AN ANALYSIS OF THE DEMAND FOR BUS AND SHARED-RIDE TAXI SERVICE IN TWO SMALLER URBAN AREAS

This report is a study of the demand for the publicly owned, fixed-route, fixed-schedule bus service and the privately owned, demand-responsive transportation service in two smaller urban areas--Davenport, Iowa, and Hicksville, New York. The objectives of the report were to compare the travel patterns and markets of the bus and shared-ride taxi systems, to compare the travel patterns and markets of the shared-ride taxi systems in each study area, to analyze factors and circumstances underlying the choice of either the bus or the shared-ride taxi, and to measure the public sentiment toward each form of public transportation. Information was gathered through on-board surveys, mail surveys, home interviews, and dispatching records and drivers' logs maintained by the taxicab companies. Users as well as non-users of public transportation were interviewed. A bibliography is furnished. Appendices contain Customer Data Record, Vehicle Data Record, and the bus passenger, taxi passenger and household survey questionnaires.