managing travel for planned special events - FHWA Operations ...

may exceed an hour. Patrons who use thecharter service must remain in the area ofthe event until the completion since, typically,only one bus or train is utilized for theevent. Therefore, if a patron needs to returnhome as a result of an emergency, a “guaranteedride home” service needs to be providedas part of the charter service. Thisrepresents one of the factors against charterservice and, therefore, the availability of anemergency ride home policy will likely attractmore users.One example of a successful charter serviceinvolves the Rochester-Genessee (NY) RegionalTransportation Authority (RTS). TheRTS runs a charter bus operation from theRochester area to Buffalo Bills’ games. Thefirst pick-up is at the RTS headquarters andoccurs 4 ½ hours before the kick off. Threemore stops exist, 4 hours, 3 ½ hours, and 2hours and 45 minutes before the game. Afterthe last stop, a direct trip is taken to thestadium facility with the bus arriving onehour before kickoff. The charter bus departsfor the Rochester area 45 minutes after thecompletion of the game. RTS operates asimilar charter bus operation for SyracuseOrangemen football and basketball games,including the first stop a full 4 hours beforethe event start.Public transit agencies may provide charterservice, but only under special circumstances.In cases where the Federal TransitAdministration (FTA) subsidizes a particulartransit agency and that agency wants to provideany charter service using FTA fundedequipment or facilities, then the transitagency must first determine if any local privatebus companies can and will elect toprovide the desired charter service. If a privateoperator exists, FTA regulations prohibittransit agencies from establishing acharter service with FTA funded equipmentor facilities. Public transit agencies mustsubmit a charter service request to the FTAat least 90 days prior to the first day onwhich the transit agency wants to providecharter service. Specifics of this FTA regulationare contained in 49 CFR Part 604,“Charter Service” which went in effect onMay 13, 1987.Transit Service MarketingIn order for public transit to be effective, thegeneral public must be made aware of thebenefits of using the transit system. Thiscan be accomplished through a comprehensivetransit marketing program. This programserves to: (1) inform the public of theavailability of public transit service to/froma special event venue (2) convince the publicto use the service. Stakeholders can developvarious marketing techniques to accomplishone or both of these tasks.San Francisco Giants ProgramOne successful implementation of a transitmarketing program involved the San FranciscoGiants baseball team in coordinationwith the regional Metropolitan TransportationCommission (MTC), Bay Area transitoperators, and the San Francisco Departmentof Parking and Traffic. These stakeholderscollectively developed and implemented acomprehensive transit marketing campaignprior to the opening of the new Pac BellPark in San Francisco.The goal of the program involved attractingpatrons to transit in large numbers. Thename of the campaign was “Your TicketHome,” and it was funded by the Giants, theMTC, and a number of corporate sponsors.Each corporate sponsor’s logo was printedon materials associated with the campaign.The transit marketing program targeted firsttimetransit riders. Since the Bay Area hasan extensive public transportation system,the main focus of the campaign was to educatethe traveling public. Key elements ofthe transit marketing campaign included:7EVENT PROFILE POST-EVENT ACTIVITIES DAY-OF-EVENT ACTIVITIES ADVANCE PLANNINGOVERVIEW7-13