TO: AC Transit Board of Directors
FROM: Kathleen Kelly, Interim General Manager/Chief Executive Officer
SUBJECT: Field Condition Elements Related to Service Reliability
BRIEFING ITEM
AGENDA PLANNING REQUEST: ☐
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
Title
Consider receiving a report regarding District efforts to increase service reliability through improvements in field conditions (i.e. layovers, reliefs, and restrooms).
Staff Contact:
Ramakrishna Pochiraju, Executive Director of Planning & Engineering
Salvador Llamas, Chief Operating Officer
Body
STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE:
Goal - Convenient and Reliable Service
Initiative - Service Quality
This Staff Report introduces the efforts the District has made to inventory all layover, relief, and restroom locations in the service area and identify key opportunities to address issues affecting working conditions and service reliability at those locations.
BUDGETARY/FISCAL IMPACT:
This report is informational only. There is no fiscal impact.
BACKGROUND/RATIONALE:
Bus service quality is affected by a number of factors, key among them are the often overlooked pieces of infrastructure in the field that allow the service to operate reliably. Service Development & Planning staff engaged with operators through surveys, workshops at each of the Divisions, and direct conversations about these field elements, and field work. These findings were paired with significant field work to catalogue all layover, relief, and restroom locations in the service area. Staff then identified key issues and prioritized locations for making improvements though adjusting schedules or working with local jurisdictions. It is important to realize that although staff has addressed some of the issues that were identified, this is very much a work in progress, and many of the solutions require coordination with local jurisdictions.
Focus Area #1: Layovers
Layover locations are spaces at the end of the line where the bus can be parked while not in service. They provide a key opportunity for buses and operators to “reset” to ensure they can begin their next trip on-time. The District uses 132 unique layover bus stops, including off-street layover spaces (74) and on-street layover spaces (58). Approximately 30 percent of the layover locations (40) in the service area were identified as having an issue with more buses scheduled than they can fit at some point in the service day. A total of 13 of these locations have been addressed through scheduling changes in recent sign-ups. The toolkit of strategies for improving layovers includes the following:
• Expand or Relocate Layover: Work with the local jurisdiction to secure additional space on the curb for bus layover or to identify another location nearby that would work better for bus service.
• Schedule Adjustments: Over the course of the day, running times change along a bus line. These changes may cause buses to arrive at a layover location earlier than desired, resulting in two buses to layover at the same time. To mitigate this issue, minor schedule adjustments can be used to alleviate layover conflicts. Where those running time changes occur, buses could be scheduled to leave later from one end of the line to arrive at the other end at the desired time.
• Headway Adjustments: In instances where minor schedule changes are not able to mitigate layover conflicts, increasing the headway on a line is another option. This would space the buses further apart in the schedule and reduce the chance two buses will be at the layover location at the same time. However, this does result in less frequent service for the customer.
• Active Management: In some cases, the layover conflicts are caused by buses leaving the layover late and the Supervision team should direct operators to leave on-time. In locations where there is not enough space to accommodate the number of lines that layover, the District may consider using Transportation staff to move buses around while the operator is away from the vehicle. This should only be considered in locations where the District has many conflicts during a specific period. The Operations Control Center could also instruct bus operators to hold before the end of the line or slow down to ensure bus at the layover location can leave before they arrive. This will allow the operators to remain off the bus during recovery time. In addition, Supervision could work to ensure bus operators don’t leave terminals late, which can create issues when their follower arrives to a layover on-time.
Focus Area #2: Relief Locations
AC Transit service operates 24 hours a day which requires operators to “relieve” one another in the field for meal breaks or at the end of shifts. They play a crucial role in ensuring that a high-level of service is available to the community because it would be cost-prohibitive to bring every bus back to the division at the end of each driver’s shift. Reliefs can occur at either the end of line when a trip is not in revenue service or mid-route with passengers on-board. Nearly 60 percent of reliefs occur mid-route at an easily accessible point from the nearest operating division. The District uses 81 unique relief bus stops across 73 locations throughout its service area, including off-street relief spaces (39) and on-street relief spaces (42). Staff identified 13 relief locations where there are issues with multiple buses scheduled at the location at one time, not enough red curb for the bus, improper bus pole placement, or a need to improve street crossings. Staff are currently working on addressing all locations through scheduling fixes or coordinating with the local jurisdictions on improving crosswalks and red curbs.
Focus Area #3: Restrooms
AC Transit often relies on nearby businesses, other public agencies (i.e., BART), or developers to provide restrooms at end-of-line locations. At the outset of the pandemic, the District lost many of those agreements because the commercial establishments were not allowing anyone inside or were permanently closed. The District also provides limited financial compensation for businesses to provide restrooms for operator use. As a result, many bus lines end in areas without high quality, safe restrooms close to the end of the line.
Staff looked at all available restroom locations from the AC Transit Restroom Finder application, evaluated how far from the end of line the restroom was located, and compared these with average layover times by line. Staff will prioritize improving restroom access for these lines and recommend four additional approaches to structurally resolve this issue. The options are not in priority order and have varying degrees of cost.
• Partnerships: In locations where restroom availability is problematic, AC Transit can establish partnerships with local businesses to provide a more significant payment structure for restroom maintenance and upkeep. The amount should be adequate to persuade the business to agree to the arrangement. The cost of paying a business is more cost effective than adding additional running time to the service or degrading scheduled headways to provide more layover time for restroom access.
• Relocate Layover: If there are layover locations that pose challenges and do not have adjacent restrooms, it may be necessary to relocate the layover location to a more suitable location where operators have access to several restrooms, such as a shopping plaza or denser area. This will require close coordination with local jurisdictional partners.
• Build Restrooms: Seek available capital funding to construct restrooms at locations that have ample space to accommodate such an investment. This will ultimately provide dependable restroom facilities for operators to use during layovers.
• Increase Layover Time: For schedules with short or insufficient layover time to go to the restroom, staff recommends adjusting scheduled layover time to ensure sufficient break time for operators to use the restroom.
This effort is currently divided over many departments including Transportation Management, Transportation Supervision, Operations Control Center (OCC), Service Planning, Scheduling, Capital Planning, Legislative Affairs and Community Relations, and Safety. These efforts would be better coordinated by having a dedicated Program Specialist focus on implementing these solutions. The Transportation Department is in the process of reclassifying existing positions to create a Program Specialist. Staff Report 25-152 includes a status update on recent efforts to improve restroom access for operators as well as program management.
ADVANTAGES/DISADVANTAGES:
There are no advantages or disadvantages associated with this report as it reports on the work on overall service reliability.
ALTERNATIVES ANALYSIS:
There are no alternatives associated with this briefing report.
PRIOR RELEVANT BOARD ACTION/POLICIES:
SR 25-152 Operator Restrooms and Projects Update
ATTACHMENTS:
1. In-Field Service Elements
Prepared by:
Michael Eshleman, Service Planning Manager
Owen Goetze, Senior Transportation Planner
Approved/Reviewed by:
Robert del Rosario, Director of Service Development & Planning
Ramakrishna Pochiraju, Executive Director of Planning & Engineering
Salvador Llamas, Chief Operating Officer