Marketing Transit Services to Business (1998) / Chapter Skim
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Chapter 5
Chapter 5
Pages 103-124
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From page 103... ...
To accomplish this, Pace has developed an overall vision and strategic plan, and has developed a comprehensive operating plan and annual marketing plans which support the more customer-focused strategic vision. Before finalizing these new visions and plans, Pace conducted significant market research.
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From page 104... ...
This approach has allowed Pace to work effectively with area employers and to meet the changing needs of the growing suburban commuting market. A key test of Pace's approach to marketing was its effort to provide transportation services to Sears, which relocated from the Sears Tower in downtown Chicago to the Prairie Stone development in the suburban community of Hoffman Estates, an area without transit service.
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From page 105... ...
Figures S- ~ and 5-2 show annual ridership and vehicle miles for ~ 987 through ~ 996. Figure 5- l: Page Annual Ridership 41 ~ 40 o 39 - 38 E ~ 37 cat 36 35 to ,~ 34 33 1 ~1 rot ~ ~ 0 ~ Cal Cal ~ ~ oo oo oo cs, a> cot ~ on ~a, a, cn Fi~ur0 5- 2: Pae.
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From page 106... ...
Pace divided regional travel into four market segments: · Suburb-to-City Suburb-to-Suburb City-to-Suburb City-to-City P8gB ~4
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From page 107... ...
In order to understand why ridership declined in this growing market, Pace used market research to gain a better understanding of its changing markets. = In order to develop a profile of its three major market segments, in 199S Pace completed a comprehensive survey of users and non-users.
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From page 108... ...
· City-to-suburb users had a significantly more downscale economic profile than non-users in this market. Using the survey data, Pace developed a customer profile for each major commuting market.
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From page 109... ...
No1~a~ed(85~) 13.7 arc e ~0.0 Rent More than 90 percent of non-users in even market segment owned ~ least one automobile, ~hOe only 64 percent of Pace customers in the cl~4o-suburb market owned vehicles.
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From page 110... ...
Moreover, among current Pace customers, some 20 percent reported plans to move closer to their suburban jobs, while only 4 percent of suburb-to-city customers had relocation plans. Transit competes with the automobile in all of Pace's markets.
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From page 111... ...
Specific recommendations included the following: · Increase non-traditional services like vanpoo] and subscription bus and identify other options for serving tong-distance and low-density commuting markets · Develop park-and-ride facilities and transit centers to support express bus, subscription bus, and vanpoo]
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From page 112... ...
For example, the COP included the following recommendations: Double the level of fixed-route services, focusing on key corridors serving major employment centers · Expand dial-a-ride services throughout the service area · Operate 500 vanpools · Triple the size of the vehicle fleet to 3,200 Develop additional garages, park-and-ride facilities, and transit centers Implement restricted-use facilities to allow buses to bypass high-congestion areas on highways and tollways Expand signal preemption Through these goals, the Comprehensive Operating Plan provides a link between Pace's long-range vision and its short-range operating and capital budgets. Marketing Plan Pace prepared its first Marketing Plan in 1996, which both summarized the findings of the user/non-user survey and defined strategies for achieving ridership goals within each major market segment.
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From page 113... ...
Teeinical Review Assistanee Program Through the Technical Review Assistance Program, Pace focuses on incorporating transit services into suburban developments, using both traditional and innovative approaches. This program consists of four elements: Paster
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From page 114... ...
at employment sites to investigate appropriate traditional and nontraditional transit solutions for the area. Marketing and Development staff liaisons represent Pace on the TMAs.
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From page 115... ...
Pace's fare recovery ratio standard is 60 percent in the first year and 50 percent thereafter; monthly passes are $99. Pace currently provides ten subscription bus routes.
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From page 116... ...
low (~! I;` R\J~I~ >a',.:,, I\., I {.~..llil In 1989, Sears Roebuck & Company announced its plans to relocate approximately 5,000 employees from the Sears Tower in downtown Chicago to the Prairie Stone development in the suburban community of Hoffman Estates.
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From page 117... ...
· [b`~ Slav" Pace proposed four fixed routes to serve the Prairie Stone site. Two express routes would link employees with CTA rapid transit stations, and two local routes would serve suburban Metra stations.
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From page 118... ...
Current Status Five years after the move, the Prairie Stone Transportation Management Association works with area transportation agencies to improve commuting options to Sears and other tenants in the business park. The TMA coordinates and promotes the following services: · Three Pace fixed-route bus lines providing service to CTA and Metra stations and area shopping centers · Eight subscription buses · More than 50 Pace vanpools · Guaranteed ride home program Currently, nearly 40 percent of Sears employees at the Prairie Stone site use some form of ridesharing.
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From page 119... ...
Services include development guidelines, site plan review, employee surveys, site visits and transit days, and - as described earlier- a range of innovative services. Moreover, Pace has tailored .
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From page 120... ...
customers directly because employers did not want to handle the paperwork. Similarly, in order to set up a guaranteed ride home program for Sears employees, Pace agreed to process the vouchers and allow Sears to reimburse the agency.
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From page 121... ...
Adapt to New markets After reviewing regional and national demographic and economic forecasts, Pace organized its strategic plan around the need to serve the growing suburb-tosuburb and city-to-suburb commuting markets. At the same time, Pace recognized the need to change its way of doing business in order to serve these new markets effectively.
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From page 122... ...
At that time, transit providers - which were private businesses - built amusement parks or developed real estate along their rights-of-way in order to attract ridership. While Pace did not propose to build a theme park in Arlington Heights, the agency established its Marketing and Development Group to sell transit services to its target market- area businesses and commuters.
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From page 123... ...
In addition, the Marketing and Development Group sets specific goals as part of the annual Marketing Plan. For example, in 1997, the group established the following goals.
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From page 124... ...
Certainly the market conditions faced by Pace are very typical. However, Pace's location as a suburban transit authority in the metropolitan area of a very large city makes it different from many authorities.
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