Every stop counts: PTDG and GIS applications in bus stop assessment

The quality of public transport (PT) facilities is key to enabling mode shift. And while big-ticket items such as the Christchurch Bus Interchange or Puhinui Station are a key part of that, the smaller details at every bus stop in a city have a huge impact on the experience and are a key part of increasing usage of our PT networks. 

Over the last few years, the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) has been developing the Public Transport Design Guidance (PTDG), an excellent resource to help local authorities improve their PT networks. In many cases, councils may not have a clear picture of how their network stacks up against the guidance, or where to start with making improvements – how do we tackle this problem? 

This presentation will show how the ViaStrada team audited and assessed over 850 bus stops in Dunedin within a short timeframe, working for Otago Regional Council and collaborating with Dunedin City Council to develop a method of measuring and assessing deficiency levels at each bus stop across many of the elements of bus stops contained in the PTDG using geographic information system (GIS) software. This included employing university students to use ArcGIS FieldMaps to capture audit data in a reliable way, with low error rates and with resulting data that was straightforward to process. 

This data was then visualised using ArcGIS Experience Builder, providing an easy-to-understand spatial overview at both a city and bus stop level, and highlighting key areas of improvement. This provided a network-wide view on how all of the sites in Dunedin perform against modern recommendations for bus stops and what they should provide to enable easy, comfortable, and accessible journeys for all.

Click here to view the presentation slides.