systemwide bus stop identification system instead of a replacement. In addition to a unique bus stop ID number, stops should also consider having an attribute indicating their sequential place in each route that serves them. Shared bus stops should be able to show each route that serves that stop for ease of use for customers. 2. Managing bus stops requires a database that is up-to-date and accurate with the current service for analytic purposes. The bus stop list should be consistent across all operating databases. Currently, the list of stops shown by the TSO web -tracker tool and the Graphic Information System (GIS) database are inconsistent. A survey of all current bus stop locations can be done to update the list of active stops and their amenities across different platforms for ease of use for analytic purposes. 3. Providing the route as stop -to -stop segments in a GIS shapefile allows for greater analysis of stop spacing and allows for mapping of system and route performance information at the segment level as opposed to the route level. Route segmentation in GIS will enhance the ability to monitor the system effectively. 4. Proper data identification for each route and stop is crucial in order to complete accurate and efficient data analysis to better inform efficiency recommendations. The TSO Mobile system showed a highly significant number of data that was not able to be properly assigned to either a specific route or to a specific stop and therefore this data was not able to inform the reports and therefore was not able to be properly analyzed. The system serves an average of 9,458 customers on a typical weekday. Within the daily ridership TSO database, a high number of out -of -stop records (3,139) were reported. These records indicate that a boarding or alighting occurred, but no stop was assigned to the record. The large gap in stop -specific data (33% of activity could not be assigned) limits the ability to discern activity at the stop level. While dwell time data allowed for an analysis by stop, there is a significant amount of data with high dwell durations that is not associated with a specific stop. Of the nine trolley routes that have the highest dwell times, the out -of -stop records are more than half of the total records (47,438 out of 79,286) in the analysis. Coconut Grove has the highest number of records without a bus stop associated to them with 5,213 of the total 6,831 records for the selected analysis period. Ensuring proper designation of the data will help ensure a complete, accurate, and efficient data analysis to better inform efficiency recommendations in the future. While this report includes recommendations for specific alignment and route modifications, it would be greatly beneficial to have fully allocated ridership data before making decisions about individual stops and route segments. Transit Signal Priority Transit Signal Priority (TSP) describes technologies used to reduce transit vehicle delays at intersections by either holding lights green for an extended period or shortening the length of red-light periods. To improve travel time along arterial -running segments of the Miami Trolley routes, TSP is recommended at all traffic signals where it is it not already in operation. TSP can kimley-horn.com 655 North Franklin Street, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33602 813-635-5586 37 reduce bus operating cost by making the service operate faster, and thus more efficiently. It also benefits the rider experience by improving travel speed and reliability. TSP requires technology both at the signal controller and on -board the vehicle. The Miami Trolley fleet will need to have the necessary equipment installed on each vehicle. Controller upgrades may be needed at some intersections to provide TSP functionality. It is beneficial to provide controllers capable of providing reporting data on TSP usage (number of calls, activation, etc.). This reporting functionality would be useful to determine how well the system is working once it is setup. VI. SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS The current service provides a combination of productivity routes (such as Allapattah) and coverage routes (such as Flagami). Such a combination is likely needed to provide both effective service and critical lifeline service to residents. However, there are opportunities to better leverage City funds to provide more effective service to more people. There are some distinctive trends between routes that perform well and those that do not meet system averages. The better performing routes are more frequent and have straighter alignments that provide a more competitive travel time and are easier to understand for the user. Many of the poorer performing routes share certain attributes, such as headways greater than 20 minutes and loop or highly deviated alignments. Therefore, while recommendations are provided in a number of areas, such as stop density, span of service, and stop removal, it is recommended that the City initially focus on route alignment streamlining to eliminate or greatly reduce loops and deviations. Routes should be as straight as possible while hitting major destinations in order to provide a high -quality service. Ridership notably drops off later in the evening. It is likely beneficial to continue to provide later evening service to meet the needs of residents; however, it may be beneficial to increase service levels during the day and decrease headways to closer to 30 minutes for some routes in the later evening. OTP is a product of both schedules and travel time variability. Solving either challenge is not necessarily easy. Opportunities to reduce travel time variability include reducing the number of stops, which can often result in neighborhood objections. However, that is a very effective means of increasing the overall effectiveness of the system to its users. Schedules may be easier to adjust, but then would require reducing scheduled headways to provide increased layover and recovery time. Ideally, the City of Miami would be able to increase the number of vehicles operating on the route to maintain or enhance frequency, but that would require an increase in the fleet. By streamlining some of the routes as noted above, it may be possible to reduce the number of vehicles needed, thereby freeing them up to increase frequency or layover/recovery time where needed on other routes. See Table 6 for a summary of the recommendations, organized in recommended order of priority. kimley-horn.com 655 North Franklin Street, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33602 813-635-5586 38 Table 6. Recommendations Summary and Priority List PRIORITY CATEGORY RECOMMENDATION 1 2 3 Service Adopt key performance indicators and service standards to Standards evaluate current and new routes against Data Collection and Reporting Bus Stops 4 Bus Stops System Network/ 5 Route Alignment Optimization Establish a recurring data reporting system with the vendor or operator. Develop a process for verifying the data provided and ensure that regularly -reported data is in a clean, usable format. Update bus stop database, including: - Establish a system for providing unique IDs for bus stops Update the active bus stop inventory Update GIS shapefiles of the existing routes and stops Adopt bus stop design standards (spacing, placement, facilities), conduct comprehensive bus stop inventory, and apply standards to existing stops Reconfigure the network to reduce or eliminate loop routes and service duplication. Perform an assessment of systemwide route modifications. Examples of specific modifications to consider include: Little Haiti: Consider either eliminating service on NE 2nd Avenue south of NW 71st Street and operate bi- directionally or splitting into separate NE 2nd Avenue and NW 2nd Avenue routes. Remove NW 62nd Street spur Wynwood: Consider eliminating N Miami Ave portion of loop and operate bi-directionally Overtown: Consider eliminating NW 8th Street Road and NW 10th Street portions of loop and operate bi- directionally Health District/Stadium: Consider consolidating the two routes. Alternatively, for Stadium, consider eliminating the Lindsey Hopkins deviation, focusing service on NW 12th Avenue. For Health District, consider removing portion west of NW 12th Avenue Flagami: Consider eliminating numerous loops and deviations to improve legibility or split into multiple community circulators providing more direct service to Miami Intermodal Center Coconut Grove: Consider eliminating U-shaped alignment of route, focusing on portion between Douglas Park and City Hall Biscayne: Consider splitting into two routes near its mid -point to reduce cycle time and increase reliability Little Havana: Consider splitting into two routes, one on Flagler Street and one on SW 8th Street kimley-horn.com 655 North Franklin Street, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33602 813-635-5586 39 6 Service Span 7 Better align service supply with service demand, including fluctuating number of buses per route based on periods of higher and lower demand. Examples include: Little Haiti: Decrease the number of vehicles before 8 AM Wynwood: Decrease the number of vehicles after 8 PM Health District: Decrease the number of vehicles after 8 PM Flagami: Reduce the weekday span of service and eliminate weekend service Coconut Grove: Reduce frequency during weekends or eliminate weekend service entirely Biscayne: Decrease the number of vehicles after 8 PM Coral Way: Decrease the number of vehicles after 8 PM Brickell: Decrease the number of vehicles after 8 PM Update schedules to more accurately reflect actual travel time and provide adequate layover/recovery time. This may require increasing scheduled headways on some routes to provide sufficient recover time. Updated schedules would improve on - time performance for all routes, but most notably: Schedule Coconut Grove Adjustments Coral Way Health District Little Haiti Overtown Stadium Wynwood Consolidate stops that are spaced too closely together per 8 Consotl dation op adopted bus stop design standards (Priority #3) and do not meet ridership thresholds Based on the savings associated with the previous recommendations, enhance service for the following routes: - Allapattah: Consider starting service at 5 AM and extending to 8 PM Brickell: Consider starting service at 5 AM Service Little Havana: Consider splitting into two routes (see Enhancements Priority #4) and starting service at 5 AM Overtown: Along with route optimization (see Priority #4), consider adding a second bus Stadium: Along with consolidation with the Health Route and/or route optimization (see Priority #4), consider adding a third bus 9 10 Transit Signal Implement transit signal priority along route alignments Priority kimley-horn.com 655 North Franklin Street, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33602 813-635-5586 40 Appendix A — Ridership Maps 655 North Franklin Street, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33602 813-635-5586 39 ORPORtTED MI-DADO W 6TH ST If PI Q it Ii z l I I} li ii II NW 26th Ave & NW 21 st Ter d 4 ri NCI 14TH ST NW 11TH ST li li • fl I NW 7TH ST 0 0.125 0.25 A • NW 28TH ST Iz J ._ ---I NW 20TH STj SR 836 EXPY L.1 Is it 0.5 0.75 AAV Hlb I. MN Santa Clara %ation MIAMI 4 NW 2ND AVE Legend Allapattah Trolley Miami Trolley Routes - Miami Dade Transit Allapattah Bus Stop Activity • 1-15 • 16 - 30 • 31 - 60 • 61 - 90 • 91 - 300 2 NE 20TH ST m PO R Legend Biscayne Trolley Miami Trolley Routes Miami Dade Transit Biscayne Bus Stop Activity • 0-10 • 11 - 20 • 21 -40 • 41 -80 81 -160 0 0.1250.25 0.5 0.75 1 NW 29TH ST NW 20TH ST N 1_4TH T NW 6TH ST E-L-LER S N z 0 m SWI7TH li- ,__ N 1+z 1 /r< , m 1 41 r`; 1 11 1_ 1 s SW 15TH ST AW 16TH ST t—_---1— 1— 1 1 ii -H 7 I_ 11 it t I- m I N -- SW 22N�D ST 1� 1 11 11 m �E 1i S� '\S� N 1 11 \X�� mW ST " S27TH ST Miami City Hall SW7THST 0 0.125 0.25 SW 8TH ST Brickell Metromover 0.5 0.75 1 RICKENBACKER CSWY �.. �:�jfR'•T.6TF:-gym... _.. �_- �':r.�': �::-_: Legend Brickell Trolley Miami Trolley Routes Miami Dade Transit Brickell Bus Stop Activity 0-5 6-20 ® 21 -40 ID 41 -60 40 61 - 360 POO I IAVE0.3 SW 27TH ST 0.6 Miles SW 27TH ST BIRD AVE OAK AVE Legend Coconut Grove Trolley Miami Trolley Routes Miami Dade Transit Coconut Grove Bus Stop Activity • 0-5 • 6-10 • 11 -15 • 16-20 • 21 -40 Ri�F ti = Civic VENETIA I RD , ",!Center j • L. z = Sta NW 14TH ST �395 NW 14TH ST a a I —••• Pi, ! SR 836 EXPY w i p i ^'! 1" m��z Culm r z , I Stati • i i13 ._- Q c�;-= -. . N' i NW 11TH ST'!_ - r ` I I cP w NW_11TH ST __ _ _ _ I. ! SR 836 EXPY b Q — N z E z I. Historiq m _ z qq NW 7TH-5-1—" 4� Overton Ni z NW 7TH ST-• --•_ > f�..—""_- —..-- NW 6TH mil .tation z ._..__._..a —' esi _ I _ - 'LDS -_ - < z z t rZ}• ii5 ov ent m co i o ! L ener��J G M z i—.t.t•- O S . 'ST ST SE 1ST ST Port Miami Nor T j I SE 3•RD',ST '4/�N 4 R/ 1 Santa- 21 ST ST NW 20TH ST �Q ( NW 20TH ST CI Station Q� z w• NW 17TH ST 1 SW 7TH ST -i _ SW-8TH-ST • ,"'� f ._: I m z0 1 1< ! j! D t 1m ` aI l m 1 ! —,cn N! SW16THST --.� ! � NI = i Giralda Ave Stop tiin < i QP SW 22ND ST `� SW 27TH ST 0.2 0.4 0.8 w o < < SE 7TH ST cn Brickell Metrorail S.W 1 Ct nr I •r_1 1 Statio Mg 5TH ST—..��_-----rN WAY r� MACARTHUR CSWY 1.2 1.6 Miles Legend Coral Way Trolley Miami Trolley Routes Miami Dade Transit Coral Way Bus Stop Activity • 0-5 0 6-10 11 -20 21 -30 31 -60 1 ��iWLTirf�Y •----� �. DE W N /.te 06' .,.�.,.,........•.-.• ; -�Wa l mart a 0 0.225 0.45 Miami International Airport NW 7th St rn � 1► W Q Flagler St ID • - _•,�------ co SW 2nd S EL") co Ci 0,5- MIAMI 1 i 1 j �f . i i Miles 1 •� 0.9 i 1.35 ---------I CD W 2nd Ter W 2nd St gIQI--fit•.-___..�._ Legend Flagami Trolley Miami Trolley Routes ------ Miami Dade Transit Flagami Bus Stop Activity o 1-5 O 6-15 Q 16-25 26 - 50 O51-140 NW 12 NW 16TH ST Santa Clara Station z IG m Civic Center Station NW 19TH ST UM Hospitals 1 _ H ST NW 11TH S' 1, 836 Lindsey Hopkins NW 20TH ST _ z m w NW 19TH ST Q H NW 18TH TER z •18TH ST NW 17TH ST NW 15TH ST NW 14TH ST 0T tis AFT N 0, 1.0085 0.17 0.255 0.34 Miles C S Legend Health District Trolley Miami Trolley Routes - Miami Dade Transit Health District Bus Stop Activity • 1-5 • 6-10 11 -15 • 16-30 • 31 -60 NE 87TH ST j I NW 82ND ST _. NW_71STST___ NE 69TH ST NW 54TH ST NW 46TH ST NW79THST rNE79THST Legend Little Haiti Trolley Miami Trolley Routes Miami Dade Transit Little Haiti Bus Stop Activity • 0-5 • 6-10 • 11 -20 • 21 -30 • 31 -50 E 29TH Si uI 0.125 0.25 0.5 0.75 1 NW 11TH ST CLE MIL SW 16TH ST J U C G uJ n W 7TH ST i ST SE8T1i -- Governme Center Stauo! Brickell Metro Station Legend Little Havana Trolley Miami Trolley Routes -----• Miami Dade Transit Little Havana Bus Stop Activity • 0-35 • 36-76 • 77-150 • 151 -300 • 301 - 750 N e 0 0.15 0.3 0.6 0.9 1.2 Miles NW 20TH ST IVfrfr ' V NW 7TH ST NW 14TH ST NW 7TH ST N� �''- S pi, 1 Legend Overtown Trolley Miami Trolley Routes Miami Dade Transit Overtown Bus Stop Activity • 0-5 o 6-10 0 11 -20 0 21 -40 0 41 -80 • t istoric 1 Merlin Lounge g • ertown L i NW 6TH ST __i N I C------ ---- m 0 0.075 0.15 0.3 n 0.45 i 0.6 I 1 I I N •� '"Pt., i i Ai 1 0.1 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 Santa Clara NW 20TH STD Station NW 20TH ST I Iz I7. • m Civic Ai Center Station • i NW 11TH S' NW7THST • I Flagler-St-Stop a. Miles i I N I NwN r R/i/ER OR NW 7TH ST -------------I E1 Lindsey Hopkins Culmer Station (97 s,), FT NW 7TH ST W FLAGLER ST H z OR SW 1ST ST tMS 3AVH11 1 Legend Stadium Trolley Miami Trolley Routes Miami Dade Transit Stadium Bus Stop Activity • 1-10 • 11 -20 • 21 -40 • 41 -70 71 -190 iiiii NW 36TH ST NW32St(NB) 0 NW 29TH ST NW 20TH ST NW 26TH ST _ NW 25TH ST NW 14TH ST Mile I NE 15TH ST VENETIAN CSWY i ----- -- -- --'—' — — Adrien'ne Ar=slit Center MACARTHUR CSWY Legend Wynwood Trolley Miami Trolley Routes ------ Miami Dade Transit Wynwood Bus Stop Activity 0 6-10 Q 11 -20 0 21 - 35 Q 36-60