PRIVATIZATION OF TRANSIT SERVICES BETWEEN SUBURBAN COMMUNITIES IN THE DETROIT METROPOLITAN AREA: A MARKETING APPROACH. FINAL REPORT

Widely dispersed travel patterns in metropolitan centers and increasing operating expenses along with serious financial problems to public transportation agencies generated this research study. The purpose of this research was to develop a testing procedure for privatizing transit services between suburban centers in large metropolitan cities. The Detroit metro area was selected as the case study site for this proposed methodology since it represented the changing urban structures and dispersed travel patterns of contemporary metropolitan areas in the U.S. Basically, the research approach centered around 4 major elements: Market identification; Assessing private provider interest; Matching markets with providers; and Development of operating plans. A methodology incorporating these 4 elements was developed, documented and applied to the Detroit suburban area, focusing mainly on travel demands between suburban communities in the three-county Detroit metro area. The research analysis resulted in a total of 53 candidate markets, and narrowed down to 14 potential markets by two independent priority ranking procedures. Matching of provider interest with merged multiple markets resulted in the identification of 5 viable sectors where privatizing transit services appeared feasible. This report provides a list of references, the Private Provider Survey, and numerous charts ranging from revenue and operating expenses, to worktrips, ridership and population, to market groups, service rankings, growth factor data, farebox revenue data and other.