Synopsis of Case Study on Managing Bus Passenger and No-Show Policies

Published on:  June 28, 2022

In September 2021, the Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) released Managing Bus Passenger No-Show Policies in Rural Kansas, a case study on a public transit agency in Northeast Kansas.

The featured agency operated a small urban and rural transit system that serviced about 300,000 riders annually, pre-COVID. Fixed route represented 70 percent of the ridership and demand-response represented 30 percent of the ridership. As ridership increased in the mid-2000s, the primary trip purpose for demand response changed from medical to work. During the same time no-shows and cancelled trips also increased.

To find solutions, the agency consulted TCRP Synthesis 60: Practices in No-Show and Late Cancellation Policies for ADA Paratransit. The agency updated their scheduling policies based on industry norms included in research report, including increasing their pick-up window to 15 minutes, limiting the number of days in advance a ride can be scheduled to 14, and redefining missed trips and late cancelations. The report also gave the agency guidance about what constitutes a missed trip beyond the rider’s control.  As a result of the changes, the agency’s no-shows decreased 15 percent.

Read the TCRP case study here.

Read TCRP Synthesis 60 here.