SORTA Bus Stop Evaluation and Design Services

SORTA recognized that bus stops serve as the first impression customers have of its bus service, but needed assistance in developing a comprehensive, data-driven prioritization methodology that analyzed existing conditions to develop and apply bus stop improvements. Foursquare ITP used a data-driven process to identify bus stop improvements to SORTA’s network of over 3,600 bus stops and created a master plan that provides the agency with detailed design guidance on how bus stops should be improved.

Our team engaged bus operators and multiple agency departments to understand the design priorities for various proposed bus stop amenities. These included bus stop signs, real-time information displays, benches and shelters, and many other amenities. With SORTA’s priorities captured, the team applied categorical weights to every bus stop amenity and conducted an underlying demographic analysis to propose an improvement schedule to bus stops across the network. We developed and shared detailed graphical renderings of several bus stop options. We also developed wayfinding concepts, including scalable bus stop signs and a unified pylon design for transit centers that are flexible enough to employ across the bus network.

We developed and shared detailed graphical renderings of several bus stop options and designed wayfinding concepts, including scalable bus stop signs and a unified pylon design for transit centers that are flexible enough to employ across the bus network. Foursquare ITP’s prioritization methodology and detailed master plan gave SORTA a new means for communicating bus stop improvements to customers, neighborhood activists, and other stakeholders. Instead of implementing improvements in an ad-hoc manner, SORTA can now point to a thorough, continuous, data-driven process for proposing each bus stop improvement.