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TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning

1. ISISSSSSsisixssisisis Summary Variables 2 T 2 f F E31 E3I ESI EL EL CS Scenario Total Boardings Scenario B Total Boardings Figure 7 11 TBEST Scenario Summary Chart Total Ridership by Route Defining Mobility Area Thresholds The incorporation of Mobility Areas into the TBEST Scenario Comparison Tool was based on the need to analyze specific growth areas for their impact on transit Florida Senate Bill 360 requires counties to develop Mobility Plans as part of their comprehensive plans AMA zones are areas defined in the Mobility Plan where increased development or trips are expected The TBEST Scenario Summary Tool provides tools to develop recommendations Transit improvements to meet the estimated demand The Mobility Area Thresholds allow users to input ranges of trips with recommendations on service improvements that constitute adequate transit improvements to meet the additional demand The ranges can be defined for any TBEST time period or aggregate time period Weekday or Weekend Defining the range values and transit improvement recommendations is the responsibility of local planners Within the tool users incorporate trip thresholds that serve as a guide to matching the additional trips that may occur within an AMA zone to the
2. 6 B WES ORANGE 6 DOME TINT EIN A 7 EXTERNAL DATA DISTRIBUTION S D D EM M MI E 7 TBESTIN T 8 IBEST GIFS Network Import Tool INS EO QUO e e qo da dte reta reo eda cot Fed den 9 E ce E 9 TBEST IMPLEMENTATION PLAN cccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccceccccccccececs 10 10 MPLEMENTATION oj IP EIE SERERE sens 11 TBEST MODELING WORKFLOWS AND 5 13 I M E M EE 14 hires S AP S RES PARIS vise are cece 20 29 CNET RE T u 44 Route and System Performance 45 2 L
3. M G Create a TEEST Distribution File Delete Properties Figure 3 17 Right Click System Dialog Box Step 1 From TBEST Explorer right click the Transit System to update and select Update System Socio Economic Data Step 2 From the Source Socio Economic Data dialog select the data to be used for the update Click OK to continue Step 3 Update Socio Economic Data form opens If necessary modify the County selection to change coverage of the socio economic data to fit the service area Click OK Step 4 Population and Employment data will be updated to the source year in the Socio Economic data 132 4 SOCIO ECONOMIC DATA INPUTS TBEST provides the ability to import and utilize pre formatted Socio Economic data for model development The background demographics used as input for the TBEST model are derived from the publicly available Census and licensed InfoUSA spatial and tabular databases The following sections describe the processes used for configuring these data sources for their use within TBEST 4 1 Population Data Sources TBEST requires three Census file types from the Census SF1 Census Attribute Table Census Attribute Table Census Block level polygon shapefiles In support of the Florida implementation of TBEST these Census files have been compiled for all counties in Florida This infor
4. 59 vice ats ae etc eat ete ei nin ie ieee pce E E A 65 ZO USIS queni ema an senate eg D es ooo Me acd cde at Sdn aes vate RC ate roan 65 5 65 Metrics Jor Testing Service Change 70 Custom Map Development with TBEST Loaded Network 0 0600000000005000500000 70 SCCENGHO SUIMMGIY TOO S 75 APPENDIX TBEST USER MANUAL ccccceccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccceccecccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccsccecces 86 APPENDIX TBEST MODEL APPLICATION SCENARIO 5 254 APPENDIX C TBEST GTFS NETWORK IMPORT TOOL ccccccccecccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccceccsccecs 260 TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning ii Introduction The FDOT sponsored Transit Boardings Estimation and Simulation Tool TBEST transit demand forecasting and analyisis software is an approved and recommended method for developing ridership estimates for major Transit Development Plan TDP updates Historically TBEST has been utilized for strategic planning initiatives inlcuding
5. File View Scenario Tools Reports 3 Gl wl Validation a Close Analysis Options S 29 Buffer 0 25 Transit Systems Ub Gainesville ky GTFS Miami ky GTFS PSTA Hartline Uy KeyWest Uy LAMetro_Calibration Uy Lee Tran LYNX a Q Scenarios amp 8 2 ember 2009 Route 50 Scenario 1 Route 50 Scenario 2 Route 50 Scenario 3 Route 50 Scenario 4 Route 50 Scenario 5 Route 50 Scenario 6 amp Reports 0 Search Files D Corridors D Area Analysis Q Site Analysis Uy StarMetro 2 Distribution Files Socio Economic Data Apri 2010 YW Unvalidated Y Unvalidated Y Unvalidated W Unvalidated Y Unvalidated W Unvalidated 2010 2009 W Unvalidated Figure 4 4 Export Growth Rate to Shapefile amp amp 2 No Active Route mm Route Geometry Only Stops 7902 Visible Stops 0 Selected Stops 0 Figure 4 5 Exported Growth Values in TBEST Map joaquo gt dew Growth Values P 2 jes General Source Symbology Definition Query Labels Fields 0 000000 188 689621 7777118 188 689622 514 429504 514 429505 1054 262207 1054 262208 2038 215576 2038 215577 4222 972168 Figure 4 6 Layer Properties Dialog to modify Symbol Field 5 NETWORK DEVELOPMENT TBEST transit network developmen
6. 16 012048 012049 SF10002 0002 P012026 0 0 000000000 2026 FEMALE rins SF 10002 P010008 P012012 P018015 a HHCHILD 134 Table 4 2 Census SF3 Field Conversion Mapping Source SF3 Table Source SF3 Field s TBEST Field GEO LOGRECNO ID GEO AREALAND AREA GEO SIATE SIATE GEO SIATE COUNTY COUNTY GEO STATE COUNTY TRACT TRACT GEO BLKGRP BLKGRP GEO BLOCK BLOCK SF30001 001001 SF30058 044001 SF30058 044003 044010 AUTOSO SF30058 044011 044004 AUTOS 1 SF30058 033005 H033006 033007 033008 POPMF 033009 033010 SF30007 088002 P088003 P088004 SF30006 SF30006 P057001 SF30058 H044001 AVGINC SF30058 SF30007 082001 SF30006 P053001 INCMEDIN SF30003 P030001 WORKER SF30002 023002 IMMIG Census Geography TBEST uses Census Block level shapefiles as the format for spatial distribution of population data shapefiles used for configuration of the model were downloaded from the ESRI ArcData website and then formatted for use within TBEST The projection system can be locally managed but must be consistent with the TBEST network 4 2 Employment Data Sources The default option for employment data to support the TBEST model is InfoUSA The InfoUSA dataset provides information on the location of a business as represented by an X Y location the number of employees at the business and the SIC code that
7. ml ABRE EIE 5 Ewan i V ERI EN 5 badin EIE FT i Time Point Amal IVTT Headway Special Generator Route 5 To Mall 159 J 1 20 Route 5 To Daks 160 Route 5 Oaks Mall 161 Route 5 To Oaks Mall 162 Route 5 To Daks Mall 163 i Route 5 To Oaks Mall 154 Alarion Bank AB 72 20 Route 5 To 155 9 20 Figure 8 6 Area Analysis 42 20 88 20 8 2 55 20 nooo ER 00 Save Analysis Area Please Enter a Mame for the Analisis Area Figure 8 7 Saving an Analysis Area 8 6 Site Analysis Using the site analysis tool users can select and analyze transit stops by circular buffers around a particular location The buffer size mi can be modified on the Analysis Toolbar Creating a Site Buffer step 1 Select Site Analysis from the Analysis Toolbar Step 2 Choose your buffer distance and hit enter Step 3 Select the Digitize button if not selected and click on a point on the map A circular buffer of your chosen distance is created and all stops in that region are selected In the View menu make sure that Show Selected Stops Only is selected for the network geometry otep 4 otep 5 You may need to refresh the selection to view the stops in the digitized area Click the Refresh Selection button in the A
8. SS Delete Cancel Figure 6 5 Unique Stop Validation Step 2 Define Route Collections Route Collections allow for aggregation of routes to fit the level of data to be used for validation Preferably this would be a ridership number for each route by direction for an average Weekday Saturday and Sunday However if ridership data does not exist to this level of detail TBEST has the ability to validate the system based on a single observed system ridership number or by any other grouping of routes including by Route Type Technology etc Steps for Defining Route Collections Step 1 With the Scenario open for editing from the TBEST Main Menu select Scenario gt Model Validation gt 2 Define Route Collections step 2 Defining Route Collections form will open Step 3 add a New Collection type the name of the collection and click the Add button The new collection name will appear in the Collections list and all available routes will appear in the Available Routes list Scaling Routes Collections Collections Routes in Collection Available Hautes nC ett E 003 outbound 003 mMbourd 004 outbound Delete 004 inbound southbound 005 northbound O06 outbound QUE inbound OOF outbound 009 outbound 009 outbound 009 inbound outbound Oy inbound 011 outbound 011 inbeund O12 outbound Figure 6 6a Ad
9. mm 39 as RotelToBulrPeza 8 mem 22 mae RouelToBulrFlza 8 26 25 58 12 Rowel ToButerPlaza 9 5 055 54 55 1099 Figure 7 1 Stop Level Summary Report I 1 TBEST Re port x Scenario Report TRANSIT SEGMENT SUMMARY ReportDatesTme 4 27 2011 2 06 25 Transit System Gainesville Time Pernod WEEE DAY Scenana Validation OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES BOARDINGS BOARDINGS BOARDINGS RouelToBulrPlaa Route 1ToDowntownStation AB 868 m To 139 1389 355019 48786 40905 Figure 7 2 Segment Summary Report 9 59 amp Planning Area TOTAL B 730 1000 1001 3000 500 2000 2001 16000 16010 31000 C BCT Stops 44904690 gBelgoq Map Scale fi 308 401 C BCT Routes BCT infousa SPUR X Basemap Layers Cities Points Landmarks Points Streets and Highways J Railroads 3 Airports Water Landmarks Areas City Areas 4 TBEST Report amp BCT TRANSIT STOP SUMMARY BY PLANNING AREA WEEKDAY REPORT TRANSFER DIRECT TRANSFER TOTAL OPPORTUNITIES BOARDINGS BOARDINGS BOARDINGS COCONUT CREEK CORAL SPRINGS 1138 4032 821 4913 COUNTY REGIONAL FACIL 30 110 21 130 DANIA BEACH 416 301 311 1212 DAVIE 592 1303 6
10. TBEST IMPLEMENTATION PROCEDURES FOR STRATEGIC AND SERVICE PLANNING Prepared for State of Florida Department of Transportation Public Transit Office 605 Suwannee Street MS 30 Tallahassee Florida 32399 0450 TBEST IMPLEMENTATION PROCEDURES FOR STRATEGIC AND SERVICE PLANNING Technical Memorandum December 2011 Prepared by Rodney Bunner Steven Polzin Justin Begley Center for Urban Transportation Research CUTR University of South Florida 4202 E Fowler Ave CUT 100 Tampa Florida 33620 5375 CUTR Special thanks to LYNX personnel for their contribution to the study LYNX FDOT Project Manager Diane Quigley Florida Department of Transportation 605 Suwannee Street MS 26 Tallahassee FL 32399 850 414 4520 diane quigley dot state fl us TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION eee 1 BENEFITS OF TBEST 2 TBEST IMPLEMENTATION OVERVIEW ccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccecceccccceccescccccecs 4 TBEST IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS FLOW UMS DECIDE DEM LES 4 IBEST PERSONNELROLE
11. w sms e m m e pez psi e ss 0 TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 81 LYNXNetworkTest Weekday Network and Performance Measures Al EN Variables Route 03 December 2009 A vs CBD Growth B Route 08 Route 102 ds LI i LI HV ES Men LI 50000 z LI FS o d JT S 5 LI LI n o 7 5 oo NE DU r a Co 7 0345 758 1 Mc c NE 2 Uie io B RouteArrivals BEN Scenario RevenueServiceTrips io B RevenueServiceTrips 9 Scenario RouteRevenueServiceMiles io B RouteRevenueServiceMiles 77 Scenario RouteRevenueServiceHours io B RouteRevenueServiceHours Scenario RouteBoardings PerServiceHour io B RouteBoardingsPerServiceHour Scenario HouteBoardings PerServiceMile io B RouteBoardings PerServiceMile Scenario RouteBoardingsPerServiceTrnp io B RouteBoardings PerServiceTrip Scenario Route amp vgBoardingsPer Visit B RouteAwgBoardings PerVisit TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 82 Workflow 4 15 Determine the projected yearly cost of implementing a 20 decrease in Headway for the system Operation Steps Operation Reference 1 Develop a Model Application Scenario Decrease the headways on all Weekday time periods by 20 Run t
12. Boardings ia Population Report Date 5 12 2011 Transit System LYNX Employment Area H E Network Time Period Weekday H V Performance Measures December 2009 Route 50 Scenario 6 Summary 5162 8898 8 m 2 3 b A A i Scenario Repo amp Population Report Date 5 12 2011 9 1 HouseHold amp amp Income Transit System LYNX E E Employment Area CED H E Network Time Penod Weekday E Performance Measures Compared Scenarios Scenaro December 2009 Scenario B Route 50 Scenario 6 Mobility Area Summary Recommendations All routes must operate with 1 2 headway consider BRT or other mode options Route Summary Routes which access the Mobility Area Figure 7 9 TBEST Comparison Report for Mobility Area Scenario Summary Interactive Charts Once a report has been generated interactive charts can be generated by clicking the Open Chart button on the Report toolbar For reports that summarize all routes the drop down box next to the Open Chart button will only contain a chart option for All Routes For reports summarized by Mobility Areas the drop down box will contain an option for each of the two tables in the report The Scenario Summary Chart interface allows for filtering not only route level variables but also the routes that appear in the chart U
13. Downtown Station Route 01 To Butler Plaza 11 5 Haute 11 Eastwood 10 Route 01 To Downtown Station r r 12 5 4 60 r 6 242011 02 To Health Department 5 8 41 2 Route 11 Ta Downtown Stations E Route 02 To Downtown Station z 5 r g 3n 5 Route 117 34th ST 13 Route 10 To Santa Fe College P 3 25 F 2 Route 118 Cultural Plaza 14 Route 10 To Downtown Station r 4 8 d 33 2 18 Route 11 To Meadows 5 6 32 2 Route 113 Family Housing 6 na 5 og F 32 2 Total Routes 17 Route 117 34th ST PNR F E 14 gy 55 i 4 18 Route 118 Cultural Plaza T d T 34 156 E 5 13 Route 119 Family Housing i r ji 6 F 5 T 28 E 3 F F F F 04 F 67 F 556 F 20 Total Routes MAH sheeti 9 Figure 7 16 TBEST Report in Excel Quick Reports TBEST allows you to quickly generate reports based on selected segments or stops Segments To quickly summarize the segment ridership select the segment s and click the Segment Options drop down menu and select the Show Ridership for Selected Segments option A report will be created summarizing segment s ridership Stops To quickly summarize the ridership at a stop select the stop s click the Stop Options drop down menu and select the Show Ridership for Selected Stops option A report will be created summarizing stop s ridership Export Map Lists TBEST also has an option to e
14. 3 MANAGING TRANSIT SYSTEMS AND SCENAHIOS This section provides an overview of the mx management and use of TBEST Transit Systems and Scenarios The overview will g TBEST Explorer include discussion of the organization of 0 Transit Systems the scenarios within transit systems Unvalidated HLS Gainesville af 2008 incorporation of socio economic data into a By RT new transit system and additional tools for amp Bon lt 2006 distributing model files amp County of 2007 Distribution Files 3 1 TBEST Transit Systems D Socio Economic Data Figure 3 1 Transit Systems in TBEST TBEST Transit Systems encapsulate the Explorer framework for scenario based Transit modeling reporting and analysis Within this framework TBEST stores and manages a Base Year model and any number of future year scenarios Transit System scenarios contain a transit network socio economic data and model properties that are specific to either the development of a base year model or proposed future year alternatives Base Year networks and socio economic data not directly editable within TBEST It is only through running the TBEST Validation process that a new Base Year model is created TBEST can manage multiple Transit Systems over any geographic area Viewing TBEST Transit Systems To view TBEST Transit Systems navigate to the 7BEST Explorer window see Figure 3 1 above and open the Tr
15. 3 Select the Target TBEST Transit System 4 Select the Target TBEST Scenario The selected scenario should not be open in TBEST 5 Click the Show Service IDs button The tool will load the list of Weekday Saturday and Sunday service codes in the GTFS Feed The service codes can be indicative a types of service alternating service holiday service or other categorizations defined by the agency For more information on the meaning of the agency service codes contact the agency Operations Department Utilize the Select Service Periods to Import section to view the service codes To view which routes belong to a service code check the box beside the code and click the Show Routes button The routes will be visible in the Import Options section Multiple service codes can be combined for the import If the same route exists under more than one service code it will only be imported once To import routes into a scenario with no existing network or where existing routes need to be deleted a Select the Remove all existing routes in the scenario before importing selected routes option in the Import Options section To import all routes into the scenario check the Select All checkbox To import only select routes check each route to be imported in the Import column Go to Step 10 To add new routes from the current GTFS feed to an existing scenario Select the Interactively select routes to import replace option in the Import Options
16. TBEST Scenario Summary System and Scenarios Transit System LYNX Scenario A April 2010 Summary Span and Time Period Summary Span Daily Summary by Time Period Time Periad Weekday Routes To Summarize Show All Routes E Routes intersecting a Mobility Area Select ne Define Mobility Area Thresholds Operating Cost Route Operating Cost per Hour 5 50 00 Figure 7 5 TBEST Comparison Scenario Summary for all Routes TBEST Scenario Summary System and Scenaria s Transit System LYNX 5 April 2010 Scenario CBD Growth Summary Span and Time Period Summary Span Daily Summary by Time Period Time Period Weekday Routes To Summarize 21 Show Al Routes Routes intersecting a Mobility Area Define Mobility Area Thresholds Operating Cost Route Operating Cost per Hour 5 50 00 Show Report Cancel Figure 7 6 TBEST Comparison Scenario Summary for Mobility Area Selecting Summary Span and Time Period The Scenario Summary Tool provides flexibility on how to summarize estimated ridership performance measures and cost The Summary Span drop down box contains six options for summarizing these variables 1 Daily Summary by Time Period this is the default option and is a single day summary of the selected Time Period or aggregate Time Period Weekday or Weekend 2 Annualized Summary by Time Period summarizes the selected Time Period for a one year duration If the selected Tim
17. and model analysis Where applicable workflows will contain hyperlinks to relevant TBEST instructions procedures or concepts contained in the document or appendices While the workflow s represent important aspects of utilizing TBEST for service and strategic planning they are not comprehensive in terms of the numerous possibilities for model application and model analysis As TBEST evolves and more workflows that support the planning process are identified this document will be updated to include those processes The panning community is encouraged to experiment with TBEST and provide feedback on your experiences New ideas and procedures can benefit not only the contributing agency but the community at large Important TBEST Modeling Terms Prior to describing detailed TBEST procedures some common terms used in the documentation are defined below Please become familiar with these terms before continuing e Base Year Development Scenario When a model has not been validated the scenario where the base year conditions are being developed is known as the Base Year Development scenario e Base Year Scenario refers to the scenario which represents the validation year Once model has been validated TBEST keeps the base year scenario hidden from the TBEST user interface To access the base year scenario the user creates a new scenario This newly created scenario will contain all of the base year conditions including the transit
18. before TBEST reports will reflect changes in the model input Model Status 4 Underthe Scenario menu on the main toolbar select Search The TBEST Attribute Search dialog will open 5 Onthe TBEST Attribute Search dialog build the following criteria statement for Routes Direction See Appendix A 8 1 Description Like Inbound Search Tool 6 Click the Apply button The Route window will display the selected routes 7 Close the Attribute Search dialog 8 Under the Reports menu on the main toolbar select Route Performance The TBEST Reports dialog will open 9 Onthe TBEST Reports dialog select Weekday as the Time Period and in the Routes to Summarize section select the Selection Only option Note any TBEST Time Period can be selected to summarize the performance 10 Optionally the Map Results option can be checked This option should be selected when then number of See Appendix A 7 1 selected routes is less than 10 Otherwise the map can become to cluttered and illegible Map Results Option measures for the selected routes are summarized at the bottom of the report ScenarioName Weekday Performance InboundRoutesOnly TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 57 Report Sample i TBEST Report Scenario Report TRANSIT ROUTE SUMMARY Scenario Transit System Key est Time Period WEEKDAY Report Date Time 11 10 2011 6 03 11 ROUTE rocks
19. select Graduated Symbols In the Fields panel select Share ZeroVeh HH as the Value 9 Inthe Layer Properties dialog click the Definintion Query tab User the Query Builder to compile the following Definition Query Route Name Route 1 OR Route Name Route 2 10 In the Layer Properties dialog click OK to apply the changes 11 In the list of map layers in the Map Control right click on the Loaded AM Peak Network Segments layer and select Layer Properties 12 In the Layer Properties dialog click the Symbology tab In the left panel select Multiple Attributes Under Multiple Attributes select Quanity By Category In the Value Fields panel select Route Name in the first drop down box In the Variation by panel click the Symbol Size button In the Draw quantities using symbol size to show relative value dialog in the Fields panel select Total Boardings for the Value Click OK to close the Draw quantities using symbol size to show relative value dialog 13 In the Layer Properties dialog click the Definintion Query tab User the Query Builder to compile the following Definition Query Route Name Route 1 OR Route Name Route 2 TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 72 14 In the Layer Properties dialog click the Labels tab Check the Label features in this layer option In the Text String panel in the Label Field drop down box select Route Name Click the Symbol button to fo
20. Haute Type RADIAL Technology BLIS Route Name H oute Route Description Downtown Area Description mi Northbound Description 4e Southbound Figure 5 8 Accessing Route Properties The Route Properties dialog opens allowing edits to the Route attributes Click OK and the Route Properties will be updated Note Routes coded as Circulators cannot be changed to any other route type Likewise Radial Crosstown and Express routes cannot be changed to Circulators Note After the system has been validated you will not be able to modify the Route Type or Technology Deleting a Route To delete an existing Route select the Route in the Routes tab and click the Delete Route button on the Routes Toolbar You will be asked if you want to delete the route Click Yes The Route will then be deleted from the Scenario Sorting the Route List Routes can be sorted in the Routes Tab by clicking the Route Options drop down menu on the Routes Toolbar and selecting Settings gt Sort by There are four options for sorting Sort by Route Name Alphabetical list of route name Sort by Route Description Alphabetical list of Route Description field Sort by Route Type Will sort by Radial Circulator Crosstown or Express sort by Route Technology Will sort by Bus Heavy Rail Peoplemover Streetcar BRT Light Rail or Other Edit Route lt 8Rnoute s Downtown Area Tools
21. Settings Performance Measures Sort Route Mame Route Description Panama City Hall Gulf Coast Panama City Mall Gulf Coast LSP Route 6 Panama City Mall Gulf Coast 88 SP Route 7 lt Properties Route Type Route Technology Panama City Beach Senior Figure 5 9 Route Sorting Options Activating a Route for Editing TBEST allows the user to add and update the segments and stops which comprise the Route Before adding or modifying segments and stops the Route in single direction must be activated To activate a route for editing expand the node for the Route and select the Route direction to edit Only one direction of the route can be edited at any given time Select Edit Route in the Route Options menu or double click on the selected route direction to activate the route Routes Ta BayTownlIrolley Route Network ci Route 1 Southbound amp Route 2 Panama City Hall Super Wal e Route 3 Sears at Panama City Mall SF Route 4 Panama City Hall Gulf Coast Route 5 Panama City Mall Gulf Coast Route 6 Panama City Mall Gulf Coast _ ESF Route 7 Panama City Beach Senior Cer gt Figure 5 10 Edit Route In the window the map zooms to the extent of the activated route and existing segments and stops will be displayed with a yellow highlight In the Routes tab the arrow beside the route direction ac
22. Speed Route Route Route Additional Description of Network Edits Stop Stop Stop Stop O Increase or O Segments Value Decrease O Increase or O Segments Value Decrease O Increase or O Segments Value Decrease Corridor Area or Site Service Span Route Time Period s Route Time Period s Route Time Period s Route Time Period s Headway Segment Time Period s Route Time Period s Route Time Period s Route Time Period s s s Entire System Additional Description of Service Changes Fare Transfer Hubs I nterlined Routes Special Generators Only for PnR Generators Amenities SERVI CE CHANGES Time Period Time Period S S NETWORK PROPERTI ES O Future Year Fare Entered No Growth Rate O Expected Inflation Rate Entered Source O No Change Expected Added or O Removed O Added or O Removed Added or O Removed Added or O Removed Added or O Removed Time Point Identifier Time Point Identifier O Added or O Removed Added or L1 Removed Added or O Removed Added or O Removed O Added or O Removed Added or O Removed Route A Route A Route A SPECI AL GENERATORS Stop Name Time Period Stop Name Time Period Stop Name Time Period Stop Name Amenity Stop Name Amenity Stop Name Amenity O Increase or O Decrease Number of
23. for the column totals and for service types for the row totals The individual Route adjustment factors for each route will be used in all subsequent forecasts to provide adjusted ridership estimates The calculated mean adjustment factors by service type and technology can be used in subsequent forecasts as the adjustment factors for new routes that have the same service type technology and time period This template is set up to include other technology and service types This will allow for the prospect that there may be situations where a given route does not fall into any of the specified classifications This will be an extremely rare situation Table 6 36 Output Route Adjustment Factors for Service and Technology Types 1 of 3 tables one for each time period Technology Bus Rapid Commuter Service Traditional Transit Heavy Rail Type Bus BRT Streetcar LR Rail AGT Other Cross TBEST is designed to use the most disaggregate data available for subsequent applications of Route Adjustment Factors Thus for a route that has a weekday a m peak period adjustment factor subsequent forecasts will apply that a m peak period adjustment factor If service is expanded such that it exists during a weekday time period when it was previously not available the model will assign the weekday average Route Adjustment Factor for the same technology and service type If service is expanded to a weekend time the model will similar
24. sso 26 9 Roweii0 380 2 s so 18 02 Roue 120 129 31 100 9 m o 195 9 0 Roue 130 3393 137 o 34 25 o 8 16 og Rowe 40 29827 2803 3230 9 9 as w u 2z2 2 2 02 Rose 279 20 7 22 n o 15 08 225 05 EM TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 50 Workflow 4 4 Performance Reports by Route Direction Operation Steps 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Open TBEST Open a TBEST Scenario Confirm that the model runs are valid and no edits are pending If edits are pending the model must be run before TBEST reports will reflect changes in the model input Underthe Reports menu on the main toolbar select Route Performance The TBEST Reports dialog will open Onthe TBEST Reports dialog select Weekday as the Time Period and Route Direction as the Grouping This report will summarize the unique route directional names within the system For example if route Directional Descriptions are populated with values of either Inbound and Outbound for all routes this report will summarize performance for Inbound and Outbound Note any TBEST Time Period can be selected to summarize the performance Click Apply TBEST Performance Measures are summari
25. 4 Batch Model Run for Different Scenarios 6 5 Model Validation The TBEST Model Validation process is designed to automatically make the model replicate the actual ridership data for a given urban area This involves developing a set of factors that adjust for considerations not captured within the model coefficients The factors are applied at the stop level to enable the model to replicate existing ridership and average factors for a service type and technology The factors are then developed to use as adjustment factors for application to new scenarios in the given urban area Mean adjustment factors are also developed that can then be used when the model is applied to new service types or technologies Validation with respect to any variable will require that there be actual ridership data available from the subject transit agency at the level of detail to support validation Validation Sequence Step 1 Stop level observed ridership optional The first step in validation is optional for any given application It enables the user to evaluate the ridership levels at unique stops The meaning of unique is that the ridership cannot be explained by socio economic data or local generators These are stops where transit demand is not likely to be well reflected by the socio demographic and service level data available to the model Unique conditions such as intermodal transfer stations with an intercity or interregional mode or other situ
26. 8 2 Search Files Folder in TBEST Explorer The steps below illustrate the steps to saving loading and executing a stored Search File Save Search Parameters and then Load back into the Scenario Step 1 X Open the Attribute Search dialog and build an Attribute Query Step 2 Click the Save button on the Attribute Search dialog otep 3 Give the search statement a name and click Save By default TBEST will open the oave dialog to the Search directory in the Transit System TBEST saves its Search files with a tsh file extension Step 4 Close and re open the Attribute Search dialog OR clear the full search statement in the Attribute Search text box Step 5 Click the Load button and navigate to the saved tsh file or right click on the Search in TBEST Explorer and select Open Step 6 Attribute Search dialog will open and the selection statement will appear in the oearch Criteria text box Step 7 Click OK or Apply to execute the search 8 2 Import Routes The Import Route Tool can be accessed from the Tools tab in the Main Menu This tool allows a user to import route s into a scenario from another transit system or scenario The primary purpose of this tool is to allow exchange of routes across multiple alternatives without recoding the route s in each scenario Important note on importing a route into a validated scenario When importing a route into a validated scenario it may be necessary to readjust the R
27. Copy Gainesville to Transit System Information M amne Gainseville Backup Extent by County Alachua File Directory ATBEST TransitS ystems 5 ncia E conamic Data Source Y ear Populations 2009 Emplaeyment 2008 Figure 3 10 Copying a Transit System Deleting an Existing Transit System otep 1 To delete a system from TBEST Explorer right click on the Transit System and select Delete 123 Once Transit System is deleted it is not recoverable If there is any doubt as to whether this system will be used again export the Transit System into Distribution File format as a backup 3 8 Opening Scenarios in TBEST Explorer A TBEST transit system is composed of model scenarios containing routes stops socio economic data and network attributes Scenarios are created for either base year model development and validation or to model ridership changes to the base year model based on proposed future year network or socio economic modifications Scenarios are managed within the TBEST Explorer window Scenarios Folder The Scenarios folder is displayed beneath all installed TBEST Transit Systems and contains a list of model scenarios that have been created for a particular Transit System If no scenarios have been created the folder will be empty A scenario can be opened for editing by right clicking the scenario and selecting Open S
28. Economic data has been 00 Transit Systems developed on a statewide basis and can be accessed by download from within TBEST The Socio Economic data packages will contain population Figure 3 3 Socio Economic Data in TBEST Explorer and employment data that has been Section 3 5 on using the Socio Economic data to create a new Transit System 3 Socio Economic Data formatted to work with TBEST See To download TBEST Socio Economic data use the following steps Downloading Socio Economic Data Step 1 Select File gt Downloads gt Download Socio Economic Support Data in the 7BEST Main Menu otep 2 Select the desired Socio Economic data package from the TBEST Support Data Download form as shown in Figure 3 4 and click Download Step 3 Click Save in the File Download dialog see Figure 3 5 In the Save As dialog navigate to CATBES T SupportData and save the file When the download is complete click the Close button on the File Download dialog Step 4 complete the process of extracting the downloaded Socio Economic data for use TBEST click the Extract button on the TBEST Support Data Download form In the Save As dialog navigate to the C TBEST SupportData directory and select the downloaded file in cab format The extraction process will bring up a Windows Command window that displays the progress of the extraction 117 Step 5 When the extraction process is complete TBEST Explorer w
29. Growth Hates Figure 4 2 Zonal SE Growth Rates Once the layer has been referenced the Total Population Total Households Total Employment and Income text boxes and Lookup buttons become enabled Note Input to a base attribute is mandatory if the subordinate attributes are to be provided as inputs Match the TBEST attribute variable to a column from the input zonal dataset To input the reference column click the Lookup button to the right the TBEST variable The Reference Column dialog will list all columns in the input zonal dataset Select a column from list that matches the TBEST variable illustration see Figure 4 3 Zonal SE Growth Rates Reference Column Socio Economic Data Growth Rates System wide Annual Growth Rates Total Population z Average Household o f Total Employment gg z Per Capita Income fe Total Households z Median Household Hate Zonal Annual Growth Rates Import Future ear Socio Economic Projections results wil override System wide growth rates where applied onal Future Year Socio Economic Projection Input Reference an ArcGIS Layer with projected Socio Economic data onal Projection c eESTDemeeen rmm SE Match TBEST Attributes to Future Year Reference Layer Columns Population Household Employment Income Population Attributes Total Population Reference Colu
30. OK Area Analysis 49 Buffer A E z 5 ni i xL wmm A E E apaa ARE EE HER os HR EEE A D H H Lt FL ed He AL PI 5 a z W S 1 2 um CECI ww gist Ave Thien o t RT e TES JE E DEM si E 4 5 8 luem i oe puniendum dm asd LH Primum amp ms 500 I E gs P UTERE ape LU EO HATER IEE ETE TLL GHEE PP EE EEE EET EEL 5 Wiiililmi emus niim TT ir E gi eh i ARAR En Bm d Din n Hl pn n mnn t rmn eg y Lim uiii foa gg ITE FELLER EEE rail NIME C a E n i Pe ee Beg
31. PeakIVTT IVTT NightlVTT Saturday I TT SundayIVTT Route 1 Northbound 081 5 5 Bonte 1 Northbound 1157 E 7 Route 1 Northbound 0 88 3 Route 1 Northbound 1 72 5 5 5 5 2 3 4 Route 1 Northbound 1 55 Route 1 Marthbound 1 95 Route 1 Southbound 0 91 5 5 7 3 5 5 5 5 Figure 5 26 Merging Route Segments The two segments will now appear as one in the map window and in the Segments table The new segment will maintain the properties of the first of the series of segments merged until changed manually This tool will only allow two segments to be merged at a time for three or more segments multiple merge functions must be performed Deleting Segments To delete a segment highlight the desired segment Click the Delete Route Segment button If you select yes the segment will be deleted from the system Deleting a segment will automatically delete all stops along the segment 5 9 Service Span Once a route is digitized the Service Span can be entered for each TBEST time period To enter Route Service Span otep 1 On the TBEST main menu click Scenario Service Span or click on the Network Service Span button the main toolbar otep 2 In the Route Service Span form locate the route you want to modif
32. Planning 4 menta pl ES Ne F lr entation a wr rise P and Cia Dlan FTP Server Production File Server TBEST Model Storage Production Validated Model Strategic Planning Projects Web GIS Server Public GIS Portal TDP files and data Scenarios for Public Discussion GIS Software License Manager ArcView ArcEditor Arcinfo shared licenses Figure 1 1 TBEST Implementation Diagram TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 5 Operations Department GTFS Feed or ule Department TBEST Installation ArcGIS Licensing TBEST Personnel Roles TBEST implementation requires a team of individuals with skills in management planning modeling GIS and IT These staff members will be responsible for software installation model development validation maintenance application and analysis Table 1 1 below contains the position titles and responsibilities for agency staff involved in TBEST implementation Within this document the position titles listed in the table will be matched with task responsibilities so that it is clear who within the agency is to perform the task level duties TBEST Implementation Personnel Roles Position Title Responsibilities Management Initial TBEST implementation plan coordinating and assigning staff coordinating training sessions Modeling GIS TBES
33. Scenario A and Scenario B for each of the Scenario Charting variables in the report To save the chart as an image click the Save Chart as Image button on the toolbar Once saved the chart can then be included in any user developed output report assocated with this model application Note by expanding a Summary Node in the Summary Variables panel the variables associated with the Summary Node will be exposed To filter desired variables to hide display in the report uncheck check the option box beside the variable name TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 80 Reports Sampie ails H 7 Ts 1 ak T pen Chart Routes which access the Mobility Area Mobility rea Iu TBoardings Network and Performance Measures Variables E Population 22 5 December 2009 E E Employment Scenano B Growth S F Network Transit System LYNXNetworkTest Report Date 11 21 2011 1 10 32 PM Mobility Area Summary E v ij ations E V RouteBoardingsPerService Hour A route must be planned and operated to service the mobility area Po Route Summary Routes which access the Mobility Area b Pics Pade Nane Person Trane warn o Change oe 02 0 ra 23 0 0 x 413 0 0 62 4 mas m pesper 8s s ls e s 588 0
34. Special Generators and Stop Amenities TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 32 Workflow 3 2 TBEST Model Application Scenario Development 1 Download the production TBEST model from the ValidatedModel folder on the 4 Within the validated TBEST Transit System make a copy of the BaseYearModel scenario Give the copied scenario a descriptive name such as MAS AddRoute14 The MAS prefix stands for Model Application Scenario 5 Modify the Scenario Properties for the new Scenario Appendix A 3 9 a Enterthe Forecast Year Scenario Properties b Enterthe Wage Growth Rate c Ifthe model was validated using a zonal employment dataset a dataset needs to be referenced that reflects the employment conditions in the forecast year 6 Input the Network updates Perform each as required Procedure 3 1 Adding New Routes Procedure 3 2 Route Realignment Procedure 3 3 Adding New Stops See Appendix A 5 12 Moving Existing Stops Procedure 3 4 Deleting Stops Procedure 3 5 Deleting Segments Procedure 3 6 Deleting Routes See Appendix A 5 7 Updating Operating Speeds See Appendix A 8 2 Importing Routes from other TBEST scenarios 7 Input Socio Economic Growth Rates Appendix 4 3 a Ifthe scenario Forecast Year is greater than the Base Year calculate the Socio Economic system wide socio econmic growth rates Growth Rates Procedure for updating within a specific Area Corridor
35. System Select a TBEST Time Period or aggregate Time Period to summarize To summarize a single scenario select scenario to summarize in the Scenario A drop down box and then select the Summarize Scenario A Only check box See Figure 7 4 To compare two scenarios in the report select a second scenario for Scenario B See Figure 7 5 To summarize all routes existing in the selected scenario s select the Routes Summary Option To summarize routes that intersect a Mobility Area select the Routes which intersect a Mobility Area Summary Option See Figure 7 6 With this option the user must select a pre defined Mobility Area Mobility Areas are defined in TBEST using the Area Corridor and Site Analysis tools To evaluate the results of a comparison report click the Define Mobility Area Thresholds button For more information on defined Mobility Area thresholds refer to the instructions in this section Click the Show Report button to generate the report 20 TBEST Scenario Summary System and Scenaria s Transit System LYNX Scenano April 2010 5cenario B Select ne Summary Span and Time Period Summary Span Daily Summary by Time Period Time Period Weekday Routes To Summarize Show All Routes Routes intersecting a Mobility Area Select One Define Mobility Area Thresholds Operating Cost Route Operating Cost per Hour 50 00 Figure 7 4 TBEST Single Scenario Summary for all Routes
36. and open the newly created scenario The newly created scenario will now also appear in the list of scenarios in TBEST Explorer Mew Scenario Scenario Scenario Properties Scenario Hame Scenario Files Location Description Validation Input Service Area Wages Fopulation Source ear 8b Mean Annual Wage o 45000 Target Base Year Annual Growth A ate 8 Employment Data Source gt InfoUSA Employment Source Year Eu Forecast Year Zonal Employment Data Figure 3 14 Create New Scenario Un validated Model 128 New Scenario Scenario Scenario Properties Scenario Mame ATS Validatior Scenaro Files Location C ATBESTSTransitSustems G cenarios Description Validation Input Service Area Wages Population Source ear 2004 Mean Annual Wage 47 P96 53 Target Base Year Annual Growth Fate A Employment D ata Source gt InfolIS 2006 Forecast Year Zonal Employment D ata 8 1 Figure 3 15 Create New Scenario Validated Model Viewing and Editing Scenario Properties Users can view or reset the Scenario properties at any time by right clicking on the Scenario in the TBEST Explorer window and selecting Properties 129 3 10 Copy Delete a Scenario TBEST provides tools within the TBEST Explorer window to copy and delete existing Scenarios Scenario Copy Copying a scenario can be benef
37. chosen distance is created around your corridor and all stops in that region are selected In the View menu make sure that Show Selected Stops Only is selected for the network geometry You may need to refresh the selection to view the stops in the digitized area Click the Refresh Selection button in the Analysis Toolbar The set of stops across all routes that fall within the defined area will be highlighted in light blue both in the Map window and in the Stops window The corridor buffer can be saved for future sessions Click the Save button in the Analysis Toolbar A dialog box that asks for the name of the site buffer will appear Enter a name and click OK oelect a segment s and select Create a Corridor from Selection from the Segment Options menu as shown in Figure 8 9 This creates the set buffer distance around the selected segment s Follow Steps 4 6 above See Figure 8 10 for an example of a corridor buffer m m Segment Options m Add Segment Merge Segments Split Segments fe Create Corridor From Selection Select Stops From Selected Segments Show Ridership For Selected Segments Figure 8 9 Creating a Corridor from Selection PA Ma 37040 2 en sand Figure 8 10 Corridor Buffer Analysis Reports For any type of analysis a boardings estimation report can be developed for the stops that fall within the selected area Boardings Estimation fo
38. existing TBEST Area Analysis Corridor or Site Analysis otep 4 In TBEST Explorer window right click on the TBEST Area Analysis Corridor or oite Analysis that will define the geographic extent of the sector otep 5 From the right click context menu select the option to convert the Scenario into a Sector Scenario Optionally the Analysis Toolbar contains a button to create the oector Scenario otep 6 TBEST will perform the sector building procedure This procedure will take nearly same amount of time as a model run for the scenario otep 7 When complete the scenario will be zoomed to the extent of the sector boundary Figure 8 12 otep 8 When not open the Scenario will now be displayed in the TBEST Explorer window with the Sector Scenario icon TBEST StarMetro la x File View Scenario Tools Map Help d a Search Reports 1 vo SE Growth Service Network Validation Model Explorer Save Equations Del PSTA i aly StarMetro HO Scenarios P StarMetro Model E amp S Sector Model B e Reports L3 Search Files AO Corridors 1 bae Xm Corridor Sub amp rea Model C3 Area Analysis me Site Analysis mg AO TBEST Distribution Files Ganin F economic Gunnar Nats Route Options a F ara StarMetro Route Network Route 1 Northwood Centre ES Route 10 TMHC Capita
39. for each of the Scenario Charting variables in the report To save the chart as an image click the Save Chart as Image button on the toolbar Once saved the chart can then be included in any user developed output report assocated with this model application Note by expanding a Summary Node in the Summary Variables panel the variables associated with the Summary Node will be exposed To filter desired variables to hide display in the report uncheck check the option box beside the variable name TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 83 Report Doe aa db Edl Jn Open Chart Route Summary All Routes 8 Boardings and Cost Variables apulation EL Scenario CED Growth El Employment Transit System LYNXNetworkTest E Network Summary Span Service Tear 1 Performance Measures Operating Cost per Hour 45 V Cost Report Date 11 21 2011 2 02 34 PM Houte Summary e iini conum ROUTE 44 icm PIN zc me j sm me Roue443 253050 415827 96 97 Rue e p x eem o 9s 307658 205637 5230006 4534245 sa 28 5 155020 2841255 sis 26 Roues 384703 354938 8563635 sa Roue57 sao 2060 sangsoo 57 91 Roue58 3086 9759 s 14619 25
40. for the new route structure 4 Within TBEST make a copy of the Transit System to be re validated The copied system should be given a name that describes the new validation year 5 nthe copied system determine the scenario that will be used for the new model validation If itis not already the scenario should be renamed to BaseYearModel If model application scenarios exist that need to be updated with the model revalidation keep those scenarios in the system 6 Checkthe TBEST Downloads to verify if updated Socio Economic data is Appendix A 3 3 available Socio Economic Download 7 Rejectthe validation on the target TBEST Transit system Appendix A 6 5 Reject Model Validation TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 26 8 Using the TBEST Network Coding environment input routes segments stops headway service span stop names time points segment time point to time point in vehicle travel time IVTT transfer points and interliners for the BaseYearModel scenario 9 When network editing is complete perform the following a Openthe Scenario Properties window and enter the following properties i modify the Target Base Year to match the new base year modify the Mean Annual Person Wage for the Target Base Year b Openthe Validation Route Collection dialog and verify that all routes are Appendix A 6 5 placed in a collection If new routes were added
41. future years 5 Special Generators Amenities a Code Special Generators Special Generators are coded at the stop and time period level In most cases special generators can be coded for all time periods The exception would be Park n Ride where it would mainly influence AM Peak and or Off Peak ridership See Appendix A 5 14 Special Generators b Code Amenities Optional At present amenities have no impact on the model so they will not influence the model prediction See Appendix A 5 14 Stop Amenities TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 36 Procedure 3 2 Updating Socio Economic Data for DRI or TOD Input Options TBEST Action 1 Ifnot already open open the Model Application Scenario 2 Select the Stops to update See Procedure 3 8 Selecting Routes Segments and Stops 3 Show the Socio Economic stop level variables lt Appendix 5 11 Show Socio Economic Variables 4 Three options to update the Socio Economic modifying TBEST generated socio economic attributes attributes when the TBEST model run is performed the system level socio economic growth rate calculations are no longer performed on the modified stop s To revert the stops out of this edited mode see Appendix A 8 3 Stops with Localized Socio Economic Adjustments If each stop will contain aunique n the Stops window enter the cell that contains the value for the attribute socio econ
42. have a pattern in one direction Since there are no field values in the GTFS schema that denote the route type the TBEST GTFS Network Import tool will look for key words such as Express Circulator or Crosstown in the route description and then code the TBEST route with the correct route type If none of these types are present in the route description the route will be coded as a Radial If the route type needs to be modified follow the instructions for Modifying Route Properties TBEST routes also deal with service differently than GTFS TBEST summarizes stop level headway arrivals and in vehicle travel time by time period The GTFS provides individual arrival times by stop or time point The GTFS Import tool calculates the TBEST service from the individual arrival times populated in the GTFS TBEST routes can also be broken into segments which are helpful in more accurately defining in vehicle travel time based on time points within the schedule The GTFS does not contain an absolute flag for whether a stop is a time point or not It does indicate that a time point is a stop that has arrival times populated in the stop times txt table however most agencies are currently populating all stops with arrival times so time points become indistinguishable in the feed Therefore the GTFS Network Import Tool does not break route linear geometry into segments Routes segments can be created manually after import using the TBEST Netw
43. input with future year SE data as attributes This dataset needs to be an ArcGIS compatible format shapefile or personal geodatabase Using the input data and the projection year of the zonal data the TBEST engine will calculate the spatial intersection between the zonal data and the Census Block Group geometry of the region then develop growth rates by Census Block Group These growth rates will be applied to stops that fall with the Census Block Group geometry 138 It is not required that the input future year zonal Socio Economic data contain all of the TBEST variables Where there is a gap the appropriate growth rate will be applied as determined by the data available See Table 4 3 for more information on how Zonal Growth Patterns and oystem Wide growth parameters are applied within TBEST Scenario Growth Rate Application Within the TBEST growth rates are applied based on the users available data TAZ input data works together with system wide rates to provide the best available rate application Table 4 3 illustrates how TBEST variables growth rates are applied The first column in the table organizes the variables into groups with group base variables in bold and sub variables listed below the primary The table includes four methods for growth rate application Primary Secondary Tertiary and Default listed in order of decreasing precision Primary Rates are those calculated from a zonal data source when the TBEST variable conta
44. is to be saved The output personal geodatabase will be named TBEST LOADEDNETWORK mdb Check the box next to Add Accessibility Measures to add TBEST model network accessibility measures to the output file Check the Add to TBEST Map after processing to add the loaded network as a layer in the TBEST Map control Click OK Once the process is completed the loaded network can be found added as layers in the Map Control in TBEST Figure 8 14 The loaded network consists of two layers Loaded Network Stops and Loaded Network Segments Note If Add to TBEST Map after Processing was unchecked before starting the run to create the loaded network you would be required to manually add layers in TBEST ArcMap from the output location TBEST Loaded Network Loaded Network Creation Options Choose an Output Time Period gt AM Peak PM Peak Saturday O Off Peak Night Sunday Output Options Output Personal GeoD atabase Location CATBESTSTBEST Documentation mdb Add Accessibility Measures add considerable time 1 to output processing Add ta TBEST Map after processing Create Network Figure 8 13 Loaded Network Dialog BayTowntTrolley Map E Loaded Peak Network Stops e Loaded Peak Network Segments BayTownTrolley Stops BavTownTralley Routes L BayTownTrolley inFausa e BayTowntTrolley Census L ESR
45. name The name should be BaseYearModel Scenario Properties d Enter the Target Base Year e Enter the base year Mean Annual Person Wage for the service area f Enter zero for the wage growth rate g By default TBEST will utilize InfoUSA employment data if zonal employment data is to be used select the option and reference the file location Input the Base Year Network Option A Utilize the TBEST GTFS Network Import Tool to import the network a Place the GTFS feed a folder on the local computer If the files are in a zip format un zip the files before proceding The folder the feed is placed in should generally be named for the date of the feed If Modeling GIS Technician has developed the stop features txt file containing stop amenities special generators and transit hubs place the file in this folder If open close TBEST Open the TBEST GTFS Network Import tool In Appendix C follow the steps in the TBEST GTFS Network Import operation procedure and execute step 7 skipping steps 8 and 9 Check the Select All checkbox to select all of the routes Close the TBEST GTFS Network Import tool Open the TBEST Open the Base Year Development Scenario for the model being validated Perform GTFS network quality control steps in Appendix C Option B Digitize the network using the TBEST network coding environment Openthe BaseYearModel scenario b Ifroute and stop geometry are available in shapefiles reference them in the TBEST map
46. of the BaseYearModel scenario Name the copied scenario NewBaseYearModel 6 Openthe NewBaseYearModel scenario in TBEST 7 Using the TBEST Network Coding environment input routes segments stops headway service span stop names time points segment time point to time point in vehicle travel time IVTT transfer points and interliners 8 When network editing is complete perform the following a Runthe TBEST model and check the option to Force Socio Economic Updates on the Model Run dialog b After the model run verify the ridership numbers are reasonable c Close and re open TBEST This will remove any file linkages within TBEST that may cause problems when copying files d In the validated model delete the BaseYearModel scenario e Rename the NewBaseYearModel scenario to BaseYearModel TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 25 f Create a TBEST Distribution file with the name ProductionTBESTModel bid date tds 9 Onthe Production Server under the History folder create a folder with the bid date for the current production model Copy the current production TBEST Distribution file in the WalidatedModel folder to the newly created folder Delete the existing production model in the WalidatedModel folder 10 Upload the distribution file created on step 8f to the ValidatedModel folder on the production server Workflow 2 4 Revalidating a T
47. on the map to select at multiple locations 5 Use the Segment Calculator to calculate the Corridor ID for the selected segments 6 Under the Reports menu on the main toolbar select Segment Analysis The TBEST Reports dialog will open See Appendix 7 1 Segment Analysis 7 Onthe TBEST Reports dialog select Weekday as the Time Period and in the Segments to Summarize section TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 61 performance for the selected segments The total for the selected segments are summarized at the bottom of the report 9 Savethe Report Give the report a descriptive name such as lt ScenarioName gt Weekday_SegmentbyCorridor Report Sample 20 TBEST Report Scenario Report TRANSIT SEGMENT SUMMARY Scenario Model Transit System Time Period Report Date Time 11 11 2011 4 21 22 PM DIRECT TRANSFER TOTAL Roure SEGMENT ID poanpNGs Commercial Blue Outbound Corridor Midtown 55 Corridor Commercial amp N 31 TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 62 Workflow 4 10 Ridership Report for Selected Segments Operation Steps Operation Reference 1 Open TBEST 2 TBEST Scenario 3 Confirm that the model runs are valid and no edits are pending If edits ar
48. oo os Beach Jumper Northbound 05 0 05 Route 45 Southbound 2212 0 zR Route 44 Northbound va 15 1930 Southbound 0 0 Route 1 Eastbound 46 Rowe42NothtPSC o o 0 Route 61 Northbound o 0 Route 60 Southbound 056 o 05 Route 55 Northbound 3913 489 Route 42 Southto Downtown 0 0 Route 50 Southbound 62 174 7 Route 2 Eastbound 28 25 Route 58Northbound o 0 0 Route 47 Southbound 1 o 13 Toa 1165 54 9133 1568 TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 64 Stop Reporting The ability of the TBEST model to estimate ridership at the stop level provides a great tool for analyzing the model results based on the impact of other variables at the stop including service levels walk distance socio economic market ridership levels as compared to other stops and many combinations of data that best tell the story of what is impacting performance at any given stop in the system For more information on methods of Stop Selection see Procedure 3 8 Route Segment and Stop Selection Stop reporting can also be performed for all stops in the system For a workflow example involving Stop Reporting see Workflow 1 2 Corridor Updating and Stop Reporting Regional Analysis Summarize service or rid
49. opportunities listed above Combinations of summary options and variable selections put the power of analysis in the hands of the user This section will provide the basics of constructing reports maps charts and also provide integration with the model application process For the planner the type of analysis to perform is based on specific project requirements and the level of detail necessary to illustrate the project outcome Since TBEST estimates ridership at the stop level and associates socio economic data to the stop level it is possible to aggregate output to the segment route system or geographic area Additionally since the model predicts ridership for six time periods it is also possible to summarize the data based on a single time period aggregated time periods Weekday Weekend or to expand the summaries to Weekly Monthly or Yearly The TBEST implementation plan calls for optional development of agency wide performance metrics corridors sites or other geographic areas and Mobility Area thresholds If implemented all of these analysis specifications can be utilized to perform standard data summaries Planners across the organization can easily perform summarizations that would otherwise take time to develop and understand TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 44 Route and System Performance Reporting Performance reporting is a standard summary tool within the TBEST software Much of
50. or Site location Localized growth around DRI or TOD Refer to Procedure 3 7 Updating Socio Economic Data for DRI or TOD 8 Input Service level Changes Perform each as required Appendix A 5 14 a Update headway arrivals on a Route Input b Update stop headway arrivals for a time period Headwavs Arrivals c Update headway arrivals within a specific Area Corridor or Site location Update route level Service Span 9 Input Network Properties Appendix A 5 15 a Enter the proposed fare structure If the fare will stay the same but still Network needs to reflect inflation between the Base Year and Forecast Year Properties enter the expected inflation rate Check values for any proposed transfer hubs Enter proposed interlined routes C d e f g h l TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 33 10 Network Quality Control a Runthe TBEST model b When the model is completed use the Scenario Summary tool to develop route level reports for Weekday Saturday and Sunday Investigate if ridership socio economic data service and performance measures are reasonable If any variables are unreasonable review network coding and other data input to verify that it is correct Continue revisions until the model output is reasonable or any inconsistencies can be explained 11 Make final adjustments to the TBEST Model Application Scenario Checklist prepared for this scenario Scan the docume
51. previously are quite complex and numerically intensive particularly for large transit systems that have thousands of unique transit stops model run times in TBEST can be quite substantial with complete model runs taking as long as a few hours It is recommended that TBEST be run on high performance hardware and one may want to run multiple models in batched overnight sessions Preparing Near and Mid Term Forecasts T BEST was designed to provide near and mid term forecasts of transit ridership The model uses zone and address level demographic data and detailed transit network specification as the basic inputs While the model can be applied to any future year socio demographic and transit service specifications the user chooses to apply because the model is not interactive with the roadway network long range forecasts will not show a sensitivity to changes in the competitive situations between transit and roadways over time As such one would need to use caution in interpreting longer range forecast applications particularly if the competitive position of transit relative to roadways system speed was anticipated to change significantly 93 The user friendly design of TBEST encourages service planners to aggressively explore various service levels and configurations in an effort to identify transit service needs and opportunities In particular in Florida TBEST is intended to be used for the development of Transit Development Plans in many a
52. professionals explore and evaluate needs and opportunities 1 4 TBEST User Interface TBEST is a very advanced Transit Ridership Forecasting software with highly enhanced Graphic User Interface The user interface has a mapping window that displays a geographic network of a transit system The network attributes of the corresponding transit system are defined and displayed in two tables labeled Segments and Stops The TBEST interface provides a user friendly environment for transit system and scenario management development of a transit network and model analysis Key interface elements are illustrated in Figure 1 1 96 Main Toolbar Analysis Toolbar Map Toolbar Map Control a TBEST BayTownTrolle m File Scenario Tools ap Reports 1 9 je Validation yet Close 3 Analysis Options EC 192 Buffer 0 25 Map Control oF x b FD BayTownTrolley Map BayTownTrolley Stops i TBEST Explorer amp C Transit Systems el Bay Town Trolley W Unvalidated E n Routes 2 9 BayTownTrolley Model 3 0 BayTownTrolley infousa Q Reports BayTownTrolley Census Search Files Ej Q Corridors ESRI StreetMap World 2D D Area Analysis D Site Analysis amp Ut Gainesville A 2008 ce Uy RT 2008 Polk f 2006 Routes oF SMC_County P 2007
53. routes need to be deleted Do stops need to be re positioned Which stops To where Will operating speeds IVTT be adjusted Which routes Have the routes that will be modeled in this scenario been built for another TBEST scenario Are you combining the impacts of more than one scenario Which routes will need to be imported 5 Service Levels a b Will any route service spans be adjusted Will any headways arrivals be adjusted On which routes Which segments Within a corridor or other discrete area Will the headway arrivals modifications be an incremental adjustment or a discrete number TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 31 6 Socio Economic Growth System Wide Growth Rates When developing model application scenarios growth rates are applied from the base year to the forecast year The planner must estimate an annual compounded growth rate for population and employment within the service area If available TBEST also accepts system wide growth rates for Total Households and Income variables Zonal Population and Employment optional if the system wide growth rates described above are not adequate for simulating population and employment spatial distribution changes in the agency s service area TBEST can assign zonal growth rates at the Census Block Group level Implementing this growth mechanism requires a zonal polygon dataset with population and employment numbers that reflec
54. sa login password enter TBEST Click Next im Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition Setup Authentication The authentication mode specifies the security used when connecting to SOL Server di Select the authentication made to use For this installation C Windows Authentication Mode Mixed Mode windows Authentication and SQL Server Authentication Specify the a logon password below Enter password Confirm password Figure 2 8 Authentication Mode Selection Window Leave the checkboxes unchecked on Error and Usage Report Settings and click Next i Microsoft SOL Server 2005 Express Edition Setup Error and Usage Report Settings Help Microsoft improve some of the SQL Server 2005 components and services reporting server Error reports include information regarding the condition of SQL Server 2005 when an error occurred your hardware configuration and other data Error reports Automatically send Feature Usage data For SQL Server 2005 to Microsoft Usage data includes anonymous information about your hardware configuration and how you use our software and services By installing Microsoft SQL Server 2005 SQL Server and its components will be configured to automatically send Fatal service error reports to Microsoft or a Corporate Error Reporting Server Microsoft uses error reports to improve SQL Server Functionality and treats all information as confidential Figure 2 9 Erro
55. segment symbol width to proportional to the total ridership in the AM Peak and show stop locations with the stop symbol size proportional to the number of zero vehicle households within the market area The following workflow illustrates the steps producing this TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 71 Workflow 4 12 Creating a Custom Map with a TBEST Loaded Network Open TBEST 2 Open TBEST Scenario 3 Confirm that the model runs are valid and no edits are pending If edits are pending the model must be run See Appendix A 3 8 before TBEST reports will reflect changes in the model input Model Status Operation Steps Operation Reference 1 4 Underthe Tools menu on the main toolbar select Create a Loaded TBEST Network The TBEST Loaded Network dialog will open See Appendix A 8 9 for Loaded Networkselection options Selection the option to Add TBEST Map after processing 5 When the Loaded Network processing is complete there will be two layers added to the map Loaded AM Peak Network Stops and Loaded AM Peak Network Segments 6 Pin the TBEST Map Control window so that it visible and no longer docked on the side bar 7 Inthe list of map layers the Map Control right click on the Loaded AM Peak Network Stops layer and select Layer Properties 8 In the Layer Properties dialog click the Symbology tab In the left panel select Quantities Under Quantities
56. segments will be visible It is not recommended that segments outside of the boundary be edited Removing a Sector Boundary Once the sector modeling has been completed the sector scenario can optionally be returned to a standard scenario A full model run is required after function has been completed To remove a Sector Boundary with the Sector Scenario open under the Tools menu on the TBEST Main Menu select Undo Sector Scenario This will remove the sector and restore the scenario to the standard scenario format 8 9 Loaded Network The TBEST Loaded Network output associates all of the model attributes for a given scenario and time period with the transit network The Loaded Network function associates socio economic data ridership accessibly service route names stop names and other model attributes with individual stops and segments The output of the Loaded Network process is a personal geodatabase containing Stops and Route Segments feature classes This output can be analyzed in ArcMap Microsoft Access Excel and other external software platforms Creating a Loaded Network otep 1 otep 2 otep 3 otep 4 otep 5 otep 6 otep 7 otep 8 Start a TBEST session and open a scenario Go to Tools Create a loaded TBEST Network A form opens as shown in Figure 8 13 Select the desired Output Time Period Under Output Options browse to the location on the local machine where the loaded network file
57. service improvements necessary to meet transit trip demand 1 Open the tool from the Define Mobility Area Thresholds button on the TBEST Scenario Summary form System and Scenario s Transit System LYNX Scenario A April 2010 Scenario B CBD_Growth Summary Span and Time Period Figure 7 12 TBEST Scenario Summary Tool Defining a Mobility Area 2 TBEST Scenario Summary Mobility Area Thresholds form will open To begin entering thresholds select a time period from the drop down box Figure 7 13 TBEST Scenario Summary Tool Mobility Area Thresholds Form 3 Click the New Threshold button on the toolbar new line will appear in the Threshold list 4 Enter Threshold Name Min Trip Range Max Trip Range and Recommendations 5 Ranges should not be overlapping Ranges set by time period and it is not required to have a range for all time periods only the ones that are needed for threshold analysis 6 Recommendations are elements that may be suggested or required based on the number of trips generated by network and or socio economic changes within the Mobility Area Note To itemize recommendations on the output report place a semi colon between each specific instance Starx D nn change to existing service if additional service is require implement a ipod E maximum af one new arrival on each line Add one additional arrival per each 100 tr
58. specify the range af scales at which this layer will be shown f Show layer at all scales t Don t show layer when zoomed Att Ss Out beyond lt None gt scale LETT A ids IH Lp In bevond 1 100 maximum scale amp Figure 5 3 Layer Properties 5 4 Managing Routes The TBEST Routes Tab provides tools to manage transit routes within the current scenario Routes Toolbar The Routes Toolbar Figure 5 4 provides access to the following route management options e Creating Routes Deleting Routes e Editing Routes Sorting the Route List The Routes Toolbar also provides additional tools for network coding including Copy Routes e Copy Route to Reverse Direction Generate Stops Calculating Stop to Stop Travel Time Route Options en 25 B8Rnoute s Figure 5 4 Routes Toolbar Route Network The Routes Tab see Figure 5 5 below displays a list of all routes including Route Name Description Route Type and Route Technology Ne TCS BayTownlrolley Route Network Route 1 Downtown Area RADIAL s Route 2 Panama City Hall Super Wal Mart Callaway RADIAL Route 3 Sears at Panama City Mall RADIAL a Route 4 Panama City Hall Gulf Coast Community College RADIAL Panama City Mall Gulf Coast Community College RADIAL Panama City Mall Gulf Coast Community College RADIAL Route 7 Panama City B
59. statements are examples of the types of criteria that can be generated and then applied to the TBEST scenario e Express routes with lt 1 average boardings per service hour in the PEAK and Headway at 30 minutes e Express Routes with average boardings per stop visit lt 5 e Stops with Population lt 10 and Service Employment lt 10 and Total Boardings gt 0 When applied the Search Tool will return a selection of Routes Segments or Stops From the selection the user can generate a report to summarize the results For procedural descriptions for creating and opening Search Files see Appendix A 8 1 Attribute Search Custom Map Development with a TBEST Loaded Network With the many input and output variables that are maintained and processed within the TBEST environment it can be a challenge to combine data variables into a sophisticated display which illustrates the dynamics and inter relationships of a particular scenario The TBEST Loaded Network provides a data output which planners can utilize to combine network service travel time socio economic performance special generator amenity and nearly all TBEST variables The Loaded Network tool will produce an ESRI Personal Geodatabase Microsoft Access database containing TBEST attributes loaded into a stops layer and a segments layer The loaded layers can be manipulated within TBEST ArcMap or Microsoft Access to display combinations of variables within maps char
60. summarizes routes which intersect with the Mobility area Trips are for the entire length of the intersecting routes including areas which fall outside of the Mobility Area Note For determining AMA additional trips within the target comparison scenario are matched with the results of this table Trips generated only within the Mobility area this table summarizes routes which intersect with the Mobility area but only includes variable summaries within that are entirely within the Mobility area In the Summary Variables panel to the left of the report check the Network and Performance Measures Summary Nodes Uncheck the Boardings option Expand the Network Summary Node and uncheck all Variables except Route Arrivals TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 79 Scroll to the bottom of the Trips generated only within the Mobility area table The Totals row will display the selected Network and Performance Measures variable totals for Scenario A and Scenario B The difference in each variable is also displayed From this summary the planner can determine the performance changes within the defined Corridor The Scenario Report can be saved to a csv file by clicking the Export to Excel button on the toolbar Optionally the report can be supported by a Chart To open the a chart of the results click the Open Chart See Appendix A 7 3 button on the toolbar By default the chart will contain Totals for
61. these four attributes will display with a yellow tint to separate them from other attributes By default TBEST will display the Route Definition attributes and the Time Period Specific attributes change the visible attributes see discussion of the View menu in this section When defining the network it is necessary to populate values for these attributes for each of the time periods Socio Economic Variables To determine the socio economic conditions around each stop TBEST utilizes the source socio economic data defined for the scenario to calculate and assign the walk access demographics Population Employment Households and Income around each stop in the system The TBEST model procedure will calculate these variables and then use them within the model to assess the market for riders at a stop location and to determine the destination trip attractions through network accessibility computations While the TBEST model engine calculates and assigns Socio Economic variables these values are also editable at the stop level within TBEST This stop level socio economic data editing capability provides the flexibility to perform localized land use scenario alternatives analysis within the context of future year alternatives analysis Once a socio economic variable is edited at the stop level by the user it is then locked so that the model will not recalculate the socio economic variables for the stop Stops can be unlocked by the procedur
62. time point These attributes are not required for the basic TBEST model to run but they are required for coding discrete transfer points such as interliners and transfer stations These attributes are also helpful map labeling and reporting Table 5 2 TBEST Stop Attributes Definition by Category Category otop Definition Time Period opecific Service Characteristics Socio Economic Variables Attributes Houte Name Description Time Point Arrivals Headway IVIT opecial Generator Total Population Shares of population Total Households Shares of households Service Employment Industrial Employment Commercial Employment Average household Income Per Capita Income Median household Income Attribute Definition The stops associated route This attribute is not editable in the Stops table otop name as operationally defined otop description as operationally defined Time Point identifier derived from the schedule Time point identifiers are used in defining the transfer stations Number of arrivals trips at the stop during the selected Network Time Period Headway minutes at the stop during the selected Network Time Period In vehicle travel time from the previous stop on the route during the selected Network Time Period expressed in fractions of a minute Flag to apply additional ridership influence at the subject stop Current special generators include Park n Ride Military S
63. to display SQL Server 2005 Prerequisites Setup wizard Figure 2 3 and click Next to display SQL Server 2005 as shown in Figure 2 4 Microsoft SOL Server 2005 Setup Installing Prerequisites Installs software components required prior to installing SUL Server SOL Server Component Update will install the following components required for SQL Server Setup Microsoft SOL Native Client Microsoft SOL Server 2005 Setup Support Files The required components were installed successfully Figure 2 3 Installing Prerequisites to SQL 2005 103 ie Microsoft SOL Server 2005 Setup Welcome to the Microsoft SQL Server Installation Wizard Setup will help you install modify ar remove Microsoft SQL Server To continue click Figure 2 4 Setup Wizard for SQL Server 2005 Click Next for System Configuration Checks Figure 2 5 iS Microsoft SOL Server 2005 Setup System Configuration Check Walt while the system is checked for potential installation problems Success Details Action Minimum Hardware Requirement Pending Reboot Requirement Internet Explorer Requirement COM Plus Catalog Requirement a 5 a a a a a a Minimum MOAC Version Requirement Filter Help SQL Server Edition Operating System Default Installation Path Permission Re ASP Met Version Registration Require 12 Total Error 11 Success 1 Warning Status Message Success Wa
64. to the network place Route Validation the routes into new collections Collections c Inthe Validation Observed Ridership dialog enter the updated observed Appendix A 6 5 ridership numbers Validation Observed Ridership d Calculate socio economic growth rates for the BaseYearModel scenario Appendix A 4 3 Enter Socio Economic Growth Rates e Runthe TBEST model and check the option to Force Socio Economic Updates on the Model Run dialog f After the model run verify the ridership numbers are reasonable g Runthe TBEST Model Validation procedure h After the model validation procedure verify that the validation factors are accurate 10 In the TBEST Explorer window for the newly re validated transit system review the Reports Search Files Corridors Area Analysis and Site Analysis files Remove any of these that will not be in the production environment If the revalidated TBEST Transit System contains only the BaseYearModel scenario skip to step 16 Prior to going into production the transit system should be copied so that the production model can be separated from the model with scenario applications In the copied transit system with model application scenarios perform the following on each scenario other than the BaseYearModel scenario a Openthe Validation Route Collection dialog and verify that routes are Appendix A 6 5 placed in the proper collection If a route is in the application scenario Route V
65. utilization of GTFS data within agency those two workflows will vary For agencies using GTFS data one of the two following workflows should be selected for updating the production TBEST model e Workflow 2 1 Updating a validated TBEST Model using the GTFS Network Import Tool e Workflow 2 2 Revalidating a TBEST model utilizing a GTFS Network For Agencies with no GTFS one of the two following workflows should be selected for updating the production TBEST model e Workflow 2 3 Updating a validated TBEST Model using the TBEST Network Editor e Workflow 2 4 Revalidating TBEST model using the TBEST Network Editor TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 21 Workflow 2 1 Updating a validated TBEST Model using the GTFS Network Import Tool Operation Steps Operation Reference 1 Obtain the current GTFS feed from the Operations or Planning Department As a time saving task ask the responsible staff members for information on which routes have been modified from the previous bid If this information is not available you will need to do a little more work defining TBEST routes to replace with incoming GTFS routes 2 Placethe GTFS feed in a folder on the local computer If the files are in a zip format un zip the files before proceding The folder the feed is placed in should generally be named for the date of the feed If you have developed the stop features txt containing stop amenities special ge
66. 48 1951 DEERFIELD BEACH 1256 1085 523 1608 FORT LAUDERDALE 9004 21385 9387 30772 HALLANDALE BEACH 396 1902 670 2572 ES 122 E oe 650 HOLLYWOOD 2290 3512 2580 12092 60 INDIAN RESERVATION 20 8 35 930 131 125 131 120 123 120 LAUDERDALE BY THE SEZ 88 233 111 LAUDERDALE LAKES 1535 2811 1532 LAUDERHILL 2544 12958 3168 LIGHTHOUSE POINT 135 225 94 NORTH LAUDERDALE 223 3243 331 Figure 7 3 Regional Analysis Output HHA 155 850 _ r B M aM d p n ee 1 4 m E we J D v 4 B 4 v g car 3 masan E A H T E z E 0 85 ae ES z4 154 156 ra AE 75291 151 ol iiir ze Figure 7 4 Map Results Option Output 7 2 Route Level Performance Measures The TBEST Report Builder will output formatted route level performance measures report for a given time period or a given selected set of routes The performance measure columns were developed to summarize the performance individual route and provide a performance summary for all routes at the bottom of the report The performance measures included in the report are as follows Direct Boardings Transfer Boardings Total Boardings Revenue Service Trips Route Miles Revenue Service Miles Revenue Service Hours Total direct transfer Passenger Boardings per Service Mile Total direct transfe
67. 52000 1 Frequency 3 0 1 910032 8 10262000 1 LogFrequency 3 0 LogSum 1 9 10262000 1 LogHeadway 60 0 1 10 10262000 1 Headway 60 0 1 910032 11 10262000 1 Military 1 0 1 910032 12 10262000 1 02 64 0 1 910032 13 10262000 1 02 TOT 49 0 1 910032 14 10262000 1 25 20 0 1 910032 15 10262000 1 O2Commercial 7 0 1 910032 16 10262000 1 O2Industrial 22 0 1 910032 17 10262000 103 0 0 1 910032 18 10262000 103 TOT 0 4 71E 05 1 910032 19 10262000 1 04 1079 0 1 910032 20 10262000 1104 13394 0 1 910032 4 DirectBoardings 2 mm Figure 3 13 Direct Boardings Log in Excel 3 9 Creating Scenarios TBEST scenarios can be directly created through TBEST tools Users can specify simulation variables that will define model conditions either in the base year or future year scenario When creating a scenario TBEST copies the base year scenario network and socio economic data into the new scenario If the model is un validated the new scenario will not contain a transit network and the socio economic data will reflect the source year for population and employment The following procedure provides the options for creating scenarios for un validated and validated models To create a TBEST scenario use the following steps Creating a Scenario Step 1 In TBEST Explorer right click the Scenarios Folders and select Create a New Scenario The New Scenario dialog box will
68. 7 Route 1 Northbound 3 1 55 B0 Route 1 Northbound Bth St Allen 3 1 83 Route 1 Northbound 3 235 Route 1 Northbound 3 1 21 60 Route 1 Northbound St MLET2Z 3 1 71 60 Figure 5 39 Special Generators The decision to code a stop as a Special Generator can often be determined by knowledge of the local area While some generators are straight forward to determine others can be tricky to assess Table 5 3 lists the TBEST Special Generators and their intended coding application Table 5 3 TBEST Special Generators Special Generator Stop Provides Service to University University or High School campus Airport major Airport terminal Shopping Mall major shopping malls or retail outlets Park recreational parks such as City Parks Zoos County or Regional Parks or other area providing casual recreation Event Center Event Centers such as stadiums theaters or other locations that hold specific events Military Military bases Park n Ride Park n Ride lots Park n Ride Special Generator Parking Spaces For stops defined as a Park n Ride Special Generator TBEST is sensitive to the number of parking spaces available at the Park n Ride To code the number of parking spaces select the stop or stops with Park n Ride Special Generators click the Stops Options drop down menu and select Parking Spaces Park n Ride Spaces Enter the Number of Parking Spaces at the Park n Hide Houte Directi
69. 9 309360 868299 8721 1575 135713 52 73 199 154 409 TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 48 Workflow 4 3 Performance Reports by Route Validation Collection Operation Steps Operation Reference 1 Open TBEST 2 Opena TBEST Scenario 3 Confirm that the model runs are valid and no edits are pending If edits are pending the model must be run See Appendix A 3 8 before TBEST reports will reflect changes in the model input Model Status 4 Underthe Reports menu on the main toolbar select Route Performance The TBEST Reports dialog will open 5 Onthe TBEST Reports dialog select Weekday as the Time Period and Route Validation Collections as the See Appendix A 7 1 Grouping Note any TBEST Time Period can be selected to summarize the performance Route Perfomance 6 Click Apply TBEST Performance Measures are summarized for the Route ValidationCollections within the system The system performance measures are summarized at the bottom of the report 7 If desired save the Report Give the report a descriptive name such as ScenarioName Weekday Performance byRouteCollections TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 49 Report Sample Transit System ee Tran Time Period WEEKDAY Report Date Time 11 10 2011 5 24 52 PM Roue 10 47 so 29 43 26 197 02 eme
70. BEST predicted performance has a greater than 1096 differential with the observed ridership e Even if none of the above criteria are true the model should be revalidated every two years To address these factors prior to updating the model the Modeling GIS Technician should acquire the most recent ridership numbers from the Operations department These ridership numbers should be compared with the observed ridership in the model validation to determine if revalidation is warranted The Technician should also be apprised of major service changes and determine if those changes again warrant revalidation Maintaining the accuracy of the TBEST model as service bids change presents multiple options for model update most efficient and accurate method for maintaining a network and service characteristics is to integrate with the operational data that is the source for the production network The TBEST GTFS Network Import tool was developed to fill the need to incorporate the latest agency TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 20 network and service characteristics into the existing validated TBEST model without any impact to existing systems or additional network coding For systems that don t have their network available in GTFS format the TBEST network coding environment can be used to maintain the network as it changes The TBEST model maintenance process involves two primary workflows Based on the
71. BEST model using the TBEST Network Editor Operation Steps Operation Reference 1 Obtain the revised bid information from the Operations Department As a time saving task ask the responsible staff members for information on which routes have been modified from the previous bid a Network alignments and stop locations this could be in the form of general route maps or ESRI shapefiles that represent the linear route geometry and stop locations in point format Schedule this could be route time tables or other means of determining route schedules The schedule information provides headway service span stop names time points segment time point to time point in vehicle travel time IVTT transfer points and interliners all of which will be coded into a TBEST network 2 To efficiently compile the new base year network investigate if service or Appendix A 8 2 strategic planning scenario s have been developed that contain routes that will Import Routes be part of the revalidation If there is a single scenario that contains the majority of routes that are in the new validation use this Transit System and scenario as the source scenario for the revalidation If other scenarios in the same Transit System or other Transit Systems contain routes that are part of the new network but are not part of the selected scenario those routes can be imported via the Import Routes tool 3 Obtain the observed route level ridership information
72. BEST outputs and reports as part of the TDP update process This Technial Memorandum explores the TBEST software tools that both service and strategic planners need to answer impact questions related to future service fare network and socio economic conditions The ability to answer what if questions with a reliable modeling and analysis environment enables planners to effectively meet the demand for transit performance forecasting Agency implementation and maintenance of the TBEST system provides an integrated service and strategic planning platform where projects data and analysis techniques are shared to produce an efficient enterprise platform for transit service analysis TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 1 TBEST utilization for service planning requires a systematic enterprise approach to implementation management within the agency Establishing a TBEST implementation plan that will guide the agency s software installation data flow modeling maintenace and training efforts Within this document the components of the implementation plan are explained and guidance is provided for developing a plan that best fits the implementing agency s service and strategic planning needs available data and personnel The implementation plan is supported by workflows and procedures that assist agency staff in TBEST model validation model application maintenance and analysis For a thorough integration w
73. BaseYearModel f Create a TBEST Distribution file with the name ProductionTBESTModel bid date tds 14 On the Production Server under the Mistory folder create a folder with the bid date for the current production model Copy the current production TBEST Distribution file in the ValidatedModel folder to the newly created folder Delete TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 22 the existing production model the ValidatedModel folder 15 Upload the distribution file created in Step 11f to the ValidatedModel folder on the production server Workflow 2 2 Revalidating a TBEST model utilizing a GTFS Network Operation Steps Operation Reference Option A Create a new Transit System and import the GTFS Routes This option would be selected if the transit network was undergoing major modifications and very few routes would remain the same from the previous validation 1 Follow the steps in Workflow 1 2 Developing a Validated TBEST Model Option B Reject the current model validation and import the routes into the base year development scenario 1 Obtain the GTFS feed that will represent the base year model input from the Operations or Planning Department 2 Place the feed in a folder on the local computer If the files are in a zip format un zip the files before proceding The folder the feed is placed in should generally be named for the date of the feed If you hav
74. Box optional This option is available for Routes and Stops based reports If this option is checked a map will be generated with pie charts at each stop The size of the chart is proportional to the total boardings at the stop The slices of the pie chart represent the split of transfer boardings vs direct boardings See Figure 7 4 After choosing the desired option click the OK or Apply button TBEST will run the computations and display the results in tabular form in the Boardings Estimation window Map results will display in the map window Note After clicking the OK button TBEST might return with a warning message indicating that edits have been made to the system and therefore a full model run of accessibility and impedance calculations must be performed prior to estimating boardings This message is just a reminder to the user Note To remove the Map Results from the Map Window click the Clear Map button on the Map Window toolbar TBEST Report ocenario Report TRANSIT STOP SUMMARY Report DateTime 4 27 2011 2 11 03 PM Transit System Gainesville Time Pernod WEEKDAY Scenari HT5 Validation ROUTE STOP INCOMING TRANSFER OUTGOING TRANSFER DIRECT TRANSFER TOTAL OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES BOARDINGS BOARDINGS i Route 1 To Butler Plaza 0 78 me ouelToBulePlezs 1206 8 248 18353 6 2616 Route 1ToButlerPlaza 2 w mw RouelToBulrFlaza 6 o J
75. EST installation and external data dissemination and the GIS department for ArcGIS licensing and access to GIS data When implementing TBEST for service or strategic planning a validated production model is maintained and is accessible to planners within the agency As new service or strategic planning projects are initiated the production model is copied to the local planners computer Planners use of the production model to produce TBEST model application scenarios that apply proposed service or network improvements to the existing model as part of a planning project After the model application project is complete the TBEST system used for the project is uploaded to a folder on the production file server that documents the modeling for the project The modeling results in the form of reports charts or maps are disseminated to other agency staff members the public or external planning agencies Over time as the production model is updated based on implemented service changes the original model is archived to have a full accounting of model history within the agency The specific instructions for implementing TBEST are incorporated into the model validation maintenance application and analysis workflows and procedures within this document Figure 1 1 below illustrates the personnel responsibilities data flow and technical specifications for implementing TBEST TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service
76. Figure 5 2 Map Control Tab Adding GIS Layers For transit systems that have pre existing GIS layers of their route networks and bus stop inventories it will be advantageous for the coding effort to add them to the Scenario In the Map Control tab click the Add Data button Navigate to the folder location of the layer to add and select the file Click OK The layer will be added to the scenario To remove the Layer right click the layer in the Map Control and select Remove Layer Note GIS Layers can be in ESHI shapefile or personal geodatabase format Modifying Layer Properties To view or modify layer symbols labels and other properties right click on the layer in the Map Control and select Layer Properties The ArcMap Layer Properties dialog will appear Use this dialog to modify components of the layer as necessary For more information on the ArcMap Layer Properties dialog see the ArcGIS Desktop Help This option is not available if running TBEST from an ArcGIS runtime license Note Modifying the Properties for default Stops and Routes is not permanent To modify the default symbols for Stops and Routes reference the CATBES T TransitSystems BEST style file into ArcMap See the ArcGIS Desktop Help for modifying style files Town Stops Properties General Source Symbology Definition Query Labels Fields Laver Mame iav TownTralley Stops Visible Description Credits Scale Range You can
77. Hours O Increase or O Decrease Number of Hours O Increase or O Decrease Number of Hours O Increase or O Decrease Number of Hours O Value or O Change Number O Value O Change Number O Value or L196 Change Number O Value O Change Number O Value L196 Change Number O Value O Change Number Route B Route B Route B SG Type Parking Spaces SG Type Parking Spaces SG Type Parking Spaces REFERENCE TABLES TBEST Time Periods AM Peak 6 00am 8 59am Off Peak 9 00am 2 59pm PM Peak 3 00pm 5 59pm Night 6 00pm 5 59am following morning Saturday 24 hours Sunday 24 hours TBEST Special Generators University University or High School campus Airport major Airport terminal Shopping Mall major shopping malls or retail outlets Park recreational parks such as City Parks Zoos County or Regional Parks or other area providing casual recreation Event Center Event Centers such as stadiums theaters or other locations that hold specific events Military Military bases Park n Ride Park n Ride lots T BEST Stop Amenities BUS STOP SIGN SHELTER B BENCH SHELTER TRASH CAN UMBRELLA BIKE RACK PEDESTRIAN LIGHT SCHEDULE DISPLAY STREET LIGHT SHELTER A SHELTER LIGHT Total Population Shares of population Total Households Shares of households Service Employment Industrial Employment Commercial Employment Average household Income Per Capit
78. I StreetMap World zD Figure 8 14 Map Control with Loaded Network Analyzing a Loaded Network ArcMap Step 1 ln order to analyze the loaded network in an ArcMap environment click on the Analyze TBEST in ArcMap button on the Map Toolbar When ArcMap opens all the layers currently in the TBEST map are added to a the new ArcMap document otep2 Utilize ArcMap tools to create maps and charts that help visualize model results socio economic data distribution and internal model relationships An examples of analysis output is illustrated in Figure 8 15 below Gainesville Transit Scenario Visualization Loaded AM Peak Network Segments Total_Boardings 0000000 11 360007 11 360008 36 316868 36 316869 75 999092 15 999093 124 827744 a 124527745 365 949889 Loaded AM Peak Network Stops Total Employment 2200000 1062329956 1062 329957 5937 979980 5937 979981 12253 740234 12253 740235 37235 050781 37235 050782 67587 250000 Loaded AM Peak Network Stops Total Population E 0 000000 13 350000 amp 13 350001 39 910000 39 910001 80 089996 L1 80 089997 140 300003 140 300004 421 529999 Loaded Peak Network Stops Median HH Income e 0 000000 e 0 000001 24756 544922 e 24756 544923 29269 396438 e 29269 398439 32953 289063 o 32953 289064 41400 203125 Figure 8 15 Analyzing a Loaded Network ArcMap Appendix TBEST Model Application Scen
79. Postthe Distribution File the production server to be utilized by service and strategic planners TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 19 Model Maintenance Once a validated model is in production the model network service characteristics socio economic must be continually updated to provide planners with reliable information for service or strategic planning In general TBEST model maintenance activities are triggered when the transit system operations change These changes could happen at set time intervals such as every four months or as a response to demand or policy changes This section provides workflows for two types of production TBEST model updates 1 Model update without revalidation 2 Model update with revalidation In most cases the production TBEST model can be updated with service changes without being re validated This is the easier of the two options however if not checked against system performance it may not capture short term trends in ridership patterns Below are key factors in determining if a model should be revalidated e Major service changes have been implemented and observed ridership is available for validation e mistake is noted in the original validation e Greater than 10 shift in ridership since the original validation e service area has expanded or contracted e For new routes or service modifications that were not in the original validation their T
80. Route Options A 2X 8Route s 0 Distribution Files E 99 BayTowntTrolley Route Network Ez a Socio Economic Data gt 1 Downtown Area s Route 2 Panama City Hall Route 3 Sears at Panama c Route 4 Panama City Hall 5 Route 5 Panama City Mall gt Route 6 Panama City Mall 4 Sf Route 7 Panama City Bead Segment Options E m Route Lengt SegmentlD CorridorlD AM IVTT Description Route 1 Northbound Route 1 Northbound Route 1 Northbound Route 1 Northbound Route 1 Northbound Route 1 Northbound Route 1 Northbound Time Point Arrivals Panama City City Hall PCCH B Route 1 Northbound Route 1 Northbound Route 1 Northbound ES E E Bth St Allen Wl Route 1 Northbound Route 1 Northbound Route 1 Northbound MLK 12th St a BayTownTrolley Model No Active Route All Stops os 325 Visible Stop 325 Selected Stops 0 Figure 1 1 TBEST User Interface Main Menu The Main Menu contains options for downloading and importing transit systems to create a scenario editing an existing system and various scenario and map based functions Main Toolbar The Main Toolbar consists of shortcuts to use some of TBEST s most common and useful functions Most of the functions are for scenario data development and analysis and are only enabled when a sce
81. Route and System level operating costs The Route Operating Cost per Hour is input by the user and this number is applied to calculate a Route Cost Cost per Passenger Trip and Cost per Revenue Mile The route level numbers are summarized to the system level Cost numbers can be summarized by Summary Span which includes weekly monthly and annual totals Scenario Summary Interactive Reports The TBEST Scenario Summary Tool creates reports that can be interactively filtered to display Boardings Population Household Income Employment Network Performance Measures and Cost variables The left panel of the report displays the variables in treeview checklist As variables are checked they appear in the report Boardings variables are in the default report The Scenario Summary report will summarize TBEST variables by Route Collection Route Reports with only one scenario summarized will contain a single column for each variable Comparison reports will have three columns for each variable the Scenario A value the Scenario B value and the percent difference between the two values Report values are summarized at the bottom of the table See Figure 7 8 Comparison reports that are summarized by mobility area will contain a summary table in the header which matches the additional trips generated for Scenario B vs Scenario A to the Mobility Area threshold ranges defined for the time period See Figure 7 9 Reports that are summarized by Mobility a
82. ST stops are assigned to a Route and Direction Thus if a stop location is served by multiple routes a TBEST stop will need to be added for each route by direction that accesses the stop location Stops are digitized along segments belonging to the Active Route Digitized stops can be placed no more than 200ft from an existing segment As stops are digitized on the map corresponding records are inserted into the Stops table based on the sequence they occur along the route The Route column is not editable in the Stops table but it gives a reference to the owning Route for each stop 5 11 Stop Attributes TBEST stops contain attributes that detail the network and socio economic characteristics present at the each stop location For the most part these attributes are editable by the user The socio economic data is calculated by TBEST during the model run procedure but the calculated values can be updated by user input The general categories for stop attributes are Stop Definition Attributes e ime Period Specific Service Characteristics Socio Economic Variables Each category has its own set of functional aspects as it relates to network coding update and analysis Table 5 2 below provides a definition for each TBEST stop attributes by category The categories are also discussed in the next section Stop Definition Attributes Each stop within the network has reference operational attributes such as a stop name description and
83. ST Directory Structure TBEST saves most files in a systematic order within the Database folder defined during installation While it is not necessary for the user to manipulate TBEST files directly it is important to know their location on the location computer If the default Database Folder was selected during installation TBEST files will be stored in the CATBEST directory Under this directory TBEST stores data into three primary folders 1 2 TransitSystems Whenever a new Transit System is created or installed a folder with that particular name is created under the T TransitSystems directory All related data and scenario information is stored in a structured format under this directory TBEST creates subfolders within a Transit System to store specific scenario information including exported Reports Spatial Analysis Files and saved TBEST Searches DistributableSystems By default TBEST Distribution File packages are stored in this directory 113 3 SupportData This directory is the default for Socio Economic support data related to a otate or Region TBEST recognizes properly packaged support data in this directory for creating new systems 2 TBEST Databases and Supporting Files TBEST software relies on properly formatted and maintained databases in a variety of formats While TBEST users are not required to manage files external to the software a brief review is warranted for those with a need t
84. SUNDAY 138 53 101 47 005 northbound 011 outbound 011 inbound Population and Employment Accessibility 017 northbound EMPLOYMENT OVALUE POPULATION SERVILE COMMERCIAL INDUS TAAL 154 1245 994 260 55 332 51 5364 5913 1582 eun 175 111 B 34 Figure 7 17 Stop Summary 8 MODEL AND ANALYSIS TOOLS TBEST provides a powerful set of tools to develop attribute or location based data queries that can be used to update model attributes and or report model output that match a criteria or location These tools can used to update attributes and compare model output across multiple scenarios 8 1 Attribute Search TBEST has a powerful search engine to search transit data based on user s requirements A particular route segment or stop can be searched by entering an attribute data through Attribute oearch Tool A logical query or combination of queries can be also be used to select features The steps below illustrate the method for executing a search in the Search Attribute tool Using Search Attribute tool otep 1 Select Search from Scenario Menu or Click on the Search button 74 in the TBEST Toolbar Optionally the Attribute Search can be initiated by right clicking the Search Files folder under within the current Transit System in the TBEST Explorer window This displays an Attribute Search Window as shown in Figure 8 1 oelect a Search Category This could be a Route Segment or Stop Select a TBEST Attribute to q
85. T power user within the organization The individual will develop the Technician base year TBEST network prepare and execute the model validation maintain the base year model as the system network changes over time operate the GTFS Import tool if applicable provide the validated model to service planners and strategic planners for model application and provide technical support to planners in developing future scenarios Service Planner Develop TBEST scenarios for evaluation of future changes to service and or socio economic conditions Strategic Planner Develop TBEST scenarios to support Transit Development Plans and longer range land use planning IT Support Staff Initial installation and update of TBEST software and add on tools including the GTFS Import software IT staff will also be responsible for installation and maintenance of required third party software including SQL Server 2005 Express Enterprise and ArcGIS Although SQL Server 2005 Express is included the TBEST install the agency has the option of installation SQL Server 2005 Enterprise if more database capacity is required Table 1 1 TBEST Implementation Personnel Roles Data Storage The key data storage device for the production TBEST model and model application projects is the production file server This server will house the validated TBEST model service planning projects Name strategic planning projects and a history of validated di History models Th
86. T Reports dialog select Weekday as the Time Period and Route Type as the Grouping Note any See Appendix A 7 1 TBEST Time Period can be selected to summarize the performance Route Perfomance 6 Click Apply TBEST Performance Measures are summarized for the Route Types within the system The system performance measures are summarized at the bottom of the report 7 If desired save the Report Give the report a descriptive name such as ScenarioName Weekday Performance byRouteType Report Sample amp Scenario Report TRANSIT ROUTE SUMMARY Scenario Model Transit System Key lest Time Penod WEEKDAY Report Date Time 11 10 2011 5 10 30 ROUTETYPE DIRECT TRANSFER TOTAL REVENUE REVENUE REVENUE BOARDINGS BOARDING BOARDINGS AVG BOARDINGS bi BOARDINGS BOARDINGS BOARDINGS SERVICE TRIPS MILES SERVICE MILES SERVICE HOURS SERVICE MILE SERVICE HOUR SERVICE TRIP STOP VISIT 9 2 68 421 RADAL 3970 3713 6953 gt 6 646 73 1097 45 09 TotsRoues 4636 309 7756 m 73 1725 75 es 135 405 157 TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 46 Workflow 4 2 Performance Reports by Technology Operation Steps Operation Reference 1 Open TBEST 2 Open a TBEST Scenario 3 Confirm that the model runs are valid and no edits are pending If edits are pending the model must be run S
87. T development team strongly discourages any arbitrary modifications to the model coefficients merely for the sake of better fitting the model If it is desired to develop a set of equations and coefficients native to a certain area or transit system the TBEST development team strongly encourages the user to utilize a team of experts to develop and statistically estimate new model equations and specifications As a rule any modifications made to the TBEST model equations and coefficients should be clearly documented and justified Also note that the TBEST coefficients may be updated with each new release as the model continues to get more refined 6 3 Model Run The TBEST model run must be performed to compute all socio economic buffer characteristics accessibility measures impedance values and to identify competing and complementary stops for the active scenario After the calculation of these parameters the direct and transfer boardings estimation is performed Follow the steps below to perform a TBEST model run Running the Model Step 1 If the Scenario to model is currently open click and select the Model tool button in the main TBEST toolbar To execute the model from TBEST Explorer without the scenario being open navigate to the Scenario right click and select Execute Model Run After clicking on the OK button TBEST will display the Scenario Model Run dialog box In the Scenario s to model field check the scenarios
88. TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 84 Chart Sample Route 01 Boardings C Population Income 1 Performance Measures W RouteCost LYNXNetworkTest Boardings and RouteCost Variables 30000000 15000000 10000000 5000000 0 Direct Boardings RouteCost CBD Growth In m 2 Transfer Boardings 77 Total Boardings CostPerPassengerInp CostPerRevenueMile TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 85 Appendix A TBEST User Manual ansit Boardings Estimation and Simulation e E J mi 2 PP PUMA Florida Department of Transportation Public Transit Office Version 4 0 USER S GUIDE Sponsored by Produced by Public Transit Office Florida Department of Transportation 605 Suwannee Street 526 Rodney Bunner Steve Polzin Xuehao Chu Tallahassee FL 32399 0450 Martin Catala and Mark Mistretta Project Manager Daniel Harris Contract No BDK84 Available at http www tbest org May 2011 Disclaimer While we have made every effort to ensure that this software is of the best quality and free of defects some errors may be unavoidable No warranty expressed or implied and no warranty of merchantability or fitness is given Neither the Florida Department of Transportation nor the Center for Urban Transportation Research CUTR will assume any liabili
89. TBEST has been developed so that the user can use the software through an interface that provides full GIS functionality ArcGIS 10 or higher residing locally on your computer is required to use TBEST A modest investment in ArcGIS allows the user to untap the full potential of TBEST Socio economic scenarios supply attributes and route and stop configurations can be changed and edited on the fly thus making TBEST a truly user friendly transit ridership forecasting tool 92 7 Automatic Calibration to Local System Total Ridership As ridership is known to vary by urban area scale independent of other factors such as density TBEST is designed to automatically scale system total ridership to match counted ridership for the base validation year This automatic scaling accounts for conditions not directly captured in the model variables including scale roadway congestion parking availability and cost and other local context conditions 8 Performance Measures TBEST includes estimates of several performance measures in its output Performance measures such as route miles service miles service hours boardings per service mile or hour and average boardings per service trip are provided by TBEST at the individual route level and for the system as a whole These performance measures can be used to assess the impacts of various socio economic and supply scenarios on system performance As the computations involved in accounting for the items listed
90. TBEST model model maintenance model application and model analysis are performed on an on going basis Maintenance of the model can be minimal if updates to the model are in the new production system If the system is being dramatically changed the model may need to be re validated thus causing extra time for updates For service and strategic planning depending on the complexity of the project model application scenario development can encompass one hour or several days Likewise model analysis time can range anywhere from gt hour to one day depending on the report chart and or map products that are needed to properly depict the model output The following work plan represents the general timeline for TBEST implementation for strategic and service planning TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 11 6 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 1 TBEST Implementation Planning TBEST Installation Model Validation Model Maintenance Mode Application Model Analysis Duration B Weeks Figure 2 1 TBEST Implementation Schedule TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 12 TBEST Modeling Workflows Procedures The following sections provide procedural descriptions for tasks and activities related to TBEST model development maintenance and application The procedures will allow personnel to follow step by step instructions for model validation model maintenance model application
91. This information can only be utilized as a reference to the location of the routes and stops Using the TBEST Network Coding environment input routes segments stops headway service span stop names time points segment time point to time point in vehicle travel time IVTT transfer points and interliners 6 Input Socio Economic Growth Rates Appendix A 4 3 a Basedon the available growth data enter the information into the Socio Enter Socio Economic Growth dialog Economic Growth Rates TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 18 7 Input Network Properties Appendix A 5 15 a Enterthe fare structure Do not enter a growth rate Network Properties b CheckTime Points that represent transfer hubs c Enter interlined routes 8 Network Quality Control d Runthe TBEST model e When the model is completed use the Scenario Summary tool to develop route level reports for Weekday Saturday and Sunday Investigate if ridership socio economic data service and performance measures are reasonable If any variables are unreasonable review network coding and other data input to verify that it is correct Continue revisions until the model output is reasonable or any inconsistencies can be explained 10 Model Validation Appendix A 6 5 h If desired enter any stops that require unique validation Model Validation i Develop route validation collections which match the detail of observed ridership I
92. a Income Median household Income Socio Economic Variables Total Population with walk access to the subject stop Expressed as a ratio of Total Population Individual share columns include Black Hispanic Foreign born Population 65 Population 16 Employed Population in multi family dwelling Population living below poverty line Total Households with walk access to the subject stop Expressed as a ratio of Total Households Individual share columns include HH with zero vehicle HH with one vehicle HH with children under 16 Total Service Employment with walk access to the subject stop Two digit SIC codes 40 42 44 43 45 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 81 83 85 86 87 89 99 72 80 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 70 82 41 46 47 48 49 73 75 76 78 79 84 88 Total Industrial Employment with walk access to the subject stop Two digit SIC codes 1 2 8 9 7 10 12 13 14 15 16 17 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 2 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 Total Commercial Employment with walk access to the subject stop Two digit SIC codes 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 Average household income around a subject stop Per Capita Income around a subject stop Median household Income around a subject stop Appendix C TBEST GTFS Network Import Tool Introduction The TBEST GTFS General Transit File Specification Network Import Tool takes advantage of the investment agencies and vendor
93. added removed and altered to determine the best location for new service that will yield the highest ridership or will meet other user specified parameters TBEST can also be used to analyze existing routes and test scenarios to improve the performance of the route by changing route structure service area service frequency span of service time of day etc 3 Corridor Analysis Examination of specific corridors in communities and determine the potential for transit service and what type of service would be suitable The corridor data can be isolated and compared over various scenarios 4 Area Analysis Examination of specific growth areas in communities and evaluate the effectiveness of transit service scenarios within the area This can be applied to Developments of Regional Impact DRI or localized demographic changes The area data can be isolated and compared over various scenarios 5 Site Analysis Examination of localized changes around a particular site such as transit station 6 GIS Data Management TBEST can be used as a tool for Transit focused GIS data development management and analysis TBEST is compatible with ArcGIS and all stop and route geometry is stored in personal geodatabases 95 As with any model TBEST is a tool that is intended for use by informed planning professional and its results are to be examined in the context of user judgment and knowledge TBEST is a powerful tool to help the planning
94. alidation that is not in the base year model do not place it in a collection Collections b Calculate the socio economic growth rates Appendix A 4 3 Enter Socio Economic Growth Rates c Runthe model and check the option to Force Socio Economic Updates on the Model Run dialog d After the model run verify the ridership numbers are reasonable TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 27 12 Create TBEST Distribution file of the copied transit system with model application scenarios Provide the distribution file to the Service or Strategic planners that are responsible developing the scenarios 13 In the revalidated model that will go into production delete all of the scenarios except the BaseYearModel scenario 14 Create a TBEST Distribution file with the name ProductionTBESTModel bid date gt tds 15 On the Production Server under the History folder create a folder with the bid date for the current production model Copy the current production TBEST Distribution file in the ValidatedModel folder to the newly created folder Delete the existing production model in the ValidatedModel folder 16 Upload the distribution file created in step 16 to the ValidatedModel folder on the production server TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 28 Model Application The TBEST model can test a variety of service land use and market scenarios that ar
95. allow this information to be easily examined b Activate routes to verify correct linear geometry and stop locations This only needs to be performed on routes that have been imported 3 Review Validation a In general all routes should be in validation route collections The exception to this is when a new route is added to an existing network C 6 If stop_features txt was part of the GTFS feed verify that time points special generators amenties and transfer hubs have been coded If any of the information in the imported network is incorrect notify the Operations or Planning department of the problems If the GTFS feed is verified to be correct there may be issues in interpreting the network through the TBEST GTFS Network Import tool In this case contact the TBEST team for technical assistance
96. alog will open Step 2 reference Bing Maps select the Bing Maps Online Service option To reference an online Base Map select the Reference an ArcGIS Online Map Service option Choose a service from the drop down menu See Figure 2 19 for an illustration To reference local data select the Reference an ArcMap Document mxd or Layer file option Browse for a local lyr file or mxd file See Figure 2 20 Click OK to save the settings TBEST Base Map Reference Options Bing Maps Online Service gt ArcGIS Online Map Service ESA StreetMap World 2D C3 ArcMap Document med or Layer Figure 2 19 Reference Online Base 112 TBEST Base Reference Options Bing Maps Online Service ArcGIS Online Map Service ArcMap Document med or Layer file C TBEST StreetMapPro Data StreetMapProThe Figure 2 20 Reference Local Base Additional Base Map notes The TBEST Base Map will be the background map for all transit systems installed on your computer The Base Map setting can be changed at any time to suit the service area of an installed system For more information on creating lyr or mxd files please refer to ArcGIS documentation The ESRI StreetMap World 2D online map contains a world wide street network making it a good reference base map for editing and viewing TBEST transit networks 2 6 Review of TBE
97. also includes identify measuring and clear map tools A detailed list and description of each button in this tool bar is discussed in Section 5 3 Map Window The Map Window shows a user configured base map and the transit system network stops and route segments for the current scenario Map Control The Map Control Tab provides a Map table of contents for modifying map layers and settings very similar to ArcMap Spatial data can be added from files with the ability to define data labels and symbols in the same manner as in ArcGIS Houtes The Routes Tab provides Transit route management and editing capabilities It shows an interactive display for all routes defined in the system Routes can be added deleted and or copied from this interface Segments The Segments Table displays route attribute data for segments Users can modify existing routes by adding new segments or deleting existing segments or even re aligning segments to create alternative routes It displays in vehicle travel time on each segment by time period and day 98 Stops The Stops Table displays route attribute data for stops Data includes the name of the route stop descriptions and numbers time points arrivals at each stop travel time and headways In addition socio economic data can be toggled on for each stop using the View Menu Status Bar The Status Bar at the bottom of TBEST displays the current Transit Scenario active routes displa
98. anagement notes e SQL Server Express is a free version of SQL Server 2005 SQL Server Express has a limit of a 4GB total database size If more database space is necessary SQL Server Developer Edition or higher can be purchased from Microsoft 100 For the TBEST implementation SQL Server runs on the local computer where TBEST is installed TBEST will not work with SQL Server on another computer or server Do not stop or delete the SQLSERVER exe service from the list of Services running on your machine he TBEST database tables can be viewed by downloading and installing the Microsoft SQL server Express 2005 Management Studio from http www microsoft com downloads details aspx Familyld C243A5AE 4BD1 4E3D 94B8 DAOF62BF 7968displaylang en e For more information visit the SQL Server 2005 website at http www microsoft com sgl editions express default mspx 2 3 Installing TBEST TBEST can be downloaded and installed via the TBEST website located at www tbest org The installation package can also be provided on a CD upon request The installation process is similar to that of other Microsoft Windows based software where the user follows the instructions on the screen At the time of the TBEST 4 0 release Microsoft Windows XP amp and Windows 7 are the supported operating systems The installation of TBEST requires that the user have Windows Administrative privileges on the machine TBEST website will con
99. ansit System Properties The properties of a TBEST Transit Systems can be displayed by right clicking on the target Transit System in TBEST Explorer In the Properties dialog box Figure 3 9 displays the Transit System Name Extent by County File Directory and the Socio Economic Data Source year for Population and Employment datasets f the model is validated the Population and Employment Source Years will be the same as the validation year The Transit System Name is editable Bay Town Trolley Properties Transit System Information M ame BayTaownrTrolleu Extent by County File Directory STBEST TransitS au T own rolley 5ncia E conamic Data Source Y ear Population Employment Figure 3 9 Transit System Properties 122 3 7 Copying Deleting Transit Systems Transit Systems within TBEST can be copied and deleted Copying is useful as a temporary backup of a system or to create systems for alternate validations Alternate validations may be necessary for systems that supply service to University or seasonal populations Creating a Copy of an Existing Transit System Step 1 TBEST Explorer right click the Transit System to be copied and select Copy Note the Transit System may not be in use while copying f in use close the currently open scenario and try again Step 2 In the Copy to window as shown in Figure 3 10 provide a name for the target Transit System otep3 Click OK
100. ansit Systems folder All loaded systems Si are listed in subfolders the right of each system is the model validation status Validated models are shown with a check beside the base year of the model Unvalidated models are shown with a caution v 115 3 2 TBEST Distribution Files TBEST is able to take all of the files needed for a Transit System SQL Server database files GIS files reports search files analysis files and compile them into one file known _ E mE l Distribution Files as a TBEST Distribution file tds BayTownTrolley tds Distribution files can be used for Transit BCT 8 26 08 tds System backups storage of model versions 1 Gainesville_071709 tds or to distribute models to other TBEST users IndianRiver tds 2008 tds To create TBEST Distribution from an Polk 9 2 08 tds installed TBEST Transit System use the 1 SMC 9 12 08 tds following Steps E e Socio Economic Data TBEST Explorer Figure 3 2 Distribution Files in TBEST Explorer Creating a TBEST Distribution file Right click on the transit system s folder in TBEST Explorer and select Create TBEST Distribution File otep 2 In the dialog box that appears choose where to create a Distribution File then click Save Note The default save location is C TBEST DistributableSystems If you store the Distribution File in this location it will appea
101. appear on the screen Step 2 X Enter the requested information in the dialog box for the new scenario ocenario Name A descriptive name for the scenario 126 Description The scenario description is a longer name that be used to describe and recall the nature of the scenario at a later time Un validated Model See Figure 3 14 Enter the information pertaining to the simulation Population Source Year Enter the source year of the population data used to create the Transit System As of October 2009 this number will be 2000 for Florida users Target Base Year Enter the year in four digits corresponding to the intended Base Year of the Transit System Mean Annual Wage Enter the average annual person not household wage corresponding to the base year for the analysis region This is the wage rate that will be used to compute the value of time in the generalized cost or impedance function Wage Growth Rate For an unvalidated model this value should be zero since you are using the known mean annual wage for the Base Year Employment Data Source Two options are provided Option 1 InfoUSA point data By default TBEST will utilize InfoUSA point data that was compiled from the Socio Economic Support data Users must enter the Employment Source Year For Florida users the default Florida SE package has 2004 data An updated SE data package is also available with 2007 employment data Option 2 Forecast Year Zonal Employm
102. ario Checklist Original Date Dates Revised TBEST MODEL APPLI CATI ON SCENARI O CHECKLI ST Fill in the relevant information regarding the scenario Not all items are required Modeler Name Organization TBEST Transit System Name SCENARI O PROPERTI ES Scenario Name Model Base Year Service Area Mean Annual Future Year Information Person Wage Entered No Growth Rate Expected Wage Growth Rate Entered O No Change Expected Employment Data Source InfoUSA Zonal Employment Shapefile Scenario Description Model Forecast Year Source Source Filename and Location SOCI O ECONOMI C GROWTH System Growth Rates Population Employment Households Required Average Household Income Per Capita Income Median Household Income Zonal Growth Rates File Name and Location File Source Year Localized Growth DRI Name Changes to Socio Economic Variables TOD Name Corridor Name Site Name NETWORK I NPUT oes Route Description Route Description Realigned Routes New Stops on existing routes Route Description Route Description Route Description Route Description Moved Stops on existing routes Route Stop Route Stop Route Stop Route Deleted Routes Route Route Route Route Deleted Segments Route Stop Location Route Location Route Location Deleted Stops Route Route Route Route I VTT
103. ations where ridership would not be proportional to population or employment in the stop buffer can be evaluated and validated against the observed ridership at a stop level The user can specify up to 100 discrete stops by route and direction and their ridership levels for an average weekday Saturday and Sunday The model will compare actual forecast ridership direct boardings for these stops and adjust the stop level factor by the following equation otop Count Direct Boardings Ridershipt Stop Adjustment Factort Stop Forecast Direct Boardings Ridershipt Where tis the reference time period These stop adjustment factors determined independently for Weekday Saturday and Sunday will subsequently be applied to each forecast Table 6 2a specifies the input data from the transit planners for stops where ridership data is available and where stops serve a location with traits that indicate it might be a unique stop The adjustment will change direct boardings to more closely match the observed boardings see Table 6 2b Table 6 2a Input Data for Unique Stop Validation Count Stop Number Avg Weekday oaturday Hidership Hidership Hidership Agency provided ridership count data boardings Avg Weekday Saturday Ridership Sunday Ridership Adjusted Ridership Adjusted Ridership Initial forecast direct boardings Scaling factor Adjusted Ridership D Q 5 Z 2 The adjusted ridership number will then be used i
104. bles to assess the in vehicle travel time IVTT between time points When developing the network it is advantageous to create segments from time point to time point It will make the assignment of IVTT for each segment a straightforward process See Figure 5 15 for an illustration of the Segment IVTT columns in the Segments table Route 0 Haute 1 Northbound O Haute 1 Northbound n Route 1 Northbound Route 1 Northbound n Route 1 Northbound O Haute 1 Northbound Haute 1 Southbound Lengthimi 0 81 1 57 1 72 1 55 0 95 0 91 5 egmentlD IVTT Off Peak YTT Might IvVTT Saturday IVTT Sunday IVTT x Figure 5 15 Inputting IVTT Figure 5 16 shows a sample schedule table from a transit system Suppose that Segment 1 for the following route was created from time point 1 Downtown Terminal to time point 2 Central Park Plaza As shown in the figure it takes 10 minutes from 5 45 to 5 55 for the bus to travel this segment Therefore you would input 10 minutes into the AM IVTT In Vehicle Travel Time for that segment You would do the same for all other time periods that the route operates Input a zero for any time period that the route does not operate Note To utilize the route level Calculate Travel Time functionality the segment IVTT must be entered for each segment on the route Calculate Travel Time calculates the stop to stop IVTT based on
105. cations in point format Schedule this could be route time tables or other means of determining route schedules The schedule information provides headway service span stop names time points segment time point to time point in vehicle travel time IVTT transfer points and interliners all of which will be coded into a TBEST network 4 Socio Economic Data Census Population and InfoUSA Employment Data TBEST Socio Economic Support Data contains county level population and employment data for the all of Florida This data is available for download within TBEST and is fully integrated into the model development process Zonal Employment Data Optional as an alternative to the address based employment data provided with the state wide Socio Economic data download within TBEST TBEST also accepts a zonal polygon shapefile with Industrial Service Commercial employment coded for each polygon The specifications on the file format are listed in Appendix A 4 2 Employment Data Sources If this option is selected the input employment data must reflect year of the model TBEST will not apply growth rates to this data TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 15 5 Socio Economic Growth System Wide Growth Rates TBEST has a flexible method for applying socio economic growth when developing the base year scenario or when developing future year scenarios When developing for the base year g
106. cenario TBEST loads all of the data tables and geographic files corresponding for the selected scenario A progress bar on the TBEST Status Bar will display the scenario loading steps Please note that it may take a minute to load and open a scenario particularly for larger Transit Systems Once open TBEST Explorer will display an active icon l next to the scenario and the name of the scenario will be listed in the left corner of the TBEST Status Bar The scenario is now open for editing analysis and reporting TBEST Explorer E Transit Systems Ey BayTownTrolley Y Unvali US Gainesville af 2008 777 amp Es RTSProposedRoutes2009 Ez RTS Validation EZ RTS Fall2009 RTS 09 TAZ RTSProposedRoutes2009 TAZ EJ H Figure 3 11 Scenarios TBEST Explorer 124 Model Status Under each scenario in the TBEST Explorer window is the model status for each TBEST time period The model status notifies the user if edits to the network or socio economic data have taken place and thus a model run is required to update ridership and performance measures The model status is dynamically updated by TBEST when edits are made to the scenario Figure 3 12 below illustrates the model status for the RTS Validation scenario Users should monitor the model status to assist in efficient model runs For instance if the model status is displaying that only
107. ctory should also contain a completed and scanned version of the TBEST Model Application Scenario Checklist available in Appendix B History Contains historical models that are taken out of production as new bids are incorporated into the production model The models will be stored in TBEST Distribution File format and should be named with the following nomenclature TransitSystem ddmmyy validation tds Table 1 2 TBEST Implementation Production Data Storage Folders Model Maintenance As each new operations service bid goes into production the Modeling GIS Technician must obtain the new network and service characteristics For those agencies that maintain Google Transit data the Modeling GIS Technician must obtain the new GTFS General Transit Feed Specification feed from the operations department TBEST GTFS Network Import tool can be used to update the production model For more on TBEST integration with GTFS see Appendix C TBEST GTFS Network Import Tool If no GTFS data is available the Modeling GIS Technician will need to use the new schedule data to update the TBEST transit network using the TBEST Network Editor Once the updates are completed and tested the new model will be posted to the production server by the Modeling GIS Technician External Data Distribution The data and reports developed as part of the TBEST modeling process can be shared with others outside of the agency including city county regional and s
108. d EG Iu EVENUE Pie EIE SERVICE MILES a ui SERVICE MILE SERVICE HOUR SERVICE TRI E mum a 1107 Inbound Green inbound 209 ws ws 4 95 Purple inbound 1239 07 8 3 5 19 0 Rediboud 4020 303 734 2 2 m 5 e 94 4 Total owes ums sn zw 72 33 ws 2 s 25 TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 58 Segment Reporting Evaluating ridership projections at the segment level can provide insight to the impact of route realignments additional stops on a route segment or removal of service on a segment or segments In addition evaluating segments with a common attribute such as those within a corridor or other user defined designation can provide insight into rider behavior in the specific areas TBEST performance reporting provides a Segment Analysis which provides the ability to report the ridership for all segments selected segments or segments that have been tagged with a Corridor ID The following workflows describe the development of segment analyses Workflow 4 8 Segment Reporting for Realigned Route a sample for creating a route realignment and then reporting the difference between the original route structure and the new route structure at the s
109. d on project requirements using a mile buffer around the See Appendix A 8 4 Corridor delineation Analysis Toolbar 4 Savethe Corridor Give the Corridor a descriptive name based on the project description 5 Usingthe Refresh the Selection button the Analsysis Toolbar update the stop selection to the stops that reside See Appendix A 8 4 within the Corridor Refresh Selection 6 Usethe Stop Calculator on the Stop Toolbar to increase the Commercial Employment by 2096 See Appendix A 5 13 Stop Calculator 7 Savethe Scenario and run the model 8 After the model run re open the Corridor created in step 3 and refresh the stop selection using the Refresh the See Appendix A 8 4 Selection button the Analsysis Toolbar Refresh Selection 9 Underthe Reports menu on the main toolbar select Stop Ridership The TBEST Reports dialog will open 10 the TBEST Reports dialog select Weekday as the Time Period and verify that the All Stops option is selected Appendix A 7 1 in the Stops to Summarize panel Note any TBEST Time Period can be selected to summarize the ridership Stop Reporting 11 Click Apply The total ridership within the Corridor is totaled at the bottom of the report 12 Save the Report Give the report a descriptive name such as ScenarioName Weekday CorridorName 13 Close the Scenario and open the BaseYearModel scenario 14 In the BaseYearModel scenario ope
110. de in the Summary Variables panel the variables associated with the Summary Node will be exposed To filter desired variables to hide display in the report uncheck check the option box beside the variable name Scroll to the bottom of the report The Totals row will display Population Household Income and Employment variable totals for Scenario A and Scenario B The difference in each variable is also displayed From this summary the planner can determine the total additional market provided for the two additional routes added to the system The Scenario Report can be saved to a csv file by clicking the Export to Excel button on the toolbar TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 76 Optionally the report be supported by Chart To open the chart of the results click the Open Chart See Appendix A 7 3 button on the toolbar By default the chart will contain Totals for Scenario A and Scenario B for each of the Scenario Charting variables in the report To save the chart as an image click the Save Chart as Image button on the toolbar Once saved the chart can then be included in any user developed output report assocated with this model application Note by expanding a Summary Node in the Summary Variables panel the variables associated with the Summary Node will be exposed To filter desired variables to hide display in the report uncheck check the option box beside the variable name R
111. del application e Workflow 3 1 TBEST Model Application Data Collection e Workflow 3 2 TBEST Model Application Scenario Development For model application data collection is aided by the TBEST Model Application Scenario Checklist in Appendix B This form assists the planner in organizing scenario input while simultaneously creating documentation for the model If utilized the form will become a time saving mechanism for the agency as planners can easily organize data and then later quickly refer to the document to assess the contents of the model The Scenario Development workflow includes procedures that will assist the planner in developing model input These procedures introduce questions relevant to the task and then provide the TBEST action for incorporating the answer into the model The procedures are referenced within the Scenario Development workflows Model Application Scenario Development Supporting Procedures e Procedure 3 1 Adding New Routes e Procedure 3 2 Route Realignment e Procedure 3 3 Adding New Stops e Procedure 3 4 Deleting Stops e Procedure 3 5 Deleting Segments e Procedure 3 6 Deleting Routes Procedure 3 7 Updating Socio Economic Data for DRI or TOD e Procedure 3 8 Selecting Routes Segments and Stops TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 30 Workflow 3 1 TBEST Model Application Data Collection 1 Print the TBEST Model App
112. dentifying locations where Transfer Stations exist While not all time points are transfer stations those time points that access transfer stations be specifically identified in the Network Properties dialog See Section 5 15 for more information on coding Transfer Stations Route Stop Description Time Point Arrivals Headway Special Generata Route 1 Northbound Panama City City Hall 3 Route 1 Northbound 3 1 6 Route 1 Northbound 3 1 55 60 C Route 1 Northbound bth St Allen 3 1 63 Route 1 Northbound 235 Route 1 Northbound 3 1 21 6 Route 1 Northbound St 3 1 71 60 Figure 5 36 Time Point Headway Arrivals For each time period that a route is in service TBEST provides the ability to code headway and arrivals trips at the stop level While this is generally a route level feature by coding at the stop level TBEST can modify portions of the route that may receive fewer or no arrivals during certain trips Also routes with no service can be coded with zero arrivals to have the model ignore the route during the time period Within TBEST the headway and arrivals information automatically remain in sync with each other during editing Modifying the arrivals will automatically trigger the headway to be updated based upon the service span for the route Likewise the number of arrivals will be updated if the headway changes change the Network Time Period s
113. ding a New Collection Step 4 Routes to the Routes in Collection list by clicking the left move button If necessary click the gt right move button to remove from the Routes in Collection list Scaling Routes Collections Collections Routes in Collection Available Hautes cadet fo aot 001 outbound outbound 001 inbaund Inbound outbound Delete _ inbound southbound northbound outbound inbound outbound inbound outbound inbound outbound inbound outbound inbound outbound inbound outbound Figure 6 6b Defining Route Collection List from Available Routes Step 5 Repeat Steps and 4 for each route collection Step 3 Collection level Observed Ridership The next level of adjustment will result in each route being adjusted to replicate count ridership at the route level Adjustments will be applied to all routes for which there is observed count data The following data needs to be provided Table 6 3a Input Ridership Data by Route Route Average Ridership Average Ridership Average Ridership me The ridership data should be for a time period coincident with the route alignment scheduled service level used in the model Seasonal changes in service or ridership can be accommodated by using service and ridership adjusted to reflect annual average conditions or the model results can be
114. dings Variable AM Peak Off Peak PM Peak Night sSaturday Sunday LE CECCECLCECCE RouteTypes CRCULATOR 056243 034813 CROSSTOWN 032769 7 0490522 0 52400 7 028869 Accessibility 000000000005 O1Population J 000 O2Population 0355 000079 O6 Population 7 0 00065 00125 0 00096 0 00255 000228 2 J 0 00006 03 04 06 Employment 00001 00001 LogofOlBoardings 0 08007 7 0 10066 0 34768 7 0 00592 LogofO2Population 0 04584 0 02153 0 02773 0 10007 0 37003 ___ au seve S S S S o Inbound Transfers 0 00488 0 00813 0 01048 0 03633 o Special Generators 000000000005 Mall 067408 0 71766 0 67045 0 80926 088864 College University 1 21282 1 49320 049605 6 2 Viewing Model Equations TBEST allows the user to view and modify the equations for a particular scenario Viewing and Modifying Model Equations otep 1 otep 2 otep 3 otep 4 otep 5 otep 6 Click the Modify Equations Coefficients button in the main TBEST toolbar E In the Model Equations window choose to display either the direct boarding equations or the transfer boarding equations by choosing one of those options in the E
115. dix A 5 7 TBEST Segment Calculator a Whattimes of day will the Using the Service Span dialog enter the service span in realignment operate hours for the Weekday time periods AM Peak 6 9 Off Peak 9 3 PM Peak 3 6 Night 6 6 b Will it operate on the Using the Service Span dialog enter the service span in weekend with a different hours for the Weekday time periods Saturday Sunday schedule c Whatare expected the In TBEST headways are coded at the stop time period headways level TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 38 Demographic Given a system wide growth rate does the population demographic and employment data current being applied in the model accurately reflect the future conditions for the proposed realignment If the answer to a is no what is the planned population and employment that will be present when the route is in place An example of this situation would be a DRI or TOD where the density and demographics will substantially change in future years 6 Special Generators Amenities Code Special Generators b Code Amenities Optional If yes no action is necessary The socio economic conditions represented in the source Census and Employment data do not adequately reflect the future conditions This will require the planner to estimate the general density of population and employment around each proposed stop and the expected demographic dist
116. e agency Intalling and Configuring the TBEST GTFS Network Import Tool Once the installation file and database are obtained from the TBEST team run the installation procedure The procedure is straightfoward and should take less than one minute After installation perform the following steps to configure the tool 1 Replace the C TBEST Tools GTFSImport GTFSNetwork accdb with the Microsoft Access database supplied by the TBEST team 2 Oncereplaced open the GTFSNetwork accdb in Microsoft Access 2007 or 2010 If you have a prior version of Access or no version at all then disregard this step and the next 3 Follow the instructions in the following link to add the database location as a trusted location within Access http office microsoft com en us word help create remove or change a trusted location for your files HA010031999 aspx The trusted location to add is C TBEST Tools GTFSImport GTFS Routes to TBEST Routes Both TBEST and GTFS formulate routes on the level of the pattern or path GTFS may have several patterns that make up a single route The GTFS Import tool translates the patterns and creates TBEST routes with two directions or one direction in the case of a circulator When generating a route the GTFS Import tool will try to match inbound and outbound patterns that are most likely to have trips that run along both patterns In some cases where there is an odd number of patterns on a route a TBEST route will only
117. e Period is during the week AM Peak Off Peak PM Peak Night or aggregated to Weekday the values are multiplied by 225 Saturday and Sunday time periods are multiplied by 52 and the Weekend aggregate Time Period is multiplied by 26 3 User defined of Days by Time Period with this option the Days text box is enable and the user specifies the number of days to summarize for the selected Time Period 4 Service Week a one week span is summarized This includes five Weekdays oaturday and Sunday With this option the Time Period drop down box is not active 5 Service Month summary of four Service Weeks With this option the Time Period drop down box is not active 6 Service Year Summary of fifty two Service Weeks With this option the Time Period drop down box is not active TBEST Scenario Summary System and Scenarios Transit System LYNX Scenario April 2010 Scenario B CBD Growth Compare Summary Span and Time Period Summary Span AERE E Daily Summary by Time Period Annualized Summary by Time Period User defined of Days by Time Period Routes To Summarize Show All Route Service Tear Routes intersecting a Mobility Area Time Period Operating Cost Route Operating Cost per Hour 50 00 Show Report Cancel Figure 7 7 Summary Span Options Route Operating Cost The Scenario Summary tool contains an option for calculating
118. e TBEST Reports dialog will open 5 Onthe TBEST Reports dialog select Weekday as the Time Period and No Grouping as the Grouping See Appendix 7 1 Route Note any TBEST Time Period can be selected to summarize the performance Perfomance performance measures are summarized at the bottom of the report ScenarioName Weekday Performance AllRoutes TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 54 Report Sample i TBEST Report x Scenano Model Transit System Key est Time Penod WEEKDAY Total Rou Scenario Report TRANSIT ROUTE SUMMARY TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 55 Route selections are accomplished by either using the TBEST Search tool or by individually selecting routes in the Routes window The following workflow illustrates using the Search tool to select only routes with Inbound directional description and then create a performance report based on that selection For more information on methods of Route Selection see the Procedure 3 8 Route Segment and Stop Selection TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 56 Workflow 4 7 Performance Report for Selected Routes Open TBEST 2 Open a BEST Scenario 3 Confirm that the model runs are valid and no edits are pending If edits are pending the model must be run See Appendix A 3 8 Operation Steps Operation Reference 1
119. e defined in Section 7 3 Displaying Stop Attributes TBEST provides various stop attribute display options for ease in network coding and reporting The View Menu on the Main Menu contains three display options for Socio Economic Variables Show All Variables Choose this option to have all variables both transit attributes and socio economic attributes displayed in the Stops window ime Period Specific Choose this option to hide all socio economic variables and display only the time period specific variables including Time Point Arrivals Travel Time Headway and Special Generator This is the default view as shown in Figure 5 30 Socio economic Choose this option to hide all time period specific variables and display only the socio economic variables including demographic population characteristics and employment characteristics for each stop buffer Viewing Network Geometry TBEST provides a variety of stop display options for ease in network coding viewing updating and reporting The View Menu on the Main Menu contains four display options for Network Geometry Houte Geometry Only Choose this option to display only the route geometry route segments Stops will not be displayed in the Map window or the Stops tab This is the default option for efficient Map draw speed Selected Stops Only If a stop or set of stops have been selected and defined either in the Stops table or interactively in the Map window the
120. e developed the stop_features txt containing stop amenities special generators and transit hubs place the file in this folder Depending on the nature of the system changes this file may need to be updated for the new validation 3 Obtain the observed route level ridership information for the new route structure 4 Within TBEST make a copy of the Transit System to be re validated The copied system should be given a name that describes the new validation year 5 Inthe copied system determine the scenario that will be used for the new model validation If itis not already the scenario should be renamed to BaseYearModel If model application scenarios exist that need to be updated with the model revalidation keep those those scenarios in the system 6 Checkthe TBEST Downloads to verify if updated Socio Economic data is available Appendix A 3 3 Socio Economic Download 7 Rejectthe validation on the target TBEST Transit system Appendix A 6 5 Reject Model Validation 8 Openthe TBEST GTFS Network Import tool 9 Follow the steps the TBEST GTFS Network Import operation procedure executing Appendix TBEST steps 8 and or 9 skipping step 7 Use the BaseYearModel scenario as the target GTFS Network scenario Import 10 Close the TBEST GTFS Network Import tool 11 In TBEST open the BaseYearModel scenario and perform the following a Openthe Scenario Properties window and enter the following pro
121. e pending the model must be run See Appendix A 3 8 before TBEST reports will reflect changes in the model input Model Status 4 Onthe Segments toolbar select the Select Edit Segment tool button 5 With the Select Edit Segment tool button active click a point on the map where several segments overlap After the click the map and segments grid selections will update with the segments at that location 6 Under the Reports menu on the main toolbar select Segment Analysis The TBEST Reports dialog will open 7 Onthe TBEST Reports dialog select Weekday as the Time Period and in the Segments to Summarize section select the Selected Segments option Note any TBEST Time Period can be selected to summarize the performance 8 Click Apply In the resulting Segment Summary Report ridership is provided for each of the selected segments The total ridership for the selected segments is summarized at the bottom of the report 9 If desired save the Report Give the report a descriptive name such as lt ScenarioName gt Weekday_Segments_ lt atmaplocation gt TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 63 Report Sample Scenario Report TRANSIT SEGMENT SUMMARY Scenario Model Transit System Time Period WEEKDAY Report Date Time 11 21 2011 8 53 42 se 22 Route 58 Southbound 6 016 620 Beach oe
122. e production file server should have 11 ServicePlanningProjects di StrategicPlanningProjects approximately 5GB of storage space allocated for TBEST data TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 6 The server storage location selected by the agency should have a root TBEST folder with the data storage sub folders listed in the Table 1 2 below The TBEST models will be stored in TBEST Distribution File format For more information on TBEST Distribution Files See Appendix A 3 2 TBEST Distribution Files TBEST Implementation Production Data Storage Folders ValidatedModel Contains the production validated TBEST model in TBEST Distribution File format named with the following nomenclature lt TransitSystem gt _ProductionModel tds ServicePlanningProjects The ServicePlanningProjects and StrategicPlanningProject directories will and contain sub directories for each planning project Projects are StrategicPlanningProjects individual service planning or strategic planning model applications The project directories are created by planners and should be named with the following nomenclature lt ProjectName gt lt ddmmyy gt Project folders will contain the TBEST model application in TBEST Distribution File format The TBEST Distribution Files should be named with the following nomenclature TransitSystem ProjectName tds For documentation of the model application the project dire
123. e useful for the service or strategic planner The list below provides a sample of modeling opportunities which support strategic and service planning TBEST Modeling Opportunities e New routes e Route realignments Socio Demographic changes e Modifying service Levels e Operating speed improvements e Transfer potential e Fare changes e Stop additions eliminations In order to implement these types of changes into the TBEST model planners will need to create model application scenarios This section will focus on workflows and procedures that support scenario creation documentation quality control and data storage Model application is primarily intended for service and or strategic planners to perform However the Modeling GIS Technician may perform the modeling if the planner does not have the required skill sets In this case the planner would provide the necessary model input to the Modeling GIS Technician Procedurally the model application process contains the following steps Model application data collection Production transit system download Develop model application scenario Run the TBEST model Perform model analysis Finalize scenario documentation QU Ie ee Project transit system upload TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 29 The model analysis tasks will be detailed in later sections of this document In this section there are two primary workflows for mo
124. each Senior Center Gulf Ccc RADIAL s Route 7b PCBeach Senior Center PC Beach west end RADIAL Figure 5 5 Routes Tab Creating a Route To create a new route click on Route Options and select Add a Route see Figure 5 6 Route Options e en Ul BRoute s E Add a Route Edit Route Taals Settings Panama City Hall Super Wal Performance Measures Sears at Panama City Mall Properties Panama City Hall Gulf Coast t e Route 5 Panama City Mall Gulf Coast SF Route 6 Panama City Mall Gulf Coast 9 87 Route 7 Panama City Beach Senior Cer lt gt Figure 5 6 Add a Route The New Houte dialog will be displayed as shown in Figure 5 7 Select the Route Type Radial Circulator Crosstown or Express and the Route Technology Bus Heavy Rail People Mover Street Car Light Rail Other Input the Route Name the Route Description and the Directional Descriptions Click OK and the new Route will entered into the Route Network New Route Define Route Properties Route Type Select we Technology Select Haute Mame Description Description Figure 5 7 Route Dialog Note on Technology Modes TBEST is currently calibrated to be sensitive to Bus technology only As more technology modes are tested and calibrated the TBEST model coefficients will be updated to reflect this sensitivity If you are coding rout
125. ecommended that vou make a copy of this System prior to validation veu wank bo continue Mo Figure 6 8 Copy System Reminder TBEST System Validation Mates 1 The TBEST Validation routine will execute a model run all time penods The system will not be available until the model run is complete 2 This process will adjust Socio Economic values for all Scenarios in the Transit System As a result all Scenarios will have the base year adjusted to 2006 and scaling factors updated based on this scenarin 3 This process wall not adjust employment data added from an external onal shapefile Figure 6 9 System Validation Adjustment Factors Once the Model Validation is complete TBEST makes the validation factors available to view and or export To View TBEST generated Validation Factors otep 1 With a Scenario open from the TBEST Main Menu select Scenario gt Model Validation View Collection Level Validation Factors Step 2 Route Collection Validation Factors form opens Figure 6 10 The data is not editable but can be exported to Excel csv format using the Export button on the form Step 3 Click OK to close the form Route Collection Validation Factors Collection WeekdayFactor SaturdayFactor SundayFactor Haute 1 Inbaund 0 59 Haute 1 Outbound Haute 2 Inbaund Haute 2 Outbound Haute 5 Inbaund Haute 5 Outbound Haute Inbaund Route Outbound Route Inbound Route 7 O
126. ecta Transit System from the list and click Download Step 3 File Download dialog will appear Click the Save button In the Save As dialog navigate to CATBES T DistributableSystems directory and save the file A progress bar displays the status of the download When the download is complete click the Close button Click the Close button on the TBEST System Download dialog The downloaded TBEST Distribution File will be available in the Distribution Files folder in TBEST Explorer The Transit System can now be loaded for use in TBEST by following the Loading a Transit System from a TBEST Distribution File procedures in Section 3 2 119 TBEST System Download Select a Transit System to download BCT ownTrolep Citrus Conn Gainesville Hartline Hernanda IndianRireer JTA Published 97217200 9 21 200F 9 27 2007 9 21 A200 9 21 2007 9 21 2008 9 21 2007 9 27 2007 9 21 A200 9 21 200F Kew west 9721 2007 Lee Tran 92172007 Figure 3 6 Download a Transit System EH d 1 d d d d L m Notes on downloading a transit system Ifthe Transit System already exists TBEST warns about an already installed Transit System and does not allow the download f you want to publish your system as a downloadable within TBEST contact TBEST technical support through the TBEST website 3 5 Creating a New Transit System TBEST Transit Systems can be easily created from the formatted Soc
127. ee Appendix A 3 8 before TBEST reports will reflect changes in the model input Model Status 4 Underthe Reports menu on the main toolbar select Route Performance The TBEST Reports dialog will open 5 On the TBEST Reports dialog select Weekday as the Time Period and Route Technology as the Grouping Note Appendix A 7 1 any TBEST Time Period can be selected to summarize the performance Route Perfomance 6 Click Apply TBEST Performance Measures are summarized for the Route Technologies within the system The system performance measures are summarized at the bottom of the report 7 If desired save the Report Give the report a descriptive name such as ScenarioName Weekday Performance byTechnology TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 47 Report Sample TRANSIT ROUTE SUMMARY Transit System LAMetro Calibration Time Penod WEEKDAY Report Date Time 11 10 2011 5 40 46 CEN CEN EEM NNN S UN UN RN EN CN GM BUS 3604946 2603732 6208738 7423 13788 55 eas 836 IB _ COMMUTER RAIL 825468 1300 326768 a 75 zw 306 1222 1927 aa O LIGHT RAIL 308234 54795 364030 151 w 95 mz 7 k OTHER 1990 ms 6 30 4 o 22 57 STREETCAR 25113 8161 28 w a 27 553 2 Total Routes 55893
128. egment Attributes TBEST Segments contain attributes for network organization and IVTT characteristics These attributes are editable by the user The general categories for stop attributes are e Segment Definition Attributes ime Period In Vehicle Travel Time IVTT Each category has its own set of functional aspects as it relates to network coding update and analysis Table 5 1 provides a definition for each TBEST segment attribute by category The categories are also discussed in the next section Table 5 1 TBEST Segment Attributes by Category Category Attributes Attribute Definition The segments associated route This attribute is not Segment Route l editable in the Segment table Definition Length mi Length of the segment in miles This attribute is not editable in the Segment table SegmentID Unique segment identifier CorridorlD Flag that allows grouping of segments regardless of route along a Corridor for any other summary area Time Period In AM IVTT IVIT in minutes from the beginning of the segment to the end of the segment for the TBEST AM Peak time period Vehicle Travel C p Off Peak IVTT IVIT in minutes from the beginning of the segment to the Time IVTT end of the segment for the TBEST Off Peak Peak time period PM IVTT IVIT in minutes from the beginning of the segment to the end of the segment for the TBEST PM Peak time period Night IVTT IVIT in minutes from the beginning of the segment to t
129. egment level e Workflow 4 9 Segment Reporting by User Defined Tag sample for coding selected segments with an IDs and then creating a report which subtotals predicted ridership for each CorridorlD e Workflow 4 10 Ridership Report for Selected Segments illustrates using the Select Segment tool to select segments that intersect a user clicked point on the TBEST map For more information on methods of segment selection see the Procedure 3 8 Route Segment and Stop Selection TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 59 Workflow 4 8 Segment Reporting for Realigned Route 4 Activate the route direction that will be realigned See Appendix A 5 4 Activate Route 5 Atthe point that the route will realign use the Split Active Route Segment tool button on the Segment toolbar See Appendix A 5 8 to split the existing segment at that point If segment already terminates at this location do not split the Split Segment segment 6 Activate the opposite route direction if it will be realigned Repeat Step 5 7 Inthe Segment Grid select the segments that will be realigned 8 Under the Reports menu on the main toolbar select Segment Analysis The TBEST Reports dialog will open 9 Onthe TBEST Reports dialog select Weekday as the Time Period and in the Segments to Summarize section See Appendix A 7 1 select the Selection Only option Note any TBEST Time Period can be s
130. el times will need to be adjusted for a new segment that was copied using Copy Reverse Direction Copy Route TBEST allows the user to make a copy of any route within the network The ability to copy a route provides the following network coding shortcuts e Copying a route to create a temporary back up of the route while edits are performed on the original e Defining a trunk line that will make up core of several routes In this situation core route can be developed that includes a trunk line utilized by several routes The core route can be copied to become the base of the new routes that share the trunk The variations on the routes can be code individually while still keeping the core segments and stops of the original trunk line When all routes coded the core trunk route can be deleted or left in the network but coded to have no service To copy a route highlight the Route in the Routes tab Click on the Copy Selected Route button in the Routes tab toolbar or under Route Options Tools In the Copy Route dialog give the Route a new name and modify the properties as necessary Click OK to copy the route The copied Route will appear at the bottom of the Route list Note Copy Route works to copy the Route in both directions It does not work to right click on a directional node of the Route Calculate Stop to Stop Travel Time Once segment IVTT has been entered and stops have been coded TBEST provides a tool to automatically ca
131. elect Using the Map Appendix A 5 6 or Select in Segments Grid Appendix A 5 6 Select the first segment listed in the segment grid scroll down to end of the list of segments in the grid and Shift Click the last segment Activate Route For Editing Appendix A 5 4 Select the first highlighted segment in the segment grid scroll down to the last highlighted segment in the grid and Shift Click the last highlighted segment Use the Search Tool Appendix A 8 1 and select Segments as the Category in the Build Criteria Statement box or Open an saved Search File Appendix A 8 1 and execute the search 3 Stop Selection Select an individual stop s b Select all stops in the system C Select stops on a route s d Select the stops on a segment s Select Using the Map Appendix A 5 6 or Select in Segments Grid Appendix A 5 6 Change the stop view to show all stops Appendix A 5 11 Select the first stop listed in the stops grid scroll down to end of the list of stops in the grid and Shift Click the last stop Activate Route For Editing Appendix A 5 4 Select the first stop in the stops grid scroll down to the last stop in the grid and Shift Click the stop Select a segment or multiple segments in the Segment grid use the Select Stops on Segments Appendix A 5 11 tool TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 42 Select stops tha
132. elect another Time Period from the list and when changed the values for the Headway and Arrivals will be displayed for the selected time period For base year model development the arrivals are based on the route schedule and are input manually by the user For future year model application the arrivals can be modified or defined in the case of a new route to fit the proposed service For example in the future year if service will be increased by 3096 on a particular route TBEST supports updating the existing number of arrivals on the target route by 3096 through the use of the Stop Calculator Note For the purposes of TBEST arrivals are synonymous with vehicle trips Note For time periods that a route is not in service arrival and or headway values should be set to zero Stop Description Time Point Arrivals TT Route 1 Northbound Panama City City Hall PECH Route 1 Northbound Route 1 Northbound Route 1 Northbound Bth St Allen Route 1 Northbound Route 1 Northbound Route 1 Northbound 2th St MLE 2 Headway Special 1 6 1 55 1 83 2 35 1 41 1 71 Figure 5 37 Arrivals Headway In Vehicle Travel Time IVTT The stop to stop in vehicle travel time expressed in fractions of a minute is populated in the IVTT column The intended use for this column is to work in conjunction with the IVTT in the oegment table Once IVTT is coded at the segment level i
133. elect the stops to be deleted See Procedure 3 8 Selecting Routes Segments and Stops S 3 Delete the stops ee Appendix 5 12 Delete Stops Procedure 3 6 Deleting Segments Input Options TBEST Action 1 Open the Scenario 2 Select the stops to be deleted See Procedure 3 8 Selecting Routes egments and Stops Seg p 3 Delete the stops See Appendix 5 12 Delete Stops Procedure 3 7 Deleting Routes Input Options TBEST Action 1 Open the Scenario 2 In the Route Window select the route s to be deleted 3 Delete the Routes See Appendix A 5 4 Delete Route s TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 41 Procedure 3 8 Selecting Routes Segments Stops Procedure Steps TBEST Action 1 Route Selection Select an individual route s b Select routes that meet a certain criteria or metric To select routes in the Route list click the route in the list Shift Click to select multiples To select a route by direction expand route node and select the directional portion of the route Use the Search Tool Appendix A 8 1 and select Routes as the Category in the Build Criteria Statement box or Open an saved Search File Appendix A 8 1 and execute the search 2 Segment Selection Select individual segment s Select all segments in the system Select stops on a route s Select segments that meet a certain criteria or metric S
134. elected to summarize the Segment Report performance 10 On the TBEST Reports dialog click the Apply button Direct Transfer and Total Boardings are summarized for the selected segments The total for the selected segments are summarized at the bottom of the report 11 Save the Report Give the report a descriptive name such as lt ScenarioName gt Weekday_RealignmentRoute lt RouteNumer gt Close the Report 12 Activate the route direction that will be realigned 13 Delete the segments that are after the split location in the direction of travel When completing this for step for the route opposite direction delete the segments that are before the split location 14 Use the Add Route Segment tool button on the Segment toolbar to digitize the new segment s that define the Appendix A 5 8 realignment Add Route Segment 15 For each new Route Segment use the Segment Calculator to enter the bus or other technology operating See Appendix A 5 7 speed on the route for each timeperiod Segment Calculator TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 60 16 Once the segments complete use the Add Stop tool button on the Stops toolbar to add stops on the See Appendix A realigned section of the route 5 12 Add Stop 17 Using the Stop grid or the Stop Calculator tool on the Stop toolbar add the Headway Arrivals and if required See Appendix A Special Generators and Ameniti
135. em wide growth If yes no action is necessary rate does the population demographic and employment data current being used for model accurately reflect the future conditions If the answer to a is no what The socio economic conditions represented in the source is the planned population Census and Employment data do not adequately reflect and employment that will be the future conditions This will require the planner to present when the route is in estimate the general density of poulation and place An example of this employment around each proposed stop and the situation would be a DRI or expected demographic distribution See Procedure 3 7 TOD where the density and Updating Socio Economic Data for DRI or TOD demographics will substantially change in future years 6 Special Generators Amenities TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 40 g Code Special Generators Special Generators are coded at the stop and time period level In most cases special generators can be coded for all time periods The excpetion would be Park n Ride where it would mainly influence AM Peak and or Off Peak ridership See Appendix A 5 14 Special Generators h Code Amenities Optional At present amenities have no impact on the model so they will not infuence the model prediction See Appendix A 5 14 Stop Amenities Procedure 3 5 Deleting Stops Input Options TBEST Action 1 Open the Scenario 2 S
136. ent Data If available the user can input zonal employment data in ESHI shapefile format The shapefile must contain a unique identifier field commercial employment industrial employment and service employment The required field definitions are TAZ NO Integer COMM EMP Double INDUS EMP Double SERV EMP Double For an un validated model the zonal employment data must be consistent with the Target Base Year Creating a Scenario continued otep 3 Validated Model See Figure 3 15 Enter the information pertaining to the simulation Scenario Base Year This will reflect the current validated base year It is uneditable ocenario Forecast Year Enter the year in four digits corresponding to the forecast year forecast year must be greater than or equal to the base year 127 otep 4 otep 5 Mean Annual Wage The base year Mean Annual Wage should visible Unless you have a discrete projection for a future year utilize the Wage Growth Rate for future year simulation Wage Growth Rate Enter the annual wage growth rate e g 2 596 for the forecast period Employment Data Source For a validated model it is not recommended that the Employment Data Source is modified unless Zonal Employment data was used during validation lf this is the case an updated Zonal Employment file should be supplied that matches the Forecast Year Click the OK button After creating the scenario TBEST will automatically load
137. ent trip generation characteristics of residential and employment areas for these two time periods Although TBEST is able to provide time of day based ridership forecasts as defined above it is not able to provide ridership estimates by trip purpose Data capabilities preclude the estimation of separate model equations for different trip purposes 9 Spatial Accessibility Socio economic Characteristics _TBEST accounts for spatial accessibility in computing boardings at individual stops Ridership is partially dependent on the number of people of various characteristics defined by age working status race ethnicity income car ownership etc who can access the transit system TBEST considers circular buffer areas around individual stops to identify the market that has access to the transit system 4 Time Space Network Connectivity n addition to considering spatial accessibility at the origin stop one needs to consider the overall connectivity and time space accessibility that a system provides to compute accurately ridership at any stop People are more likely to use a transit system stop that is well connected and from which many destinations offering a range of activity opportunities can be reached However it is likely that riders will not be wiling to tolerate trip lengths or durations and number of transfers beyond a certain threshold level Thus one needs to consider the activity opportunities measured in terms of populatio
138. eport Sample Em Scenario Report E 1 Open Chart Route Summary All Routes Summary Variables Scenario Comparison Report Boardings Population HouseHold Income and Employment Vanables Population 09 57 HouseHold g am Ac 0 7 Employment Scenano FY 2021 E E Network Transit System GRTS EHE Performance Measures Summary Span Weekday Summary Cost Report Date 11 21 2011 11 29 46 AM Route Summary Additional Person Trips FemalePopulation _ SEE E Roue39 4 68053 10 NA 1582 10 NA 34968 Roue44 092 136819 10 NA 12698 10 NA 74108 7262 64263 617 NA 53006 10 NA 12855 100 NA 27723 979 100 46 9 0 1556 2 89473 pt NA 29 2 10 NA 1469 100 Waldo Express Route Route 301 Route 303 sul TT TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 77 Chart Sample E31 ES C3 RSS BS S S 3 UR GRTS Weekday Population HouseHold Income and Employment Variables Scenario A TotalPopulation Scenario B BlackPopulation Scenario ForeignBorn Scenario B HispanicPopulation BS Scenario A PopUnder16 Scenario B PovertyPopulation LL Scenario A MultiFamilyDU B Scenario B TotalHouseholds Scenario SingleVehHousehold E Scenario B HouseholdswChild
139. erate Stops Stop Generation Options Place stops every 1 000 feet fram the beginning af the route with an offset of 50 feet M Auto number stops starting at 1 000 Place stop at the end of the route Cancel Figure 5 43 Generate Stops Once complete the stops will appear the map window and the Stops table if auto numbering was selected the auto generated Stop ID will appear as a stop label in the map Viewing Stop Labels TBEST labels stops based on what you input into the Stop column for each stop Right clicking in the mapping window brings up a menu where you can edit how you view stop labels on the map default setting is for labeling active route stops only You can change this to label all stops or turn stop labels off altogether 43 326 526 113 E 526 Lum A 308 27 E a 122 5 E nh r4 5 1 s E EP A ied e 6 o 29 1 ve E u 9 4300 9 Maie e e TEET 321 pA paene 228 323 ge 2 P se ast PI spin 2 75 h 2 p se 17 Y 531 279 e u 4 25 PE s ER i ge 19th Ave Zoom To Selected T Ave e 1 se 20th o y Label All Stops gt asis pet Label Active Route Stops r Stop Labels Off SE 23rd al Figure 5 44 Viewing All Stop Labels Note The network ge
140. erfomance 6 Click Apply TBEST Performance Measures are summarized for each Route Name The system performance 7 If desired save the Report Give the report a descriptive name such as lt ScenarioName gt Weekday_Performance_byRouteName Report Sample 5 i TBEST Report C Scenario Report TRANSIT ROUTE SUMMARY Scenario Key est Model Transit System Key vest Time Period WEEKDAY Report Date Time 11 10 2011 5 05 02 PM BOARDINGS BOARDINGS BOARDINGS SERVICE TRIPS MILES SERVICE MILES SERVICE HOURS SERVICE MILE SERVICE HOUR SERVICE TRIP STOP VISIT God nma 278 702 38 n n 45 66 2 427 Green ses 1379 Jaj 5 n 99 19 Orange 55 ase 8 7 72 amp 4 09 3749 Red 955 755 1889 8 w 8 95 25 74 18 TotalRoues 4636 309 7736 191 73 n 8 68 105 405 15 TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 53 Workflow 4 6 Performance Reports for All Routes Operation Steps Operation Reference 1 Open TBEST 2 Open TBEST Scenario 3 Confirm that the model runs are valid and no edits are pending If edits are pending the model must See Appendix A 3 8 Model be run before TBEST reports will reflect changes in the model input Status 4 Underthe Reports menu on the main toolbar select Route Performance Th
141. erliner will appear in the list of interlined routes Once the Routes are defined select the Route directions that intersect and the stops where the intersection occurs Metwork Properties Fares Transfer Stations Fare Far First V ait Time Transfer Fare Inflation Hate Interlined Hautes Select an Interliner to edit Foute Identity the Interlined Stops Figure 5 41 Network Properties Mew Interliner Select Routes that define the Interliner Haute B Figure 5 42 Adding a New Interliner 5 16 Route Coding Tools Copy a Route to the Reverse Direction In the event that a route travels exactly the same path inbound as it did outbound there is an option to copy a route s reverse direction This should be used only if no edits or only minor edits are necessary for the opposite direction If there are major deviations between the outbound and inbound directions it is usually faster to digitize the route segments manually than to perform edits copy a route s reverse direction activate the target route s outbound or inbound direction to be reversed Click on the Copy Reverse Direction button in the Routes tab toolbar or under Route Options Tools The reverse will occur automatically with a confirmation when complete The reversed segment s will appear in the Segments tab and in the map window upon activation of that route direction Note In vehicle trav
142. ership by Zones Zones could be any user input polygon shapefile including local municipalities Census Block Group or any other planning areas Appendix A Regional Analysis contains the procedural description Corridor Site or Area Analysis The ability to geographically identify analysis areas within the service boundaries and summarize ridership within those areas is a key component of the TBEST software The Analysis Toolbar provides tools to define and save user designed or specified areas that will be updated and or analyzed Within TBEST the geographic areas are segregated into Corridors Areas and Sites Once developed the saved areas can be opened in multiple scenarios to summarize ridership differences across scenarios addition these areas are integrated into the TBEST Scenario Summary tool and into the process for developing Sector Scenarios The following workflow illustrates creating a Corridor updating service within the Corridor and then comparing the results with the base year model While this example uses a Corridor the same procedures would apply if a Site or Area were used to define the area TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 65 Workflow 4 11 Corridor Updating and Stop Reporting Operation Steps Operation Reference 1 Open TBEST 2 Create a Model Application Scenario See Workflow 3 2 Scenario Development 3 Using the Analysis Toolbar create a Corridor base
143. es option is strongly suggested Ready to Install the Program The wizard is ready to begin installation IF vau want to review or change any af your installation settings click Back Click Cancel to exit Ehe wizard Current Settings Setup Type Typical Destination Folder C Program Files x86 TBESTITBEST40 User Information Mame Company Installshield 108 Figure 2 13 TBEST Installation Folder Selection The installation will now deploy the TBEST components When the installation is complete click Finish 109 2 4 Uninstalling TBEST Prior to uninstalling the TBEST software through Microsoft Windows Add Remove Programs interface delete all TBEST Transit Systems using the Delete button on the Transit Systems form To save the data for later use package the systems in TBEST Distribution Files See oection 3 2 for a discussion on TBEST Distribution Files prior to deleting Note If you do not delete existing systems prior to uninstall you may have technical difficulty re installing the transit systems 110 2 5 Configuring the TBEST Base Map TBEST provides an ArcGlS based mapping interface where users can use to digitize routes realign route segments add and move stops and delete route segments or stops The use of these tools is enhanced by having background layers that provide a basis for drawing or realigning routes and addin
144. es for the new stops for each TBEST time period 5 13 Stop Calculator 18 If both route directions will be realigned then repeat steps 3 8 of this workflow for the other route direction 19 In the Route List select the Route that was realigned In the Route Options menu select Tools and then select See Appendix A Calculate Travel Time The stop to stop travel times will be updated on the selected route 5 16 Calculate Travel Time 20 Save the scenario and run the TBEST model 21 After the model run repeat steps 7 11 but don t close the report when finished 22 In the TBEST Explorer window open the report that was saved for the original scenario See Appendix A 7 4 Open Report 23 With the two reports open in Excel copy the total from all segments from one Excel sheet to the other Use the Excel summary tools to calculate the difference in ridership after the realignment Workflow 4 9 Segment Reporting by User Defined Operation Steps Operation Reference 1 Open TBEST 2 Opena Scenario or create a new Scenario 3 Confirm that the model runs are valid and no edits are pending If edits are pending the model must be run See Appendix 3 8 before TBEST reports will reflect changes in the model input Model Status 4 Using either the Segment Map selection tool or select Segments in theSegment grid define the segments that will receive the Corridor ID If using the Segment Map selection tool Shift Click
145. es other than Bus code the route type to reflect the actual technology so that future TBEST releases containing updated coefficients will be sensitive to your coded network Note on Route Deviations TBEST routes must contain a stop to stop path Before beginning to code the route structure review the schedule and determine if any route deviations exist If a route deviates from the primary route during a portion of the day TBEST requires that the primary and deviated paths be coded as separate routes However these routes can share the same geometry on the trunk portion of the line The TBEST Route Copy function described in Section 5 16 can assist in capturing the trunk of the route The copied route geometry and stops can then be modified at the deviation point s In this situation based on the schedule arrivals trips may need to be split between the primary route and the deviated route Note on Route Direction TBEST manages routes by direction For all route types other than circulators directional descriptions will need to be defined For Circulators only one direction is defined In general these descriptions are meant to indicate inbound outbound northbound southbound or eastbound westbound direction types but any unique indicator can be input that is understandable by the user Route Properties To change route properties click the Route Properties button 27 the Routes toolbar Route Properties Define Route Properties
146. everal database and support files are loaded onto the local computer This section discusses the location and management of these files and the configuration of the TBEST Base Map 2 1 Hardware Requirements TBEST is a computationally intensive software package that calls for using high performance personal computers to minimize model run times and handle large databases It is recommended that TBEST be run on a high end Dual Core machine Hard disk space requirements are dependent on the size of the databases region and the extent to which multiple scenarios will be created Minimum Recommended Hardware Specifications Dual Core 2 0 GHz e 2GBRAM 10GB free disk space after installation of TBEST While TBEST will run on a machine whose hardware specifications are below those noted above run times and database screen refresh rates are likely to be considerably longer 2 2 Software Requirements TBEST is a Microsoft Windows based software package that involves complex computations intensive database handling and input output visualization using GIS As such TBEST comes with some specific software requirements so that all of its features and capabilities will function properly Required Software Resident on Machine Running TBEST Microsoft Windows XP or 7 e ArcGIS 10 Subject to change with new ArcGIS releases ArcView License Level e Microsoft SQL Server Express 2005 or Microsoft SQL Server 2005 SQL Server m
147. f the TBEST GTFS Network Import tool was used to create the network route validation collections will already exist Enter observed ridership for each route validation collection Run the model validation procedure After the model validation procedure verify that the validation factors are accurate 11 Optional Using the TBEST Search tool develop and save any standard metric queries Appendix A 8 1 that may be used to evaluate service or performance on future year models TBEST Search 12 Optional Using the TBEST Analysis toolbar develop and save any standard Analysis Appendix A 8 4 Areas Corridors or Site locations that may be used in future year model update or TBEST Analysis analysis Toolbar 13 Optional Prior to TBEST deployment on service and strategic planning machines the Modeling GIS Technician should develop the Mobility Area Threshold Ranges following the procedures in Appendix A 7 3 Defining Mobility Area Thresholds Once the thresholds are developed the Threshold database located at C TBEST Tools ScenarioReporting Thresholds mdb should be copied from the Modeling GIS Technician s machine to each of service and strategic planning machines after TBEST installation If the Thresholds mdb file is already present it should be over written 14 Delete any saved TBEST Reports 15 Create a TBEST Distribution file of the validated system Name the Distribution File ProductionTBESTModel bid date tds 16
148. factors to reflect annual conditions if the model run was developed and scaled by specific seasonal data The ridership is an integer number The adjustment process accommodates the available data developing adjustment factors for whatever level of data is available For example many routes also do not have Sunday service so adjustment factors will not be developed for these periods The information from Table 6 3a Input will be used to generate a route level time period adjustment factor calculated as shown in the formula below RAF Route adjustment factor Count Boardings Ridership Adjusted Forecast Boardings Ridership Where Adjusted Forecast Boardings Ridership includes the stop level adjustments from the Unique Stop Validation in step one This information will be used to populate the matrix shown below Each cell will contain the Route Adjustment Factors for each route with the specified technology and service type A matrix will be produced for each time period weekday a m peak weekday midday weekday p m peak weekday evening overnight weekday total Saturday and Sunday The lightly shaded in gray cells will each contain the series of Route Adjustment Factors for routes that have the respective characteristics Some cells may have no data points while other cells may have numerous data points The row and column means will provide the user with information on the variation in adjustment factors with respect to technologies
149. for input of a base fare and transfer fare If the agencies fare structure is more complex utilizing discounted fare cards or other fare policies it would be better to determine the average fare per rider as input to the base fare and if applicable the transfer fare TBEST does not provide a per route fare 7 Special Generators Amenities Special Generators are coded at the stop and time period level In most cases special generators can be coded for all time periods The exception would be Park n Ride where it would mainly influence AM Peak and or Off Peak ridership Amenities are also coded at the stop level For more information on the TBEST definition of Special Generators Amenities see Appendix A 5 14 Special Generators and Stop Amenities 8 Observed Ridership b TBEST has a flexible validation procedure that works with the agency s level of observed ridership data TBEST accepts observed ridership for an average Weekday average Saturday and average Sunday The averaging of ridership data can occur over a duration which consistently represents the system performance Daily average ridership can be grouped at the following levels i Route by direction discrete ridership is available for inbound and outbound directions of a route Route in both directions ridership for a route both directions or multiple patterns which make up one route Routes grouped by Route Type and Route Technology for this option validati
150. for transit ridership TBEST is a comprehensive transit analysis and ridership forecasting model that is capable of simulating travel demand at the individual stop level while accounting for network connectivity spatial and temporal accessibility time of day variations and route competition and complementarity TBEST simulates transit ridership at the level of the individual stop clearly distinguishing among stops at the same location by route and direction Thus it is a micro level model that can provide very detailed information regarding ridership estimates at individual stops However TBEST s primary role is envisioned to be obtaining more aggregate route level segment level location based or system level measures of transit ridership through the aggregation of stop level outputs By simulating ridership at the level of the individual stop the model provides a strong platform and robust framework for modeling transit ridership in a region by time of day and day of week motivation behind the development of stop level forecasting was not necessarily a need for stop level forecasts but rather the recognition that the predominant walk access nature of transit use requires a level of geographic precision that equates to understanding the size and characteristics of the activities and population in the stop level walk access buffer Thus TBEST has a model structure that is sensitive at the stop level even though service planning decisi
151. fulfilling the requirement for transit agencies to produce ridership estimations within TDP s To assist agencies in this process FDOT provides pre formatted socio economic data and pre coded networks however Florida transit agencies were required to provide resources to update network data perform TBEST modeling utilize TBEST tools to analyze model output and train staff members to utilize the software While this investment was not overwhelming oftentimes once the TDP development effort was over the TBEST model was shelved until the next TDP update FDOT realized that both the agency and FDOT s investment in theTBEST software could be maximized by further usage by service planners To that end FDOT has developed this document to assist transit agencies in establishing and utilizing TBEST for other planning applications It allows strategic and service planners a tool for testing the implementation of new routes stops or services or other operational changes that occur outside of TDP development This procedure was based on the practices of an existing transit agency LYNX in central Florida Many of the procedures and workflows included in this document are based on the LYNX TBEST implementation and can be adopted as a best practice for other Florida transit agencies This Technical Memorandum is part one of a 2 part guidance document Part 2 of the guidance provides guidance to FDOT and review agencies that are responsible for reviewing T
152. g and distinguishing between direct boardings and transfer boardings at each stop location At any given transit stop one may have patrons who begin their trip at the designated stop and other patrons who are transferring to the subject route at the designated stop in the course of their overall trip journey By distinguishing between direct and transfer boardings TBEST is able to Account for both stop characteristics that contribute to transit linked trip making and transit network characteristics that influence transfer activity levels and locations Account for stop buffer characteristics that contribute to attracting and generating walk access ridership at a stop e Provide a quantitative perspective on the extent of trip linking that is occurring and Provide a framework for analyzing the impacts of transfer points and transfer opportunities on ridership 2 Time of Day Based Analysis TBEST includes separate ridership estimation equations for each time of day and day of week The times of day that have been incorporated into TBEST include e Weekday a m morning peak period Weekday p m afternoon peak period e Weekday off peak period e Weekday night period e Saturday all day e Sunday all day The specific definitions of these time periods are given later in this guide in conjunction with the model specification and equations Separate peak period coefficients are developed in TBEST to account for the very differ
153. g or moving stops The most useful background layer in this context would be a detailed street network or road geography layer With a street network in the background a user can easily draw routes and locate stops in a manner consistent with the street network in the region In addition to a street network one may also wish to include e State boundaries e Rail network e Water bodies e TAZ geography from the travel demand model All of these layers will provide a useful backdrop for performing transit route and stop level analysis and building alternative system configuration scenarios Within TBEST there are two base map reference options The advantages of each are Summarized below Option 1 Reference an ArcGIS online web service hosted by ESRI or Bing Maps Utilizing an online web service provides the following advantages e A variety of maps are available including aerial imagery and demographics e Local data configuration is not required BEST map draw performance Map coverage is world wide Option 2 Reference a local ArcGIS Map document mxd or layer file lyr Utilizing a local map document provides the following advantages Internet connection is not required e User can customize the base map to meet specific mapping requirements 111 Follow the steps below to configure the TBEST Base Configuring the TBEST Base Map Step 1 X From the Main Menu select Map gt TBEST Base Map The TBEST Base Map di
154. ge Boardings Per Stop Visit gt 5 Search Time Period Operators Figure 8 1 Attribute Search Window Search Files TBEST provides tools to save and re query scenarios within a Transit System When an Attribute Search is saved a Search File is created and can be managed under the Search Files folder in TBEST Explorer From TBEST Explorer Search Files can be opened for any scenario within the Transit System Saving a query provides the ability to Save a complex query that would take time to reset from the Statement Builder Apply the same search parameters across multiple scenarios to achieve a target report based on specific criteria This can be used for evaluating the ridership performance of routes segments or stops that meet the criteria For example a search can be saved that selects all Radial routes To compare the performance of Radial routes across all alternatives open each scenario load the search file and execute the search Use the TBEST Report Builder to create of Route level report with the selected routes only Save the reports for each scenario and then build a composite spreadsheet with the results from each alternative See Section 8 1 for more information on Report Building Explorer St Oe 19 TBEST Explorer E LJ Transit Systems Us TownTrolley Y Unvalidated li Gainesville 2008 a P 2008 E 2006 tj fm Scenarios t Reports 215 Search Files Figure
155. hat can represent various socio economic growth estimations The TBEST model is designed to work with the available Socio Economic growth data provided by the user This can be in the form of a generalized growth rate for the service area and or an input future year zonal dataset TBEST provides tools to adjust socio economic data within the context of two general methodologies Scenario Growth Apply a compounded growth rate for the duration between the model base year and scenario forecast year to all socio economic data This can be a system wide growth value a calculated set of zonal adjustments based on a user input future year zonal data or a combination both Note TBEST also allows users to reference a forecast year zonal Employment dataset to be used directly in the model calculations It is assumed that the user will have updated this dataset to the Forecast year and the TBEST Socio Economic Growth Engine will not apply a growth rate to the data Localized Growth Apply localized adjustments to user specified socio economic variables based on known or predicted growth patterns This adjustment would over 136 ride Scenario Growth parameters This method is discussed Section 7 Model Analysis Tools System Wide Growth Parameters TBEST scenario modeling will grow base Population and Employment variables using system wide rates Available system wide growth rate variables include e Population required E
156. he CorridorlD field and provide a subtotal for each Corridor and a grand total at the bottom of the report Stop level output is illustrated in Figure 7 2 Option 4 Regional Analysis This option allows the user to input an ESRI polygon shapefile and aggregate the data based on an Area ID in the shapefile The Area ID could be city name zip code or any other planning level identifier addition to a report summarized based upon the Area ID provided this option will also produces a distribution map of direct boardings transfer boardings total boardings or arrivals aggregated to intersecting polygons based on the selected Area ID Regional Analysis output is illustrated in Figure 7 3 1 TBEST Reports Reporting Filters Time Period Peak Segments ta Summarize 3 Selected Segments All Segments Group by TBEST Reports Reporting Fitters Summarize by Regional Analysis Time Period Peak Regional Analysis Options Shapefile Area ID Map Display Field Total 2 Direct Boardings Transfer Arrivals Report Generation Continued otep 4 otep 5 After choosing the time period the user must specify the format in which the results should be tabulated and summarized There are four summary options Map Results Check
157. he end of the segment for the TBEST Night Peak time period Saturday IVTT IVIT in minutes from the beginning of the segment to the end of the segment for the TBEST Saturday Peak time period Sunday IVTT IVIT in minutes from the beginning of the segment to the end of the segment for the TBEST Sunday Peak time period Segment Definition Attributes Each segment within the network can be organized by a unique SegmentlD The SegmentlD provides a segment management ID that identifies the characteristics of the segment This could be any alphanumeric combination CorridorlD is a flag that allows grouping of segments regardless of route along a Corridor for any other summary area See Figure 5 14 This flag is segment organization selection and reporting purposes TBEST Reporting is able to generate a summary report for all unique CorridorlD s in the network Segment Options a4 amp xL BH Route SegmentID ComdolD AB IVTT YTT HightIVTT SaturdapIVTT A Route 1 Marthbound 0 91 1 p 5 p 5 5 P Route 1 Northbound 1 5 E Route 1 Northbound 1 88 3 3 3 3 3 3 n Route 1 Northbound 1 72 4 5 5 5 5 0 Route 1 Northbound 1 55 5 5 5 5 5 5 0 Haute 1 Northbound 0 95 5 5 5 5 5 v gt Figure 5 14 SegmentlD and CorridorlD Time Period In Vehicle Travel Time IVTT Consult your own transit system s schedule ta
158. he Localized Socio Economic Adjustments tool TBEST provides the user ability to unlock the localized edits allowing TBEST to again assign the calculated socio economic data for the edited stops To unlock or review the stops that have been edited click the Tools menu option on the TBEST Main Menu then select Stops with Localized Socio Economic Adjustments To unlock a stop s check the stops to be unlocked in the list and click the Unlock Stops button To view the stop list in a txt file click the Save Stop List button To view the checked stops on the Map and select them in the stop list click the Plot Edits button see Figure 8 4 Review Edited Stops x Locked Edits to Socio Economic Variables at Stops 2212 Route EditedStop O Route 117 34th ST 43 O Foute 117 34th ST PNA 15 16 Unlock Edits Plot Edits Route 117 34th ST PNA 16 Route 117 34th ST PNA Route 117 34th 5T PNA 1136 Save Stop List i Select AI Stops Figure 8 4 Review Edited Stops 8 4 Analysis Toolbar TBEST provides tools for performing area corridor and site analyses With the spatial overlay created by these tools socio economic and network variables can be updated to present a localized growth scenario consistent with DRI Development of Regional Impact studies corridor analysis or site analysis The Area Corridors and Site specific analysis tools bring
159. he See Workflow 3 2 model when data entry is complete Model Application 2 Open the TBEST Scenario Summary Tool 3 Inthe TBEST Scenario Summary dialog make the following selections See Appendix A 7 3 Transit System the TBEST Transit System utilized in Step 1 Scenario Summary Scenario A select the BaseYearModel scenario Selection Options Scenario B do not check the Compare option Scenario B should be greyed out Summary Span select the Service Year value Time Period NA Routes to Summarize select All Routes Route Operating Cost per Hour Enter 45 00 4 Click the Show Report button The Scenario Report will be generated 5 In the Summary Variables panel to the left of the report check the Summary Node for Cost The Cost variables are added to the Scenario Report and the Report header is updated to display the input Operating Cost per Hour 6 Scroll to the bottom of the Scenario Report The RouteCost CostperPassengerTrip CostperRouteMile are summarized in the Totals row From this summary the planner can determine the projected cost of implementing the service changes The Scenario Report can be saved to a csv file by clicking the Export to Excel button on the toolbar 7 Optionally the report can be supported by a Chart To open the a chart of the results click the Open Chart See Appendix A 7 3 button on the toolbar By default the chart will contain Totals for Scenario A and Scenario B
160. he TBEST model operates so it is very important to make sure that all input data is correct Before validating the Base Year run the model to verify that it is performing correctly and that model output is reasonable To do this after a model run has completed run route level reports See 8 1 Reports and analyze output for data outliers or route estimations that are out of proportion with observed ridership If outliers are found review all input data for inconsistencies The Run Model Validation function takes the current Scenario input data and performs three functions Completes a model run if necessary Updates the socio economic data for the current scenario based on the span of base year and forecast year and population and employment growth factors e Copies the current scenario into the base year scenario files There is an option to update all existing scenarios with the adjustment factors produced by model validation To Validate the Base Year Scenario Step 1 X With a Scenario open for editing from the TBEST Main Menu select Scenario gt Model Validation 4 Run Model Validation otep2 reminder to copy the Transit System appears as shown in Figure 6 8 t is important to make a copy of the Transit System before validating and keep it as a backup To do this see 3 2 TBEST Distribution Files Step 3 The TBEST System Validation dialog box opens Figure 6 9 Verify the validation options and click OK It is r
161. he route alignment in TBEST use the Segment new route toolbar to delete the existing portion of the route that will be re aligned This may require that existing segments are split Appendix A 5 8 at the point of the proposed route divergence Digitize the route linear alignment Appendix A 5 8 for both the inbound and outbound route directions or single direction if it is a circulator b Where are the proposed Using the Stop toolbar digitize the stop locations along stop locations the realignment c What major transfer If stop transfer locations are important make sure that locations are important transfer stops are digitized within 500 ft of transfer stop on other route You can use the the Distance tool on the Map toolbar to measure the distance between two stops on the map d Will the route be interlined If the new route will be interlined with an existing route or another proposed route the Stop Name must be entered for the stop locations that will interline the routes This is for both the inbound and outbound directions Once this is accomplished the Network Properties form can be utilized to code the interlining e Will any of the transfer be If the new route will have a timed transfer with an timed existing route or another proposed route routes is a timed transfer the f Whatoperating speed s will Develop segments to represent changing roadway or the route utilize operating speeds See Appen
162. hopping Mall University Event Center Rec Park and Airport Total Population with walk access to the subject stop Expressed as a ratio of Total Population Individual share columns include Black Hispanic Foreign born Population 65 Population 16 Employed Population in multi family dwelling Population living below poverty line Total Households with walk access to the subject stop Expressed as a ratio of Total Households Individual share columns include HH with zero vehicle HH with one vehicle HH with children under 16 Total Service Employment with walk access to the subject stop Two digit SIC codes 40 42 44 43 45 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 81 83 85 86 87 89 99 72 80 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 70 82 41 46 47 48 49 73 75 76 78 79 84 88 Total Industrial Employment with walk access to the subject stop Two digit SIC codes 1 2 8 9 7 10 12 13 14 15 16 17 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 Total Commercial Employment with walk access to the subject stop Two digit SIC codes 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 Average household income around a subject stop Per Capita Income around a subject stop Median household Income around a subject stop Time Period Specific Service Characteristics TBEST includes four stop attributes Arrivals IVTT Headway Special Generator that vary based on model Time Period In the Stops table
163. icial to replicate the existing network and socio economic options prior to editing as well as providing a means of incrementally adjusting scenario options for modeling purposes When performing TBEST Transit System analysis it may be beneficial to explore the impacts of incremental changes to the transit system or socio economic profile of a region The TBEST Copy Scenario capability facilitates such an incremental analysis Copy Scenario Step 1 TBEST Explorer right click the scenario and select Copy otep2 Copy Scenario To dialog box will appear on the screen as shown in Figure 3 16 Step 3 Note that the only information that be provided by the user for this scenario includes the scenario name and the scenario files location directory path All other fields are gray and locked out Thus these parameters remain the same for the copied scenario After entering the scenario name and file location click the OK button TBEST will copy the scenario files to the new location and return a message when the copy operation is complete The copied scenario name will appear as a folder in TBEST Explorer This scenario will be an exact duplicate of the copied scenario the user can then use this scenario to further explore the impacts of incremental changes to service or socio economic characteristics on ridership 130 Copy RIS_Validation to Scenario scenario Properties Scenario Files Location CATBESTSTrans
164. ill contain reference to the download under the Socio Economic Data folder Florida 2000 Population and 2004 Employment Florida 2000 Population and 2007 Employment 10 20 2009 Florida 2000 Population and 2010 Employment 4 16 2011 File Download Do you want to open or save this file a Mame Florida cab winzip File 139MB From ckr ust edu Always ask before opening this type of file harm Your computer vau do nat trust the source do not open or e While files from the Internet can be useful some files can potentially save this tile What s the risk Figure 3 5 File Download Dialog Box 118 3 4 Downloading Transit Systems The Florida Department of Transportation has developed a series of base models to be used by Transit Agencies around the state as a starting place for developing their validated TBEST models To ease distribution of these systems TBEST allows for download and local installation of the systems The published systems are currently un validated but it is possible that as TBEST models are developed and validated these systems will be made available for download To download a TBEST Transit System use the following steps Downloading a Transit System Step 1 X From the TBEST Main Menu select File gt Downloads gt Download Published Systems in Distribution File Format This displays a list of Transit Properties as shown in Figure 3 6 Step 2 Sel
165. ing Generators Amenities The TBEST Calculator will allow the calculation of multiple Generators Amenities for the selected stops Value drop down list contains the ability to select multiple values For Amenities values should be calculated for all time periods since they are not time period dependent It is also necessary in some situations to append a special generator or amenity value to existing values For example a series of selected stops has different Generator Amenities values code for each stop We would like to append a Trash Can amenity to each of the selected stops and keep the existing values Using the Stop Calculator select the Trash Can Generator Amenities value In the bottom right corner of the calculator is an Append to existing values check box Figure 5 42 With this checked any calculations will append the selected values to the existing values The resulting calculation will have Trash Can appended to existing values Figure 5 43 Set a Value of Curent Value Generi ars Amenities AM PEAK J OFF PEAK PM PEAK NIGHT SATURDAY SUNDAY Figure 5 42 TBEST Stop Calculator Append Amenity to Stop Selection Stop Options LD a amp Network Time Period AM PEAK EE E TT 21 p 01 662 575 Ovemued sv e s SHOPPING NG MAL e CC Wl 01 Patterns 9522 9523 Outbound 3061 m MM Figure 5 43 TBEST Stop Calculato
166. ing Stops Adding and moving stops occurs only on an activated route Deleting stops can occur on both active and inactive routes Adding Stops To add a stop determine the positioning of the stop along the route using either an existing bus stop inventory layer or other available information In the Stop Editing toolbar click the Add Stop button This will change the cursor to a cross within the map window Place the stop at the desired location along the route The stop will now appear in the Map window and in the otops table in the route sequence in which it was entered Continue adding stops along the length of the route 5th o gt Figure 5 31 Adding Stops Note TBEST keeps an internal reference to the distance along the route that a stop exists Moving Stops To move a stop select an existing stop On the Stop Editing toolbar click on the Move the Active Stop button The cursor will change to a four point arrow with cursor Click on the stop and hold down the mouse button until the stop is at the desired location Release the mouse button and the stop will be located at its new position Figure 5 32 Moving Stops Note Stops cannot be moved out of their original order Deleting Stops To delete a stop select an existing stop Click on the Delete Selected Stops button You will be asked if you really want to delete the stop click Yes To delete multiple stops highlight all the stops you
167. ing the Ctrl key down while selecting will remove Segments from the selection 3 Search Tool See Section 7 1 Attribute Search for more information on building an attribute query to select Segments Note Clear the current Segment selection by clicking the Clear E button on the Map Toolbar Zooming to the Selected Segment To zoom to the selected Segment right click on the Segment table and select Zoom to Selected The Segment selected will be shown centered in the Map window 1 1 n ve __ gt o DH a t a T x W St Be s a 5 w oth St 5 1 Figure 5 17 Zoom to Selected Segment 5 7 Performing Segment Attribute Modifications TBEST provides tools to update Segment attributes by either directly modifying cells in the oegments table or by updating multiple records using the TBEST Calculator This section discusses the methods for performing segment attribute modifications Cell Editing Editing cells in TBEST is very similar to Microsoft Excel Once you have navigated to the cell to be edited enter the new value in the cell and either press the Enter key or navigate away from the cell to accept the value To permanently store the value press the Save button on the Main Toolbar To discard the value exit the Scenario without saving TBEST Segment Calculator The TBEST Calculator is used in co
168. ins a direct match to a variable in the input TAZ data This includes the group sub variables Note in order to access a sub variable in a group the base variable must be referenced to the T AZ data source Secondary rate applications are those in which the group level base variable is defined but the sub variables in a group are not The base group rates Total Population Total Households or Total Employment are applied to missing sub variables in the group For the Income variables the Secondary rate application is based on the calculated rate for Total Population Tertiary rate applications are those where no TAZ data is defined but optional system wide growth rates have been entered The optional system wide growth rates are Total Households e Average Household Income Per Capita Income Median Household Income The Default growth rates are those for Total Population and Total Employment These default rates are applied if no other zonal data or optional system growth rates are provided 139 Table 4 3 TBEST Socio Economic Data Scenario Growth Rate Application TBEST SE Variable Primary Rate Secondary Rate Tertiary Rate Default Rate Household Income Income Household Income 140 Compounded Growth Rate For TAZ growth rate application TBEST calculates a compounded growth rate for each input TAZ variable at the Census Block Group level within the Transit System service area This growth rate is calculated by co
169. io Economic data available from within TBEST and network information entered by the user via the TBEST network editing tools The preformatted Socio Economic data comes with a listing of Florida counties within the boundary of the data When creating the new System counties are selected that comprise the service area for the new Transit System TBEST will then assemble the population and employment data for the selected counties and make the new Transit System available in TBEST Explorer Now that the Transit System has been created TBEST tools can be used to create scenarios and develop the transit network 120 To create TBEST Transit System use the following steps Creating a new Transit System otep 1 From the TBEST Main Menu select File gt New gt Transit System or right click the Transit Systems folder in TBEST Explorer and select New System Optionally in TBEST Explorer right click on the Socio Economic data to be used to create the system and select Create a New System from this SE data The Source Socio Economic Data dialog opens See Figure 3 7 From this dialog select the pre formatted State level socio economic data that will be used for the Transit System If you have not downloaded any support data see Socio Economic Data Download Section 3 3 for more instructions Click OK to continue In the New Transit System dialog provide a name for the Transit System being created in the Transit System Name text box The
170. ion stops can be either added to or removed from the current selection Select from the Map Select the Select a Stop on the Map tool from the Stop Editing toolbar Click on the map to select stops TBEST will select all visible stops at this location Holding the Shift key down while selecting will add stops to the selection Holding the Ctrl key down while selecting will remove stops from the selection Select Stops from Selected Segments Select a segment or segments in the Segments table on the Segments tab Right click on the Segment table and select the Select Stops from Selected Segments option The Stops located on the selected segment s will be selected Search Tool See Section 7 1 Attribute Search for more information on building an attribute query to select stops Analysis Toolbar see Section 7 4 Analysis Toolbar for more information on selecting stops from user defined spatial extents TBEST will only select visible stops For instance if the View option is for the Active Route selecting stops in the map will only find stops on the active route The exception to this is if the Search Tool is used to select stops TBEST will search all stops for the results and then change the View mode to All Stops Note Clear the current stop selection by clicking the Clear Map El button on the Map Toolbar 5 12 Editing Stop Geometry Editing stop geometry includes the following options Adding Stops Moving Stops Delet
171. ips generated with a maximum of 4 or Moderate Impact 500 headway of 15 EH Major Impact 2500 Add new line to support growth in this area Figure 7 14 TBEST Scenario Summary Tool Mobility Area Thresholds Form cont 7 4 Reporting Options Printing and Saving a Report The TBEST Report window contains Print and Export to Excel functions Use this tool to print the output table showing the estimated boardings Use this tool to export the table into Excel as a csv file TBEST will default to storing this in the Reports directory under the current Transit System If the default location is accepted the report will be listed under the Reports folder in TBEST Explorer The report can be re opened at any time from the Explorer window Explorer E Reports EE o9TAZWeekday a AllStops AllStops0309 Fall2009AIIStops observed RouetlIToButlerPlaza Route 1 Route 8 test Timepoints validation Validation092008 Figure 7 15 Saved TBEST Reports in TBEST Explorer E TBEST Report Scenario Report TRANSIT ROUTE SUMMARY Scenana AIS Validation Transit System Gainesville Time Pe lt a J 1 Scenario Repori 2 TRANSIT ROUTE SUMMARY Route 01 To Butler Plaza Ew HITS Validation Gainesville WEEKDAY 4 28 2011 3 25 47 PM Route 01 Downtown Stations 4 Haute 02 To Health D epartmer Route 02 To Downtown Station 7 Route 10 Ta Santa Fe College ROUTE Haute 10
172. issions on the C TBEST folder to enable full permissions for the local user The TBEST installation can be downloaded directly from the TBEST website www tbest org occasion software updates will be posted to the TBEST website Before installation always check to see if an updated version of the software is available If an update is available it should be installed on all TBEST machines The TBEST technical specifications and installation procedures are listed within Appendix A TBEST Configuration Each installation will require approximately 1 2 hour of IT Support Staff time TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 8 TBEST GTFS Network Import Tool Installation Follow the directions in Appendix C to obtain and install the GTFS Network Import Tool Training Staff members should be trained to operate TBEST at the level outlined in their personnel roles For introductory purposes a training webinar is being developed and will be located on the website at wwwW TBEST org The Modeling GIS Technician should contact the FDOT Transit Planning Office to determine any upcoming sponsored training for a thorough and detailed understanding of TBEST capabilities If state sponsored courses are not available within a reasonable timeframe the agency should plan on developing an in house training curriculum than includes a one day training seminar for service planners on TBEST capabilities TBEST Im
173. itSystems Gainesville Scenarios Description ATS System for Peak time as of June Sth 2009 Validation Input Service Area Wages Population Source ear 20084 Mean Annual Wage 46221 93 Target Base rear Annual Growth ate Employment D ata Source NEN Figure 3 16 Copy Scenario Dialog Box Deleting a Scenario It should be noted that all of the databases associated with a scenario may be quite large depending on the system size and therefore may occupy a significant amount of hard disk space lt may be beneficial to discard scenarios no longer deemed useful by the user To delete a scenario in the TBEST Explorer window right click on the Scenario and select Delete from the pop up menu 131 3 11 Update System Socio Economic Data TBEST allows for the incorporation of updated socio economic data into an existing un validated Transit System model The new socio economic data can be downloaded through the method discussed in Section 3 3 This function also allows for expanding the Transit System service area by designating additional counties to include in the update To Update System Socio Economic Data al TBEST BayTownTrolley File View Scenario Tool Help oO Re ae a D EF RT 8 LS Polk p E Les SMC Distribi 2 Socio Update System Socio Economic Data ose 3 I amp Walton County
174. ith existing TBEST documentation the current TBEST User Manual is included as Appendix A in this document Within the TBEST implementation procedures and workflows there are hyperlinked references to concepts instructions or graphics within the TBEST User Manual Benefits of TBEST Implementation TBEST is a powerfull planning tool that service and strategic planners which can utilized by planners throughout the agency to support transit service decision making and in depth analysis By following the implementation steps outlined in this document agencies will have access to accurate and up to date socio economic data network and service characteristics for developing strategic and service planning scenarios The primary benefit of implementing TBEST at the agency is improved efficiency and reduced cost while increasing support of the planning process Listed below are items that represent the cost saving measures associated with TBEST implementation e TBEST software has no licensing costs e TBEST software is maintained and continually updated by FDOT e Socio economic data updates and training opportunities are provided by FDOT e The effort required to maintain the network and service characteristics within TBEST model is dramatically reduced by implementing the TBEST GTFS Network Import tool The tool imports the current transit operations into the TBEST environment using General Transit Feed Specification GTFS files already deve
175. l Circle 09 87 Route 11 FAMU Bloxham Heigl ESF Route 12 Eastwood Office Plaz rf 5 Route 13 Frenchtown SP Route 14 Florida A amp M Universit E ESF Route 15 FSU Mabry Manor amp Segment Options El 7 8 49 87 Route 16 TMHC woodgste l Route 7 SegmentID CoridorlD IVTT Off Peak IVTT IVTT Night IVTT Saturday IVTT Sunday IVTT m Route 17 FSU Huntington Wor 1 7 7 3 me Route 18 TMHC Capital Circle O Route 1 outbound 2 B Route 19 Tallahassee Mall Mar 3 4 e Route 2 South City amp Four Poi z Route 1 outbound 4 0 Route 1 inbound 5 zn Route 1 inbound Edit Route 44 Routels Ze Route 1 inbound 7 Route 1 inbound 8 TA Routes Segments C Stops Sector Model No Active Route Bl All Stops Stops 6520 Visible Stops 620 Selected Stops 0 Figure 8 12 Sector Scenario Editing a Sector Scenario Once the sector scenario has been created it is managed and edited in the same manner as a standard TBEST scenario The two differ in that only stops within the sector boundary can be edited New stops can only be placed within the sector boundary All others are non visible and their values are held static The exception to this rule is that changes in the scenario socio economic data growth rates will be reflected in stops outside of the sector boundary Tips on Editing a Sector Scenario e Although stops outside of the sector boundary will not be visible
176. lculate the travel time between each stop The Calculate Travel Time tool will interpolate the travel time between each stop based on the scheduled time it takes to travel each segment Calculating Stop to Stop Travel Time otep 1 Select all routes to be calculated from the Routes tab list otep 2 Click the Calculate Travel Time button in the Routes tab toolbar or select Calculate Travel Times by clicking Route Options Tools Step 3 Click Yes when asked to calculate travel times Generating Stops TBEST provides a tool to automatically place stops along a route In general this tool was developed to be used for future year alternatives analysis to test the efficacy of a new route when bus stop locations are unknown However if no stops are provided in a bus stop inventory or any other format that lists each individual stop and their location stops can be automatically generated for a base year development scenario The Stop Generation tool works with a single route by direction and can only be run when stops are not already present on the route To generate stops click the Generate Stops button in the Routes tab toolbar or select Generate Stops from Route Options Tools The Generate Stops dialog will allow stops to be placed at user defined distances along the route create an offset from the route auto number stops and place a stop at the end of the route Make the changes to the defaults as necessary and click OK Gen
177. lculating Stop Distance Complete Generating Socio Economic Data Complete Complete Loading Model Data Compiling Network Complete Compiling Network Complete Complete Complete Complete Complete Complete Figure 6 3 TBEST Model Progress Dialog 6 4 Batch Model Run The Batch Model run option allows multiple scenario models to be run sequentially without kicking off each model individually This functionality is intended to save time by running models in off hours not having the user standby during each run Batch Model Run as shown in Figure 6 4 Batch Model Run Step 1 Inthe TBEST Explorer window right click the Scenarios folder for the Transit System to model and select Batch Model Run in the drop down menu Step 2 Verify that all models are present the Scenarios to Model list box and that the appropriate Time Periods are checked After clicking on the Run button TBEST will display the Scenario Model Run dialog box The dialog box will inform the user which scenario is currently being processed and the processing status TBEST Batch Model Run Run Options Select the 5 amp ta model Select Time ta model ATSProposedRoutes2009 AM Peak ATS Validation Off Peak ATS _Fall2004 PM Peak ATS_Fall09_TAz Night ATSProposedRoutes2009 Taz Saturday Sunday Force Socio Economic Buffer Analysis Apply Capacity Contraints Cancel Figure 6
178. le has been set use the Pan button to re center the map on the area to be edited To return to the previous extent use the Undo Zoom button Zoom to Max Extent button will return the extent to the show the entire transit system route remains activated throughout any zoom extent changes Zooming and Panning using the Keyboard During network coding it is often helpful to zoom or pan without using the mouse to change from a digitizing tool to a zoom tool To alleviate this issue use the following keyboard shortcuts Zoom In Ctrl I Zoom Out Ctrl O e Pan Right Right Arrow e Pan Left Left Arrow e Pan Up Up Arrow e Pan Down Down Arrow 5 3 Map Control TBEST Scenario editing environment contains a Map Control tab with reference to the base layers required by TBEST and any additional layers that have been reference by the user see Figure 5 2 This includes the selected Base Map layer Census information Employment information from InfoUSA Route segments and Stops The Map Control is similar to the table of contents used to manage layers in ArcMap The Map Control also provides to the ability to reference local data and imagery into the map modify layer properties and remove unwanted layers Control BayTownTrolley Map m BavTawnTralley Stops m BavTawnTralley Routes B O BayTowntTrolley infousa e BavTawnTralley Census LJ ESRI StreetMap World zD
179. lication Scenario Checklist in Appendix B Fill out the form as data is collected for the scenario 2 Transit System Properties Service Area will the counties that make up the service area of the system change in the future year If so to expand the network outside of the current counties that make up the service area would require that the model is re validated See model re validation 3 Scenario Properties Forecast Year what is the representative year that reflects the expected network and socio economic conditions input into the model Mean Annual Person Wage What will the mean annual person wage be in the future If unknown what is compound Wage Growth Rate that can be applied Zonal Employment Data Optional if the model was validated using Zonal Employment Data the planner must provide Zonal Employment Data that matches the model forecast year The zonal polygon shapefile must have Industrial Service Commercial employment coded for each polygon The specifications on the file format are listed in Appendix A 4 2 Employment Data Sources 4 Network New Routes Procedure 3 1 Adding New Routes contains the questions that need to be asked in order to define the new route Route Realignment Procedure 3 2 Route Realignment contains the questions that need to be asked in order to define route realignment Do stops need to be added On which routes Where Do stops need to be deleted Do
180. lish the model validation schedule Installation e Assess the availability of ArcGIS licenses e Identify the TBEST version to install Training e Check the TBEST website or contact the Transit Office for training opportunities Analysis Optional e Determine corridors or other areas that will be commonly used summarize performance e Determine performance metrics that are utilized to by the agency to identify underperforming routes underserved routes etc e For Mobility Areas develop threshold trip ranges that match service recommendations Table 2 1 TBEST Implementation Plan Components TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 10 Management and technical staff should meet on at least a quarterly basis to review TBEST model applications within the agency identify training opportunities review TBEST software enhancements and identify areas that need improvement Implementation Schedule With the initial development of the TBEST implementation plan the implementation cycle can begin by initiating the TBEST software installation and model validation tasks Depending on the complexity of the transit system and available data model validation can take anywhere from 3 days to 3 weeks to complete After model validation is complete explore training opportunities on the TBEST website or contact the FDOT Transit Office The seminar will provide planners with hands on experience working with the agency s operational
181. loped for use with Google Transit If available at the agency the GTFS files eliminate manual network coding for model validation and model maintenance TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 2 TBEST implementation takes the guess work out of model development Planners save time by utilizing an accurate and current TBEST model that is consistently maintained within the organization Model application scenarios can be easily shared between strategic and service planners The workflows and procedures within this document reduce the startup time for model development and application The implementation process has been documented from a real world procedures developed at LYNX in Orlando TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 3 TBEST Implementation Overview TBEST Implementation Process Flow TBEST implementation described in this document provides transit agency planners with a structured environment where the validated TBEST model is constantly maintained and data flow from the production server to planners and technicians is a documented and regimented process Due to the inter departmental nature of data and software maintenance and integration TBEST implementation requires not only coordination between the Strategic and Service Planning departments but also the Operations department for access to bids or service changes that go into production the IT department for TB
182. low 3 2 use the Analysis Toolbar to define the Corridor Run the model when data entry is complete Model Application 2 Openthe TBEST Scenario Summary Tool 3 Inthe TBEST Scenario Summary dialog make the following selections See Appendix A 7 3 a Transit System the TBEST Transit System utilized in Step 1 Scenario Summary Scenario select the BaseYearModel scenario Selection Options Scenario B check the Compare option and enter Model Application Scenario developed in Step 1 Summary Span Accept the default value Daily Summary by Time Period Time Period Accept the default Weekday value Routes to Summarize select the Routes intersecting a Mobility Area option In the drop down box select the Corridor developed in Step 1 Route Operating Cost per Hour Accept the default 50 00 value 4 Click the Show Report button The Scenario Report will be generated 5 The Mobility Area Analysis Scenario Report will contain a summary header and two tables a Summary Header contains Mobility Thresholds that have been developed for the agency Ifa threshold range contains the number of additional trips generated in the model application scenario the number of trips is populated in the row below the threshold range In addition to the additional number of trips the Scenario Report will display service expansion reccomendations warranted for the increase in ridership Routes which access the Mobility area this table
183. ly apply the average adjustment factor for that route for time periods in which service existed For example the addition of Sunday service to a route would apply an adjustment factor that was the weighted average of the Saturday adjustment factors for that route Table 6 4 outlines the default source for Route Adjustment Factors for various service expansions and additions gt x a E H Table 6 4 Route Adjustment Source for Service Expansion Case Route Adjustment Factors Source Existing route service Additional Weekday service Weekday RAF expansion naugural Weekday service Saturday RAF or Sunday RAF Additional Saturday service Saturday RAFr naugural Saturday service Weekday RAFr or Sunday RAFr Additional Sunday service 5 RAFr Inaugural Sunday service Saturday RAFr or Weekday RAFr New route existing New weekday time period s Mean technology service type iod s Inaugural Saturday service Inaugural Sunday service New route existing service New weekday time period Mean all technologies existing service type RAFt J Inaugural Saturday service Inaugural Sunday service A new route existing New weekday time period s Mean existing technology technology new service all service types RAFt type Inaugural Saturday service Inaugural Sunday service technology and service type type new technology1 Steps for En
184. m by clicking the Update Socio Economic Data button on the main TBEST toolbar and selecting Enter Growth Rates from the drop down menu otep 3 Enter the system wide growth rate values Total Population and Total Employment are required but can be set to zero if growth rates are unknown See Figure 4 1 for illustration otep 4 Click the Set Growth Rates button TBEST will show a verification form After selections are confirmed continue with the process by clicking Yes on the form TBEST will apply the growth set growth rates to the current scenario Note The TBEST model must be run for all time periods before the SE adjustments will be reflected in the ridership estimations or performance measures Socio Economic Data Growth Rates System wide Annual Growth Rates Total Population 104 4 Average Household Total Employment X Per Capita Income Total Households Median Household Required Rate Zonal Annual Growth Rates Import Future rear Socio Economic Projections results will override System wide growth rates where applied Set Growth Hates Figure 4 1 System wide SE Growth Rates Zonal Growth Parameters TBEST has the ability to apply Socio Economic data adjustments based on future year zonal Socio Economic projections This requires that a zonal polygon dataset be provided as
185. map window to reflect the absence of the vertex Splitting a Segment sometimes it is useful to split a route segment into two or more separate segments such as when the path of a route change time points having changed or it is required for reporting along a defined length of the route The Split Active Route Segment tool will split a segment at the desired location To split a segment activate the Route with the target segment Click the Split Active Route Segment 5 button This will turn the cursor into an arrow Click at the point at which the route segment will be split There does not need to be an existing vertex at that point for this tool to work The single segment will now appear as two in the Map window The two split segments also appear in the Segments table where both segments will maintain the properties of the original segment until manually changed In Figure 5 25 the red circled area shows the location where the route was split 33 5 5 gt w t St Figure 5 25 Splitting a Route Segment Merging Segments To merge two segments into one highlight the desired route segments they must be sequential in the Segment table Click the Merge Active Route Segments Z button The route segments will automatically merge and a dialog box will let you know that the merge was successful Segment Options p Id a Rh m Ig A Route Length mi SegmentID CorridorlD AMIVTT Off
186. mation is available for download through the Downloads option in the TBEST software Census Attribute Tables Attribute data required for TBEST was downloaded directly from the US Census Bureau s web site at http www2 census gov The 2000 Census data contains the full survey of results and data fields required by TBEST The Census SF1 summary data files were downloaded using the following web link http www2 census gov census 2000 datasets Summary File 1 The required files for this dataset are 00001 00002 00037 and GEO The Census SF3 summary data files were downloaded using the following web link http www2 census gov census 2000 datasets Summary File 3 The required files for this dataset are 00001 00002 00003 00006 00007 0056 0058 and GEO The conversion mapping from the Census tables and fields to the TBEST required fields mapping are listed below for both SF1 Table 4 1 and SF3 Table 4 2 133 Table 4 1 Census SF1 Field Conversion Mapping meme ource SF1 Table Source SF1 Field s mM TBEST Field LOGRECNO GEO pe AREALAND AREA GEO STATE STATE GEO STATE COUNTY COUNTY GEO STATE COUNTY TRACT TRACT GEO BLKGRP BLKGRP GEO BLOCK BLOCK SF10001 001001 SF10037 001001 SF10001 P003004 BLACK SF10002 Lo MM HISP SF10002 T P012021 P012022 P012023 P012024 P012025 SF10002 P012044 012045 P012046 P012047
187. mns Black Population Hispanic Population Female Population FEMALES Cv 8 Foreign born Population Figure 4 3 Zonal SE Growth Rates Reference Column Continue to match all variables that are available in the input zonal file It is not necessary to match all variables The base attribute or system growth rate will be applied to those that are not available Click the Set Growth Rates button TBEST will show a verification form After selections are confirmed continue with the process by clicking Yes on the form TBEST will apply the growth set growth rates to the current scenario Note The TBEST model must be run for all time periods before the SE adjustments will be reflected in the ridership estimations or performance measures Export Socio Economic Data by Census Block Group TBEST provides tools to export the results of socio economic growth to Census Block Group geography Exported shapefiles are added to the TBEST map and symbolized to display growth rate or growth value distribution There are two export options 1 Export Zonal Growth Rate Exports the growth rate assigned to each Census Block Group to a shapefile By default the population growth rate distribution is symbolized in the map however the symbol properties can be changed using the TBEST Map Control to show distribution for any TBEST socio economic variable 2 Export Zonal Socio Economic Data Exports data that has had
188. morning Saturday 24 hours Sunday 24 hours 5 10 Stop Editing The TBEST Scenario editing environment contains tools to edit the spatial and attribute values for all stops within the scenario The Stops tab contains a Stop Editing toolbar Figure 5 28 and a table Figure 5 29 listing the stops within the scenario Stop Editing Toolbar The Stop Editing toolbar supplies the tools to add move and delete stops into the network The toolbar also contains a drop down menu that displays the current Network Time Period being reflected in the Stops table The time period specific stop attribute columns will reflect the values for the selected Time Period Stop Options DL b gt X H Network Time Period PEAK T Figure 5 28 Stop Editing Toolbar Stops Table The Stops table contains stop attributes for Stop Definition Time Period Specific Service Characteristics Socio Economic Variables including Population Employment Households and Income ry 1 Stop Options a A Network Time Period PEAK Houte Descripiion Time Point Arrivals IVTT Headway Special Generator Route 1 Northbound Panama City City Hall PECH C Route 1 Northbound 1 6 C Route 1 Northbound 1 55 60 C Route 1 Northbound St Allen 1 63 60 Route 1 Northbound 235 60 C Route 1 Northbound 1 21 60 Route 1 Northbound MLEK 2th St 1 1 R Figure 5 29 Stops Table TBEST Stop Definition For TBE
189. mparing the source year Population and Employment data aggregated to the Block Group level with input TAZ values aggregated to the Block Group level The difference in aggregated Block Group values and span in years between the TBEST socio economic data and the TAZ data provide the needed input to calculate a compound growth rate number for each Census Block Group The growth rate is then applied to the number of years between the base year and forecast year in the Scenario In the formula below lis the growth rate e FVand PVrepresent the future Projected socio economic data and present value Base year socio economic data e the difference in number of years between the projected and the base year Growth rate i FV PV i n 1 100 Flow Chart demonstrating the Spatial analysis involved in Calculating the Growth Rates Census Block Group Boundary TAZ Boundary 1500 3200 2000 4000 1 2500 2800 N Lo 3 Spatial Overlay Analysis Represents the percentage of spatial overlap of TAZ 1 over the census block group 100 Represents the percentage of spatial overlap of TAZ 2 over the census block group 20 Represents the percentage of spatial overlap of TAZ 2 over the census block group 80 Represents the percentage of spatial overlap of TAZ 3 over the census block group 10096 Rep
190. mployment required Households Average Household Income Per Capita Income e Median Household Income Using system wide growth rates non spatially sensitive users are responsible for providing a valid system wide growth rate as an input for the entire system service area The growth rate provided will be applied uniformly to the entire socio economic data in the database with no sensitivity to the spatial component TBEST compounds the input growth rate calculation over the span between the base year and the forecast year of the current scenario For un validated models TBEST uses the Population and Employment data source years entered when creating the Scenario Total Population Enter the annual population growth rate e g 2 for the forecast period i e for the number of years between the base year and the forecast year Total Employment Enter the annual employment growth rate e g 396 for the forecast period Population and Employment growth rates are mandatory fields If no inputs are provided for some or all of the non mandatory fields the system wide population or employment growth rate gets applied to them automatically See Table 4 3 for Growth Rate Application 137 The following steps detail how to enter system wide socio economic growth rates Entering System wide Growth Rates otep 1 In the TBEST Explorer window open the Scenario to be adjusted otep 2 Open the Socio Economic Data Growth Rates for
191. n and employment that can be reached within a certain time frame and number of transfers when modeling the number of boardings at any stop In addition this network accessibility has to be computed and accounted for along the temporal dimension The network connectivity and range of reachable destinations may be different at different times of the day due to service supply differences frequency and travel speed by time of day TBEST incorporates a powerful comprehensive and sophisticated methodology for accounting for time space network connectivity and accessibility thus making it a powerful tool for transit ridership forecasting 5 Competing and Complementary System Effects Within a transit system there are bound to be competing and complementary system effects that affect ridership For example any stop is likely to have a series of neighboring stops that are competing for the same market riders If indeed neighboring stops have overlapping market area buffers then it is important to consider such competing effects in computing stop level ridership Similarly there may also be complementary effects that affect and enhance ridership at a stop For example if a stop is a transfer point where two or more routes meet then the number of boardings at the stop may be enhanced by virtue of the transfer opportunities present there TBEST explicitly accounts for both of these effects in computing stop level ridership 6 GlS Based Software Tool
192. n choose this option to display only the stops in the selection set e Active Route Stops Choose this option to display only the stop records for the active route e All Stops Choose this option to display all stops in the route system in the Map window and the Stops window Active route stops will be specially marked by the larger blue bus icons View Scenario Tools Windows Stop Level Variables Show All Period Specific F4 Socia Economic F5 Network Geometry Route Geometry Only Shift Fl Selected Stops Only Shift F2 Active Route Stops Shift F3 All Stops Shift F4 Figure 5 30 View Menu Options Note TBEST will automatically update the Network Geometry display option based on other TBEST functions called by the user The functions include e Activating a Route for Editing Active Route Stops e Using the Stops Search in the TBEST Search tool All Stops Selecting Stops TBEST provides a variety of methods to interactively select groups of stops based on spatial location attribute or other methods The TBEST stop selection methods are 1 Note Select from the Stops Table Clicking directly on Stop records in the stop table will select them in the table and in the map By holding down the Shift key during selection the group of stops in the list between the currently selected stop and the clicked stop will be selected By holding the Ctrl key down during select
193. n place of the raw direct boarding estimate for the subject stop That number will be included in the route total for the subsequent scaling in step two Steps for entering Stop Level Observed Ridership Step 1 To flag a stop for Unique Validation with the Scenario open for editing in the Scenario Stops list select the stop s to be adjusted and click the Stop Options drop down menu In the Stop Options menu select Validate Selected Stops otep2 Unique Stop Validation form opens Enter the observed ridership for the selected stops by time period and click OK when finished otep 3 edit or view the stops that have already been flagged for adjustment from the TBEST Main Menu select Scenario Model Validation gt 1 Stop Level Observed Hidership Step 4 Unique Stop Validation form will open and all stops that have been flagged will be listed and are available for editing Unique Stop Validation Enter Observed Daily Ridership For Unique Stops Houte Direchion Stop Weekday Saturday Sunday DUM Weekday 1995 23 DUM Weekday 355 DUM Weekend ta 1851 DUM weekend to C 355 Outbound B DUM weekend to C 1995 O07 Care Outbound 2051 O07 Care Outbound 3 88th Inbound 5 OO 88th w Arpart 57 DU Northwood we 57 O08 Outbound 2051 O08 Outbound 2 102 Inbound 2051 102 Inbound mro O08 Inbeund 1351 009 Dutrbaund 2051 009 Outbound 3 102 Dutbaund S010 re
194. n the Corridor created in step 3 and refresh the stop selection using the Refresh the Selection button the Analsysis Toolbar 15 Under the Reports menu on the main toolbar select Stop Ridership The TBEST Reports dialog will open TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 66 16 On the TBEST Reports dialog select Weekday as the Time Period and verify that the All Stops option is selected in the Stops to Summarize panel Note any TBEST Time Period can be selected to summarize the ridership 17 Click Apply The total ridership within the Corridor is totaled at the bottom of the report 18 Save the Report Give the report a descriptive name such as ScenarioName Weekday CorridorName step 12 between the two scenarios TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 67 Report Sample i TBEST Report Scenario Report TRANSIT STOP SUMMARY Scenario ECAT Model Transit System ECAT Time Period WEEKDAY Report Date Time 11 21 2011 6 56 14 PM STOP DIRECT TRANSFER TOTAL i i Route 1 Eastbound Route 1 Eastbound Route 1 tbound w footer 2 AAA 11 Route 42 Morth to PSC Downtown Downtown oo ro eo pa Beach Jumper Northbound Total Stops TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 68 r Sce
195. nalysis Toolbar routes that fall within the defined area will be highlighted in light blue both in the Map window and in the Stops window The site buffer can be saved for future sessions Click the Save button in the Analysis Toolbar A dialog box that asks for the name of the site buffer will appear Enter a name and click OK The set of stops across all LE 249 Buffer 0 25 mi Site Analysis la p v i Wu P 5 a e 1 gt ww om z wit i 3 5 z Ww 34st 7 1 wm wa 33 WW 321 4 P 3 d e bo 5 7 4 Li nw 2ath Ave WH 2th 3 E NW 67th t Pw I tara ww oath St st V nw 91 st AM ww 9151 9t KW NW goth 6 NW 88 tat Py Figure 8 8 Site Buffer 8 7 Corridor Analysis A corridor buffer is created using selected routes or by drawing a line along which the corridor buffer is needed The buffer size mi can be modified on the Analysis Toolbar Creating a Corridor Buffer Step 1 X Select Corridor Analysis from the Analysis Toolbar Step 2 Choose your selected buffer distance and hit enter Step 3 Select the Digitize button Click a spot on the map to begin your corridor Drag the pencil cursor to trace your route and click as needed Double Click at the ending point of your corridor buffer of your
196. nario edits should be saved prior to closing Note The TBEST Scenario edit environment does not have an Undo Edit function 5 2 Window The Scenario Map Window is comprised of mapping functions that are used standard GIS map navigation and update 4476 e sBBe Figure 5 1 Map Window Toolbar Map functions include the following t Pointer This standard pointer tool allows for selecting other tools It is the default form of the mouse unless another specific tool is selected Zoom In Use this tool to zoom into a certain selected area or portion of the map Zoom Out Use this tool to zoom out of a certain area or portion of the map 8 Pan Use this tool to pan the map and move the map to the desired view 92 Route Identify Use this tool to obtain a list of TBEST routes at any location on the map From the list of routes returned by a map click the user can select a route from the list and either Edit Flash Route or Flash Stops Identify Use this tool to obtain information on any feature on the map by clicking on the feature within the map e Measure This tool can be used to measure the straight crow flying distance between any two points on the map in feet E Fixed Zoom In Click on this tool to zoom into the map while retaining the current position of the map center Fixed Zoom Out Click on this tool to zoom out of the map while retaining the current position of the map cen
197. nario Tools Help Av os 21 Validation S af Close Corridor Analysis id SA E 47 Butter 025 E 44 z Route Options SP o is 8 19 Route s ERE ECAT Route Network i d Beach Jumper Downtown Gulf Breeze Pensacola Besch ECAT Fairfield Mobile Hwy ECAT Downtown Lillian PSC Downtown ECAT Scenario 1 Year 2020 No Changes 8 Scenario 2 Saturday Svc at Weekday Levels 2 E Scenario 3 E Scenario 4 Weekday Sam to 10pm 8 ff Scenario 5 Wid on Non Express to 30 min Scenario 6 30 min wkd Sat to Wkd Sun to Sat RADIAL RADIAL RADIAL RADIAL RADIAL RACIAL RADIAL RADIAL RADIAL RADIAL RADIAL RADIAL RADIAL RADIAL RADIAL EXPRESS EXPRESS EXPRESS CROSSTOWN M Night Saturday Sunday PME M 8 a 4 TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 69 Metrics for Testing Service Changes Metrics allow the planner to quickly identify routes segments or stops that are not meeting performance or other metric criteria set forth by the agency Within TBEST metrics are developed using the Search Tool Within the tool criteria statements can be constructed using network service ridership performance and socio economic variables The criteria statements can combine multiple variable criteria The following
198. nario is open for editing Analysis Toolbar This toolbar allows the user to create and save Area Site and Corridor Analyses In addition the saved analysis can be converted to a Sector Scenario analysis tools and Sector Scenarios are explained in Section 8 of the User s Guide 97 TBEST Explorer The TBEST Explorer window provides user friendly navigation panel to access and manage TBEST components TBEST Explorer consists of three main folders Transit Systems Distribution Files and Socio Economic Data The Transit Systems folder contains sub folders to manage individual Transit Systems Within each system folders are provided to manage scenarios reports search files corridors sub areas and site analysis The Distribution Files folder contains any TBEST Distribution Files located in the TBEST Database install location by default this location is C TBEST DistributableSystems From the TBEST Explorer window users can navigate and manage exported TBEST Systems The Socio Economic Data folder includes formatted state wide Census and InfoUSA data that is used to supply local areas with base population and employment data see Section 4 for more information on Socio Economic data From Explorer files can been opened or deleted Further options for scenarios include creating a new scenario copying a scenario and running the model Mapping Toolbar The Mapping Toolbar allows a user to scale zoom and pan in the map window and
199. nce within a Corridor e Workflow 4 15 Determine the projected yearly cost of implementing a 2096 decrease headway for the system TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 75 Workflow 4 13 Determining the market gain from New Routes added to the System Operation Steps Operation Reference 1 Develop a Model Application Scenario with two new routes Run the model when data entry is complete See Workflow 3 2 Model Application 2 Open the TBEST Scenario Summary Tool 3 Inthe TBEST Scenario Summary dialog make the following selections See Appendix A 7 3 a Transit System the TBEST Transit System utilized in Step 1 Scenario Summary b Scenario A select the BaseYearModel scenario Selection Options C Scenario B check the Compare option and enter Model Application Scenario developed in Step 1 d Summary Span for Market Analysis the Summary Span does not impact the output Accept the default value Daily Summary by Time Period e Time Period Accept the default Weekday value f Routes to Summarize select the Routes option Route Operating Cost per Hour Accept the default 50 00 value 4 Click the Show Report button The Scenario Report will be generated 5 nthe Summary Variables panel to the left of the report check the Summary Nodes for Population Household Income and Employment Uncheck the Boardings option Note by expanding a Summary No
200. nerators and transit hubs place the file in this folder 3 Ifnot present already on the Modeling GIS Technician machine download the production model from the ValidatedModel folder on the production server to the C TBEST DistributableSystems folder 4 Open BEST 5 Extract the Distribution File so that it is loaded and editable in TBEST 6 Within the validated TBEST Transit System make a copy of the BaseYearModel scenario Name the copied scenario GTFSImport 7 Close TBEST 8 Openthe TBEST GTFS Network Import tool 9 Follow the steps in the TBEST GTFS Network Import operation procedure and Appendix C TBEST executing steps 8 and or 9 skipping step 7 Use the copied GTFS Network Import GTFSImport scenario as the target scenario 10 Close the TBEST GTFS Network Import tool 11 Open TBEST and then open the GTFSImport scenario 12 Perform the GTFS Network Import Quality Control procedure Appendix C GTFS Network Import Quality Control 13 With a clean TBEST network perform the following a Runthe TBEST model and check the option to Force Socio Economic Updates on the Model Run dialog b After the model run verify the ridership numbers are reasonable c Close and re open TBEST This will remove any file linkages within TBEST that may cause problems when copying files d In the validated model delete the BaseYearModel scenario e Rename the GTFSImport scenario to
201. network service characteristics socio economic data and network properties including fare and transfer stations e Model Application Scenario refers to the scenario that will be utilized for service or strategic planning TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 13 e Bid Implemented operational changes to the transit system network and service characteristics Model Validation TBEST model validation involves development of a Base Year Development Scenario which represents network structure service characteristics socio economic data fare and special generators amenity data from a single time frame The Base Year Development Scenario is then validated against observed ridership information from the same time frame The result of this section is the production TBEST model that planners will utilize for model application and analysis The TBEST model validation process is supported with easily downloadable and pre formatted Florida state wide Census and Employment data an enhanced network coding environment automated validation procedures and other data input tools to facilitate this process Agencies are responsible for data collection scenario development and model validation The model validation task is generally performed by the Modeling GIS Technician However input from planners operations and management may be needed during the data collection process e TBEST model validation
202. nge the column display Stop Level Data Adjustment Select the Column to Update Update Options Set a Value Generators Amenities 3t of Curent Value Select the Time Periods to Update AM PEAK OFF PEAK SATURDAY SUNDAY Figure 5 34 TBEST Stop Calculator The Calculator provides two update options Set a Value and of Current Value Seta Value will update the group of selected stops to a discrete value such as 60 for Headway The of Current Value option allows for adjustment of a numeric variable by a user defined percentage growth rate For example based upon proposed service reallocation 30 Headway adjustment can be made to the selected stops Another example could be that a 10 growth in Service Employment is applied to a local area expecting a new service based employer When Time Period Specific columns are selected in the Column list the Time Periods checklist will be enabled The Time Periods checklist contains an option to select any of the TBEST Time Periods for update To update the values for more than one time period select the applicable time periods prior to calculation When the Calculator parameters have been set click the Update button To permanently store the value press the Save button on the Main Toolbar To discard the value exit the Scenario without saving The following steps illustrate the steps to coding stops with a Park n Ride Special Generat
203. njunction with the current Segment selection to modify the values for the selected group of segments The Calculator is accessed either from the Segment Editing toolbar by either pressing the Calculate Segment Values 2 button or from the Segment Options drop down menu Once opened the Calculator will display the columns in Segment table Calculate Segment Segment Data Adjustment Select the Column to Update Update Options Segment D CorridarlD AM IVTT Set a Value Off Peak Ph Might PTT TT of Current Value Sunday Enter the Segment Speed Figure 5 18 Segment Calculator The Calculator provides two update options Set a Value and 6 of Current Value Seta Value will update the group of selected segments to a discrete value such as CDR 1 for CorridorlD The of Current Value option allows for adjustment of a numeric variable by a user defined percentage growth rate For example based upon proposed improvements to a corridor in a future year analysis AM IVTT can be reduced by 20 When calculating Segment level IVTT the user has the ability to alternately enter a segment speed To have TBEST calculate the IVTT from a speed check the Enter Segment Speed MPH checkbox and enter the speed in the Set a Value text box When the Calculator parameters have been set click the Update button To permanently store the value press the Sa
204. nt 12 Atthis point the model is ready for reporting and analysis 13 After the analysis is complete create a TBEST Distribution File with the following naming nomenclature TransitSystem ProjectName tds 14 Create a folder in either the StrategicPlanningProjects or ServicePlanningProjects folder on the production server The folder should be named with the following nomenclature ProjectName ddmmyy Upload the Distribution File to the new folder In the same folder place the scanned TBEST Model Application Scenario Checklist TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 34 Procedure 3 1 Adding new Route Input Options TBEST Action 1 Route Definition a What type of route will it be Create the new route in TBEST using the Route Options Radial Express Crosstown or menu in the Route window and select Add a Route In Circulator the New Route dialog enter the Route Type b What technology will the route In the New Route dialog enter the Technology use Bus BRT Light Rail Heavy Rail Street Car People Mover Commuter Rail Other c What is the name of the new In the New Route dialog enter the Route Name and Route Directional Description s 2 Route Alignment a What is the alignment of the new To define the route alignment in TBEST use the route Segment toolbar to the digitize the route linear alignment Appendix 5 8 for both the inbound and outb
205. o access the underlying files Each installed TBEST Transit oystem will have the following files 1 SQL Server 2005 Database a Contains model socio economic data and non geographic network data for a system b Located at C TBEST TransitSystems lt SystemName gt TBEST mdf 2 ESHI Personal Geodatabase a Socio Economic data Population and Employment data i Located at C TBEST TransitSystems lt SystemName gt TBEST SYSTEM LAYERS mdab b Transit Network i Located at C TBEST TransitSystems lt SystemName gt TBEST LAYERS mdab Base Year Network li Located at C TBEST TransitSystems lt SystemName gt Scenarios lt ScenarioName gt TBEST_LAYERS mdb Scenario Network Note on TBEST Databases o Copying the directory where a system resides will not back it up To back up a system package the system in a TBEST Distribution File o Do change the name of any of the TBEST files folders or subfolders This will cause data access issues within TBEST o CATBESnhTransitSystemsBEST style can be edited in ArcMap to alter the default symbols for route and stop geometry in a Transit System ArcMap s documentation for changing symbols in style files o By default all exported Reports data and TBEST Search files are directed to directories under C TBEST TransitSystems lt SystemNames gt This allows them to be packaged with the TBEST Distribution File and retrieved after importing 114
206. ometry in the view menu must be set to All Stops in order to view all stops Allow Zoom to Route Activation By default TBEST will zoom to show the entire route when activated for editing However there may be times when working with stops at a zoomed in level i e moving stops at a Station that include multiple routes that you will not want this feature turned on To turn off zoom to route activation select Route Options gt Settings and uncheck Allow Zoom on Route Activation This feature will turn back on as a default when the scenario is re opened 6 MODEL VALIDATION MODEL RUN This section describes the TBEST equations for computing direct and transfer boardings at each stop The equations can be modified and saved for each scenario so that there is a set of equations defined for each scenario Refer to the TBEST Appendices for detailed information on the definition of the model variables and the methodology for developing and estimating the model equations 6 1 Model Specifications This section provides the models for the various time periods for estimating direct and transfer boardings models were estimated as negative binomial regression models to recognize that the dependent variable represents the number of boardings at each stop In addition the mean and the variance of the dependent variable are significantly different from one another thus violating the assumption of the Poisson regression model In the negati
207. omic data to be updated and enter the value directly in the cell If multiple stops will contain the Select the stops to be updated On the Stop toolbar same value for the attribute select the Calculator button or in the Stop Options menu select Calculator In the Calculator dialog select the Socio Economic variable to be updated and enter the value in the Set a Value text box Click the Update button to perform the update If multiple stops will be updated Select the stops to be updated On the Stop toolbar with a percentage increase or select the Calculator button or in the Stop Options menu decrease of the existing attribute select Calculator In the Calculator dialog select the value Note if stops have an Socio Economic variable to be updated and enter the original value of zero for the percent adjustment value in the 96 of Current Value Socio Economic variable to be text box Click the Update button to perform the update updated the percentage increase or decrease will have no impact on the number These stops should be individually investigated for their future year socio economic conditions TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 37 Procedure 3 3 Route Realignment 1 Open the Model Application Scenario 2 Activate the route to be modified for See Appendix A 5 4 Activate Route For Editing editing 3 Route Alignment a Whatis the alignment of the To define t
208. on Stop Spaces 001 outbound 1 i Cancel Figure 5 40 Park n Ride Spaces Stop Amenities In addition to Special Generators the TBEST stop level coding allows entry of stop amenities Table 5 5 contains a list of amenities that are available with TBEST Amenities are entered in the Generator Amenity column in the TBEST Stop table Users can enter multiple amenities or special generators within the column Table 5 4 TBEST Bus Stop Amenities TBEST Stop Amenities BUS STOP SIGN SHELTER B BENCH SHELTER C TRASH CAN UMBRELLA BIKE RACK PEDESTRIAN LIGHT SCHEDULE DISPLAY STREET LIGHT SHELTER A SHELTER LIGHT Metwork Time Period Hesdem Generaatori gt 01 Patterns 9522 3523 Outbound 3139 267 4 UNI E SHELTERC 01 Patterns 9522 9523 Outbound 31 SHELTER LIGHT am 1 aud V SHOPPING MALL 0 Patterns 8522 9523 Outbound STREET LIGHT 01 Patterns 9522 9523 Outbound 01 Patterns 9522 9523 Outbound 30 Figure 5 41 TBEST Bus Amenity and Special Generator Network Coding Calculat
209. on could take place for Express Bus Radial Circulators etc For smaller systems where there is only one route type and one route technology then one observed ridership number could be used to validate the system TBEST has an optional stop level validation for stops which contain an abnormally high number of riders that cannot generally be explained in base socio economic or transit service conditions There is a limit of 100 of such stops that can be entered for validation TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 16 9 Optional Determine standard metric queries that be used to evaluate service or performance on future year models 11 Optional Determine Mobility Area Trip Threshold Ranges with service improvement recommendations 10 Optional Determine standard Analysis Areas Corridors or Site locations that may be used in future year model update or analysis TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 17 Workflow 1 2 Developing a Validated TBEST Model Operation Steps Operation Reference 1 Open TBEST 2 Download the most current or relevant to the proposed Base Year TBEST Socio Appendix A 3 3 Economic Support Data TBEST Socio Economic Data Create the Transit System a Select the source Socio Economic data b Select the counties that make up the system service area Create the Base Year Development Scenario Appendix A 3 9 c Enter the Scenario
210. on if boarding estimation is desired for all Routes in the system Routes can be grouped by route name route direction route type or route technology or ungrouped output format can either be by individual stop with route totals subtotaled or with route level performance measures Route level output is illustrated in Figure 7 5 1 TBEST Reports E TBEST Reports Reporting Fitters Summarize by stops Time Period Weekday Results Stops ta Summarize Selected Stops Only C3 All Stops Reporting Filters Summarize by Routes Time Period Peak Results Hautes to Summarize gt All Routes Group by Haute Mame Route Direction Route Type Output Route Technology Haute Validation Collections Performance Measures Stop Ridership by Route Selected Rout Option 3 Segments f the Selected Segment option is checked a report will be generated with the boardings along each segment with the total at the bottom of the report Segments may be selected in the Segments tab by using the standard shift click operation by clicking the segment in the map using the map selection tool or by using the Search tool If the All Segments option IS selected TBEST will automatically group by the values in t
211. ons are and should continue to be made at the route segment level Variations in transit ridership at a stop that are not explainable by stop level input 99 variables are significant and model users are discouraged from using individual stop level results for stop level service planning decisions Version 4 0 of TBEST has been calibrated using year 2000 census and ridership data from Portland TBEST is continuing to be evaluated and updated as additional user and researcher experience is gained TBEST users should check the TBEST website http www tbest org to make sure they have the most current version of TBEST and this User Guide The User Guide has a date on the front cover and on the footer of each page so the user can determine if their version is the most current by comparing it with the version on the Web site Model estimation results and coefficients furnished in this user guide and provided as default parameters with the installation version of TBEST should be used with full knowledge of the TBEST model While the model structure attempts to capture travel behavior as much as possible within the model variables as opposed to the constants and the model is designed to calibrate the system total ridership to replicate local base conditions caution is warranted As TBEST user experience increases there will be a stronger basis for understanding the transferability of the model coefficients Users who desire to use model coefficients c
212. or flag for the AM Peak period Sample Calculator Task Steps otep 1 otep 2 otep 3 otep 4 otep 5 otep 6 otep 7 Select the stops to be updated using the Stop list Map Spatial Analysis Toolbar or Search tool Open the TBEST Stop Calculator Make sure the View option for Stop level Variables is set to Show All or Time Period Specific Select Generators Amenities from the Column list Make sure the Set a Value option is selected and select Park n Ride from the drop down list of Generators Amenities Select only AM Peak from the Time Periods checklist Click the Update button Click Save on the Main Toolbar to save the scenario edits Zooming to the Selected Stops To zoom to the selected stop s right click on the Stops table and select Zoom to Selected The selected stop s will be shown centered in the map window 5 14 Stop Attribute Values The TBEST model accepts various network and socio economic data updates at the stop level This section will focus on providing specific information on how to effectively and efficiently code TBEST stop attribute values All edits are made in the Stop table located on the Stops tab The following values types will be discussed e Operational Stop Data e Time Points Headway Arrivals In Vehicle Travel Time Special Generators Amenities e Park n Ride Special Generator Parking Spaces Operational Stop Data The transit system being coded in TBEST will generall
213. or Scenario Save the current Site Corridor or Area as a Sector Scenario C Digitize Select this button in order to digitize features into TBEST In Area Analysis you digitize a polygon at least three points In Corridor Analysis you digitize a buffered line using points In site analysis you digitize buffered points D Select Polygon Features Define an Analysis Area using features from a polygon layer E Refresh Selection Selects stops within polygons and buffer areas F Buffer Distance A user can change the buffer distance in miles by inputting a number here The default is 0 25 miles This is used for corridor and site analysis only 8 5 Area Analysis Use the digitize tool to interactively create a polygon s directly in the map All of the stops that fall within the selected area will then become part of a selection set The stops within the selection set can have Socio Economic The selection set can be saved and then re opened in subsequent TBEST sessions This procedure is illustrated in this section Performing an Area Analysis otep 1 otep 2 otep 3 Zoom into the desired area in the Map window of TBEST This may be done using the zoom in tool button From the Analysis Toolbar select Area Analysis definition tool Click on the map This point will serve as the starting location for drawing defining an Area Analysis Move the cursor and click at desired locations in the map to define an enclosed
214. ork Editor In addition the TBEST GTFS Network Import tool does not populate Interliners as defined in TBEST Operating the TBEST GTFS Network Import Tool The TBEST GTFS Network Import tool has been developed to assist in the creation and maintenance of TBEST model networks In general it is capable of the following e Generating new network in a new TBEST transit system e Replacing an existing TBEST network and with GTFS generated network e Interactively replacing existing routes with GTFS routes If the route to be replaced is in a route collection the GTFS Import tool will maintain the integrity of the route collection as well as any validation numbers associated with the collection e Adding new routes to an existing TBEST system When generating routes into a TBEST system where no validation exists and no route collections are present the GTFS Import tool will create route validation collections and place the generated routes in those collections After the network is generated the user may modify those collections within the TBEST Network editor if there are any issues TBEST GTFS Network Import Tool Utilization Procedure Steps 1 Open the GTFS Network Import Tool 2 Navigate to the GTFS Source File Folder The folder will contain the files that make up the GTFS feed for the transit system The required files are routes txt stops txt trips txt shapes txt stop times txt agency txt calendar txt or calendar dates txt
215. ort Generation Step 1 Click the TBEST Report Builder button the TBEST Main Toolbar The TBEST Reports dialog will open otep2 Inthe TBEST Reports dialog choose the reporting time period using the Time Period drop down menu Select one of the TBEST time periods AM Peak Off Peak PM Peak Night Saturday Sunday or an aggregation of the first four Weekday or and aggregation Saturday and Sunday Weekend After choosing the time period the user must specify the format in which the results should be tabulated and summarized There are four summary options Option 1 Stops Use this option to view boardings on each stop per selected time period Use the Selected Stops option to report on stops selected highlighted in the otops window Stops may be selected in the Stops tab by using the standard shift click operation by clicking the stop in the map using the map selection tool by using the Search tool or by using the spatial tools Area Corridor or Site Analysis Use All Stops option if boarding estimation is desired for all stops in the system Stop level output is illustrated in Figure 7 1 Option 2 Routes Use this option to summarize boardings at the route level Use the Selected Routes option to report on routes selected highlighted in the Routes tab Routes be selected in the Routes tab by using the standard shift click operation or by using the Search tool Use All Routes opti
216. ound route directions or single direction if it is a circulator The Reverse Route Appendix 5 16 tool can be used to reverse the direction of the route to avoid digitizing for both directions b Where are the proposed stop Using the Stop toolbar digitize the stop locations along locations all route directions i If stop locations are Select Using the Route toolbar under Route Options unknown what is the context menu select Tools Generate Stops option proposed spacing between stops c What major transfer locations are If stop transfer locations are important make sure that important transfer stops are digitized within 500 ft of transfer stop on other route You can use the the Distance tool on the Map toolbar to measure the distance between two stops on the map d Will the route be interlined If the new route will be interlined with an existing route or another proposed route the Stop Name must be entered for the stop locations that will interline the routes This is for both the inbound and outbound directions Once this is accomplished the Network Properties form can be utilized to code the interlining e Will any of the transfer be timed If the new route will have a timed transfer with an existing route or another proposed route is a timed transfer enter the transfer station in the Network Properties Appendix A 5 15 TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 35 f Wha
217. oute Collections in the model validation TBEST does not automatically know if an imported route is part of the original route collections in the validation For example if Route A existed within the validation and was being tested in a future year scenario for increased service The model results showed that the service increase did not show much gain in ridership it was determined the route would remain unaltered in the future year scenario To return the route to the original base year service the modeler will need to delete the current Route A and then import Route A in from a scenario with base year service Once imported Route A will need to be added back into the validation route collection in order to preserve its adjustment factor Import Routes Select Hautes to Import Transit System Scenario Validation y Route Descrphon Route 1 Downtown to E E x Route 10 Downtown 0 Route 11 Downtown to E Route 117 Fark N Ride 2 Haute 118 Park M Ride 1 Route 113 Family Houssine 12 McLarty to Ga x Figure 8 3 Import Routes Tool 8 3 Stops with Localized Socio Economic Adjustments When editing socio economic data within the TBEST environment for future year analysis the TBEST model records the stops at which the edits take place so that future model runs will use the localized adjustments rather than re generating and assigning numbers from the underlying socio economic data With t
218. perties TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 23 i modify the Target Base Year to match the year of the imported ii modify the Mean Annual Person Wage for the Target Base Year Do b Complete the GTFS Network Import Quality Control procedure in Appendix C c Openthe Validation Route Collection dialog and verify that all routes are Appendix A 6 5 placed in a collection If new routes were added to the network place the Route Validation routes into new collections Collections d Inthe Validation Observed Ridership dialog enter the updated observed Appendix A 6 5 ridership numbers Validation Observed Ridership e Calculate socio economic growth rates for the BaseYearModel scenario Appendix A 4 3 Enter Socio Economic Growth Rates f Runthe model and check the option to Force Socio Economic Updates on the Model Run dialog g After the model run verify the ridership numbers are reasonable h Runthe TBEST Model Validation procedure i After the model validation procedure verify that the validation factors are accurate 12 In the TBEST Explorer window for the newly re validated transit system review the Reports Search Files Corridors Area Analysis and Site Analysis files Remove any of these that will not be in the production environment If the revalidated TBEST Transit System contains only the BaseYearModel scenario skip to step 16 Prior to going in
219. plementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 9 TBEST Implementation Plan Prior to TBEST implementation the agency management team must convene to develop a TBEST implementation plan The plan does not require an overwhelming amount of documentation however it does require initial coordination by Service Planning Strategic Planning and GIS management staff The management team will be responsible for developing the implementation schedule identifying personnel roles data management details and TBEST installation schedule Plan Components The management staff will be responsible for addressing the Plan Components in Table 2 1 as part of the TBEST implementation plan TBEST Implementation Plan Components Plan Component Management Action Staffing e Match staff members with TBEST Personnel Roles Include these personnel in the initial development of the TBEST implementation plan e Determine the availability of GTFS data and it s compatibility with TBEST e Perform an initial assessment of the available data for model validation e f TBEST information is to be made available externally establish the preferred method of access via web or FTP External data deployment is not detailed as part of this document and is up to the agency to determine how this will be implemented Hardware e Determine the production TBEST file server with adequate disk space Schedule e Establish the TBEST installation schedule e Estab
220. process involves two primary workflows Workflow 1 1 Model Validation Data Collection e Workflow 1 2 Developing a Validated TBEST Model TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 14 Workflow 1 1 Model Validation Data Collection Operation Steps 1 Transit System Properties a Service Area Identify the counties that make up the System service area 2 Base Year Scenario Properties Target Base Year year all network and socio economic data will be assembled updated to form the base year model Generally this will be the current year but can be any past year where data is available Mean Annual Person Wage used to calculate the value of money in the system service area For base year development this is number for the current year and no growth rate should be entered in the Scenario Properties dialog 3 Network If the agency has the GTFS network available from the base year time frame the 5 GTFS Network Import tool can be used to develop the network and route validation collections See Appendix C TBEST GTFS Network Import Tool to review the requirements for using GTFS data If the agency does not have a GTFS network the following must be collected from the base year time frame i Network alignments and stop locations this could be in the form of general route maps or ESRI shapefiles that represent the linear route geometry and stop lo
221. quation Type drop down menu See Figure 6 1 The Model Equations will be displayed by time period To edit click on any cell and type a new coefficient value When finished refining the model coefficients click OK to complete the process TBEST will return to the editor window The user may click the Restore Defaults button at any time to restore the TBEST default equations for the scenario The user may wish to export the scenario equations to an ASCII text file Click the Export Equations button to save the equations to a text file Model Equations Modify C aeffecients Equation Variable Peak Off Peak PH Peak Hight Saturday Sunday Constant lI One 2 16933 1 35045 0 496609 3 19886 3 10036 4 5246 Route Types RADIAL 0 259298 0423795 CIRCULATOR 0 0 CROSSTOWN 0 0 0 143753 EXPRESS 0 819603 Technology BUS PEOPLE MOVER HEAWY RAIL STREET CAR BRT LIGHT RAIL JL JI IT T7038 Atl Figure 6 1 Model Equations Strong Note of Caution The model specifications and coefficients furnished with TBEST were estimated using rigorous statistical methods and detailed ridership data at the stop level These model specifications and final coefficient values were determined after much analysis iterative model fitting and testing processes and reasonableness checks Unless there is a strong reason to adjust or modify coefficients for a particular scenario the TBES
222. r The Segments table contains stop attributes for Segment ID Corridor ID and In vehicle Travel Time IVTT for each TBEST time period Segment Options Is 2 pu a Houle O Route 1 Northbound O Route 1 Northbound O Route 1 Northbound n Route 1 Northbound Route 1 Northbound F Route 1 Northbound TBEST Segment Properties For TBEST segments are the linear representation of transit routes by direction 0 91 1 5 0 99 1 72 1 55 0 95 SegmentlD ComdolD IYTT Off Peak IVTT IVTT HightIVTT Saturdap IVTT 1 micum nm 5 Figure 5 13 Segments Table 5 5 5 1 5 wt transit route can contain multiple segments or single segment that defines the entire route Multiple segments can be developed to show variations in segment attributes such as CorridorlD or Time Period IVTT For example a TBEST route could be devised to break at each time point along a route From the schedule the IVTT for each time period is calculated and input in the Segment table Segments can be digitized only on an Active Route When a scenario is open segments are always visible in the TBEST Map window and the Segments table There are no built in options to modify segment visibility or filter the records 5 6 S
223. r Passenger Boardings per Service Hour 0 Total direct transfer Passenger Boardings per Service Trip 1 Average Boardings Stop Visit total direct transfer boardings on route number of stops on route number of service trips on route M x a x cd dc 7 3 Scenario Summary Tool The TBEST Scenario Summary Tool allows users to summarize model estimation socio economic data performance measures and cost for either a single scenario or as a comparison between two scenarios Summarization occurs at the Route Collection or Route level depending on the model validation Scenario Summary Tool also allows users to incorporate a pre defined Mobility Area for analysis Mobility areas are simply TBEST Area Corridor or Site Analysis zones that have been developed for the Transit System When input into the Scenario Summary tool route variables are totaled for those routes that fall within the pre defined zone TBEST Scenario Summary Tool otep 1 Option A Option B otep 2 otep 3 otep 4 otep 5 otep 6 The TBEST Scenario Summary Tool can either be launched from within TBEST or separately from the Windows Start menu To open the TBEST Scenario Summary Tool from Windows go to Start Programs gt BEST gt Tools gt TBEST Scenario Reporting To open the TBEST Scenario Summary Tool from TBEST open TBEST and from the Scenario menu select Reports Scenario Summary Tool Select an existing TBEST Transit
224. r Appended Amenities 5 5 5 15 Network Properties The Network Properties dialog within TBEST allows users to set the following for the scenario e Fare Structure e Transfer Stations Interliners The following procedure outlines how to perform the updates and the expected values Entering Network Properties Step 1 X From the main TBEST toolbar click on the Network button id Step 2 his will bring up the Network Properties dialog box with information describing the scenario as displayed in Figure 5 41 Step 3 this dialog box enter the following information Fare for First Wait Time This is the system wide base cash fare that a person must pay when first boarding the transit system Transfer Fare an agency charges a separate transfer fare when a rider transfers from one vehicle to another vehicle enter it here Inflation Rate This is the annual inflation rate that will be used to compute the fare in real dollars in the forecast year The Transfer Stations list box will contain all unique values that have been entered as stop level time points Place a check beside any time point locations that are considered to be a transfer station To add a pair of interlined routes to the list click Add to bring up a screen and dialog box as shown in Figure 5 43 Use the pull down menus to identify the pair of routes that define the new interliner and click OK The new int
225. r Selected Area Corridor or Site Buffer Step 1 Click the Reports button Reports 21 in the TBEST main toolbar otep2 In the Summarize by drop down menu select Stops Select the report time period For Stops to Summarize choose Selected Stops Only Step 3 Click the OK or Apply button to view the report Re opening Analysis An analysis selection can be re opened at any time by right clicking on the analysis name under the appropriate Area Analysis Corridors or Site Analysis folder in TBEST Explorer This window is shown in Figure 8 11 Note that any selection previously saved can be deleted using the Delete button in the menu When re opening an analysis it may be necessary to reset the visible Network Geometry in the View Menu to select the necessary stops Open Area Analysis Convert Scenario to Sector using this Grea Analysis Delete Figure 8 11 Opening a Previously Saved Analysis 8 8 Sector Scenario TBEST provides users the ability to segment models to support regional corridor and sub area modeling Through use of a TBEST Sector Scenario a TBEST model can be scaled down to model specifically within a given geographic sub area of the model The Sector Scenario contains exactly the same editing environment and attributes as a standard TBEST scenario the primary difference being that only the stops with the sector boundary are editable Network and socio economic data edits can be made inside of
226. r and Usage Report Settings 106 Click on Install ie Microsoft SOL Server 2005 Express Edition Setup Ready to Install Setup is ready to begin installation Setup has enough information to stark copying Ehe program files To proceed click Install To change any af your installation settings click Back To exit setup click Cancel The following components will be installed SOL Server Database Services Database Services Figure 2 10 SQL Server 2005 Express Edition Setup Setup will install five additional required programs of SQL Server Express Microsoft SOL Server 2005 Setup Setup Progress The selected components are being configured Product Status Sj MEMMLE Setup finished Setup Support Files Setup finished 22501 Native Client Setup finished 22501 vss writer Setup finished Server Database Services Setup Finished Figure 2 11 Installing SQL Server 2005 107 Click Next and then Finish to complete the SQL Server Express installation The install will now begin deployment of TBEST components Welcome to the InstallShield Wizard for TREST 4 0 The InstallShield R Wizard will install TEREST 4 0 an your computer Ta continue click Next WARMING This program is protected by copyright law and international treaties T NN TEM Figure 2 12 TBEST Installation Wizard Click Next to display select the TBEST Destination Folder Use of the default C Program Fil
227. r in the TBEST Explorer window under the Distribution Files folder see Figure 3 2 above otep 1 To load a TBEST Distribution File back into TBEST use the following steps Loading a Transit System from a TBEST Distribution File otep 1 Select File Load System from TBEST Distribution File or double click a tds file in the Distribution Files folder in TBEST Explorer Step 2 Once the file is loaded successfully TBEST displays a message click OK Step 3 imported Transit System will now be loaded in under the Transit Systems folder in TBEST Explorer Tips for loading Distribution Files When loading a Distribution File make sure that it is located on a local computer drive not on a network drive 116 The name of the Distribution File is not necessarily the name of the system inside the Distribution File For example a TBEST Transit System could be named SCAT but the Distribution File was saved as SCAT 1 106 When you load the Transit System it will still be named SCAT BEST will not allow two Transit Systems with the same name If you are loading Transit System from a Distribution File and an existing Transit System contains the same name as the incoming System it will be necessary to either delete or rename the existing System 3 3 TBEST Socio Economic Data TBEST users can create a new Transit oystem from scratch with the use of TBEST Socio Economic Data The TBEST Explorer Socio
228. r txt or calendar dates txt e Trips txt must contain a populated direction id field e Stops txt e Shapes txt e Agency txt e Stop times txt e Stop features txt Optional this table stores stop amenities and special generators as defined by TBEST Thestop features txt file contains the following field definitions Data Field Stop id Required The stop id field contains an ID that uniquely identifies a stop or station Each stop id value should be included in the stop txt file Feature type Required The feature code describing an amenity or special generator at the stop A single stop can have multiple amenities Valid values are listed below MILITARY 4 eventcenter _ L amp 8 BNECIONALBHS s eussror sion spaces Optional For Park n Ride values the number of parking spaces that are available at the park n ride lot See the following link for additional details on the GTFS http code google com transit spec transit feed specification html Obtaining the TBEST GTFS Network Import Tool The TBEST team is ready verify that your GTFS feed is compatible with TBEST Because not all feeds are the same agencies are required to submit the feed to the team for evaluation and adaptation to TBEST In most cases the team must modify a translational Microsoft Access database to fit the feed to TBEST The database is then provided with the TBEST GTFS Network Impot tool for deployment to th
229. re is 50 character limit with regard to the length of the name Click the browse button next to the Transit System County s field In the County Selection dialog choose the counties that the new transit system operates in and then click OK See Figure 3 8 for an illustration of the county selection Note select counties that may be relevant to not only the current year system but to future years as well For example if consideration is being given to expanding service to outlying counties include the outlying counties in the Transit System creation The default data directory is entered in the File Directory box This is not editable Click OK TBEST will begin the data extraction process for the new geographic area This process will take some time and users should not interrupt the process while the data is being extracted progress bar appears at the bottom of the screen When complete the new Transit System will be available in TBEST Explorer Source Socio Economic Data Aa Select the source Socio Economic data below EJ Florida 2000 Population and 2004 Employment 5 7 Florida 2000 Population and 2007 Employment 5 7 Florida 2000 Population and 2010 Employment 5 7 Pennsylvania Figure 3 7 Select Source Socio Economic Data 121 County Selection Select the Transit System s Surrounding Counties ALACHUA BAKER B r BRADFORD BREVARD BROWARD CALHOUN CHARLOTTE Figure 3 8 County Selection 3 6 Tr
230. rea will contain two tables 1 Routes which access the Mobility area this table summarizes routes which intersect with the Mobility area Trips are for the entire length of the intersecting routes including areas which fall outside of the Mobility Area Note For determining AMA additional trips within the target comparison scenario are matched with the results of this table 2 Trips generated only within the Mobility area this table summarizes routes which intersect with the Mobility area but only includes variable summaries within that are entirely within the Mobility area Notes on Scenario Summary Reports For Scenario comparison TBEST will first group match routes by validation collection lf routes are not in validation collections TBEST will attempt to match on Route Name If not match is found the route will be included in the report but will have N A for a comparison route Threshold values are not required to generate a Scenario Report with Mobility Area summary Option When summarizing scenarios pending edits in open scenarios will not be reflected in the report For Scenario Comparison Reports the report will provide the number of additional trips if any that were produced by route The Mobility Area header summarization is only available when the Daily Summary by Time Period summary span option is selected Open Chart Route Summary All Routes v a a i amp
231. reas TBEST is the planning tool currently supported by FDOT that enables properties to comply with State rules Florida Administrative Code Rule 14 73 001 Public Transit states Section 341 052 F S 3 Transit Development Plans TDPs TDPs are required for grant program recipients in Section 841 052 F S A TDP shall be the provider s planning development and operational guidance document based on a ten year planning horizon and covers the year for which funding is sought and the nine subsequent years A TDP or an annual update shall be used in developing the Department s five year Work Program the Transportation Improvement Program and the Department s Program and Resource Plan A TDP shall be adopted by a provider s governing body Technical assistance in preparing TDPs is available from the Department TDPs shall be updated every five years and include all elements described below 222 At a minimum the situation appraisal shall include 2 An estimation of the community s demand for transit service using the planning tools provided by the Department or a Department approved transit demand estimation technique with supporting demographic land use transportation and transit data The result of the transit demand estimation process shall be a ten year annual projection of transit ridership The ease of use of TBEST enables various service and land use scenarios to be efficiently evaluated 94 1 3 TBEST Capabilities and Outp
232. ren Scenario A AVGHouseholdincome Scenario B PerCapitalncome Scenario ServiceEmployment FY2012 A vs FY2021 B 4 WE 2 5 E Scenario B TotalPopulation Scenario FemalePopulation Scenario B ForeignBorn Scenario A PopOver65 Scenario B PopUnder16 Scenario A WorkingPopulation Scenario B MultiFamilyDU Scenario ZeroVehHousehold Scenario B Single VehHousehold Scenario A MedianHHIncome Scenario B AVGHouseholdlncome LL Scenario A TotalEmployment b Scenario B ServiceEmployment E Scenario B CommercialEmployment J Scenario IndustrialEmployment Scenario A BlackPopulation Scenario B FemalePopulation EE Scenario A HispanicPopulation BE Scenario B PopOver65 Scenario PovertyPopulation Scenario B WorkingPopulation B Scenario A TotalHouseholds Scenario B ZeroVehHousehold EE Scenario A HouseholdswChildren BE Scenario B MedianHHIncome LL Scenario PerCapitalncome Scenario B TotalEmployment Scenario A CommercialEmployment E Scenario B IndustrialEmployment TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 78 Workflow 4 14 Determining Weekday system performance within a Corridor Operation Steps Operation Reference 1 Develop a Model Application Scenario and perform updates within a defined Corridor If not already defined See Workf
233. represents the business type 135 Within TBEST the user can configure the source data for Employment There two options By default TBEST will accept employment data from a point data source For Florida properties this has been 2004 InfoUSA data however newer employment datasets have been made available e f available the user can optionally input zonal employment data in ESRI shapefile format shapefile must contain a unique identifier field commercial employment industrial employment and service employment The required field definitions are TAZ NO Integer COMM EMP Double INDUS EMP Double SERV EMP Double If this option is selected the input employment data must reflect the Forecast Year of the model TBEST will not apply growth rates to this data Socio Economic Data Assignment and Growth Calculations When the TBEST model is run the Socio Economic growth engine assigns population and employment values to a stop based on the local market area within a distance 0 375 miles around the stop During this assignment process any growth factors input by the user are calculated with the assignment In this manner the source base year Socio Economic data is not altered source Census and Employment variables are only altered during the validation process when the system base year changes 4 3 Applying Socio Economic Growth Parameters Within the TBEST individual Systems contain multiple Scenarios t
234. resents the percentage of spatial overlap of TAZ 4 over the census block group 20 Represents the percentage of spatial overlap of TAZ 4 over the census block group B 80 Example of TBEST TAZ Socio Economic Growth Rate Calculations Base Year of the Socio Economic Data 2000 Projected Year of the Socio Economic Data 2009 We know the Current population for Census Block Groups POPc A 2000 POPc B 4000 Calculating the Projected Population for Census Block groups POP f A 1500 0 2 3200 2500 0 2 2800 5200 POPf B 0 8 3200 0 8 2800 4800 Using the Growth Rate Equation discussed above Growth Rate for Census Block Group A 5200 2000 1 9 1 100 10 02 Growth Rate for Census Block Group A 4800 4000 1 9 1 100 1 8396 Steps to incorporate zonal Socio Economic data forecasts into TBEST Socio Economic data Entering TAZ Growth Rate Information otep 1 otep 2 otep 3 otep 4 otep 5 From the TBEST Explorer window open the Scenario to be adjusted Open the Socio Economic Data Growth Rates form by clicking the SE Growth button on the TBEST Main Toolbar At the bottom of the form check Import Future Year Socio economic Projections check box The Socio Economic Data Growth Hates form changes its display to accommodate an input TAZ Polygon layer Figure 4 2 Click on the Browse button to point to the layer containing the projected
235. ribution See Procedure 3 7 Updating Socio Economic Data for DRI or TOD Special Generators are coded at the stop and time period level In most cases special generators can be coded for all time periods The excpetion would be Park n Ride where it would mainly influence AM Peak and or Off Peak ridership See Appendix A 5 14 Special Generators At present amenities have no impact on the model so they will not infuence the model prediction See Appendix A 5 14 Stop Amenities TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 39 Procedure 3 4 Adding Stops 1 Open the Model Application Scenario 2 Activate the route to be modified for See Appendix A 5 4 Activate Route For Editing editing 3 Stop Locations a Where the proposed stop Using the Stop toolbar digitize the stop locations along locations the realignment b What major transfer If stop transfer locations are important make sure that locations are important transfer stops are digitized within 500 ft of transfer stop on other route You can use the the Distance tool on the Map toolbar to measure the distance between two stops on the map c Will any of the transfer be If the new route will have a timed transfer with an timed existing route or another proposed route routes is a timed transfer the d Whatare expected the In TBEST headways are coded at the stop time period headways level Demographic Given a syst
236. rmat the text color and size 15 In the Layer Properties dialog click OK to apply the changes 16 To export the map to an image under the File menu select Export and then select Map Provide an output Online Map Service TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 73 Sample TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 74 Scenario Summary Tool The TBEST Scenario Summary tool is an integrated tool that allow for summary of TBEST Boardings Population Household Income Employment Network Performance and Cost variables Within a Scenario Report planners have the ability to interactively select individual variables that make sense for the type of output required Scenario Summary Tool also contains an interactive display for developing supporting charts which greatly enhance data visualization For a complete description of the TBEST Scenario Summary tool see Appendix A 7 3 Scenario Summary Tool The TBEST Scenario Summary Tool combines multiple data inputs and summarization methods which together total hundreds of unique options for data summarization This volume of options precludes complete workflow documentation However three sample workflows have been developed to illustrate the Scenario Summary Tool capabilities e Workflow 4 13 Determining the market gain from new routes added to the system e Workflow 4 14 Determining Weekday system performa
237. rning Messages SUCCESS SUCCESS SUCCESS SUCCESS SUCCESS Success S Figure 2 5 System Configuration Check Click Next to Install SQL Server 2005 104 Once installed Registration Window automatically opens as shown in Figure 2 6 m Microsoft SOL Server 2005 Express Edition Setup Registration Information The Following information will personalize your installation The Field must be Filled in prior to proceeding The Company Field is optional Mame Center For Urban Transportation Research Company University of South Florida Hide advanced configuration options Figure 2 6 Registration Click Next to display SQL Database Services Figure 2 7 and use only default settings ig Microsoft SOL Server 2005 Express Edition Setup Feature Selection Select the program features vou want installed Click an icon in the Following list bo change how Feature is installed Feature description ag lees Installs the SQL Server Database X 7 Client Components Engine tools For managing relational Connectivity Components and XML data and replication X Software Development Kit This Feature requires 119 on your hard drive It has 2 of 3 subFeatures selected The subfeatures require 99 an your hard drive Installation path ci Program Files Microsoft SQL Serveri Disk Cast Figure 2 7 SQL Server 2005 Feature Selection 105 Select Mixed Mode For the
238. rowth rates are applied from the source year of the Census data and source year of the address based employment data incorporated from the state wide socio economic data At the time of the creation of this document the latest data available for population and demographics is Census 2000 and the latest data available for employment is 2010 In the case where the agency is developing a base year model for 2011 at a minimum system wide compound growth rates for population and employment should be acquired or calculated The growth rate applied by TBEST is a compounded rate based on the duration of years between the data source year and the base year being developed If available TBEST also accepts system wide growth rates for Total Households and Income variables Zonal Population and Employment optional if the system wide growth rates described above are not adequate for simulating population and employment spatial distribution changes in the agencies service area TBEST has a method for assigning zonal growth rates at the Census Block Group level Implementing this growth mechanism requires a zonal polygon dataset with population and employment numbers that reflect the base year situation These datasets are often times developed by MPO s and DOT for transportation modeling and are available upon request Appendix A 4 3 Applying Socio Economic Growth Parameters contains more information on TBEST socio economic growth calculations TBEST allows
239. s below for more detail on how to install SQL Server Express After SQL Express is installed the TBEST install will continue until all of the files are copied and the registries are updated Appropriate data files that are included with the TBEST software will be copied into the directories identified by the user during the installation process If possible please accept the default location for the software and database Sequence Illustration for TBEST Installation The following steps provide an illustration for the key options involved in the installation of SQL Server Express and TBEST Note if SQL Server Express is already installed on the target machine the install will skip this step InstallShield Wizard T BEST requires that the following requirements be installed on your computer prior to Installing this application Click OF to begin installing these requirements Status Hequirement Pending Microsoft SOL Server 2005 Express i Cancel Figure 2 1 TBEST InstallShield Wizard 102 InstallShield Wizard T BEST requires that the following requirements be installed on computer prior to een i installing this application Click OF to begin installing these requirements Status Reguirement Installing Microsot SQL Server 2005 Express Installing Microsoft SUL Server 2005 Express _ Cancel Figure 2 2 Installing Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Wizard Check the acceptance box and click Next
240. s have made in developing Google Transit Trip Planner compatible files The TBEST GTFS Network Import tool is a critical part of the use of TBEST for service planning since it integrates current or historic operational network information directly into TBEST saving the organization valuable time in maintaining an accurate modeling and analysis platform The GTFS file specification includes data that can be utilized by TBEST to import the route network service characteristics and other TBEST model variables The TBEST GTFS Network Import tool can be used to import individually selected route s or the entire network while maintaining the integrity of the model validation Planners can maintain the base year model network structure by intermittently updating the network with modified routes per bid update or re validate the model based on the new bid update TBEST GTFS Network Import File Requirements In general transit agencies utilizing the Google Transit Trip Planner will house their GTFS feed in the Operations or Planning departments If your agency does not utilize Google Transit it is still possible that the GTFS feed can be output from proprietary operational software such as Trapeze Once generated the files can easily be transferred through email and viewed using a text editor or Microsoft Excel The planner will not be required to modify the files for use with TBEST TBEST requires the following GTFS files Routes txt e Calenda
241. section To import all routes into the scenario check the Select All checkbox To import only select routes check each route to be imported in the Import column For each selected route the Action column value must be Insert as a New Route To replace routes within the existing scenario with updated routes from the current GTFS feed a Select the Interactively select routes to import replace option in the Import Options section b Toimport and replace all routes into the scenario check the Select All checkbox To import only select routes check each route to be imported in the Import column For each selected route the Action column value must be Overwrite Existing Route In the Replace TBEST Patterns column click the ellipsis button to select the TBEST patterns in the existing scenario that will be replaced In the Routes to be Replaced dialog check the pattern s that make up the route and click the OK button 10 Click the Import button to begin the import A progress bar will monitor the routes that are being imported When complete the scenario will be ready to open in TBEST Network Import Quality Control Procedures Operation Steps 1 Review Service Span a Review the route level service span to verify that it accurately reflects the service in each TBEST time period 2 Review Routes a Verify that routes have been coded with the appropriate route type and technology Expanding the Routes window will
242. sers can specify individual routes groups of routes select all routes or only system or mobility area totals Charts can be saved to image format by clicking the Save Chart as Image button on the toolbar serre soren e o MET Save Chart as Image Population Variables December 2009 vs Route 50 Scenario 6 B Select p Route 01 Route 03 Route 04 Route 06 7 Route 07 Route 08 Reute 08 7 Route 10 Route 102 a Boardings 1 5 Population H 0 HouseHold H E Income E E Employment H P Network Scenario Total Population Scenario B TotalPopulation BN cenario BlackPopulation 9 15 Performance Measures BE Scenario B BlackPopulation 27 Scenario FemalePopulation Scenario B FemalePopulation Scenario ForeignBorn L Scenario B ForeignBorn Scenario HispanicPopulation Scenario B HispanicPopulation Scenario A PopOver55 BE Scenario B PopOver65 BENI Scenario PopUnder16 Scenario B PopUnder16G Scenario PovertyPopulation Scenario B PovertyPopulaton Scenario WorkingPopulaton Scenano B WorkingPopulation Scenario MultiFamily DU Scenario B MultiFamilyDU Figure 7 10 TBEST Scenario Summary Chart Population Totals Save Chart as Image Route List Boardings Variables y December 2009 A vs Route 50 Scenario 6 B Totals Route 01
243. socio economic data Use the Projection Year dropdown list to select the projection year of the socio economic data Note this is not the scenario year of the model For example if the zonal input layer has SE data projected to 2035 then select 2035 in the list Socio Economic Data Growth Rates System wide Annual Growth Rates Population 1 04 X Average Household Total Employment Fer Capita Income Total Households Median Household Zonal Annual Growth Rates onal Future Year Socio Economic Projection Input Reference an ArcGIS Layer with projected Socio Economic data onal Projection vetsTDemsewes reno se Match TBEST Attributes to Future ear Reference Layer Columns Population Household Employment Income Population Attributes Total Papulatian Population greater than 65 years old Black Population Population under 15 years old Hispanic Population Population that employed Female Population Population in multi Farily dwelling Foreign born Population Population living below poverty line Set
244. sub area Double click at the final point to end the process of defining the area optional Click the Select Polygon Features tool button and select polygon features from an input layer The selected features can be saved in the Area Analysis Note The input polygon layer must be selected in the Map Control Hold the Shift key down to add polygons to the selection and the Ctrl key down to de select polygons from the selection In the View menu click Show Selected Stops Only Note that having previously activated route has no bearing on this operation The set of stops across all routes that fall within the defined subarea will be highlighted in light blue both in the Map window and in the Stops window The user is free to modify the transit system attributes and or the socio economic buffer characteristics associated with these stops In the View menu click A Stop Variables to include the socio economic variables The user can manually enter new attribute variable values within individual cells in the Stops table Alternatively the user can use the Calculator tool button to make modifications across multiple stops For example if a new development is proposed for the defined Area then the user may wish to increase the buffer population across all stops in the defined area by a certain percentage The Area Analysis can be saved for future sessions Click the Save button on the Analysis Toolbar Enter a name for the Analysis Area and click
245. t and proceed from there As the route segment continues outside the current view in the map window use the arrow keys on the keyboard to pan over as the segments are being digitized 2 menn N in G Figure 5 21 Continue Adding Segments from End Vertex of Previous Segment Note TBEST Segments are developed in sequential order and direction Segments must be digitized in the same direction TBEST will not allow segments to be entered in the wrong direction Note If you are adding a segment to the beginning of the route and a segment s already exists the new segment should end at the beginning point of the first segment in the route lf you are adding segments to the end of the route the beginning point of the new segment should start at the end point of the last segment in the route The red arrows on the map will assist in determining the direction of flow for the route If an internal segment is needed simply code between the endpoints of the two segments in the correct direction Note Segments do not automatically snap to the underlying street network geometry Adding Vertices To add vertices useful for adding deviations or improving the accuracy of curved portions of the route click the Edit Route Segment button The pointer will turn from black to white when it hovers over the route where no vertex currently exists Click the pointer and a new vertex
246. t a future year that is at least one year greater than the base year Population and employment estimates are usually developed and maintained by MPO s and DOT for transportation modeling and are available upon request Appendix A 4 3 Applying Socio Economic Growth Parameters contains more information on TBEST socio economic growth calculations Localized Growth will there be any localized socio economic adjustments such as DRI s or TOD s that would impact predicted growth patterns This would be a case where a development will significantly impact the demographics or employment at individual stops or a group of stops For options on making these types of adjustments see Procedure 3 7 Updating Socio Economic Data for DRI or TOD For the adjusted stops localized adjustments over ride the application of system wide or zonal growth rates Will there be adjustments to the base fare or transfer fare Will there be an accounting for inflation between the base year and forecast year 8 Special Generators Amenities Will there be any changes to existing Special Generators Are the changes time period dependent If new stops are being added will they contain any special generator or amenity coding If there are Park n Ride special generators either new or existing what is the number of parking spaces available in the parking lot For more information on the TBEST definition of Special Generators Amenities see Appendix A 5 1
247. t are only within an Area Analysis Corridor or Site Analysis Select stops that meet a certain criteria or metric Create an Area Analysis Appendix A 8 5 to select stops or Open an Existing Area Analysis to select stops Appendix A 8 7 Create a Corridor Appendix A 8 7 to select stops or Open an Existing Corridor to select stops Appendix A 8 7 Create a Site Analysis Appendix A 8 6 to select stops or Open an Existing Site Analysis to select stops Appendix A 8 7 Use the Search Tool Appendix A 8 1 and select Stops as the Category in the Build Criteria Statement box or Open an saved Search File Appendix A 8 1 and execute the search TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 43 Model Analysis The TBEST software platform provides numerous tools to query spatial and tabular map chart and summarize the TBEST model results and model variables Model analysis can be performed on any scenario The list below provides a sample of model analysis opportunities which support strategic and service planning TBEST Model Analysis Opportunities e Route and System Performance Measures e Segment Reporting e Stop Reporting e Regional Analysis e Corridor Site or Area Analysis e Metrics for Testing Service Changes e Custom Map Development with a TBEST Loaded Network e Scenario Summary Tool The possibilities for analyzing TBEST data extends well past the
248. t can be automatically calculated at the stop level for a selected route s by using the Calculate Travel Time function initiated in the Routes tab See Section 5 16 for more information For base year scenario development this information would be derived from the transit schedule For future year alternatives the stop level value could be adjusted using the TBEST Calculator to increase or decrease by a percent value Route Stop Description Time Point rrrvals YTT Headway Special Route 1 Northbound Panama City City Hall PECH 5 Route 1 Northbound 3 7 Route 1 Northbound 3 1 Route 1 Northbound bth St Allen 3 bl Route 1 Marthbound 3 Route 1 Northbound 3 Route 1 Northbound St MLET2Z 3 Figure 5 38 Stop IVTT Special Generators opecial generators are stops that attract specific demographics that cannot be accounted for in the socio economic characteristics and accessibility computation of the model TBEST contains seven special attractor codes that can be chosen for each stop from the drop down menu in the opecial Generator column Special Generators are time period specific and should only be coded for the impacted time period Description Time Point IVTT Headway Special Generator Panama City City Hall 3 Route Route 1 Northbound Route 1 Northbound 3 1 6
249. t operating speed s will the Develop segments to represent changing roadway or route utilize operating speeds See Appendix 5 7 TBEST Segment Calculator 3 Service a Whattimes of day will the route Using the Service Span dialog enter the service span in operate hours for the Weekday time periods AM Peak 6 9 Off Peak 9 3 PM Peak 3 6 Night 6 6 b Willit operate on the weekend Using the Service Span dialog enter the service span in with a different schedule hours for the Weekday time periods Saturday Sunday c What are expected the headways In TBEST headways are coded at the stop time period level 4 Demographic a Given system wide growth rate If yes no action is necessary does the population demographic and employment data current being applied in the model accurately reflect the future conditions for the proposed route If the answer to a is no what is The socio economic conditions represented in the the planned population and source Census and Employment data do not adequately employment that will be present reflect the future conditions This will require the when the route is in place An planner to estimate the general density of poulation example of this situation would be and employment around each proposed stop and the a DRI or TOD where the density expected demographic distribution See Procedure 3 7 and demographics will Updating Socio Economic Data for DRI or TOD substantially change in
250. t takes place inside the TBEST Scenario Edit Environment This environment is comprised of a Map Window Map Control Tab Routes Tab Segment Tab and Stops The TBEST Main Menu and Main Toolbar also contain Scenario specific tools for network development This section explains the necessary functions and tools in the TBEST Scenario Edit Environment that enable the development of transit routes route segments stops and other coding options required to build a quality transit network 5 1 Scenario Overview Opening a Scenario To open a scenario navigate to the scenario within the TBEST Explorer window right click on the target Scenario and select Open Scenario from the popup menu TBEST will initialize the scenario and enable the Scenario edit environment Closing a Scenario To close a Scenario go to the File menu and select Close Scenario or click on the Close button se in the TBEST Main Toolbar If edits have been made to the Scenario TBEST will prompt the user to keep or discard the changes Saving a Scenario Network service and socio economic data edits occurring inside of a TBEST scenario edit session can be interactively saved by clicking the Save button on the Main Toolbar The Scenario save process will also store references to map layers that have been added by the user during the edit session To discard edits and changes close the active scenario and click the No button when prompted by TBEST whether the sce
251. tain both the full installation of TBEST and the most recent TBEST software updates The TBEST Help menu on the Main Toolbar provides access to the TBEST Software page where new updates will be posted Before installing TBEST it is recommended that all other programs be closed To install and run TBEST 4 0 the system should have Microsoft NET framework 2 0 installed If not installed the NET framework is available for download on the Microsoft website TBEST utilizes the Microsoft SQL Server Express 2005 or SQL Server 2005 database as its primary information repository The TBEST installation package will automatically install SQL Server Express 2005 if it is not already present on the target machine SQL Server Express is a free database software however if the target transit system is for a large urban environment gt 20000 stops it may be necessary to purchase the SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition due to storage limitations with the Express edition TBEST Installation Procedure 101 Download the current TBEST installation file from www tbest org Users signed up on the TBEST User Forum will get automatic notifications when software updates are available Execute the installation file from its download location The installation process will commence as shown in Figure 2 1 Follow the on screen instructions If not present already the installation package will install SQL Server Express 2005 Reference the sequence illustration
252. tate planners GIS data users and the general TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 7 public External distribution protocols could include through server or through web applications that serve TBEST GIS networks and socio economic data In either case the agency IT staff would determine the necessary infrastructure to facilitate this process TBEST Installation TBEST must be installed on each staff member s computer who will be utilizing the software to maintain the model or model application TBEST should be installed on the machines of the following personnel e Strategic Planners e Service Planners e Modeling GIS Technician TBEST hardware requirements are listed in Appendix A Hardware Requirements The hardware listed are the minimum specifications additional RAM and CPU with a 64 bit Windows Operating System are recommended Each TBEST install requires an ArcGIS 10 to be on the deployment machine with an active license For more information on additional software requirements see Appendix A Software Requirements TBEST installation and updates require administrative privileges Most transit agencies have strict security implemented on client workstations The protocols for TBEST installation will follow those established by agency Information Technology department or staff After installation the IT staff member performing the installation should modify the security perm
253. ter Maximum Extent Click on this tool to zoom to the maximum extent and obtain a full view of the transit system and model area Clear Map Use this tool to clear the selection or User defined analysis shapes in the map window Any selection set appearing in the Map window and highlighted in the Routes or Stops windows will be cleared x Refresh Use this tool to refresh the map display In general the map display should refresh automatically use this tool whenever this does not occur a Open in ArcMap This tool allows the user to open the map display in ArcMap This provides the user the ability to work with the map in a full ArcGIS environment Undo Redo Zoom This tool initially is grayed out but becomes available as soon as another zoom function is used It allows you to undo left arrow or redo right arrow the most recent zoom Map Scale To change the scale of the map change the value and hit the Enter key Tips for using Map Navigation for Network Coding Map Scale The closer the zoom the higher accuracy the network will be in relation to your base map road network Select a scale that reflects the accuracy required for network coding and enter it directly in the Map Scale drop down box on the Map Toolbar Zoom functions For the purposes of editing it is sometimes easier to use the Zoom In button to get near the desired map scale while centering the map on the area to be edited Once the map sca
254. tering Route Collection Level Observed Ridership Step 1 With the Scenario open for editing from the TBEST Main Menu select Scenario gt Model Validation gt 3 Collection Level Observed Ridership Step 2 Route Level Validation form opens Figure 6 7 Step 3 each Route Collection enter the observed ridership Note that entering these numbers alone will not validate the system You must run Model Validation step 4 Step 4 Click the OK button to save the edits As a body of application data is developed there may be value in developing new technology adjustment factors based on experience in other locations Route Level Validation Enter Observed Daily Ridership for each Route Collection Collection Weekday Saturday Sunday Route 1 Inbaund ode Haute 1 Outbound 841 Haute 2 Inbound 131 Haute 2 Outbound 161 Haute 5 Inbound fob Haute 5 Outbound 818 Haute 6 Inbound 112 Haute 6 Outbound 23 Haute Inbound 143 Haute 7 Outbound 201 Route 8 Inbaund zn Haute 8 Outbound Haute 8 Inbaund 1669 Haute 3 Outbound 1395 Haute 10 Inbound 134 Haute 10 Outbound 173 oe ik 4 1 4 nu bul Mate Step 4 of the Model Validation process must be completed in order ta validate the system to observed ridership numbers Figure 6 7 Route Level Validation form Step 4 Run Model Validation This process will validate the Base Year Scenario The Base Year Scenario is critical to how t
255. the AM Peak model has been edited shown with a the user will only need to select the AM Peak model when initiating a model run TBEST Explorer s e Transit Systems Bay TownTrolley Us Gainesville 0 Scenarios 23 RTSProposedRoutes2009 RTS Validation f Peak has a valid model run f Off Peak has a valid model run af Peak has a valid model run m Might has a valid model run af Saturday has a valid model run af Sunday has a valid model run Figure 3 12 Model Status of a Scenario TBEST Explorer Model Logs The Model Logs folder contains three files the Scenario Edit Log the Direct Boardings Log and the Transfer Boardings Log The Scenario Edit Log keeps track of editing and model runs It provides a list of changes by individual users and by time The Direct Boardings and Transfer Boardings Logs are equation logs to be used as quality control references during model development The files open in Excel and can be filtered to a particular stop and time period to view the equation input and parameters See Figure 3 13 for an example 25 A B G H 1 StopID riod X Variable Value Coeff EquationValue 2 10262000 1 Constant 1 2 16933 2 16933 3 10262000 1 Route Type Radial 0 259298 1 910032 4 10262000 1 Technology Bus 0 1 910032 5 10262000 1 LogAMPeakServiceSpan 3 0 1 10262000 1 AMPeakServiceSpan 3 0 1 910032 7 102
256. the calculated growth rate applied for the scenario duration from the base year or the data source year to the forecast year By default the population distribution is symbolized in the map however the symbol properties can be changed using the TBEST Map Control to show distribution for any TBEST socio economic variable Exporting System wide Growth Rates or Growth Values otep 1 In the TBEST Explorer window open or create a Scenario otep 2 Select either the Export Zonal Growth Rates or Export Zonal Socio Economic Data drop down menu options under the Update Socio Economic Data button on the main TBEST toolbar Step 3 Enter an export file name and location See Figure 4 4 Step 4 TBEST will process the export file and add it to the map when complete The shapefile will be added to the TBEST base map and symbolized to show either Population growth rate distribution or calculated Population values distribution See Figure 4 5 Right click on the newly added Growth Rates or Growth Values layer in the TBEST Map Control and select Layer Properties In the Layer Properties dialog select the Symbology tab In the Value drop down box select a socio economic variable to show the distribution on the map See Figure 4 6 Export Growth Rate results to a shapefile Look in E CH TBEST Demographics 4 Floridaz0106G_SE shp growth rate shp Ed growth ratez shp Name Save astype shapefile 4
257. the sector but the network and socio economic data outside of the sector remains static Sector Scenario Applications Regional Models large transit systems or combined regional systems can be sectored to decrease model run times but still retain the regional connections Sub Area and or Corridor Analysis Using TBEST tools users can define Analysis Areas Corridors or Sites for analysis Through a Sector Scenario modelers focus on network or socio economic data modifications within the sub area corridor while decreasing model run times Tips on Using Sector Scenarios Routes that will be edited within a Sector should be fully contained within the Sector boundary Reports generated in a Sector scenario will only contain ridership estimations for stops within the sector boundary Route level reports will still contain all routes in the system but with ridership estimates for stops in the sector boundary Thus depending on the sector definition there may be Routes in the report with zero boardings e Sector Scenarios should not be created until the model has been validated The following steps illustrate the method for creating a Sector Scenario Creating a Sector Scenario otep 1 From the TBEST Explorer window make a copy of the scenario that will become the sector scenario otep 2 Open the copied scenario otep 3 Identify the geographic extents that will define the sector boundary by either creating or utilizing an
258. the segment level values and the route distance between each stop See Section 5 16 for more information Depart Central Park Wabash Ava Clark Rd Wabash Ave Central Park Terminal Al Hwy Highland Plaza Terminal a E zu m 2 m 11 t i Figure 5 16 Sample Schedule Time Table For future year application the be estimated on new routes as a function of a user defined speed on the proposed route For more information on calculating IVTT from an input speed see Section 5 8 on Performing Segment Attribute Modifications Selecting Segments TBEST provides a variety of methods to interactively select groups of segments based on spatial location attribute or other methods The TBEST segment selection methods are 1 Select from the Segments Table Clicking directly on Segment records in the Segment table will select them in the table and in the Map By holding down the Shift key during selection the group of Segments in the list between the currently selected Segment and the clicked Segment will be selected By holding the Ctrl key down during selection Segments can be either added to or removed from the current selection 2 Select from the Map Select the Select Route Segment tool from the Segment Editing toolbar Click on the Map to select segments TBEST will select all Segments at this location Holding the Shift key down while selecting will add Segments to the selection Hold
259. the value of developing a transit model is to evaluate performance in what if scenarios Route performance reports can be generated for all routes selected routes or unique route groupings For all route performance reports the total system performance measures are tabulated at the bottom of the report The exception to this is when only selected routes are summarized in which case the total performance for the selected routes is summarized The following workflows describe the development of performance reports e Workflow 4 1 Performance Reports by Route e Workflow 4 2 Performance Reports by Technology e Workflow 4 3 Performance Reports by Route Validation Collection e Workflow 4 4 Performance Reports by Route Direction e Workflow 4 5 Performance Reports by Route Name e Workflow 4 6 Performance Reports for All Routes e Workflow 4 7 Performance Report for Selected Routes TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 45 Workflow 4 1 Performance Reports by Route Type Operation Steps Operation Reference 1 Open TBEST 2 Open TBEST Scenario 3 Confirm that the model runs are valid and no edits are pending If edits are pending the model must be run See Appendix 3 8 before TBEST reports will reflect changes in the model input Model Status 4 Underthe Reports menu on the main toolbar select Route Performance The TBEST Reports dialog will open 5 Onthe TBES
260. tivated will have turned yellow In the Segments tab the symbol beside each route segment in the activated route will also have turned yellow The TBEST Status Bar will list the active route name and total length in miles The TBEST Status Bar will also display the visible stops or total number of stops which exist along the activated route See Figure 5 11 for an illustration of the changes that occur in TBEST when a route is activated pm E 4 t 32 o Haute 1 Northbound Route 1 Northbound Houte 1 Northbound C Route 1 Northbound Route 1 Northbound Route 1 Northbound nm Route 1 Northbound Route 1 Northbound Route 1 Northbound c Route 1 Northbound 7 48 miles Active Route Stops 325 visible stops 20 Selected Stops Figure 5 11 Activated Route in TBEST 5 5 Segment Editing The TBEST Scenario editing environment contains tools to edit the spatial and attribute values for all segments within the scenario The Segments tab contains a Segment Editing toolbar Figure 5 12 and a table Figure 5 13 listing the segments within the scenario Segment Editing Toolbar The Segment Editing toolbar supplies the tools to select add re shape split merge and delete segments in the network Segment Options Id mam RE Segments Table Figure 5 12 Segment Editing Toolba
261. to production the transit system should be copied so that the production model can be separated from the model with scenario applications In the copied transit system with model application scenarios perform the following on each scenario other than the BaseYearModel scenario Open the Validation Route Collection dialog and verify that routes are Appendix A 6 5 placed in the proper collection If a route is in the application scenario that Route Validation is not in the base year model do not place it in a collection Collections Calculate the socio economic growth rates Appendix A 4 3 Enter Socio Economic Growth Rates c Runthe model and check the option to Force Socio Economic Updates on the Model Run dialog d Afterthe model run verify the ridership numbers are reasonable 14 Create a TBEST Distribution file of the copied transit system with model application scenarios Provide the distribution file to the Service or Strategic planners that are responsible developing the scenarios TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 24 15 In the revalidated model that will go into production delete all of the scenarios except the BaseYearModel scenario 16 Create a TBEST Distribution file with the name ProductionTBESTModel bid date tds 17 On the Production Server under the History folder create a folder with the bid date for the current production model Copy the c
262. to run the model on and perform calculations In the Select Time Period s to model field check all time periods to run and perform calculations on An example of this is shown in Figure 6 2 Under a standard model run Socio Economic Buffer Analysis is only performed on stops that have changed since the last model run To ensure that TBEST performs the analysis on every stop check the Force Socio Economic Buffer Analysis checkbox This is only necessary if the user has manually modified the underlying socio economic database The Apply Capacity Constraints option if checked will limit riders to 40 per bus arrival This is the default option Click Run and TBEST will start running and performing calculations for all specified checked scenarios and time periods When finished with the computations TBEST will return a message indicating whether the run was completed successfully Note Generally model run times will be proportional to the size of the system TBEST Model Progress dialog Figure 6 3 will update the user on the model operations during the run Note Models can be canceled by the user during the model run process Scenario Model Run Run Options Select the Scenario s ta model BayTawnTralley Model Force Socio Economic Buffer Analysis Apply Capacity Contraints Cancel Figure 6 2 Model Run Dialog Box ATS Validation Model Hun Complete _ Indexing Stops Complete Ca
263. together the power of TBEST modeling and integrated reporting capabilities Benefits of TBEST Spatial Analysis Tools Network and Socio Economic data can be updated based on spatial extent Socio economic adjustments would reflect localized growth within the analysis boundary area Areas Corridors and Sites can be created saved and managed within TBEST Modeling results within Analysis area can easily be compared across multiple scenarios to derive the system impact within the zone Analysis Areas Corridors and Sites can be saved as Sector Scenarios for regional modeling or sub area modeling Tips on using TBEST Analysis Tools e The Tools will only select the visible stops in the map window Use the Refresh Selection button on the Analysis toolbar updating the stop selection in within the Area Corridor or Site Holding the Shift key while digitizing will allow for multiple shapes within the Area Corridor or Site To access these tools go to the View menu and select Analysis Toolbar From this toolbar you can select one of three types of analysis from a drop down menu Area Analysis la RSIR 49 Area Analysis Corridor Analysis A B D E F Site Analysis Figure 8 5 Analysis Toolbar The following alphabetized button descriptions correspond to the letters on Figure 8 5 A Save button Use this button to save any analyses to the corresponding folders in TBEST Explorer B Create a Sect
264. ts tables or reports This output gives the planner a tremendous opportunity to maximize the use of TBEST data The procedure for creating the Loaded Network is provided in Appendix A 8 9 Loaded Network The possibilities for analysis are numerous within ArcMap and Access environments Within the organization GIS or database specialists should be consulted for utilizing the loaded network within these environments Within TBEST the loaded network output is referenced into the TBEST Map The TBEST Map allows users to right click and access the ArcMap Layer Properties dialog for a layer in the map Within the Layer Properties dialog users are able to set properties for symbolizing layer features TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 70 based on attribute values For example the user produce map where the size of a stop location is proportional to the number of zero vehicle dwelling units are within the market area of the stop Likewise the user can produce a map where the width of each transit network segment is proportional to the total boardings on that segment during the output time period The Layer Properties dialog also allows the user to label features and set visibility for select features As an example a request for a TBEST mapping analysis using a loaded network could include the following For a given scenario produce a map containing only Route 1 and Route 2 and a base map Set the
265. ty for results obtained or losses incurred from the use of this software 88 INIRODUCTION This section helps the user get started with TBEST Version 4 0 by providing an overview of the structure and logic of TBEST and a brief description of the capabilities and user interface of the TBEST application For users familiar with the TBEST 3 2 Users Guide release notes available on the TBEST website summarize the changes from the prior release 1 1 What is TBEST TBEST stands for Transit Boardings Estimation and Simulation Tool TBEST interfaces with and derives its GIS functionality from ESRI s ArcGIS suite of products Over the past few years the FDOT Public Transit Office has been at the forefront in the development of state of the art transit analysis tools In the specific area of transit ridership estimation and forecasting the FDOT Public Transit Office funded the development of the Integrated Transit Demand and Supply Model ITSUP and the Regional Transit Feasibility Analysis and Simulation Tool RTFAST Both of these tools were well received by the user community for their ability to estimate ridership at the individual stop level user friendly graphical interface GIS functionality and analytical rigor The user community provided a wealth of feedback and helped identify a number of improvements subsequently made to these tools TBEST represents a third and culminating effort in the development of robust stop level models
266. uery The list options will vary based on the Category selection When an attribute is selected from the list the Value list is populated with all of the possible values for the Attribute Select a logical operator for the Search expression The options are Equal Greater Than Less Than Not Equal To Greater Than or Equal To Less Than or Equal Like The Like operator allows a text search for any string Enter a query Value or select a Value from the list of unique values for the Attribute Click on Add Search Criteria and this adds the query into Search Criteria box Optionally additional search criteria can be built into the statement Use the Or or And Operator buttons to concatenate additional statements into the criteria Using Search Attribute tool continued otep 8 otep 9 If the selected attributes are time period specific the search time period can be specified in the Search Time Period drop down menu Click the Apply or OK buttons to execute the Search Results will display based on the Category selected Route s will be selected by direction from the Routes list with no map display Segment s will be selected in the Segment table and Map display Stop s will be selected in the Stop table and Map display Attribute 5 Build Criteria Statement Categor Routes Attribute Average Boardings Per Stop Visit Greater than Value Add to Search Criteria Search Criteria avera
267. urrent production TBEST Distribution file in the ValidatedModel folder to the newly created folder Delete the existing production model in the ValidatedModel folder 18 Upload the distribution file created in step 16 to the ValidatedModel folder on the production server Workflow 2 3 Updating a validated TBEST Model using the TBEST Network Editor Operation Steps Operation Reference 1 Obtain the revised bid information from the Operations Department As a time saving task ask the responsible staff members for information on which routes have been modified from the previous bid a Network alignments and stop locations this could be in the form of general route maps or ESRI shapefiles that represent the linear route geometry and stop locations in point format Schedule this could be route time tables or other means of determining route schedules The schedule information provides headway service span stop names time points segment time point to time point in vehicle travel time IVTT transfer points and interliners all of which will be coded into a TBEST network 2 If present already the Modeling GIS Technician machine download the production model from the ValidatedModel folder on the production server to the C TBEST DistributableSystems folder 3 Open TBEST 4 Extract the Distribution File so that it is loaded and editable in TBEST 5 Within the validated TBEST Transit System make a copy
268. ustomized to their own area will need to re estimate and re calibrate the various equations that comprise TBEST using census and stop level ridership data from their own area The modeling methodologies and estimation procedures are described in the TBEST Appendices In general the user should note that the re estimation and re calibration of models comprising TBEST is a complex statistical and data mining exercise that requires considerable time and effort This is not recommended unless there is extensive local TBEST use anticipated and applications experience has not proven satisfactory with default coefficients 1 2 The TBEST Approach to Transit Ridership Forecasting TBEST is intended to serve as a comprehensive transit ridership forecasting model Transit ridership at individual stops depends on numerous factors and it is critical that all possible factors are considered if one desires to obtain accurate predictions of transit ridership The methodology underlying TBEST ensures that the model is sensitive to as wide a range of socio economic and supply attributes as possible with available data In particular the following features of TBEST are noteworthy 90 Forecasting Stop Level Boardings 7BEST provides forecasts or predictions of stop level boardings Thus ridership in the context of TBEST is defined as the number of boardings at each transit stop 1 Direct and Transfer Boardings TBEST incorporates separate equations for estimatin
269. ut Transportation planners face the challenge of how best to deploy resources and how the market might respond if additional services were available i e what are the needs Whether expanding redeploying or contracting services the transit planner is faced with making fundamental trade offs between 1 Service area geographic coverage and network configuration 2 Service frequency and 3 Span of service i e what hours of service to operate on weekdays weekends and holidays Perhaps the next most significant decision is service pricing i e what fares to charge customers All of these decisions can be evaluated and explored with TBEST While the planner s job goes beyond these decisions to include such things as specification of equipment and decisions on marketing and operating strategies the vast majority of a transit agency s resources are tied up in the critical decisions that TBEST is designed to help address TBEST provides a variety of functions and tools that support the following 1 Strategic Planning Based upon required planning cycles 0 10 years TBEST will alow users evaluate ridership implications from the combined impacts of socio economic growth fare changes service modifications new service and other system modifications The estimated ridership and performance measures can be used to satisfy the demand estimations requirement for a Transit Development Plan TDP 2 Service Planning Routes can be
270. utbound Haute 8 Inbaund Haute 8 Outbound Haute 3 Inbaund Haute 3 Outbound Haute 10 Inbound Haute 10 Outbound D ik 1 1 Labh nl ajcjcccooucoilcuLuLzsilii uii 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Figure 6 10 View Route Collection Validation Factors Reject Model Validation If a model validation is performed but it is necessary to update the base year with updated socio economic data or network information the validation can be rejected and re performed E TBEST Explorer 5 e Transit Systems cal Bay Town Trolley Unvalidated d aa Create TREST Distribution File BED Copy Delete ESSE z Reject Model Validation m Loss TR alg P Properties SIC ounty P ZU Distribution Files e Socio Economic Data Figure 6 11 Reject Model Validation To Reject a Model Validation Step 1 Right click on the Transit System node TBEST Explorer Select the Reject Model Validation option Step 2 X Select source Socio Economic data to be used from the Source Socio Economic Data dialog Click OK to continue Step 3 In the Update Socio Economic Data dialog if necessary select additional counties that make up the extent of the service area Click OK During this process the Transit System source socio economic data will be updated and the model validation will be removed TBEST Explorer will show an unvalidated status beside the Transit S
271. uteTypes RADAL 0290 0498 o o crosstown 58 000 EXPRES 089600 a ___ _ Accessibility o o o o 02 Population 0 00002 O6 Population 7 0 00005 0 00019 00011 0000660 O2Employment oo O3Employment 00005 oo S o O6 Employment 7 00009 000037 03 04 06 Employment 0 00003 7 0 00014 0 00006 0 00011 Log 2 Population 0 26377 0 24925 0 10479 0 05671 a __ _ sevice o SewieSpan 041124 0 60000 0 60000 ogofSevieSpan 060000 0 60000 Population 00 02 Total Population 08 J Multi Family Dwelling Unit 000165 000040 0 00180 J 000164 ZeroVehicleHH 0003 Hispanic 0 00402 0 00290 0 00340 0 00180 000136 Poverty Level 000404 000286 Worker oss o __ Employment J o S S o Commercial 7 0 00346 0 00998 0 01154 0 00810 _0 00790 Share Service 0 00563 0 00555 0 00569 0 00396 0 00431 E Special Generators oo S o PARK N RIDE Spaces 0056 S o puniversity 073422 057605 05029 Table 6 16 Model Coefficients for Transfer Boar
272. ve binomial regression model the expected number of boardings at each stop is estimated as Number of boardings at each stop direct or transfer exp ao b4X b2Xo b3Xs where ao constant term model coefficient associated with explanatory variable factor attribute Xx k explanatory variable factor attribute value By taking the exponential of the linear combination of the variables it is ensured that the model will always yield positive predictions of boardings at each stop The models were estimated with data from Tri Met in Portland Oregon Tri Met installed APCs on approximately 7596 of its bus fleet Along with the APCs Tri Met also had on board Automatic Vehicle Location AVL systems on their vehicles making it a reliable source of stop level boarding data properly indexed to the route direction and the geographical location of the stop Tri Met services cover around 575 square miles of the urban portion of the tri county area Clackamas County Multnomah County and Washington County in Portland Oregon with a total population of 1 3 million in year 2000 Tables 6 1a and b show the variables and coefficients for estimating direct and transfer boardings for each time period Table 6 1 Model Coefficients for Direct Boardings Variable AMPeak Off Peak PM Peak Night Saturday Sunday Constat 0 0 _ __ S S o __ Ro
273. ve button on the Main Toolbar To discard the value exit the Scenario without saving 5 8 Editing Segment Geometry Segment geometry editing takes place on the Active Route Editing segment geometry includes the following options Adding Segments Moving Segment Vertices Deleting Segment Vertices oplitting a Segment Merging Segments Deleting Segments Adding Segments To add a segment click on the Add Route Segment button 4 in the Segments tab or click the Segment Options tab and click Add Segment All Segment Options shown in Figure 5 13 are also accessible by right clicking on a Segment or group of Segments When the cursor returns to the Map window it becomes cross shaped To begin digitizing a route segment click once at the beginning of the segment segment digitization process Figures 5 19 5 21 illustrates the 79 i ER Sth Ave 1319 Ave Figure 5 19 Begin Adding Route Segment To change direction or to navigate curves in the road click again to add a vertex To finish the segment double click at the end of the segment X SW n Figure 5 20 Finished Route Segment with Vertices shown in Mapping Window Notice how each vertex clicked along the segment is represented by black squares vertices Also the direction of the route is denoted by red arrows The segment will also now appear in the Segment table To continue the route click on the end point of the previous segmen
274. want to delete before clicking on the Delete button Stops can be deleted on any route at any time i e unlike adding and moving stops deleted stops do not have to be on the active route Are vou sure that you want to delete the selected stops Yes Figure 5 33 Confirm to Delete Stops 5 13 Performing Stop Attribute Modifications TBEST provides tools to update Stop attributes by either directly modifying cells in the Stops table or by updating multiple records with the TBEST Calculator This section discusses the methods for performing stop attribute modifications and provides a sample update methodology using the TBEST Calculator Cell Editing Editing cells in TBEST is very similar to Microsoft Excel Once you have navigated to the cell to be edited enter the new value in the cell and either press the Enter key or navigate away from the cell to accept the value To permanently store the value press the Save button on the Main Toolbar To discard the value exit the Scenario without saving TBEST Stop Calculator The TBEST Stop Calculator is used in conjunction with the current Stop selection to modify the values for the selected group of stops The Calculator is accessed either from the Stop Editing toolbar by either pressing the Calculate Stop Values 2 button or from the otop Options drop down menu Once opened the Calculator will display the visible columns in the Stop table If needed use the View menu to cha
275. will be added to the route S 491n Ct ard 11 M and L 2nd P Figure 5 22 Adding Segment Vertices Moving Segment Vertices To move a segment vertex click the Edit Route Segment button LI located on the Segments tab This button will allow you to grab a vertex and move it to its new location The pointer will become a four point compass when it hovers over a vertex Click on the vertex and hold the mouse button down until it has been moved to its desired location Release the mouse button and the route will realign in the map window to the changed vertex location Figure 5 23 shows the realigned route after all four vertices were moved Note As the segment geometry is modified stops that exist along the modified segment will proportionally re position themselves along the segment geometry k u pa S 345 and Ln and P 15 act LN Figure 5 23 Moved Segment Vertices Deleting Vertices To delete a vertex click the Edit Route Segment button The pointer will become a four point compass when it hovers over a vertex Right click on the vertex and it will blink three times Click Delete Vertex zoom To Selected gt 4 5 2 andin Label All Stops w Label Active Route Stops Stop Labels OFF isi Ln 481 Pl asih Ave Figure 5 24 Deleting Segment Vertices The vertex will be removed and the route segment realigned in the
276. xport the current map view route list stop list or segment list to an Excel document csv To do this select Export from the File menu and then select the item you want to export 7 5 Stop Summary TBEST provides a summary view of stop level ridership for all time periods and transfer opportunities listed by time period TBEST Accessibility Measures are known as O Values and they are listed here as well To open the Stop Summary form select the stop to be summarized in the Stop List click the Stop Options drop down menu and select the Stop Summary option lf there have been changes to the scenario that would affect ridership predictions a message will appear stating that the scenario has pending edits and that some of the information may need to be updated through a model run The Stop Summary form opens To view ridership transfer opportunities and O Values by time period select the time period from the drop down box at the top of the form Stop Summary Stop Identification Adjust Time Period Stop Mame 76 Route 1001 outbound Time Perinat stop Position 1 32 miles fram beginning of the route AM PEAK Travel Time 0 4 minutes from beginning of the route Hidership by Time Period Transfers DIRECT BOARDINGS TRANSFER BOARDINGS TOTAL BOARDINGS Route Stop AM PEAK 1 89 003 outbound MID DAY 11 06 8 55 003 inbound 1 88 2 26 004 outbound NIGHT 66 05 2297 004 inbound SATURDAY 155 82 84 18 005 southbound
277. y otep 3 Enter service span values in hours for AM Peak Off Peak PM Peak Night oaturday and Sunday Note Service can be input in fractions of an hour Route Service Span Enter Service Span in Hours Route Direction Peak Off Peak Peak Hight Saturday Sunday 001 outbound O01 inbound outbound inbaund 004 outbound 004 inbound O05 southbound O05 northbound 006 outbound inbound outbound inbaund outbound inbound outbound inbound outbound inbound outbound Di Di Di Di co CO CO CO Dd Dd C23 CO Nn MDM a oo cao Dd CO CO Dd C23 CO Cancel Figure 5 27 Service Span window Notes for entering service span e By default the duration for each time period is populated in the Service Span form e Service Span is a variable used in TBEST model calculations e The input service span variables are used in calculating stop headway arrivals For example if a Saturday service span of 5 hours is input for a given route and the user calculates the arrivals trips to be 10 for each stop on the route the headway will be automatically calculated by TBEST to be 30 minutes e lf there is no service a given time period enter zero The time periods TBEST defined as AM Peak 6 00am 8 59am Off Peak 9 00am 2 59pm PM Peak 3 00pm 5 59pm Night 6 00pm 5 59am following
278. y have stop level information stored in the form of a bus stop inventory or operations network within a scheduling software This information can be useful for populating the TBEST Stop Name and Description values The otop value is equivalent to the stop identifier and the Description value is generally based on intersection location or major landmark describing the area around a stop While TBEST does not require these values to run a model or output the results these values are useful for keeping stops organized and cross referenced across routes These values can also be useful when trying to find stops with common identifiers or descriptions using the TBEST Search tool Route Description Time Point IVTT Headway Special Generator Route 1 Northbound Panama City City Hall PCCH Route 1 Northbound 1 6 Route 1 Northbound 1 55 Route 1 Northbound bth St Allen 1 83 Route 1 Marthbound 2 96 Route 1 Northbound 1 21 1 Route 1 Northbound St MLET2Z 1 71 60 Figure 5 35 Stop Number and Description Time Points Time points are those bus stops that are specifically listed in the transit system schedules with accompanying times Time Points generally have an identifier in the schedule that is the same across all routes that access the time point This common identifier is expected in the Time Point column Within the TBEST model environment time points serve the role of i
279. yed geometry either entire route network or selected routes and total stops visible stops and selected stops In addition the Status Bar will display the progress of various tasks performed within TBEST Window Panel Docking All windows panels in TBEST including TBEST Explorer Map Control Routes Segments and Stops can be toggled pinned or closed Panels can also be dragged out of a pinned or toggled position into a floating window ot x ABC A Toggle Tabs This button allows the user to toggle any of the tables or tabs in TBEST When toggled off a button to reopen the tab will be shown at the bottom left of the open tab B Pin Tabs This button allows the user to pin a table or tab so that it stays open in the TBEST environment When unpinned the table or tab will be auto hidden and can be accessed by mousing over or clicking the panel that appears on the far bottom or far right of the TBEST screen C Close Tabs This button closes the tab or table Any tab or table can be reopened through the View Windows in the Main Menu A user can also close tabs or tables directly from this window Closed tabs can be re opened by selecting the closed window under the View gt Windows menu option on the Main Toolbar 99 TBEST CONFIGURATION This section provides TBEST hardware and software specifications a guide to installing TBEST and the post installation setup procedures With the successful installation of TBEST s
280. ystem 7 REPORTS PERFORMANCE MEASURES This section provides an overview of TBEST reporting Reports generated TBEST through the Report Builder The Report Builder will create stop segment and route level reports for all features or selected features In addition the Report Builder allows for a Regional Analysis report that will spatially summarize ridership or service based on user supplied extent The Route level reports offer route performance measures that depict the overall performance of routes in the system For interactive reporting the Report Builder works together with the TBEST Corridor Analysis Area Analysis Site Analysis and Search functions to summarize data for the selected features The TBEST Report Builder can generate reports based on a selected TBEST time period as well as aggregated Weekday or Weekend reports As TBEST Reports are generated they can be managed within the TBEST Explorer window In addition saved reports are packaged with TBEST Distribution Files 7 1 Report Builder The TBEST Report Builder is the primary interface for generating interactive scenario based ridership and route performance reports The interface allows the selection of a report time period or aggregated time period including Weekday and Weekend and a feature summary level including Routes Stops Segments and Regional Analysis Optionally users can specify that TBEST provide a map summary of the ridership results Rep
281. zed for each Route by Direction The system performance measures are summarized at the bottom of the report If desired save the Report Give the report a descriptive name such as lt 5 gt Performance byDirection TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 51 Operation Reference See Appendix A 3 8 Model Status See Appendix A 7 1 Route Perfomance Report Sample TRANSIT ROUTE SUMMARY Scenana Key V est Model Transit System Key est Time Penod WEEKDAY Report Date Time 11 10 2011 4 50 30 21177 4890 n 40 46 7 ws 49 12 2 TotalRoues 4636 3099 7736 11 73 125 75 69 105 405 15 TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning 52 Workflow 4 5 Performance Reports by Route Name Operation Steps Operation Reference 1 Open TBEST 2 Opena TBEST Scenario 3 Confirm that the model runs are valid and no edits are pending If edits are pending the model must be run See Appendix 3 8 before TBEST reports will reflect changes in the model input Model Status 4 Under the Reports menu on the main toolbar select Route Performance The TBEST Reports dialog will open 5 the TBEST Reports dialog select Weekday as the Time Period and Route Name as the Grouping Note any Appendix 7 1 TBEST Time Period can be selected to summarize the performance Route P

TBEST Implementation Procedures for Strategic and Service Planning

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