Bus Stop Consolidation Analysis for Puerto Rico's Metropolitan Bus Authority

Published in: Engineering Innovations for Global Sustainability: Proceedings of the 14th Latin American and Caribbean Conference for Engineering and Technology
Date of Conference: July 20-22, 2016
Location of Conference: San Jose, Costa Rica
Authors: Wilfredo R. Cordero
Ivette Cruzado
Benjamín Colucci Rios
Didier Valdés
Refereed Paper: #244

Abstract:

Transit planning in the Metropolitan Area of San Juan, Puerto Rico, has a challenging problem because of its low sponsorship. Several reasons for the lack of sponsorship discussed among the community are urban sprawl, excess of incentives for private transportation, easy acquisition of a vehicle, relative low prices of gas fuel, and laws and policies that prioritize the use of personal vehicles, among others. The Metropolitan Bus Authority (MBA) of Puerto Rico is aware of these challenges and has been identifying all the inefficiencies that could foster a low sponsorship of the transit system. The results of a study performed in 2014 by graduate students from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez describe the actual conditions and accessibility of many of the MBA bus stops and compliance of the sidewalks and shelters within the American with Disabilities Act requirements. The conclusions of the study indicate that many bus stops show little or no ridership, possibly due to ineffective placement. To address this problem, two methodologies were developed in order to identify which bus stops could be consolidated or eliminated from MBA’s Route 5. The first methodology analyzes the benefit and cost of removing a bus stop by calculating a benefit-cost ratio for each stop. The second methodology consists of a four-step process where the main purpose is to assign each stop a class of importance from A (being the most important) to F (being the least important). Ultimately, the benefit-cost ratio method suggested 32 stops be removed while the four-step process method recommended 20 stops be removed. Both methods are easily implemented and can be considered as low cost solutions for the MBA.