Mobility on Demand (MOD) Sandbox Demonstration: Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) OpenTripPlanner (OTP) Shared-Use Mobility Evaluation Report

Authors: Elliot Martin, PhD, Adam Cohen, Evan Magsig, Susan Shaheen, PhD Date: July 2020 Abstract: This report evaluates the TriMet OpenTripPlanner (OTP) project, part of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) MOD Sandbox Program. The TriMet OTP project was designed to enhance the existing TriMet trip planner to include shared-use mobility (SUM) options, real-time information on transit vehicle arrivals, pedestrian routing in consideration of sidewalks, and other interface enhancements. The evaluation explored the technical function of the TriMet OTP, including geocoding, routing, and data veracity. It also evaluated user response to the TriMet OTP through a survey and an unscripted test of its trip planning and routing capabilities. Finally, expert (stakeholder/project partner) interviews with project participants were conducted to assess lessons learned from the project operation. Overall, the results found that the TriMet OTP was an enhancement over the existing TriMet trip planner and provided some features that were superior to other leading trip planners. The results of the evaluation supported the hypotheses that the design interfaces were improved, the shared mobility and real-time information was useful, and the new design would facilitate better access and egress to transit. Some challenges were uncovered with respect to the capacity of the Pelias geocoder to handle misspellings or unusual inputs relative to other geocoders. The pedestrian routing also displayed a few limitations but performed well overall. Most hypotheses in this evaluation were supported, and, overall, the project was found to perform very well. View...

Mobility on Demand (MOD) Sandbox Demonstration: Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) OpenTripPlanner (OTP) Shared-Use Mobility Evaluation Report

Authors: Elliot Martin, PhD, Adam Cohen, Evan Magsig, Susan Shaheen, PhD Date: July 2020 Abstract: This report evaluates the TriMet OpenTripPlanner (OTP) project, part of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) MOD Sandbox Program. The TriMet OTP project was designed to enhance the existing TriMet trip planner to include shared-use mobility (SUM) options, real-time information on transit vehicle arrivals, pedestrian routing in consideration of sidewalks, and other interface enhancements. The evaluation explored the technical function of the TriMet OTP, including geocoding, routing, and data veracity. It also evaluated user response to the TriMet OTP through a survey and an unscripted test of its trip planning and routing capabilities. Finally, expert (stakeholder/project partner) interviews with project participants were conducted to assess lessons learned from the project operation. Overall, the results found that the TriMet OTP was an enhancement over the existing TriMet trip planner and provided some features that were superior to other leading trip planners. The results of the evaluation supported the hypotheses that the design interfaces were improved, the shared mobility and real-time information was useful, and the new design would facilitate better access and egress to transit. Some challenges were uncovered with respect to the capacity of the Pelias geocoder to handle misspellings or unusual inputs relative to other geocoders. The pedestrian routing also displayed a few limitations but performed well overall. Most hypotheses in this evaluation were supported, and, overall, the project was found to perform very well. View...

MOD Sandbox Demonstrations Independent Evaluation (IE) Tri-County Metropolitan (TriMet) Transportation District of Oregon — OpenTripPlanner Shared-Use Mobility (OTP SUM) Evaluation Plan

Authors: Gustave Cordahi, Susan Shaheen, Elliot Martin, Mikaela Hoffman-Stapleton Date: October 2018 Abstract: The Mobility on Demand (MOD) Sandbox Demonstration Program provides a venue through which integrated MOD concepts and solutions – supported through local partnerships – are demonstrated in real-world settings. For each of the 11 MOD Sandbox Demonstration projects, the MOD Sandbox Independent Evaluation includes an analysis of project impacts from performance measures provided by the project partners, as well as an assessment of the business models used. This report constitutes the Evaluation Plan for the TriMet OTP SUM Sandbox project. It includes the following chapters: project overview; evaluation approach and process; evaluation schedule and management; and data collection and analysis plan. View...

Mobility on Demand (MOD) Sandbox Demonstration: BART Integrated Carpool to Transit Access Program Evaluation Report

Authors: Elliot Martin, PhD, Adam Cohen, Ziad Yassine, Susan Shaheen, PhD Date: February 2020 Abstract: The Mobility on Demand (MOD) Sandbox Demonstration Program provides a venue through which integrated MOD concepts and solutions, supported through local partnerships, are demonstrated in real-world settings. For each of the 11 MOD Sandbox Demonstration projects, a MOD Sandbox Independent Evaluation was conducted that includes an analysis of project impacts from performance measures provided by the project partners and an assessment of the business models used. This document presents the Evaluation Report for the BART Integrated Carpool to Transit Access Program project. The project tested a number of hypotheses that explored the project impacts on carpooling, costs, enforcement, ridership, parking, and vehicle miles of travel (VMT). The evaluation generally found that the project increased overall carpooling to BART, commensurately increased the utilization of parking spaces by carpooling vehicles, and increased the number of people per vehicle parking at BART stations. The evaluation determined that the overall cost of enforcement per carpool space declined, primarily because spaces used for carpools increased without significantly increased enforcement burden. The evaluation did not have data available to determine whether illegal use of carpool spaces had changed significantly as a result of the project. On the related matter of enforcement, the evaluation did not have data to quantify changes in fraudulent use of carpool spaces and, instead, relied on discussions with enforcement staff, which suggested that fraudulent use had dropped as a result of the project. The evaluation did find that the project produced a wider distribution of arrival times to carpool spaces, which was an objective of BART,...

MOD Sandbox Demonstrations Independent Evaluation (IE) Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Integrated Carpool to Transit Access Program Evaluation Plan

Authors: Gustave Cordahi, Susan Shaheen, Elliot Martin Date: April 2018 Abstract: The Mobility on Demand (MOD) Sandbox Demonstration Program provides a venue through which integrated MOD concepts and solutions – supported through local partnerships – are demonstrated in real-world settings. For each of the 11 MOD Sandbox Demonstration projects, the MOD Sandbox Independent Evaluation includes an analysis of project impacts from performance measures provided by the project partners, as well as an assessment of the business models used. This report constitutes the Evaluation Plan for the BART Integrated Carpool to Transit Access Program Sandbox project. It includes the following chapters: project overview; evaluation approach and process; evaluation schedule and management; and data collection and analysis plan. View...