System Improvement Priorities
Following the division of Dots & Dashes budgets between existing
system and network expansion improvements, groups were asked to identify
specific improvements to the existing transit system; these decisions
were to reflect the changes they’d like to see made using the
amount of Dots & Dashes Dollars they’d assigned for that
purpose. Several examples were provided, without assigning cost values.
Groups were then asked to identify up to three separate priorities,
without ranking them in priority order. The table below summarizes
the results for this part of the exercise:
Existing System Improvements
Identified by Dots & Dashes
Participants |
| Improvement to the existing system |
# Dots & Dashes groups
listing as priority |
| Fare modernization |
20 |
| Faster/more frequent service |
18 |
| Real-time information and better signage |
12 |
| Cross-system fares |
7 |
| Free service for low income areas |
1 |
| Improved cleanliness and safety of stations |
1 |
| Infrastructure maintenance |
1 |
| More accessible transit for wheelchairs and bikes |
1 |
| More environmentally friendly (“clean”)
vehicles |
1 |
| Parking/access and transit-oriented station dev. |
1 |
| Trains/buses w/ more amenities |
1 |
| Trolley restoration |
1 |
| Upgraded stations and rolling stock |
1 |
| Source: DVRPC Dots & Dashes individual group
results, 2007 |
These existing system improvement priorities reflect participants’ general
preferences for investment avenues. Major site-specific investments
at a particular station, even if it were part of the current network,
would be identified under the subsequent system expansion category.
As these results indicate, fare modernization was the top
priority among participants, particularly when combined with the related priority
of “Cross-system fares,” aka fare interoperability. Also
widely identified were higher frequencies & faster service, as
well as an improvement in passenger information systems. No other
specific improvement was identified by more than one group.
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