Measuring the Benefits of Intercity Passenger Rail: A Study

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ound of data collection, which took place in July 2009 and provided “peak” season data to compare with the “average” travel season data obtained in April. • Task 5, Data Input and Review: After collecting the on-board passenger survey data, responses were keyed into a computer spreadsheet program for analysis. A thorough quality control process was developed and used to review the raw data set for inaccuracies and non-response errors. • Task 6, Data Analysis: This task consisted of a full analysis of the travel survey data set. Analysis components included travel characteristics and passenger demographics. Also included in the data analysis was an identification of the mobility impacts of the Heartland Flyer rail service as well as an estimate of the economic impacts of the rail service on the communities it serves. • Task 7, Final Report: This task consisted of the development of this report. Project Stakeholders Given the number of agencies and organizations involved with the implementation of intercity passenger rail service, it is not surprising that a research study of intercity passenger rail would involve many stakeholders as well. In addition to the TTI research staff that worked on this study, staff from the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) Division of Rail and the Rail Division of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), formerly the Rail Section of the Transportation Planning and Programming Division, reviewed survey design and project status. Amtrak staff in Fort Worth was also integral to the project’s implementation, as this office is the primary office for the management of the Heartland Flyer’s day-to-day operations. Amtrak staff in Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and other locations also provided support for this project. REPORT ORGANIZATION This report describes the study activities, findings, and recommendations. The remainder of this report is organized into five chapters, described as follows. Chapter 2 reports the findings of the literature review task (Task 1) of the study. The literature review includes: 4
• An overview of intercity passenger rail in the United States with a focus on statesupported intercity passenger rail corridors; • A discussion of the context, challenges, and data needs for passenger rail planning; • A review of on-board survey design literature; and • An analysis of survey instruments used in past studies of state-supported rail corridors. Chapter 3 introduces the Heartland Flyer, the 206-mile intercity passenger rail route between Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Fort Worth, Texas, that was the focus of this study. The chapter includes a description of the route, the route’s history, operating details, and service data. Chapter 4 provides the details of the data collection process used in the on-board survey of Heartland Flyer passengers undertaken in Task 4 of the study. Information reported in Chapter 4 includes the development of the on-board survey instrument, a description of the on-board survey data collection process, and the details of the quality control process employed during Task 5 of the study. Chapter 5 reports the findings of the analysis of the on-board passenger survey data in four areas: travel characteristics, passenger characteristics, mobility impacts, and economic impacts. Also included in this chapter is an estimate of the number of diverted and induced trips on the Heartland Flyer service. The final chapter, Chapter 6, summarizes the research and discusses potential applications of the study’s findings for statewide intercity passenger rail planning, corridor-level planning studies, station-area site planning, and future onboard surveys of existing and future intercity passenger rail routes. 5
Page 1: 1. Report No. SWUTC/10/169116-1 2.
Page 5: ABSTRACT In recent years, the polic
Page 8 and 9: LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 3-1: He
Page 11 and 12: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY INTRODUCTION In i
Page 13 and 14: ail service along intercity corrido
Page 15 and 16: planning faces a variety of challen
Page 17 and 18: of travel (in the absence of rail s
Page 19 and 20: participate in the study. Throughou
Page 21 and 22: such as medical appointments or fun
Page 23 and 24: Heartland Flyer annually. Induced t
Page 25 and 26: Heartland Flyer identified in this
Page 27: DISCLAIMER The contents of this rep
Page 31 and 32: CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION In its Dece
Page 33: to Fort Worth intercity corridor wa
Page 38 and 39: passenger deficit for the year 1969
Page 40 and 41: In April 2009, the Federal Railroad
Page 42 and 43: conditions across the United States
Page 44 and 45: Table 2-2: State-Supported Routes i
Page 46 and 47: Oklahoma and Texas support service
Page 48 and 49: conducted by the Southeastern Wisco
Page 50 and 51: Discussion of State-Supported Rail
Page 52 and 53: • The 1993 Illinois Passenger Rai
Page 54 and 55: INTERCITY PASSENGER RAIL PLANNING T
Page 56 and 57: Data Needs for Intercity Passenger
Page 58 and 59: supported routes. The following par
Page 60 and 61: • Third, the total non-business r
Page 62 and 63: demand model varies, Horowitz and F
Page 64 and 65: Survey Design Literature Deploying
Page 66 and 67: Table 2-4: Elements Included in On-
Page 68 and 69: question. This pattern is consisten
Page 70 and 71: a particular corridor. For example,
Page 73 and 74: CHAPTER 3: DESCRIPTION OF HEARTLAND
Page 75 and 76: • After passing through Davis, th
Page 77 and 78: minutes early. A later section of t
Page 79 and 80: corridor. Table 3-1 shows a snapsho
Page 81 and 82: enefits resulting from the route’
Page 83 and 84: state of Oklahoma (71). This action
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served by the route are Pauls Valle
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Figure 3-4: Typical P42DC Locomotiv
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during non-peak times when the usua
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effect during this research study w
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HEARTLAND FLYER SERVICE DATA The fo
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Examining the 10-year monthly avera
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surprisingly, is Oklahoma City-Fort
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Figure 3-9: Heartland Flyer On-Time
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CHAPTER 4: DATA COLLECTION The main
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amenities that could increase rail
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pool be increased to 3,000. The IRB
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Summary of Data Collection Tables 4
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Ineligible Passengers Several group
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QUALITY CONTROL After completing th
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For the access mode to station ques
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One question on the survey asked th
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trip). However, researchers determi
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eporting how far passengers were fr
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CHAPTER 5: DATA ANALYSIS This chapt
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survey item by the total number of
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Comparing the total column in Table
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Tables 5-5 and 5-6 display another
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Heartland Flyer Market Area Researc
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Table 5-9: Passenger Trip Purpose,
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PASSENGER CHARACTERISTICS Passenger
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is entirely possible that a passeng
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In both April and July, the two mos
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Table 5-19: Passenger State of Resi
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Figure 5-2: Residential Zip Codes o
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Gender Table 5-22 reports passenger
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Household Income Table 5-26 reports
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In FFY 2009, the Heartland Flyer ra
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Table 5-28: Passenger Alternatives
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Urban and Rural Mobility Another co
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passenger was approximately $120 in
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if the service did not exist (appro
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This study measured the mobility im
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questions on the passenger’s boar
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made is related to the similarity b
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valuable insight on the design of f
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REFERENCES 1. National Surface Tran
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35. Corey, Canapary & Galanis Resea
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74. Able Consulting. Tier 1 Environ
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Figure A-3: Purcell Amtrak Station
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Figure A-7: Fort Worth Amtrak Stati
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