How is MTA's Link system doing?

While it is pretty obvious that not all promises of the former MTA Administrator Paul Comfort became reality, anybody looking for actual performance metrics will have a hard time finding them,  in part because surveys and analysis are still ongoing.

How is the new system performing?

That is why the transit group Transit Choices eagerly awaited the latest updates from MTA at their recent bus workgroup meeting. MTA's new Administrator Kevin Quinn was upbeat when he and his team offered an overview of all ongoing initiatives. The biggest take away: The team that designed LINK isn't sitting on their hands but is actively tweaking the system on many fronts to respond to customer complaints, improve service or deploy existing resources more effectively. All of those adjustments make a before-after-comparison of performance metrics difficult. Currently the MTA is busy receiving input on a package of proposed service changes for February 2018 for which the comment period is still open. This means that the suggested changes are not final and that some may not happen at all. For some route changes, such as the alignment of a new route 63 to Sparrows Point (Tradepoint Atlantic) alternatives are on the table. A final decision will consider public response to the proposed routes suggested to run on either Eastern Avenue or on Fleet and Boston Streets. There are also a number of suggested service changes that would increase headways outside peak hours or eliminate routes because of poor ridership.

The biggest service change deals with modifications to the Green line and
Local Link 78 which work in tandem 

The proposed elimination of some of the Express bus lines such as 102, 106  and 107 has met little opposition since the lines are so underused that they are already on the chopping block. Having circumferential express connections between Owings Mills and White Marsh seemed like an innovative new way of adding choice riders which have not been on the system in the past, however those riders never materialized since the lines were introduced as the first set of changes ahead of the main Link launch in June 2016. The service adjustments proposed for February are supposed to redistribute the existing buses and operators to address rider complaints and experiences since the initial launch six months ago.

Other changes occur "under the hood", for example the installation of satellite in lieu of the radio based vehicle locators on the CityLink buses. The retrofit of all buses with a full complement of "Bus USA" technology will still take another 18-24 months. All the color coded CityLink bus lines can already be found on the Transit app as little bus symbols on the map with their exact real time location on the route, a very cool feature that isn't widely known yet. MTA is also exploring design options for 200 additional bus shelters as well as enhancements to downtown bus stops which would include electronic maps and next bus information.

Bunching and gapping observations on a CityLink Green on 9/26/17 (MTA)

 A big headache for riders, operators and the MTA is "headway adherence"  or the lack thereof which is popularly known as "bus bunching", i.e. when the buses show up in double or triplicate, a condition that can easily double or triple the scheduled wait-times between buses. Schedule adherence is depicted on time/space diagrams and the graphs of a partial analysis on the Green Line don't look good yet.

Bunching can have a whole host of causes beginning with buses not even getting "out of the gate" on time,  i.e. commencing their route early, late, or sometimes not at all. For a bus to commnece its route on time, there needs to be a bus and an operator who either begin service for that shift right there or return from a previous route on time.

BL buses arriving in twos at Saratoga and Eutaw Streets (Philipsen)

Closer analysis by MTA revealed that, surprisingly, problems begin frequently right at the original dispatch point at the bus depot. An analysis revealed that more than half the buses left the depot ahead of time or late, a perry startling finding, especially for the contingent that is late. (Since the depot is not the same as the begin of the route, getting out of the depot early doesn't mean the bus geins its route also early). Untimely depot departure has been brought down to more acceptable levels by stricter supervision. Headway adjustments on the route are more difficult to achieve. That can be done by controllers who see the buses on their monitors at the central operations center on Eutaw Street, by field supervisors who monitor buses in the street, or by dispatching "spare" buses held ready at strategic points to fill especially egregious service gaps.

Example of "out of the gate" timeliness. A surprisingly poor
performance. Improvements have been made since
 (MTA). 

Even buses that start their routes exactly within the set intervals, there are plenty of obstacles en route that can ruin the set headway, chiefly too many people fumbling for cash, being stuck in congested traffic or too many signals on red. All of those delay factors are being addressed in their own way: There are now 5.5 miles of designated bus lanes (4.6 miles or 83% of those are 24 hour lanes), which make it easier for  the bus to bypass congestion. Then there are signals which are influenced by buses (on two routes to date) and reduce wait times at red lights. Finally MTA has embarked on encouraging cash-free payments to accelerate boarding. They are distributing free Charm Cards that are pre-loaded with a day-pass and can be re-charged on ticket vending machines to last for as long as the preloaded money will last. A innovation including an app on a smart phone that will be visually checked by the bus operators is planned to launch next year. A fully cash free system is not yet considered. "We have to be able to crawl before we walk", Quinn observed.
To combat bunching there is much intensified supervision on the street and from the control center with additional personnel assigned to those tasks. Though some of the measures have already brought relief, the agency is still studying how other agencies are managing the persistent bunching problem.
The MTA expects to release next week a report that details how well the signal priority has worked.

A rendering of the  new Hitachi train car (MTA)

Quinn also reminded his audience that the MTA is not just a bus company but runs  rail service as well. MARC, the commuter train service,  has already received 8 new Siemens diesel electric "charger" locomotives which are currently completing their required testing period on local tracks. where those engines can already be spotted. Light Rail trains are undertaking a mid-life overhaul in which each of the over 50 train cars will be entirely dismantled and rebuilt. Three trains are done so far. Metro, MTA's stealth subway, meanwhile, will receive a fleet of completely new subway cars. The contract for the new subway cars has been approved in July of this year. They are the same model made by Hitachi and partners which runs in Miami. The cars are expected to go into service in 2021.

While MTA's Link initiative will strike only a few as the service revolution as which it was billed initially, it has laid the groundwork for a more robust operation that is easier to tweak. The administrator promises more performance data to be available soon.

Klaus Philipsen, FAIA
updated for graphics 12/19/17

ArchPlan has been a consultant on Link and currently plays a small advisory role on the North Avenue Rising project.