Bus Ridership Strategies for Westchester County

"Westchester County, NY, seeks to increase ""choice ridership"" on its Bee­Line bus sys­tem. Unlike ""captive riders"" or transit dependents who lack mobility alternatives, choice riders retain access to auto­mobiles. Westchester County has solicited the Capstone team's assistance in developing a set of strategies to achieve the goal of shifting a portion of the transportation picture from the least efficient mode (single occupancy vehicle) to a more efficient mode (bus transit). These recommendations will be included in “Westchester 2025,” the policy document created to guide future growth and development. The Capstone team analyzed current land­use policies and practices, demographic trends, and bus services, and compared this data against examples and techniques discussed in the literature. The team issued recommendations based on its findings. The Capstone team also completed three case­studies of municipalities within Westchester County: an urban downtown setting (City of New Rochelle); a commercial retail strip (the Central Avenue corridor in the Town of Greenburgh); and a small village setting (Village of Mount Kisco). "