Exploring and Designing Bus Rapid Transit Service for Greater Detroit

1. Exploring and Designing Bus Rapid Transit Service for Greater Detroit Draft SpeedLink Network for the Metropolitan Affairs Coalition prepared by Transportation Management & Design, Inc. March 6, 2001

2. Presentation Overview • SpeedLink Network Objectives • Needs Assessment Review • Basic Network • Corridor Evaluation Matrix • SpeedLink Options • Draft Pilot Project Selection Criteria • Next Steps • Meet with Stakeholders • Complete refinement of SpeedLink network • Estimate ridership • Estimate operating and capital costs • Identify candidate Pilot Projects • Identify BRT modes for candidate Pilot Projects

3. SpeedLink Network Objectives • To increase personal mobility for both dependent and independent travelers • Reduce congestion and need for additional road capacity • Improve the environment by reducing vehicle miles traveled • Improve community quality of life

4. Needs Assessment Review • Residential and Employment Concentrations • Travel Demand • Traffic Volumes • Transit Ridership • Major Activity Centers

5. Residential Density Below 5 persons per acre 5 to10 persons per acre 10 to 20 persons per acre Above 20 more persons per acre Employment Density Below 10 jobs per acre Above 10 jobs per acre Residential and Employment Concentrations

6. TravelDemand (Trips per day) less than 30,000 30,000 – 50,000 50,000 – 75,000 75,000 – 100,000 100,000 – 150,000 150,000 or more Travel Demand

7. Traffic Volumes (Vehicles per day) 20,000 – 50,000 50,000 – 100,000 Traffic Volumes

8. Transit Ridership

9. Major Activity Centers X Colleges/Universities Retail Centers over 800,000 sq. ft. Major Sport Centers Major Activity Centers

10. Network Evaluation • Review coverage of population and employment • Total travel demand • Alternative to current daily car trips • Alternative to current transit travel Next Steps – estimate ridership

11. Proposed SpeedLink Network

12. Residential and Employment Overlay

13. Travel Demand Overlay

14. Traffic Volume Overlay

15. Current Transit Ridership Overlay

16. Major Activity Center Overlay

17. Corridor Evaluation Needs Criteria • Residential and Employment Concentrations • Travel Demand • Traffic Volumes • Transit Ridership • Major Activity Centers Structural Criteria • Right-of-way characteristics

18. Candidate SpeedLink Lines

19. 1 – Corridor Evaluation Matrix

20. 2 – Corridor Evaluation Matrix

21. Simple Route Layout Frequent Headways Less Frequent Stops Level Boarding and Alighting Color-coded Buses and Stations Station Stops Bus Signal Prioritization Exclusive Bus Lanes Higher Capacity Buses Multiple-Door Boarding/Alighting Fare Prepayment Integrated Network of Transit Services Coordinated Land Use Planning SpeedLink Characteristics

22. SpeedLink Corridor Options

23. Draft Pilot Corridor(s) Selection Criteria • Fast implementation potential • Minimal capital development and cost required • Minimal additional operating cost required • Minimal restructuring of current transit required • Minimal need for multi-jurisdiction coordination • Maximizes benefit to Metro Detroit travelers • Opportunity to test different types of SpeedLink with different markets • Opportunity to test different types corridor rights-of-way • Opportunity to test in geographically diverse areas Maximize opportunity for success

24. Next Steps Meet with Stakeholders Complete Network and Corridor Assessment • Refine network structure • Estimate ridership • Estimate operating and capital costs Identify Pilot Project Candidates • Identify BRT mode(s) for pilot(s) • Apply draft criteria