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Credits

Section 2, Chapter 1

• Definition
• Benefits
• Challenges
• Implementation Steps
  • Gather Information
  • Identify Potential Riders
  • Develop Incentives
  • Make it Easy to Purchase Transit Passes
  • Working to Create New Routes
• Cost / Savings
• Resources
• Case Studies
• Forms / Maps / Templates

Definition

For Central Texas, transit services are publicly shared vehicles that provide transportation on fixed or flexible routes. Examples include:

• Full-size buses carrying passengers on fixed routes
• Express buses carrying passengers on fixed routes with limited stops
• Regional buses and commuter vans carrying passengers from rural areas to larger cities or other rural areas
• Paratransit vehicles, usually smaller buses, vans or taxis designed to carry disabled passengers and wheelchair users on flexible routes
• Shuttle and subscription buses (covered in Chapter 10) that carry designated passengers (members or employees, for example) on routes with limited pick-ups and stops

Additionally, the following types of transit—although not used in Central Texas—are used in many American cities:

• Light rail — electrically powered trains running on tracks in the streets or separated from street traffic, usually running in urban areas with frequent stops
• Heavy rail—larger rail cars separated by subway or elevated from traffic, with higher speeds and infrequent stops
• Commuter rail-larger rail cars, usually powered by diesel, running on tracks separated from traffic with limited stops, usually from suburban areas to downtown districts and/or major destinations

Benefits

Challenges

• Lack of accessible routes
• Schedule constraints
• Time constraints

Implementation Steps

Transit is extremely effective in moving large numbers of people economically and works best when heavy concentrations of riders justify frequent service and a variety of route choices. Unfortunately, many employers aren't always located in areas that have extensive service, and some have no service at all. ETCs should include transit in the site analysis (See Section 1, Chapter 3) to gauge the service frequency and routes accessible to the location, and thus assess the potential for attracting new transit riders. Even if the potential is limited, employees can be encouraged to explore their options by providing education about services and routes in conjunction with subsidies for passes.

1. Gather Information on the Local Transit Providers

Capital Metro
In January 1985, voters in Austin and the surrounding area approved the creation of the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Capital Metro or CMTA), which currently serves Austin and the surrounding areas. (See Service Area Map) A seven-member board consisting of elected officials and appointed members governs the authority, which derives the majority of its revenue from a one-cent sales tax and federal funding. With 72 bus routes, 4,000 destinations and 122,000 daily boardings, Capital Metro has the highest ridership per capita in Texas. Capital Metro services include:

*Fares and services are subject to change. For current information, see the Capital Metro Web site at www.capmetro.org/ROUT.HTML

Additionally Cap Metro offers the following services:

Vanpools
The Authority provides commuter vans that seat five to 15 adults. Members volunteer to drive, fuel and clean the van, as well as schedule maintenance and repair work. (See Section 2, Chapter 2)

Special Transit Services (STS)
STS is Capital Metro's paratransit service, which provides door-to-door direct trips for disabled passengers. Advanced reservations are required for each trip.

Guaranteed Ride Home (GRH)
Emergency taxi service for Express/Park & Ride, Flyer and Vanpool participants, within the Capital Metro service area. (See Section 2, Chapter 9) The service is available to GRH members for a $5.00 annual fee, and provides reimbursement for up to and including four emergency taxi rides (e.g. for trips home due to personal illness or emergency).

Northwest Dial-A-Ride
Advance registration, door-to-door service to designated destinations is available in Lago Vista, Jonestown and Leander every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Bike and Ride
The majority of Capital Metro buses include bicycle racks that can accommodate two bikes at a time. Schedule books and the Capital Metro Web site include information on which routes carry racks.

Airport Shuttle
Provides limited-stop service between the University of Texas, Austin's Central Business District, 7th and Pleasant Valley streets and Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.

Capital Area Rural Transit System (CARTS)
CARTS provides regional transportation service to the counties of Bastrop, Blanco, Burnet, Caldwell, Fayette, Hays, Lee, Travis and Williamson. Services include fixed routes, commuter routes, community transit and inter-city bus service. The commuter routes include vans that travel from CARTS Park and Ride locations to downtown Austin.

2. Identify Potential Riders
Educating employees about transit is crucial. Because many inexperienced riders find the task of locating a proper route and time daunting, ETCs should keep schedule books, maps and other information on hand for distribution to interested employees.

• Additionally, ETCs can educate employees by:
• Including transit information in employee orientation packets
• Posting transit information in popular gathering places, such as cafeterias, break rooms, etc.
• Promoting Capital Metro's online trip planner, which helps riders figure out the best and quickest routes
• Holding a Commute Solutions Fair and inviting transit service providers to participate
• Contacting bicycle riders to let them know about Capital Metro's Bike and Ride racks
• Monitoring Capital Metro's Rider Alert e-mail list to look for special promotions and services, as well as schedule and route changes
• Letting employees know that Ozone Action Days (when ozone pollution is predicted to be above acceptable levels) are an ideal time to try the bus because Capital Metro provides free bus service on those days

Distance From Stop to Work Site
The distance from the bus stop to the work site will be an important factor in determining who may decide to ride the bus. With a conservative estimate, transportation planners note that most people will only walk a quarter of a mile to or from a stop.

With the site analysis list of routes and distances (See Section 1, Chapter 3), an ETC can assist employees in calculating how far they would need to walk or ride their bike to and from a bus stop.

3. Develop Incentives
Since transit is extremely economical in Central Texas, ETCs should encourage their employers to provide subsidies, such as free transit passes. After tax deductions for passes as an allowable business expense, a $10 monthly bus pass would cost the employer about $6 a month, not a bad deal for the benefits that result. Other incentive ideas include:

• Providing Bus Ticket Books with coupons for 20 rides, instead of a monthly pass (Capital Metro currently offers the 20-ride books for $5)
• Setting up a pre-tax payment system for employees (See Section 4)
• Coupon ticket (free ride) giveaways to interested employees to try transit
• Providing free passes for Commute Solutions Month, held each year in the Austin region
• Providing a Guaranteed Ride Home (GRH) program for transit riders. (See Section 2, Chapter 9) Capital Metro provides a GRH program for its express bus riders, but not regular route riders.
• Working to provide easy access to transit stops
• Providing a shuttle service to area transit centers
• Making it easy to purchase passes (See below)
• Working to create new routes that better meet the needs of employees (See below)

4. Make it Easy to Purchase Transit Passes
Most transit providers have a variety of easy ways to purchase monthly passes. Capital Metro, for example, offers:

• Ticket Outlets, including local grocery stores and other locations
• Online sales for credit card purchases, with passes mailed directly to the customer
• An Employer Transit Sales Pass Program, which provides employers purchasing 15 or more passes a month with direct delivery and a 10 percent discount. The employers can then keep the discount, or if the employees are paying for the passes, pass the savings on to them.

5. Working to Create New Routes
Since a considerable amount of time and money are spent researching a potential route to ensure it has enough riders to make it viable, getting a transit provider to provide a new route is no easy task. Nevertheless, if an employer can show a significant demand, the local transit provider will obviously be responsive to the potential for new riders. If possible, work with other employers in the area to assess the viability of new routes to get the most riders possible

Cost / Savings
To find out how much money employees can save with transit, see the Cost Savings Calculator (See Section 5). The costs of providing transit subsidies is extremely economical, due to the low prices of local transit providers and because distribution of passes requires little or no cost.

After helping educate transit riders about routes and schedules, the employer does little to coordinate their transportation activities, making it an easy Commute Solution to implement. Discounted passes are available for buying in bulk, which offers added savings. Additional costs could be incurred if an employer provides significant incentives, such as special transit shelters, sidewalks or other amenities at the work site.

Resources

Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Capital Metro)
www.capmetro.org
512-389-7400 Administration
512-474-1200 Ride Information Line

Capital Area Rural Transportation System (CARTS)
www.ridecarts.com
1-800-456-RIDE (7433)

Case Study
The City of Austin began a subsidized transit/vanpool pass program primarily to help local air quality efforts by reducing their employees' vehicle miles traveled, and to save money by reducing the number of parking spaces needed at various City owned and leased office buildings. The majority of the City's departments offer monthly passes at one-third the cost for Capital Metro bus, Special Transit and vanpool fees, along with CART's commuter routes. Six departments offer free passes.

Each department has a Commute Coordinator responsible for approving requests for passes. Employees may opt to purchase the discounted passes directly at a City outlet, or have the pass mailed to them with the purchase price deducted from their payroll. More than 400 employees participate in the transit/vanpool program. Along with bicycle riders and walkers, these commuters, on average, use an alternate commute four days a week. The city also emphasizes flextime and compressed work week programs to round out its program, resulting in roughly 50 percent of all 10,000 employees participating in some type of Commute Solution.

The City did re-think one program element—a requirement for employees who want discounted/free passes to give up their parking spaces. After employees noted that they would need their cars on an occasional basis, the requirement was dropped and the number of participants (bus riders in particular) skyrocketed.

Forms / Maps / Templates

Park and Ride Lots (Map and List)