Sustainable Neighborhoods Bus Route Evaluation for the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District
Determining accessibility of potential route design scenarios
Sustainable Neighborhoods Bus Route Evaluation for the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District
Introduction and Background
In 2019 and 2020, the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District employed a consultant to carry out a route analysis, assessing the continued suitability and opportunities for improvement in the current route structure. In the same window of time, the Champaign County Regional Planning Commission developed the Sustainable Neighborhoods Toolkit, a modeling suite that includes the Access Score. The goal of this report is to apply the methodology of the Access Score to the proposed route structure to assess the accessibility and equity impacts of the proposed system modifications.
Scenarios
The routes suggested by Nelson/Nygaard mirror the existing transit network almost one-to-one, with each current route having a counterpart in the proposed system. In most cases, those routes are more streamlined, with fewer deviations and less service to lower ridership areas. MTD and RPC staff took the weekday daytime route system and divided it into four stages to create the scenarios. The scenarios are designed to be considered cumulatively. The first scenario will look at two of the larger route suggestions being implemented while the rest of the system runs under the current route structure.
Analysis
According to MTD’s service request feedback received between September 2018 and September 2023, there are a few key themes that continue to arise regarding how the service meets customer needs. Service request feedback is collected from community members contacting MTD by phone or email and requesting new transit service or changes to existing service. There were 560 such requests made during this period. This feedback will be used to identify geographic areas and resources appropriate for performance evaluation.
Conclusion
The route structure proposed by Nelson Nygaard keeps the same basic framework as MTD’s existing route structure. The proposed routes are streamlined, minimizing deviations and backtracking, with a prioritization of straighter paths. With this design strategy, routes can be expected to move more quickly, while increasing walking distances to and from bus stops. Because the Access Score is able to consider both pedestrian distances and traffic stress, as well as transit trip times, it is an ideal tool to weigh the costs and benefits of this type of change.