Measuring the Benefits of Intercity Passenger Rail: A Study

analysis, as the sample appears to reasonably approximate the ridership patterns for the
Heartland Flyer in CY 2008. It should be noted that the CY 2008 passenger totals include
children and organized groups, two passenger segments that were excluded from this analysis.
TRAVEL CHARACTERISTICS
Travel characteristics examined in this analysis included Heartland Flyer passenger
boarding and alighting station, mode of travel to and from stations, travel time and distance to
and from stations, trip purpose, and alternative travel mode.
Boarding and Alighting Station
Table 5-2 shows the percentage of passengers boarding and alighting at each station
along the Heartland Flyer route, plus the percentage of total activity at each station. A majority
of the passenger activity on the Heartland Flyer occurs at the route’s endpoints of Oklahoma
City and Fort Worth. At least three out of every four Heartland Flyer passengers surveyed were
boarding or alighting at one of the endpoints. This is not surprising as these are the two largest
population centers along the route as well. Fort Worth was generally busier than Oklahoma City
across the study periods. Among the intermediate stations, traffic in Norman was slightly higher
in July while Ardmore and Gainesville were more active in April. Given that Norman is home to
the University of Oklahoma, researchers expected more activity in April than in July,
considering the school calendar. However, this difference in traffic was not observed.
Table 5-2: Passenger Boarding and Alighting Station, Percent of All Trips
April July
Station Boarding Alighting Total Boarding Alighting Total
(434) (435) (869) (588) (588) (1,176)
Oklahoma City 37 25 31 32 32 32
Norman 9 10 9 10 12 11
Purcell 1 1 1 1 1 1
Pauls Valley 3 2 2 2 4 3
Ardmore 8 9 8 5 3 4
Gainesville 5 6 6 3 4 4
Fort Worth 38 48 43 47 43 45
Note: Sample size shown in parenthesis. Columns may not sum to 100 percent due to rounding.
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