Date of Award
2002
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Community Planning (MCP)
Department
Community Planning
First Advisor
Farhad Atash
Abstract
Transit authorities across the nation use standards as a foundational blueprint for the delivery of service. These standards give an overall view of the type, quality, and amount of service, as well as logistical information such as processes and procedures. "Even today, with virtually every transit system under public ownership, the need continues for a system for standards. In the most organized and well-run agencies, services and routes exist that are seriously out of conformance with the rest of the system" (Benn 1995:3). In 1992, Abrams Cherwony and Associates, a consultant group, conducted an examination of the service standards at the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA). In their evaluation, the consultants discovered that there were no formal service standards that RIPT A was operating under, and decisions were made with no set foundation. There were no guidelines that dictated where bus service was to be assigned, what services should be added or cut, no customer service guides, no protocol for maintenance of buses, and no budget guidelines. Abrams-Cherwony developed standards that were guided by population density and car ownership among targeted neighborhoods. The author was hired by RIPTA to update the Abrams-Cherwony service standards to best reflect the operations and reflect the social changes of Rhode Island.
Recommended Citation
Moran, Hasassah, "THE CHANGING FACE OF PUBLIC TRANSIT SERVICE STANDARDS: AN IN-DEPTH ASSESSMENT OF THE RHODE ISLAND PUBLIC TRANSIT AUTHORITY" (2002). Open Access Master's Theses. Paper 388.
https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/theses/388
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