Florida State University researchers, Mark Horner, Ph.D., Professor of Geography; Michael Duncan, Ph.D.; Professor of Urban and Regional Planning; and Dennis J. Smith, Planner-in-Residence for Urban and Regional Planning, co-authored the article “Ridership Dynamics and Characteristics of Potential Riders of a Transit System: The SunRail of Central Florida” in the journal Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Other co-authors include Mehmet Baran Ulak, Ph.D.; Eren Erman Ozguyen, Ph.D.; Lindsay Weaver; Jorge Puente; Jeremy Crute; and Elizabeth Whitton. Below is a summary of the article written by doctoral student Martin Gandur (Ph.D. Political Science ‘25).
FSU Researchers – Mark Horner, Ph.D., Professor of Geography; Michael Duncan, Ph.D.; Professor of Urban and Regional Planning; and Dennis J. Smith, Planner-in-Residence for Urban and Regional Planning – and colleagues co-authored “Ridership Dynamics and Characteristics of Potential Riders of a Transit System: The SunRail of Central Florida,” to investigate the passenger flows among SunRail stations at different periods and the socio-demographic factors that potentially influence SunRail ridership.
The findings indicate that a majority of trips on the SunRail system occurred during AM peak and PM peak periods, between population centers (suburban and exurban areas) and business zones (urban and urban core areas).
The authors’ article provides data about where potential passengers travel from and where they go, which can help to advertise SunRail’s services and promote ridership as well as determine stations that might need enhancements. This research also identifies the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of residents around each SunRail station through park-and-ride and walk-and-ride catchment areas, which serve urban and transport planners in developing strategies to influence ridership based on the passenger flows and unique characteristics of the station areas.
SunRail is the flagship commuter rail line of the Greater Orlando area in Florida. Through multiple phases ongoing since 2014, SunRail promotes denser and more walkable development around its stations. Moreover, it tries to build a more balanced, less car-dependent multimodal transportation system. Most of the SunRail stations are located around a mix of office buildings, multi-family homes, retail, and other services. However, it has not reached the ridership levels initially forecasted.
The article examines passenger flows between transit stations (ridership dynamics) and socio-demographic characteristics of the population living around and traveling between these stations. The authors use an instantaneous-balance Bayesian (IBB) model that estimates the origin-destination flows of SunRail riders and conduct a comprehensive assessment of the characteristics of residents living within each SunRail station area. The article uses data onboarding and alighting numbers at SunRail stations at four periods of the day (AM peak, midday, PM peak, and evening) from the Florida Department of Transportation, as well as demographic and socioeconomic data from the U.S. Census’ American Community Surveys.
The authors suggest that future research should examine the factors driving the ridership in regional transit systems, such as the SunRail of Central Florida, and evaluate the potential expansions of these systems to other locations.
To read the full research report, click here. To learn more about the FSU Department of Geography, visit coss.fsu.edu/geography. To learn more about the FSU Department of Urban and Regional Planning, visit coss.fsu.edu/durp.
APA Citation:
Ulak, M. B., Ozguven, E. E., Horner, M. W., Weaver, L., Puente, J., Crute, J., Smith, D. J., Duncan, M., & Whitton, E. (2022, November 11). Ridership Dynamics and characteristics of potential riders of a transit system: The SunRail of Central Florida. Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590198222001804