Integrated Public Transportation in Santo Domingo:An Educational Investment

Carl Allen5/02/10

A presentation based on researchfor COPDES, GFDD/FUNGLODE and OPRET

Towards completion of aMasters in Public Policy and Urban Planning (MPP/UP) from the

Harvard Kennedy SchoolCambridge, MA

Presentation Outline

• Research Objectives• Methods• Background• Passenger and Student Surveys• Metro Benefits• Potential Benefits of Feeder Bus

Integration• Conclusion

Research Objectives

• Evaluate the performance of Metro Line 1 in Santo Domingo

• Assess the potential benefits and risks of feeder bus system integration

• Offer recommendations on implementation of feeder bus system

• SPECIAL EMPHASIS: Student population

Methods• Literature Review

– World Bank, UN, UKDfT, IDB, TRB and others• Case Study Analysis

– Bogotá, Mexico City, Santiago de Chile and São Paulo• Review of Dominican media (newspapers and websites)• Interviews with experts, government officials, journalists and others• Surveys of 100 Metro riders during the morning and afternoon peak

hours• Surveys of 69 students at Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo

(UASD) who ride the Metro• Surveys of 47 businesses located near Metro stations• Estimations of ridership through counting passengers– at all 16

stations, inbound and outbound directions and during different time periods

• Observations made through more than 40 hours spent in the system and more than 3 months in Santo Domingo

• Population growth (2.4%), economic growth (9%) and physical sprawl have contributed to increased motorization (8.3%) and private vehicles (4.5%)

• “Rapid motorization and insufficient investments in urban-transport planning, traffic management and infrastructure…create increasing problems in terms of accidents…health, noise, congestion and loss of productivity…” – Agenda 21, Chapter 7

• Maximo-Gomez corridor is at 15,000 pass/hr/dir in the inbound peak and is at capacity

Transport in Santo Domingo

A Sustainable Solution?

Real and Potential Benefits

• Quality of Life Improvements and Poverty Alleviation– Accessibility and Mobility– Time-savings

• Environmental Sustainability– Potential reduced local and atmospheric emissions– Potential improved local health and global climate– Improved efficiency (emissions/trip or emissions/unit GDP)

• Indirect Secondary Benefits– Economic agglomeration– Technology transfer– Economies of scope

Focus on Students

• Metro Line 1 has five universities and 27 public schools along its route (OPRET, 2006)

• Most notably among these is Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo (UASD), with over 100,000 students – 10% of which already ride the Metro (OPRET, 2009)

• Inaccessibility to schools is a function of transportation cost, distance, convenience and time

• Student performance is a function of school attendance

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Peña G

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0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

# Passenger Boardings Per Train - INBOUND/OUTBOUND

INBOUND IP1INBOUND IP2INBOUND IP3INBOUND IP4OUTBOUND OP1OUTBOUND OP2OUTBOUND OP3OUTBOUND OP4

# Pa

ssen

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Boar

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Metro Ridership• 2009 passenger counting estimate: 50,000 – 60,000 pass-trips/day• Current ridership is 65,000 and could increase 2-5% per year in

base scenario – could be even higher with buses and more trunk lines – “network effects”

• Metro can physically accommodate maximum of 25,000 – 36,000 pass/hr/dir and 250,000 passenger trips per day

Less Than $RD 5,00019%

$RD 5,000 – 20,00048%

$RD 20,000 – 40,00022%

More Than $RD 40,00011%

Surveyed Metro Passengers by Monthly Income

Metro Passenger Surveys• Surveyed 100 passengers• Said they saved an average of 48+ minutes EACH TRIP• Travel time variability also decreased• Average Metro passenger spends 4% of income on Metro fare• Metro minimum wage passengers paid an average of 20%• Average S.D. resident spends 25% of income on transport• 20% of Metro passenger

survey respondents said school was their primary reason for riding the train.

Metro Student Surveys• Surveyed 69 students• Averaged 9 trips/wk, 9.3 km/trip• Average income = $RD 0 – 5,000 per month• Said they saved an average of 47 minutes EACH TRIP• Students said they used saved time for study, sleep, exercise,

extra curricular activities, spend time with friends and familyThe Metro is affordable for ALL students at

UASD.

92.75% AGREE

63.77% STRONGLY AGREE

5.80% DISAGREE

1.45% NEUTRAL

Time savings from the Metro will make students more productive.

94.20% AGREE

63.77% STRONGLY AGREE

5.80% DISAGREE

0.00% NEUTRAL

Metro Benefit/Cost Analysis• Estimated Annual Passenger Time Savings:

$US 16.5 million• Estimated Annual Road-User Time Savings:

$US 14.7 – 27.6 million• Positive 40-year Benefit/Cost Ratio under

optimistic assumptions of trip growth– Not including environmental benefits or other

“hard to quantify” or speculative benefits– Depends on system integration

Critical Next Step:

The Feeder Routes

Feeder Bus System Analysis• Feeder Bus Potential Added Benefits– Feeder routes WILL extend deep into poor neighborhoods

and could provide better quality service than current buses with more comfort – MORE access for STUDENTS!

– Could generate ridership increases – BUT this depends on fare integration, convenience, service quality

– Could further reduce pollution and congestion – BUT this depend on OPRET’s ability to restrict existing operators from competing

– Drivers under new integrated bus system WILL benefit - regular hours, better working conditions pay and benefits – BUT cutting a deal with drivers in existing system will be difficult

Conclusions• Metro currently offers substantial accessibility

and time-savings benefits for passengers – especially STUDENTS!

• The Metro has reduced congestion, thereby generating time savings for road users – including students and others who don’t ride the Metro!

• Integration of the feeder bus system has great potential to enhance all these benefits if planning and implementation are done well.

Thank You.