2003 Twin Cities Transit System Performance Audit

Chapter 5. Peer Region ComparisonsChapter 5. Peer Region ComparisonsThe Twin Cities transit system performance is assessed, in part, using data from the federalNational Transit Database (NTD). The area’s performance is compared to the performance of apeer group of 11 urban areas transit systems.Table 6-1. Peer Urban Areas Used in Transit AuditBaltimore Cleveland Dallas Milwaukee Portland SeattleCincinnati Denver Houston Pittsburgh St. LouisChanges to Peer GroupIn 1996 a twelve region peer group was selected with similar population and transit systemcharacteristics. But between the 1990 and 2000 census, the population of the Twin Cities grewby 17% while Buffalo had population losses of 2%. This difference is now great enough towarrant the removal of Buffalo from the peer group.Peer Regions vs. Peer Transit SystemsPrior to 1999, parts of the Twin Cities regional transit system did not report statistics into theNational Transit Database, meaning that data was not available for the whole region. Because ofthis, this is the first transit audit that overall Twin Cities statistics are available. Statistics forother regions are also aggregated to include all providers in a region. Exceptions were made inthree areas—Baltimore, Dallas and Seattle—where the urban area includes major cities that areseparated by 30 to 40 miles. In these cases, only the transit systems serving or related to themajor city were included. Also, the ferry services in Seattle were not ...