Business Logistics 420Public Transportation

Lecture 23: Transit System Performance Evaluation

Lecture Objectives

• Understand the role of performance measurement for public transit management

• Learn how to develop and use performance measures to evaluate systems or specific activities

• Understand the pitfalls in using performance measures

Performance Measurement

• What is it?– Process of quantifying the goals and objectives

of a transit system– a way to evaluate results of policies and

program decisions– a way to manage– a way to communicate to employees, the

public, and funding agencies

What do we mean by Performance Measures?

• EfficiencyEfficiency -- the relationship of inputs to outputs, “doing things right”– Example cost/hour

miles/vehicle

• EffectivenessEffectiveness -- the relationship of inputs to objectives “doing the right thing”– Example passengers/hour

on-time performance

Why measure performance?

• Necessary step in strategic management to determine impact of policies and programs

• A way of reporting to stakeholders, e.g., funding agencies, general public, riders

• Makes you look like you know what you are doing

• A way to communicate and manage

Why not evaluate performance?

• May not like the results

• Data collection may be costly

• Risk that someone will use the results against you

How to select performance measures

• Must be related to goals and objectives• Data must be available at a reasonable cost• Measure must be clearly defined

– Ex. What do you mean by on-time? What is a “chargeable” accident?

• For peer comparisons, definitions must be the same among systems being compared

• Measure should be unambiguous

Example of Ambiguous Measure

• Vehicle Miles Per Vehicle

• Supposed to measure how intensively a system uses its largest asset -- the bus

• Assumption is that more miles per vehicle is better and more efficient

Example of Ambiguous Measure (Continued)

• Vehicle Miles Per Vehicle

• Value could depend on factors beyond the control of management or the policy board– Peak to Base Ratio– Hours and days of service– Spare Ratio

Performance Evaluation Steps

• Set Goals and Objectives

• Select performance measures that relate to the objectives

• Gather Data

• Interpret the results

• Use results to take corrective action

• Report results

Example of Goal, Objective, Measure

• Goal -- provide efficient transportation

• Objective -- be a low-cost producer of bus service

• Measure -- expense per vehicle hour

How do you use performance measures?

• Time series -- compare a system’s performance to its previous performance

• Peer Group Comparisons

• Compare to standards

Example of Performance Framework

Florida DOT

Efficiency Measures

• COST EFFICIENCY Operating Expense Per Capita Operating Expense Per Peak Vehicle (000) Operating Expense Per Passenger Trip Operating Expense Per Passenger Mile Operating Expense Per Revenue Mile Operating Expense Per Revenue Hour Maintenance Expense Per Revenue Mile Maintenance Expense Per Operating Expense

Efficiency Measures

• OPERATING RATIOS Farebox Recovery Local Revenue Per Oper. Expense Oper. Revenue Per Oper. Expense

• VEHICLE UTILIZATION Vehicle Miles Per Peak Vehicle (000) Vehicle Hours Per Peak Vehicle (000) Revenue Miles Per Vehicle Miles Revenue Miles Per Total Vehicles (000 Rev. Hours Per Total Vehicles (000)

Efficiency Measures

• LABOR PRODUCTIVITY Revenue Hours Per Employee (000) Passenger Trips Per Employee (000)

• ENERGY UTILIZATION Vehicle Miles Per Gallon

• FARE Average Fare

Effectiveness Measures

• SERVICE SUPPLY Vehicle Miles Per Capita

• SERVICE CONSUMPTION Passenger Trips Per Capita Passenger Trips Per Revenue Mile Passenger Trips Per Revenue Hour

Effectiveness Measures

• QUALITY OF SERVICE Average Speed (in mph) Average Headway (in minutes) Average Age of Fleet (in years) Number of Incidents Revenue Service Interruptions Revenue Miles Between Incidents

• Revenue Miles Between Interruptions

Effectiveness Measures

• AVAILABILITY Revenue Miles Per Route Mile (000)

Weekday Span of Service (in hours)

Route Miles Per Sq. Mile of Service Area

Some Observations

• Performance measures are necessary part of strategic management approach

• Performance measurement is a good way to communicate with employees and general public

• Keep it Simple

Study Questions• What do we mean by performance

measurement?

• Define Efficiency and Effectiveness and give an example of each

• What are the uses of performance evaluation?

• What are the pros and cons of preparing performance evaluations?

Study Questions

• Using the Palm Beach Florida data from the Excel spreadsheet, select one of the performance indicators for which the trend is in the wrong direction, describe the trend for that indicator over the past five years and describe what actions you would take to improve performance based on that indicator.

• http://www.dot.state.fl.us/transit/perform.htm