The metropolitan transportation authority (mta) of the state of new york has established a multiyear strategic planning program, called the strategic planning initiative (spi), in order to respond effectively to the changing character of ridership demand in the context of available financial resources and to the threats and opportunities that arise as the region evolves. the spi represents an ambitious attempt to examine the strengths and weaknesses of the servics provided by the operating agencies under the mta umbrella. this assessment, outlining the way the systems are now being used by passengers, what it costs to run them, what changes in transit demand are likely during the next 20 years, how to regain lost ridership, and what kinds of responses could be made to shortfalls in capital funding, isaimed at helping the key decision makers at mta, and in local and state government, to understand the implications of the choices beingmade today as well as some alternative ways of looking at issues and options. the methodology developed for the spi work program for year one includes three main elements: (a) development of three financial scenarios assessing the trade-offs that would be necessary underreduced capital funding; (b) data collection and analysis includingridership data and operating cost by line models; and (c) development of service guidelines to determine when, where, and how much service should be provided to the public. this paper appears in transportation research record no. 1156, transportation systems planning andmanagement.
Abstract