1. Integrated Public Transportation in Santo Domingo: An Educational Investment Carl Allen 5/02/10 A presentation based on research for COPDES, GFDD/FUNGLODE and OPRET Towards completion of a Masters in Public Policy and Urban Planning (MPP/UP) from the Harvard Kennedy School Cambridge, MA

2. Presentation Outline Research Objectives Methods Background Passenger and Student Surveys Metro Benefits Potential Benefits of Feeder Bus Integration Conclusion

3. Research Objectives Evaluate the performance of Metro Line 1 in Santo Domingo Assess the potential benefits and risks of feeder bus system integration Offer recommendations on implementation of feeder bus system SPECIAL EMPHASIS: Student population

4. Methods Literature Review – World Bank, UN, UKDfT, IDB, TRB and others Case Study Analysis – Bogotá, Mexico City, Santiago de Chile and São Paulo Review of Dominican media (newspapers and websites) Interviews with experts, government officials, journalists and others Surveys of 100 Metro riders during the morning and afternoon peak hours Surveys of 69 students at Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo (UASD) who ride the Metro Surveys of 47 businesses located near Metro stations Estimations of ridership through counting passengers– at all 16 stations, inbound and outbound directions and during different time periods Observations made through more than 40 hours spent in the system and more than 3 months in Santo Domingo

6. Population growth (2.4%), economic growth (9%) and physical sprawl have contributed to increased motorization (8.3%) and private vehicles (4.5%) Rapid motorization and insufficient investments in urban-transport planning, traffic management and infrastructure…create increasing problems in terms of accidents…health, noise, congestion and loss of productivity… – Agenda 21, Chapter 7 Maximo-Gomez corridor is at 15,000 pass/hr/dir in the inbound peak and is at capacity Transport in Santo Domingo

7. A Sustainable Solution?

8. Real and Potential Benefits Quality of Life Improvements and Poverty Alleviation – Accessibility and Mobility – Time-savings Environmental Sustainability – Potential reduced local and atmospheric emissions – Potential improved local health and global climate – Improved efficiency (emissions/trip or emissions/unit GDP) Indirect Secondary Benefits – Economic agglomeration – Technology transfer – Economies of scope

9. Focus on Students Metro Line 1 has five universities and 27 public schools along its route (OPRET, 2006) Most notably among these is Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo (UASD), with over 100,000 students – 10% of which already ride the Metro (OPRET, 2009) Inaccessibility to schools is a function of transportation cost, distance, convenience and time Student performance is a function of school attendance

10. Metro Ridership 2009 passenger counting estimate: 50,000 – 60,000 pass-trips/day Current ridership is 65,000 and could increase 2-5% per year in base scenario – could be even higher with buses and more trunk lines – network effects Metro can physically accommodate maximum of 25,000 – 36,000 pass/hr/dir and 250,000 passenger trips per day

11. Metro Passenger Surveys Surveyed 100 passengers Said they saved an average of 48+ minutes EACH TRIP Travel time variability also decreased Average Metro passenger spends 4% of income on Metro fare Metro minimum wage passengers paid an average of 20% Average S.D. resident spends 25% of income on transport 20% of Metro passenger survey respondents said school was their primary reason for riding the train.

12. Metro Student Surveys Surveyed 69 students Averaged 9 trips/wk, 9.3 km/trip Average income = $RD 0 – 5,000 per month Said they saved an average of 47 minutes EACH TRIP Students said they used saved time for study, sleep, exercise, extra curricular activities, spend time with friends and family The Metro is affordable for ALL students at UASD. 92.75%AGREE 63.77%STRONGLY AGREE 5.80%DISAGREE 1.45%NEUTRAL Time savings from the Metro will make students more productive. 94.20%AGREE 63.77%STRONGLY AGREE 5.80%DISAGREE 0.00%NEUTRAL

13. Metro Benefit/Cost Analysis Estimated Annual Passenger Time Savings: $US 16.5 million Estimated Annual Road-User Time Savings: $US 14.7 – 27.6 million Positive 40-year Benefit/Cost Ratio under optimistic assumptions of trip growth – Not including environmental benefits or other hard to quantify or speculative benefits – Depends on system integration

14. Critical Next Step: The Feeder Routes

15. Feeder Bus System Analysis Feeder Bus Potential Added Benefits – Feeder routes WILL extend deep into poor neighborhoods and could provide better quality service than current buses with more comfort – MORE access for STUDENTS! – Could generate ridership increases – BUT this depends on fare integration, convenience, service quality – Could further reduce pollution and congestion – BUT this depend on OPRETs ability to restrict existing operators from competing – Drivers under new integrated bus system WILL benefit - regular hours, better working conditions pay and benefits – BUT cutting a deal with drivers in existing system will be difficult

16. Conclusions Metro currently offers substantial accessibility and time-savings benefits for passengers – especially STUDENTS! The Metro has reduced congestion, thereby generating time savings for road users – including students and others who dont ride the Metro! Integration of the feeder bus system has great potential to enhance all these benefits if planning and implementation are done well.

17. Thank You.