ROUTE 500 HIGHLAND PARK - BELLEVUE

Transcription

1 ROUTE 500 HIGHLAND PARK - BELLEVUE Route 500 Highland Park Bellevue is a crosstown route that travels from Highland Park in the East End through Oakland and Downtown Pittsburgh to Pittsburgh s North Side, ending in West View at the West View Plaza. Variations of Route 500 operate north of the Allegheny River, providing connections to Aspinwall, Blawnox and New Kensington. Route 500 serves several of the region s major destinations including the Allegheny General Hospital, Mercy North Shore Hospital, PNC Park, Downtown Pittsburgh and Oakland, Penn Mall Station, and the Pittsburgh Zoo. The route also provides connections to several other Port Authority services, including light rail and East Busway stations (see Figure 1). Figure 1: Route 500 Highland Park - Bellevue Similar Routes Route 500 is a long route, covering over 35 miles from end to end on its longest variant. It is a crosstown service, designed to provide connections with several Port Authority services. However, it also provides radial service to and from downtown Pittsburgh. As a result, Route 500 operates via several of the region s major transit corridors, including Fifth Avenue in Oakland, the Fifth/Forbes corridors between Oakland and Downtown and the Fifth/Sixth corridor in Downtown Pittsburgh. Consequently, it shares a similar alignment with several other routes and provides connections between similar destinations. For example: Page 1

2 On Route 500 s eastern end, north of the Allegheny River, Route 74B Highland Park RIDC Park and Route 93A Aspinwall Cheswick Express share a similar alignment between Springdale/Cheswick and Penn Circle in East Liberty and the Penn Mall Station. Route 93A uses the East Busway to Oakland and Downtown. Route 74B, like Route 500, travels along Fifth Avenue and uses the Fifth Avenue/Forbes Avenue corridor to travel in and out of Downtown. Route 1A New Kensington (all day service) and Route AV Allegheny Valley Flyer (peak period directional service) overlap with Route 500 north of the Allegheny River, between Springdale and Cheswick and Aspinwall. East Liberty, Shadyside and Oakland are transit rich neighborhoods with several Port Authority services operating along key trunk routes. Several of these east end services share partial alignments with Route 500 and/or serve similar neighborhoods following different alignments. For example, Routes 94A Stanton Heights and Route 94B Morningside share the same alignment with Route 500 between Waterworks Mall and the Pittsburgh Zoo. These routes follow a different alignment but also provide service to East Liberty and the Penn Mall Station. In addition, nine routes travel on the parallel corridors and serve East Liberty, Penn Station, Shadyside and Oakland (Routes 71A, 71C, 77C, 77D, 77G, 77F, 33X, EBO, and D). From Highland Avenue, Route 500 turns on Fifth Avenue and travels along Fifth Avenue through Oakland. This is also a transit-rich corridor with approximately 25 routes operating along Fifth Avenue through Oakland. Between Oakland and Downtown Pittsburgh, Route 500 travels along Fifth/Forbes into Downtown and Fifth/Sixth in Downtown, a corridor also shared by numerous other routes. Heading out of Downtown over the 7th Street Bridge and traveling from the North Side to Bellevue, Brighton Heights and West View, no other routes exactly mirror the routing of Route 500, but several different routes (Routes 11D, 11C, 11E, 13C, 13X, 16B and 17B) connect Downtown Pittsburgh with some of the same north side destinations, including Allegheny Center, Allegheny General Hospital, Brighton Heights and the West View Shopping Center. Alignment/Service Patterns Route 500 operates with 17 variants, nine of which operate eastbound (inbound) and eight of which operate westbound (outbound). At the east end of the route, there are five different terminals: 1) Springdale Terminal; 2) Harmarville; 3) 62 nd Street Loop/Butler Street; 4) Pittsburgh Zoo; and 5) Highland Park at North St. Clair Street. At the western end of the route, all service begins or ends at West View Plaza in West View. There is a variance at the western end of the route with service operated from Forest Avenue to West View Plaza via either Center Avenue or Bellevue Road. Individual variants include: 500-I: Operates between the intersection of North St. Clair Street and Bunkerhill Street in Highland Park and West View Plaza. Sixteen trips per weekday are provided with this variant, primarily in the early morning, AM peak, and evening. This variant is 17.7 miles long and is considered the regular pattern. 500-IA: Operates between the Pittsburgh Zoo and West View Plaza. This variant has seven trips per day, all of which operate during the midday and pm peak. Page 2

3 500-IB: Operates Alpha Drive East at Freeport Road in Harmarville and West View Plaza. There are 14 trips per weekday on this 27.4 mile long variant. 500-IE: Operates between the 62 nd Street Loop in Upper Lawrenceville and West View Plaza. There are eight weekday trips on this variant, running from late morning until evening. 500-IF: Operates between Highland Park and West View Plaza in the same manner as Variant 500-I, except that it travels to West View Plaza via Bellevue Road and Perry Highway. There is only one weekday trip on this variant that departs from Highland Park at 5:18 am. 500-IH: Operates between the Pittsburgh Zoo and West View Plaza in the same manner as Variant 500-IA, except that it travels to West View Plaza via Bellevue Road and Perry Highway. There is only one weekday trip on this variant that departs from the zoo at 12:07 pm. 500-IJ: Operates between the 62 nd Street Loop and West View Plaza in the same manner as Variant 500-IE, except that it travels to West View Plaza via Bellevue Road and Perry Highway. Only two trips per weekday depart from the 62 nd Street Loop, at 9:11 am and 11:27 am. 500-IR: Operates between Mellon Terrace (Reservoir Terminal) in Highland Park and West View Plaza. This is an operational variant and has the same routing as 500-I. Vehicles cannot layover at Bunkerhill/North St. Clair Street, therefore, drivers travel to Mellon Terrace (Reservoir Terrace) and wait at that location. 500-IS: Operates between Springdale and West View Plaza. Service is provided with this variant on only four early morning and AM peak services. This is the longest inbound variant at 29.9 miles. 500-O: Operates between West View Plaza and Highland Park and is the eastbound counterpart to 500-I. Seventeen trips per weekday are provided with this variant, primarily in the early am and the evening. This variant is considered the regular pattern even though it does not operate for much of the day. 500-OA: Operates between West View Plaza and the Pittsburgh Zoo and is the counterpart to 500-IA. Fourteen trips per weekday are provided with this variant, most of which operate from the end of the AM peak until the beginning of the PM peak. 500-OB: Operates between West View Plaza and Harmarville and is the counterpart to 500- IB. Nine trips per weekday are provided with this variant, most of which operate during the midday. 500-OC: Operates between West View Plaza and Springdale and is the counterpart to 500- IS. Four trips per day are provided with this variant, operating in the PM peak and early evening. Page 3

4 500-OE: Operates between West View Plaza and the 62 nd Street Loop and is the counterpart to 500-IE. There are nine trips each weekday, operating at the end of the AM peak through the evening. 500-OG: Operates between West View Plaza and Harmarville via Bellevue Avenue, and is the counterpart to 500-IH. Two trips are provided per weekday with this variant. Trips depart at 9:23 am and 10:33 am. 500-OR: Operates between West View Plaza and Mellon Terrace (Reservoir Terminal) in Highland Park. Similar to Route 500-IR, this is an operational variant; vehicles use Mellon Terrace as a layover to wait for their next trip. Variant 500-OR provides the same service as 500-O. 500-OS: Operates between West View Plaza and Springdale via Bellevue Road. One trip per weekday is provided with this variant that departs at 12:56 pm. This is the longest variant, at 34.2 miles long. Schedule Route 500 operates on weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays/Holidays and provides early morning and late night service every day of the week. On weekdays, there are 53 inbound and 56 outbound trips, with the extra outbound service occurring during the pm peak. On weekdays, service operates every 10 to 20 during peak periods, every minutes during the midday, and every 30 to 40 minutes in the evening. Saturday service provides 42 inbound and 42 outbound trips and Sunday and holiday service provides 32 inbound and 31 outbound trips (see Table 1). On its primary alignment, Route 500 travels 35 miles (round trip) and travel times are approximately 80 minutes between West View Plaza and Highland Park Table 1: Route 500 Schedule Statistics (Highland Park to West View Plaza) One-way Trips Inbound/ Westbound Outbound/ Eastbound Headways (Minutes) Weekdays Early Morning 5:07 am - 5:59 am AM Peak 6:00 am - 8:59 am Midday 9:00 am - 3:29 pm PM Peak 3:30 pm - 5:59 pm Evening 6:00 pm - 1:18 am All Day 5:07 pm 1:18 am Saturdays 5:28 am - 1:22 am Sundays 5:01 am - 1:00 am As discussed, there are a high number of variants on Route 500, however, which undermine frequency at some stops along the route. At the west end of the route, for example, all trips begin and end at West View Plaza, meaning the headways shown in Table 1 are representative of all service. At the eastern end of the route, however, there are five terminals, meaning the headways from some of the terminals are erratic and/or infrequent, making it difficult for passengers traveling along this end of the route. Headways from the Waterworks Mall, for Page 4

5 example, are approximately every minutes, with gaps in service at key times during the day. The service levels and service gaps limit the usefulness and attractiveness of Route 500 to key markets, especially employees at Waterworks Mall. Route 500 combines two previously independent routes into a single crosstown service. The advantage of Route 500 is that it allows crosstown travel through Downtown without transfer. It is operated out of two garages, Ross and Harmar. Ross Garage is located near West View Plaza and all trips out of Ross travel to the Pittsburgh Zoo, 62 nd Street Loop or Highland Park. Harmar Garage is located along Freeport Road, along the eastern end of the service. Consequently, vehicles that operate out of Harmar Garage provide service to variants with end terminals on the eastern end of the route (Springdale, Harmarville) and Highland Park. Ridership Ridership on Route 500 has increased steadily between 2002 and Route 500 carried 6,900 passengers per weekday in 2002, 7,200 in 2006, and 8,000 in Ridership is fairly well balanced between inbound and outbound trips, with the outbound trips carrying slightly more passengers than inbound trips. Ridership is also well distributed throughout the day, with midday service carrying the heaviest passenger loads, both in terms of total ridership and ridership per trip (see Table 2). Table 2: Route 500: Ridership by Time Period and Per Trip Weekday Ridership Ridership/ Trip Inbound (to West View) Early AM AM Peak Midday 1, PM Peak Evening All Day 3, Outbound (to Highland Park) Early AM AM Peak Midday 1, PM Peak Evening All Day 4, Both Directions 8,027 While Route 500 is very long, ridership is concentrated between Highland Park, Downtown and destinations north of Downtown (see Figures 2, 3, and 4). Segment analysis of ridership shows that the number of riders who travel through Downtown is a relatively small proportion of total ridership (see Tables 3 and 4). On trips traveling from Highland Park to West View Plaza, approximately 71 passengers (less than 2%) board at stops on the east end (Highland Park and Oakland) and remain on the bus after Downtown. Traveling eastbound (from West View Plaza Page 5

6 Figure 2: Route 500 Ridership by Stop: All Day Inbound (Boardings Only) Page 6

7 Figure 3: Route 500 Ridership by Stop: All Day Westbound LINCOLN BUTLER & FREEPORT PITTSBURGH JAMES FS PITTSBURGH PORTER PITTSBURGH ALLEGHENY FREEPORT WILSON FREEPORT OPP DENNY ESTATES FREEPORT GIANT EAGLE (HARMAR) FREEPORT OPP #2238 FREEPORT BOYD FREEPORT OPP BLAW FREEPORT E OAK HILL WATERWORKS MALL WATERWORKS MARSHALL'S FREEPORT BRILLIANT 62ND ST TERMINUS BUTLER #6618 BUTLER BAKER MELLON RESERVOIR TERMINUS ST CLAIR CALLOWHILL HIGHLAND WELLESLEY HIGHLAND VINTAGE SR CITIZEN CENTER PENN HIGHLAND HIGHLAND ELLWOOD 5TH MARYLAND 5TH AMBERSON 5TH TENNYSON 5TH OPP CRAFT 5TH OPP #2358 5TH OPP GIST 5TH MAGEE 6TH SMITHFIELD SANDUSKY UNDERPASS (STOCKTON) NORTH REDDOUR BRIGHTON TAYLOR CALIFORNIA OPP POST OFFICE CALIFORNIA MARSHALL CALIFORNIA STJOHN'S CHURCH CALIFORNIA ANTRIM CALIFORNIA TERMON Passengers CALIFORNIA WINHURST LINCOLN OPP FREEMONT FOREST DAKOTA FOREST BELLEVUE TERRACE CORNELL #1719 CENTER CORNELL CENTER PERRY BELLEVUE BELL PARK PERRY #288 WEST VIEW PLAZA FIRE GIANT EAGLE Load Out From Stop Total Ons Total Offs Load Out From Stop Page 7

8 Figure 4: Route 500 Ridership by Stop: All Day Eastbound (Boardings Only) WEST VIEW PLAZA TERMINUS WEST VIEW PARK PIC-WAY PERRY BELLEVUE FS BELLEVUE OPP BELL PARK FS CENTER #710 CENTER COLUMBIA FS CENTER CORNELL EXT FOREST KLEMONT FOREST OPP #550 BALPH LINCOLN-NO STOP LINCOLN KENDALL CALIFORNIA MARMADUKE CALIFORNIA OPP RANKIN CALIFORNIA OPP BOSTON CALIFORNIA MARSHALL CALIFORNIA POST OFFICE BRIGHTON PENNSYLVANIA NORTH ARCH in WEST OPP NATIONAL CITY 6TH LIBERTY FORBES BOYD (DUQUESNE UNIV) FORBES VAN BRAAM 5TH MOULTRIE 5TH LAMAR MEDIA (#2610) 5TH MEYRAN 5TH BELLEFIELD 5TH OPP AMBERSON 5TH OPP COLLEGE HIGHLAND #345 HIGHLAND PENN CIRCLE NORTH HIGHLAND JACKSON BRYANT EUCLID BUTLER OPP BAKER BUTLER OPP #6618 FREEPORT OPP CENTER WATERWORKS OPP GIANT EAGLE FREEPORT FOX CHAPEL (OLD FREEPORT) FREEPORT FOX CHAPEL AUTHORITY FREEPORT MAPLE FREEPORT SUNOCO STATION FREEPORT HULTON BRIDGE FS Passengers FREEPORT OPP ALPHA DRIVE W FREEPORT OPP PEARL PITTSBURGH OPP PILLOW PITTSBURGH DUQUESNE PITTSBURGH COLFAX FS FREEPORT HARTREY Load Out From Stop Total Ons Total Offs Load Out from Stop Page 8

9 to Highland Park), 372 (9%) or the riders board Route 500 before Downtown and remain on the bus en route to Oakland or destinations east of Oakland. This finding suggests that most riders use Route 500 as two separate radial routes from the west end to/from Downtown and from the east end to/from Downtown. There is also a slight imbalance between ridership on the two ends, with ridership on the eastern route 15% higher than on the western/northern end. Table 3: Route 500: Ridership by Segment Route Segment Ons Offs Remaining on Board Westbound Service East End to Oakland Oakland Downtown 747 Total Downtown 850 North Side (up to North Ave) West of North Side Eastbound Service Origin to North Side North Side Downtown 513 Total Downtown 585 Oakland Oakland to Highland Park/Variants A second analysis examines ridership at the eastern end of Route 500, which is comprised of five terminals. As shown in the graphs and maps, the vast majority of riders board or alight inbound from Highland Park. Ridership to the remaining four terminals varies considerably (see Table 4): Table 4: Route 500: Segment Analysis Daily Ridership to Outer Terminals (All trips) Westbound Eastbound Eastern End Terminal Ons Offs Ons Offs Springdale Terminal (Springdale Terminal to Alpha Drive East) Harmarville/Alpha Drive East (Alpha Drive East at Freeport Road to St. Clair St. North) nd Street Loop (62 nd Street Loop and along Butler Street) Pittsburgh Zoo (Pittsburgh Zoo to St. Clair Street North) Springdale Terminal: Ridership is very light to Springdale Terminal, with only six riders boarding inbound, six alighting outbound plus one rider getting off on the westbound trip. There are four inbound and four outbound trips per day, averaging only 1.25 riders per trip. Harmarville (Alpha Drive East): There is robust ridership along Freeport Road between the Highland Park Bridge and Alpha Drive East, largely due to stops at the Waterworks Mall. Furthermore, the schedule to this terminal is erratic, likely suppressing demand. Page 9

10 62 nd Street Loop: travel along Butler Road to/from the 62 nd Street Loop is also light, with 23 riders boarding and alighting on the ten inbound and nine outbound trips. Similar to the Springdale Terminal, this averages to less than 1.25 passengers per trip. Pittsburgh Zoo: Variants serving the Pittsburgh Zoo have a total of 57 riders per day, which is an average of only 2.4 riders per trip. Similar to service to Harmarville, erratic scheduling likely suppresses demand to this destination. Ridership on Route 500 is both heavy and well distributed throughout the day. As a result, passenger loads are high for much of the day, with several peak period trips operating at or above the seated capacity of 60 passengers. The average maximum passenger loading on inbound trips is 36.1 and the average maximum loading for outbound trips is Maximum loads primarily occur between Highland Park and the North Side; this is true for both inbound and outbound direction. As shown on Figure 5, maximum loads on inbound trips occur primarily in the morning and maximum loads on outbound trips are concentrated in the PM peak and early evening. A number of these trips are extremely crowded, with loads of over 60 passengers, indicating that additional service may be needed. 80 Figure 5: Route 500 Maximum Loads by Time of Day (All Sampled Trips) Inbound Outbound Maximum Load :02 5:18 5:34 5:46 6:29 6:40 6:55 7:06 7:20 7:56 8:18 8:36 9:04 9:19 9:47 10:33 10:43 11:16 11:31 12:47 13:03 13:32 13:41 14:25 14:47 15:37 16:28 16:52 18:40 19:42 20:34 21:34 23:54 0:01 Productivity Route 500 has at least two roles in the Port Authority system, functioning as both a crosstown service and as a radial service (both from West View to Downtown and from Highland Park to Downtown). Compared to both types of service, the productivity of Route 500 is very good (see Table 6) as compared with radial and crosstown service. Despite being such a long route (up to 35.4 miles), Route 500 significantly outperforms other crosstown routes and also better than average for radial routes. Page 10

11 Table 6: Route 500 Weekday Productivity Route 500 Radial Average Crosstown Average Operating Cost/Passenger $2.12 $2.81 $4.22 Passengers/Revenue Vehicle Hour Passengers/Total Vehicle Hour Passengers/Revenue Mile Total Vehicle Hours/Rev Vehicle Hours Average Speed Bus Stops/Mile Directness Number of Variations Operating and Subsidy Costs: Route 500 costs $2.12 per passenger to operate, less than both the average cost per passenger of radial and crosstown services in the system. Ridership per Unit of Service: Trips on Route 500 are well utilized, and on average, carry 51 passengers per revenue vehicle hour, considerably higher than other crosstown services in the PAAC system and higher than average for radial routes. Route 500 outperforms the average for radial and crosstown routes on measures of passengers per vehicle hour and passengers per revenue mile. Total Vehicle Hours Versus Revenue Vehicle Hours: The ratio of total vehicle hours to revenue vehicle hours of 1.2 is slightly less than classification average of 1.29 for radial routes and 1.3 for crosstown services. A lower ratio of vehicle hours to revenue vehicle hours may be expected for the Route 500, however, because of the proximity of the route to the garage facilities. Route 500 is operated out of Harmar and Ross Garages. Harmar Garage is on Freeport Road, where many of the Route 500 variances are routed. Ross Garage is located on Perry Highway close to the outbound end of the service, near West View Plaza. Average Speed: The average speed of Route 500 is 13.7 mph, slightly slower than the average radial route (14.0 mph) and slightly faster than the average for crosstown routes (13.5 mph). The speed is reasonable considering the urban operating environment of the Route and the length of the service. Bus Stops/Mile: Route 500 has an average of 5.4 stops per mile along its entire route, marginally fewer than radial routes (5.9) or crosstown routes (5.1). Number of Variations: Route 500 has a total of 17 variations, more than either radial or crosstown services. Many of the variants have very low ridership and add complexity to the route without providing clear benefits. Page 11

12 Other Connections to Other Services One of the main objectives of Route 500 is to provide connections with other services and to other parts of the system, including the East Busway. Route 500 connects with the East Busway at East Liberty/Penn Mall Station. Connections to the Light Rail line are available in downtown Pittsburgh at Steel Plaza and Wood Street. Fare Collection and Fares Receipts on Route 500 Route 500 is currently the only route in the Port Authority system where travelers may travel between three fare zones (zones 1, 1A and 2). To ensure passengers pay the proper fare, a fairly complicated system requiring passengers to collect a colored receipt representing their boarding location and returning a receipt when exiting so the driver knows the passenger paid the appropriate fare. Antidotal evidence suggests that this process is rarely implemented and most drivers trust passengers pay the appropriate fares. When smart card technology is implemented, the need for this complicated process will be eliminated. Service Improvement Opportunities Route 500 performs very well and is highly productive on all measures. Despite this success, there are opportunities for improvements: Simplify Service/Reduce Variants: Route 500 currently has 17 variants; nine inbound and eight outbound. Several of these variants are not well used, affect only a few trips and offer potential to simplify the service. For example: Eliminate Bellevue Road Variants: Five variants (IF, IH, IJ, OG and OS) operate along Bellevue Avenue rather than Center Avenue between Forest Avenue and West View Plaza. Combined, these five variants consist of seven trips, creating considerable confusion for passengers. Ridership on these seven trips is 11 passengers, seven of whom boarded at Bellevue Road opposite Bellevue Manor Drive, which is very close (about 500 feet) to Center Street, which is served by the dominant variant. Bellevue Road is primarily a sparsely populated residential area. Eliminate Route 500 Service to 62 nd Street Loop: Three variants (IE, IJ and OE) begin and end service at the 62 nd Street Loop. These three variants provide 11 inbound and nine outbound trips. The majority of the stops along Butler Street are lightly used, and the 62 nd loop is also not easily accessed, weakening the operational efficiency of the service. Providing service to the 62 nd Street Loop with a different route offers the potential to improve the cost effectiveness and efficiency of Route 500. Eliminate Route 500 Service to Springdale: Three variants (IS, OC, OS) of Route 500 operate to Springdale Terminal, proving a total of nine trips, all of which are peak period directional service. The combined ridership on all three variants is only 13 passengers. In addition, service to the Springdale Terminal adds nearly four miles to the route. Similar types of service (i.e., peak period directional travel) along the corridor are available via Route 93A Aspinwall Cheswick Express and Route AV Page 12

13 Allegheny Flyer, suggesting that Route 500 service to Springdale could be eliminated. Eliminate All Variants North of Allegheny River: Route 500 has too many variants, complicating the service for the rider and undermining service frequency to several destinations. A potential solution, therefore, may be to eliminate all variants along the eastern end of Route 500, north of the Allegheny River. These trips increase the distance covered by the route and attract relatively few riders. In addition, key destinations in this area, such as the Waterworks Mall, are served by other routes. Expand Service to Waterworks Mall: There are currently 18 and 16 trips to and from Waterworks Mall, providing service approximately hourly. The service is erratic and with no clear service patterns. In addition, there are long gaps in service at key times both for inbound trips (no service between 11:41 am and 1:15 pm; and between 3:16 pm and 6:53 pm) and outbound trips (no service between 3:06 pm and 4:42 pm; and between 6:46 pm and 10:04 pm). It is likely, therefore, that with a regular service pattern, ridership may increase. Operational considerations, such as the location of the Harmar Garage, also support strengthening rather than eliminating service to the Waterworks Mall. Expand Service Capacity at Peak Periods: Several trips, especially in the peak period, are very crowded indicating that peak period capacity needs to be increased. The elimination of service on lightly utilized variants could potentially provide the resources necessary to provide more frequent peak period service. Coordinate Service with Routes 74B and 93A: Routes 500, 93A and 74B share very similar alignments with Route 500 and 93A along Freeport Road north of the Allegheny River to Downtown Pittsburgh via Highland Park, East Liberty and Oakland. The alignments are very similar and all services are designed to bring passengers to/from communities north of the Allegheny River to/from downtown and Oakland. Both Routes 93A and Route 74B operate limited service on weekdays only. Route 74B also has several variants to connect with communities north of Freeport Road. Potential improvements and service coordination, therefore, may involve re-designing some of the Downtown service as local routes, focused on providing connections between destinations in neighborhoods along the northern banks of the Allegheny River and to regional transit hubs (Waterworks Mall). Riders traveling to Oakland and Downtown can access fast, frequent service at the transit hub. Improve Coordination of Route 500 with Regional Network: Route 500 is a successful crosstown route that provides fairly fast and frequent service connecting with several Port Authority services, including the Light Rail, East Busway and numerous express and local bus services. At the same time, there are several local services sharing similar alignments and providing connections between several key destinations. Route 500 may be adapted so that it becomes a higher speed, higher frequency crosstown connector service, focused on linking key transit facilities. Such an approach could improve service speed, reliability and frequency of Route 500 by reducing variances, consolidating stops, streamlining the route alignment and coordinating services at key transfer points. Improve Schedule Effectiveness: The length of the service makes it difficult for Route 500 to adhere to a time point schedule. In addition, current scheduling does not follow clock face scheduling or provide consistent time periods between services. One potential Page 13

14 improvement is to operate service on a headway based schedule with service departing every 10 or 15 minutes, simplifying the schedule for the rider. Combine East and West Halves of Route 500 with Other Routes: Route 500 is essentially an interline of an East Side route with a North Side route, and in many respects the interline is very successful. However, ridership is higher on the East Side than on the North Side, resulting in more service being provided on the North Side than is necessary. The combination of the east and west halves of Route 500 with other routes with more similar ridership levels could provide for a better match between service levels and demand. Rename Route 500: While the route number 500 is unique in the system, there is no notation in the route that identifies the route to passengers as a crosstown service. Furthermore, the number is not consistent with other numbering schemes, which reflect the routes geographic corridor. A potential route improvement would be to add a notation identifying Route 500 as a crosstown service. R (bjw) Page 14