Inside Xpress [Vol. 1, no. 1 (Fall 2012)]

www.XpressGA.com customerservice@XpressGA.com

INSIDE XPRESS
A publication of the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority 245 Peachtree Center Avenue, Atlanta, GA 30303

C O N T E N T S

PACE Award for Xpress Did You Know? Quarterly Ridership New Regional Transit Chief Takes the Wheel

Fall 2012
Volume 1 No. 1 404-463-3000

Welcome to Inside Xpress!

Welcome to the inaugural edition of Inside Xpress, our new quarterly newsletter about metro Atlanta's costeffective, commuter transit option.
Xpress provides commuters throughout the region with a valuable public transportation option and also improves rush-hour travel on our region's interstate highways. Because Xpress customers ride on our coaches rather than driving on the interstate highways during rush hours, they save metro Atlantans $127 million a year from lower traffic congestion costs. These savings, combined with the low cost of operating the Xpress service, translate into a 4-to-1 return on investment.
Through this newsletter, we look forward to communicating with the people who have made this service a success -- our customers and our local partners. Each issue of Inside Xpress will share with you the latest performance reports along with other items of interest regarding Xpress.

Did You Know?
Did you know that Xpress draws riders from nearly 40 counties throughout Georgia?
Commuters from as far as the East and West borders of Georgia and from the mountains of Gilmer County down to Macon travel to one of the park-n-ride lots in 12 metro Atlanta counties to take Xpress to their final destination. The zip code with the single largest number of riders, according to the 2012 customer survey, is in Stockbridge (30281).

We are delighted to share our story on how "commuting made easy" is making a difference in this region!

Thank you for your support!

Jannine Miller Executive Director
GRTA Receives PACE Award
GRTA received the UPS Exemplary Idle Reduction Award at this year's PACE Awards ceremony. Through GRTA's involvement with The Clean Air Campaign's Idling Reduction Program, Xpress has improved its fuel economy by almost 12% over the past four years by reducing idling time to a maximum of five minutes, reducing top vehicle operating speeds, conducting more frequent tire pressure checks, and installing on-board vehicle performance trackers. Thank you to UPS for sponsoring this award!

INSIDE XPRESS

Fall 2012

Boardings
Cherokee
Routes: 490, 491
Clayton
Routes: 440, 441, 442
Cobb

3rd Quarter Jan-Sept
2012 2011
583,535 1,738,700
24,534 69,924
71,190 213,071

Route: 470, 475, 477, 480, 481
Coweta
Routes 450, 451
DeKalb
Routes 422, 423, 428
Douglas
Routes 460, 461-462
Forsyth
Routes: 400, 408
Fulton
Route 455, 408
Gwinnett
Routes: 410, 411, 412, 413, 416, 418, 424
Henry
Routes: 430, 431, 432,
Paulding
Routes: 470, 477
Rockdale
Routes 420, 421, 423, 425

65,316 27,736 50,127 43,616 26,086 17,384 122,154 86,724 32,280 78,923

218,231 82,025 144,171 138,804 81,710 63,068 319,330 259,558 102,835 238,275

Jan-Sept
2012
1,783,046 75,797 217,677
194,211 84,899 150,652 135,227 77,342 48,096 379,749 267,545 94,963 238,531

Stephen W. Hendershott Tapped as Chief Regional Transit Operations Officer
Stephen W. Hendershott came to GRTA this summer to lead the Authority's transit operations. A senior executive with more than 20 years experience in transportation, Steve's areas of expertise include operations management, measurement systems, strategic planning, budgeting, paratransit operations, labor relations, and policy development. Most recently, Steve served as the Chief of Operations for the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART) in Tampa, Florida.
Xpress 2012 Ridership Up Nearly
3% through 3rd Quarter
Overall ridership on Xpress through the 3rd quarter of 2012 is up 2.5% over the same nine months of 2011. From Jan-Sept 2012, Xpress had 1.78 million boardings, compared to 1.73 million over the same period in 2011.
Ridership did slip in the past three months compared to 2011 as the region still struggles to recover from the economic downturn. Gas prices have also begun to decline this fall after ramping up in the spring and early summer.

700,000 650,000 600,000

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Xpress Boardings by Calendar Quarter

2008--2012

550,000

500,000

450,000

400,000
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3