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Every public transit agency in the United States is required to report on passenger miles and route productivity in accordance with regulations laid out by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) through methods prescribed by the National Transit Database (NTD).
Collecting Ridership Data for Analysis
Ridership Analysis automates the entire process by gathering and organizing route level and one-way directional route mile data.
The PLAN Ridership Analysis User Guide describes the initial set up of the system, explains general transit concepts, and provides step-by-step procedures on using the software.
Sending us Feedback
Please address any comments or feedback about this document to: documentation@trapezegroup.com.
Resources for Software Maintenance
You can access additional technical assistance from the Trapeze community forum and at the Think Transit Conference.
Before working with certain Trapeze applications (for example, PASS and FX), you must log on to the Trapeze4 Workstation.
Changing Your System Password
The first time you log into the Trapeze4 Workstation or if your password has expired, you have to change your password.
Logging Off of the Trapeze4 Workstation
Exit the system correctly to prevent corruption of the database.
Opening Ridership Analysis
You can open Ridership Analysis from the main menu or toolbar.
The following graphic shows the Ridership Analysis screen with some sample data.
Ridership Analysis Options
The following table describes the commands that are available in the Ridership Analysis list.
Ridership Analysis Commands
The following table describes the commands that are available on the screen toolbar. You can access the functionality from the buttons on the toolbar or from the Ridership and Tools menus.
About PLAN Properties
Properties are used to determine settings for PLAN as they relate to the Trapeze4 workstation, the behavior of the map, or specific screens.
Ancillary data defines the foundation for creating transit schedules. Ridership Analysis has two forms of ancillary data: check types and comments.
About Ride Check and Point Check Types
In Ride Check mode, trips are listed according to the settings that you defined in the Set Mode dialog box.
Setting up Check Types
The names given to check types depend on the need of your transit site and the types of checks that occur.
Editing Check Types
You can change the Abbreviation and Name of the selected check type.
Deleting Check Types
As a general rule, once ancillary data is entered and you proceed to use PLAN, you should not remove any of the records.
Setting up Comment Types and Codes
Comment types and codes provide details for ride checks or point checks.
Applying Comment Types and Codes
The comment types and codes are used in hand-held computers, in manual check sheets, and in PLAN Ridership Analysis.
Editing Comment Types
You can edit the abbreviation and name of the selected comment type.
Editing Comment Codes
You can edit the abbreviation and Name of the selected comment code.
Deleting Comment Types or Comment Codes
You can delete a comment type or comment code that you no longer require.
The system map in the active screen in the Trapeze4 workstation displays an image of the entire service area and allows you to view streets and barriers, locate nodes for selected routes, and access stop information.
About Basic Map Layout
When you open the map in conjunction with the Ridership Analysis screen, the map displays all the nodes for the selected route. Each node is labeled with an abbreviated name as well as certain trip information.
Customizing the Map Display
Customize the settings for colors, line widths, and the appearance of the nodes on the map in the Ridership Map Display dialog box.
Viewing Stop Info
In addition to providing a visual display of nodes and stops for trips in the Ridership Analysis screen, the map also allows you to access passenger count, schedule adherence, and other details for a specific stop.
Viewing Data for Multiple Stops
In addition to viewing information for a specific stop, you can also view all passenger count information collected within two or more nodes/stops.
The Ridership Analysis screen contains three tabs: Trips, Stops, and Graph.
Viewing Ride Check Data on the Trips Tab
You can view the ride check data using the Ridership Analysis screen.
Point Check Data on Trips Tab
Trips are displayed in chronological order with the earliest trip at the top and the latest trip at the bottom.
Viewing Check Data on the Stops Tab
The Stops tab displays detailed node/stop information for a selected trip.
Viewing Check Data on the Graph Tab
You can create a graph of ride check and point check data that has been collected for one or more trips.
Viewing On Time Performance of Trips by Stops
With the On Time Performance Options feature, you can check performance based on the depart time at the first stop of the trip, arrive time at midstops of the trip, and arrive time at the last stop of the trip.
About Ridership Criteria
In addition to defining ridership parameters in Set Mode, you can specify other criteria for viewing check data.
About Collecting Check Data
Check data can be collected using survey sheets, hand-held computers, and APCs.
Exporting Stop and Graph Data
After you have generated a graph for one or more trips, you can transfer the numeric and graphical data into another application—such as a word processor or spreadsheet program—for viewing, editing, and printing.
About Troubleshooting Display Options
The following section explains some possible issues that you may encounter when viewing data on the Ridership Analysis screen.
Extracting trips for both ride and point checks creates a template in the Trapeze4 database. After the data is collected, it is entered into the template.
About Random Sampling
Whether for administrative reasons or to fulfill FTA reporting requirements, you may prefer to create the list of trips to be checked through random sampling. This option is built into Ridership Analysis.
About Extracting Trips for Ride Checks
The data collected from ride checks allows the system to determine passenger miles. Many transit sites require this information for reporting purposes.
Extracting Trips for Point Checks
Point checks are performed at a location within the service area; usually a node that services more than one route.
About Extracting Trips for Hand-Held Checking
If you are using hand-held computers to perform ride checks or point checks, it is important to set up trip groups during the extraction process.
About Completing Extraction of Trips
Extracting trips for a ride check or point check is the preliminary step to obtaining check data. After you select the necessary trips for extraction, you can perform any of the following options: