Analyzing the Effects of Transit Network Change on Agency Performance and Riders in a Decentralized, Small-to-Mid-sized US Metropolitan Area: A Case Study of Tallahassee, Florida, MTI Report 12-04

On July 11, 2011, StarMetro, the local public transit agency in Tallahassee, Florida, restructured its entire bus network from a downtown-focused radial system to a decentralized, grid-like system that local officials and agency leaders believed would better serve the dispersed local pattern of population and employment. The new, decentralized network is based on radial routes serving the major arterial roads and new crosstown routes linking the outer parts of the city, where population and employment is growing. Local officials and agency staff hoped the change would increase transit’s attractiveness and usefulness to the community. One year after the service restructuring, overall performance results are similar to those experienced in other cities that have implemented major service changes. Overall ridership and productivity are lower than before the service restructuring, due to the short time frame for rider adjustments and longer-than-anticipated headways, but new ridership has appeared in previously un-served or under-served corridors and neighborhoods. The service restructuring resulted in longer walks to bus stops, due to the removal of stops from many neighborhoods and their relocation to major roads, but overall transit travel times are shorter due to more direct routing. No particular neighborhoods or community groups disproportionately benefited from or were harmed by the change. The service restructuring was supported by some segments of the community who viewed the older system as ill-suited to the increasingly decentralized community, while it was opposed by other community stakeholders who worried about the loss of service in some neighborhoods and issues of access and safety, particularly affecting elderly and disabled riders, at new stop locations. StarMetro’s extensive public outreach efforts and ongoing service adjustments have reduced the intensity of the opposition to the service restructuring over time, although some segments of the community continue to voice their concerns about the effects of the change on transit-dependent, disabled, and elderly riders

The Effects of Perception vs. “Reality” on Travel Behavior after a Major Transit Service Change: The Case of Tallahassee, Florida

An individual’s perception plays an important role in determining the decisions that people make involving the use of public transportation. An individual’s perception about the qualities of transit service might differ from the objective measures (“reality”) of service quality used by planners to make and evaluate decisions. This study explores the roles of perception and “reality” of transit service quality as influences on the attitudes and behaviors of two different groups of transit dependent riders after a major service change in Tallahassee, Florida. Using a combination of community surveys, key informant interviews, and agency data, the study finds that perception mattered more than “reality” as an influence on the attitudes and behaviors of the two groups. The need for more effective outreach to understand the reasons that individual perception might differ from the objective measures used and understood by transit professionals also emerges as an important lesson of the study

The Effects of Perception vs. “Reality” on Travel Behavior after a Major Transit Service Change: The Case of Tallahassee, Florida

An individual’s perception plays an important role in determining the decisions that people make involving the use of public transportation. An individual’s perception about the qualities of transit service might differ from the objective measures (“reality”) of service quality used by planners to make and evaluate decisions. This study explores the roles of perception and “reality” of transit service quality as influences on the attitudes and behaviors of two different groups of transit dependent riders after a major service change in Tallahassee, Florida. Using a combination of community surveys, key informant interviews, and agency data, the study finds that perception mattered more than “reality” as an influence on the attitudes and behaviors of the two groups. The need for more effective outreach to understand the reasons that individual perception might differ from the objective measures used and understood by transit professionals also emerges as an important lesson of the study

Restructuring from a Central Business District-Focused to a Decentralized Transit System

The relationship between a transit system\u27s design and the pattern of urban development affects the level and pattern of accessibility in a community. A mismatch between the two renders some destinations inaccessible to people who rely primarily on transit to serve their transportation needs. System design is critical to accessibility and to equity, but thus far, the research literature has largely neglected this important issue. The relationship between system design and accessibility was examined through a study of the July 11, 2011, restructuring of StarMetro, the bus system in Tallahassee, Florida. The focus was on the change in riders\u27 accessibility provided by shifting from a transit network that was downtown-oriented and radial before restructuring to one that was decentralized and multidestination after restructuring. System restructuring increased the time for people to walk to bus stops, but once people reached the stops, the more direct travel connections provided by the new system reduced travel times and increased access to destinations. The net result of the service change was a reduction in total travel time and thus increased accessibility for most trip interchanges. The restructuring neither disproportionately harmed nor disproportionately benefited neighborhoods with larger numbers of transit-dependent, low-income, or minority residents. The restructuring did not disproportionately benefit, nor disproportionately harm, neighborhoods with large numbers of college students either. StarMetro was a system largely dominated by college students and transit-dependent residents before restructuring, as well as after. However, there was a modest increase in the use of the system by infrequent riders after restructuring

Asymptomatic retropharyngeal abscess related to cervical Pott's disease

Pott's disease is an uncommon manifestation of tuberculosis, which usually involves thoracic or lumbar vertebrae. The body of the vertebrae is most severely affected and a compression fracture is an almost inevitable consequence of the disease. A paravertabral abscess generally accompanies vertebral involvement. Tenderness over the involved vertebrae, weakness of the related muscles, and paraesthesia are the usual symptoms. In this article, we report a case of cervical Pott's disease presenting mainly with neurologic symptoms such as weakness, pain, numbness of both arms and hands, and an asymptomatic retropharyngeal abscess. (C) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Can we perform frozen section instead of repeat transurethral resection in bladder cancer?

Objective: To confirm frozen section (FS) method for muscularis propria (MP) sampling and to compare the FS method with the ReTUR section (RS) procedure to reduce needing for second resection that can cause waste of time for definitive treatment of muscle-invasive bladder cancer