Conditions and Performance Chapter Listing

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Highway Operational Performance

Transit Operational Performance

Operating Speeds

Exhibit 4-11

Passenger-Mile Weighted Average Speed by Transit Mode, 1987-1997

Source: National Transit Database.

Average speeds for transit systems are presented for both rail and non-rail modes in Exhibit 4-11. Vehicle speeds are calculated by dividing vehicle revenue miles by vehicle revenue hours, yielding a measure of miles per hour. These are calculated for each operator and mode. The average speeds are then obtained by weighting operator-mode speeds by passenger miles. This weighting allows for a better measure of the speed at which the average transit passenger in the U.S. travels.

The average speed for transit passengers was 20.3 miles per hour (mph) in 1997. This represents an increase of 1.0 mph since 1987, but it is down slightly since 1995. Rail speeds, which are substantially higher than non-rail speeds, were also higher in 1997 (at 26.1 mph) than they were a decade prior, but have decreased slightly since 1995. Non-rail speeds showed a slight increase to 13.8 mph since 1987, but have remained virtually unchanged for the last nine years.