README for "Transforming Public Transit with a Rural On-Demand Microtransit Project" dataset.
Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT)
2023-11-14

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LINKS TO DATASET
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A. Dataset archive link: https://doi.org/10.21949/1529834
      


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SUMMARY OF DATASET
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These datasets contain survey responses, demographic information, 
and block information collected during the award period. These 
datasets are seperated into 4 Microsoft Excel Workbooks. The author
notes that "the overall response to this program was very positive, 
with riders noting the ability to access work and healthcare more 
easily, as well as an easier time accessing public transit."

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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A. General Information
B. Sharing/Access & Policies Information
C. Data and Related File Overview
D. Methodological Information
E. Data-Specific Information for: Transforming Public Transit with a Rural On-Demand Microtransit Project [supporting datasets]
F. Update Log



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A. GENERAL INFORMATION
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0. Title of Dataset: Transforming Public Transit with a Rural On-Demand Microtransit Project [supporting datasets]
   


1. Description of Dataset: On September 1, 2020, the City of Wilson, North Carolina, with support from the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) through an Accelerating Innovative Mobility (AIM) FY20 award, replaced its existing fixed route transit system with an on-demand microtransit service called RIDE. Wilson partnered with mobility solutions provider Via Transportation, Inc., to be the City’s microtransit provider and expand service coverage and reduce wait times for public transportation riders. The project sought to increase access to jobs, healthcare, and other services in a rural area by expanding RIDE’s weekday hours of operation to 5:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., from the original 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. service hours. This report summarizes the development, evolution, and evaluation of the project, highlighting the implementation of expanded service hours along with the project outcomes and lessons learned. This dataset comes has 4 excel workbooks that describe the final survey results, rides by block group, and ride statistics. 
   

2. Dataset archive link: https://doi.org/10.21949/1529834
       


3. Authorship Information: 
   Principal Data Creator or Data Manager Contact Information
        Name: Ryan Brumfield
           Institution: North Carolina Department of Transportation
           Address: 1 South Wilmington Street Raleigh, NC 27601
           Email: rmbrumfield@ncdot.gov

   Data Distributor Contact Information
        Name: David Schneider
           Institution: FTA Office of Research, Demonstration, and Innovation
           Address: 1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E. Washington, DC
           Email: david.schneider@dot.gov

   Organizational Contact Information
        Name: David Schneider
           Institution: FTA Office of Research, Demonstration, and Innovation
           Address: 1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E. Washington, DC
           Email: david.schneider@dot.gov
	   

4. Date of data collection and update interval: 5/26/2021-1/12/2023
   


5. Geographic location of data collection: Wilson, North Carolina
   


6. Information about funding sources that supported the collection of the data: The North Carolina Department of Transportation received a Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Accelerating Innovative Mobility (AIM) award to coordinate with the City of Wilson, North Carolina, and Via Transportation, Inc. (Via), to increase access to jobs, healthcare, and other services in a rural area through the city’s RIDE service. RIDE was 1 of more than 20 projects funded by FTA’s AIM Demonstration Program. The AIM funding expanded RIDE weekday hours of operations to 5:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., from the original 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
   




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B. SHARING/ACCESS & POLICIES INFORMATION 
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0. Recommended citation for the data: 

U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration (FTA); Bureau of Transportation
Statistics (BTS) (2020). Transforming Public Transit with a Rural On-Demand Microtransit Project [supporting datasets]. https://doi.org/10.21949/1529834
   


1. Licenses/restrictions placed on the data: None
   


2. Was data derived from another source?: No
   
   
   
3. This document was created to meet the requirements enumerated in the U.S. Department of Transportation's 'Plan to Increase Public Access to the Results of Federally-Funded Scientific Research' Version 1.1 << https://doi.org/10.21949/1520559 >> and guidelines suggested by the DOT Public Access website << https://doi.org/10.21949/1503647  >>, in effect and current as of December 03, 2020.
 



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C. DATA & RELATED FILE OVERVIEW
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1. File List for the id_DATASET_20231114_1432.zip collection      
        
   A. Filename: Ride Survey Data Breakout 1_Final.xlsx
          
        Short description: Spreadsheet of survey data from 2021/12/02 to 2021/12/12 including response date, responses to survey questions, and survey taker IDs.        
         

   B. Filename: Ride Survey Data Breakout_Final.xlsx
           
        Short description: Spreadsheet of survey data from 2021/05/27 to 2023/01/12 including response date, responses to survey questions, and survey taker IDs. 
      

   C. Filename: RWI Data Pulls Updated July 19 2023_Final.xlsx
      
	Short description: Statistics on rides served, quality of service, and accidents and incidents during service.
	. 

   D. Filename: wilson_rides_by_block_group_Final.xlsx
         
        Short description: Rides by block group. This spreadsheet includes geoid, ride origins, percentage of people in poverty, number of people in poverty, and number of people with poverty status not reported. 
         
 
   E. Filename: README.txt
          
        Short description: This README file.

   F. Filename: 95384.json
          
        Short description: The json metadata file in DCAT US version 1 schema. 
        



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D. METHODOLOGICAL INFORMATION
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1. Description of methods used for collection/generation of data: Survey data was collected and recorded in the Via app. The first survey was collected between May 26 and June 10, 2021, with 70 responses. Another survey was conducted from November 21 to December 21, 2021, with 91 responses. 
     


2. Instrument- or software-specific information needed to interpret the data: Surveys were recorded in the Via app. These results were then exported to Microsoft Excel Workbooks. Via captures rider survey data by distributing survey links through our apps, by email and in some cases in-vehicle or by mail. We employ a range of approaches to ensure that response populations are robust and diverse.
   




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E. DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION  
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1. Ride Survey Data Breakout 1_Final.xlsx data table

A. Number of variables (columns): 37


B. Number of cases/rows: 91
   

C. Each row represents: 1 survey respondent
  

D. Data Dictionary/Variable List: 
Rider_ID 	An internal indicator signifying which rider accounts corresponded to each survey response. 
City_ID 	An internal indicator signifying to which Via deployment the rider account/response corresponds (these should all be 167 for Wilson)
Respondent ID 	A unique indicator generated for each survey respondent
Collector ID 	A unique indicator for the survey host (in this case, Via)


E. Missing data codes: S
        S = Appropriate Skip      
        R = Refused
	D = Don't Know



2. Ride Survey Data Breakout_Final.xlsx data table

A. Number of variables (columns): 36


B. Number of cases/rows: 70
   

C. Each row represents: 1 survey respondent
  

D. Data Dictionary/Variable List: 
Rider_ID 	An internal indicator signifying which rider accounts corresponded to each survey response. 
City_ID 	An internal indicator signifying to which Via deployment the rider account/response corresponds (these should all be 167 for Wilson)
Respondent ID 	A unique indicator generated for each survey respondent
Collector ID 	A unique indicator for the survey host (in this case, Via)


E. Missing data codes: S
        S = Appropriate Skip      
        R = Refused
	D = Don't Know



3. RWI Data Pulls Updated July 19 2023_Final.xlsx data table

A. Number of variables (columns): 10


B. Number of cases/rows: 36
   

C. Each row represents: 1 day
  

D. Data Dictionary/Variable List: 
Completed WAV Rides	Passengers served that require use of a wheelchair equipped vehicle
Completed Rides		Passengers served
Completion %		The number of passengers who complete a ride divided by the amount of passengers requesting a ride 
OTP %			The percent of rides that are "On-Time." Not on-time rides are those where riders are picked up 5 minutes or more after the offered pickup ETA timestamp (late) or 5 minutes or more before the proposed pickup ETA (early)
Average On-Demand ETA 	The average estimated wait time offered to riders when they go to book a ride
Accidents		Accidents are defined as any crash resulting in disabling of vehicles (includes both FTA qualifying and non-qualifying)
Incidents		Incidents are defined as serious issues impacting the service



E. Missing data codes: S
        S = Appropriate Skip      
        R = Refused
	D = Don't Know



4. wilson_rides_by_block_group_Final.xlsx data table

A. Number of variables (columns): 10


B. Number of cases/rows: 43
   

C. Each row represents: 1 block group and tract
  

D. Data Dictionary/Variable List: 
Source: American Community Survey 5-year estimates (2017-2021). https://www.census.gov/data/developers/data-sets/acs-5year.html



E. Missing data codes: S
        S = Appropriate Skip      
        R = Refused
	D = Don't Know



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F. UPDATE LOG
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This README.txt file was originally created on 2023-11-14 by Peyton Tvrdy https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9720-4725 Data Management and Data Curation Fellow, peyton.tvrdy.ctr@dot.gov

2023-11-14: Original file created
