A picture is worth a thousand words: Telling a better story with data visualizationsParveen SaranaData Scientist, Bus Speed & Reliability

TransLink

Regional Transportation system of • 23 Municipalities• 1,800 km2

CMBC• 153 Conventional Bus routes• 70 Community Shuttles

2018 437.4M Boardings↑ 8.0% Bus Ridership

Bus Speed & Reliability ProgramGoals

Improve customer experience and cost-effectiveness through faster, more reliable bus service.

Two-person operation• Project Manager• Data Scientist

$16 million budget for four years

3

Framing the Analysis Process

1 2 3 4 5Questions Collection Exploration Conclusions Communication

Framing the Analysis Process

1 2 3 4 5Questions Collection Exploration Conclusions Communication

Questions

What is the story you are trying to tell?

• Goal• Audience• Simplify

Discussion with municipalities on transit priority over the Second Narrows Bridge.

• Once onto the Second Narrows bridge, speeds are relatively fast.• Loading onto the bridge results in relative slow speeds and increased travel time.

Route Stop-to-Stop Less than Stop

QuestionsMETRICS CORRIDOR LINE SEGMENT BUS STOP < BUS STOP

Speed ✓ ✓ ✓

Travel Time ✓ ✓ ✓

Reliability ✓ ✓

Ridership ✓ ✓ ✓

Delay or Person Hours of Delay

✓ ✓

Bus Bunching or Gapping ✓ ✓

On Time Performance ✓ ✓

Com

ing

Soo

n

Manual Dashboard

What is the story you are trying to tell?

• Goal• Audience• Simplify

CollectionData Source Prepare Adhoc Analysis Publish

Interactive Visualizations &

Project MonitoringTableau Server

Presentations/Reports

Database

Exploration

Conclusions & Communication

05:45 06:15 06:45 07:15 07:45 08:15 08:45 09:15 09:45 10:15 10:45 11:15 11:45 12:15 12:45 13:15 13:45 14:15 14:45 15:15 15:45 16:15 16:45 17:15 17:45 18:15 18:45 19:15 19:45 20:15 20:45 21:15 21:45 22:15 22:45 23:15 23:45 00:15

0

100

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Avg. Avg RT

101.5

Average Excess Travel Time

Nul05:30 05:45 06:00 06:15 06:30 06:45 07:00 07:15 07:30 07:45 08:00 08:15 08:30 08:45 09:00 09:15 09:30 09:45 10:00 10:15 10:30 10:45 11:00 11:15 11:30 11:45 12:00 12:15 12:30 12:45 13:00 13:15 13:30 13:45 14:00 14:15 14:30 14:45 15:00 15:15 15:30 15:45 16:00 16:15 16:30 16:45 17:00 17:15 17:30 17:45 18:00 18:15 18:30 18:45 19:00 19:15 19:30 19:45 20:00 20:15 20:30 20:45 21:00 21:15 21:30 21:45 22:00 22:15 22:30 22:45 23:00 23:15 23:30 23:45 00:00 00:15 00:30 00:45

0

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200

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400

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600

Valu

0

100

200

300

400

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600

Avg. Avg RT

170.6

Travel Time by Percentiles | EB E HASTINGS ST AT COMMERCIAL DR - EB E HASTINGS ST AT NANAIMO ST

05:00 05:15 05:30 05:45 06:00 06:15 06:30 06:45 07:00 07:15 07:30 07:45 08:00 08:15 08:30 08:45 09:00 09:15 09:30 09:45 10:00 10:15 10:30 10:45 11:00 11:15 11:30 11:45 12:00 12:15 12:30 12:45 13:00 13:15 13:30 13:45 14:00 14:15 14:30 14:45 15:00 15:15 15:30 15:45 16:00 16:15 16:30 16:45 17:00 17:15 17:30 17:45 18:00 18:15 18:30 18:45 19:00 19:15 19:30 19:45 20:00 20:15 20:30 20:45 21:00 21:15 21:30 21:45 22:00 22:15 22:30 22:45 23:00 23:15 23:30 23:45 00:00 00:15 00:30 00:45

Null Null

2 EB W HASTINGS ST AT GRANVILL..

3 EB W HASTINGS ST AT CAMBIE ST

4 EB E HASTINGS ST AT MAIN ST--

5 EB E HASTINGS ST AT COMMERCI..

6 EB E HASTINGS ST AT NANAIMO ST

7 EB E HASTINGS ST AT RENFREW ..

8 KOOTENAY LOOP BAY 8

11 EB HASTINGS ST AT GILMORE AVE

12 EB HASTINGS ST AT WILLINGDON ..

14 EB HASTINGS ST AT HYTHE AVE

15 EB HASTINGS ST AT HOLDOM AVE

16 EB HASTINGS ST AT KENSINGTON..

17 EB HASTINGS ST AT DUTHIE AVE

095 | EAST | MF | NoneAverage Speed by Time of Day and Stop Location

Route095

Day TypeMF

0.00 94.29

Average Speed without Dwell

START6

END6

SB VICTORIA DR AT E 31 AVE - SB VICTORIA DR AT E 33 AVEHourDirection

EAST

095 | EAST | MF

0 to 23

Minimum 25th Average 75th Maximum

EB E HASTINGS ST AT COMMERCI.. EB E HASTINGS ST AT NANAIMO .. 6

Grand Total

394.0183.0172.3150.086.0

394.0183.0172.3150.086.0

Destination StopEB E HASTINGS ST AT NANAIMO ST

Origin StopEB E HASTINGS ST AT COMMERCIAL DR

Dashboard Walk-Through

Burnaby and Vancouver are considering extending transit priority lanes across Hastings.

Data

HOV Lanes seen along Hastingsthrough Burnaby offer littlebenefit to transit travel timecompared to hours withoutparking restrictions.

Recommendation

1. ↑ Hours of Parking Restrictions2. Extend hours of Priority3. Convert HOV Bus Only

Monitor Specific Projects:Extending Transit Priority Lane hours across Vancouver

2018 2019

Confirming Operator Comments“We have received a number of reports from customers and bus operators regarding traffic delay at the left turn from NB Scott Road to WB 84th Avenue”

• BSR Program funded a Left-Turn Signal at this intersection• Saving almost 2 minutes during the worst time of day, an average of 45-75 seconds on other trips.

1. Identify and Prioritize Metrics2. Flexible analysis structure and tools3. Develop Partnerships

Data InformationStory

REFERENCE

Dashboard ViewsRoute

All Routes in region (ex. North Shore)

Route

Average schedule adherence and

speed of all Routes in region

Hover over a route to see Route level Run Time Values

Route

Filters

12

3

Trip - Segments

Dashboard Views

Trip - Segments

4

Trip - Segments

Speed Map

What is ShownAverage transit speed between bus stops.

How to ReadColour indicates average transit speed between bus stops.

• Green: Relatively fast/free-flowing.• Red: Relatively slow, area of

potential

NoteOnly shows average speed. Does not indicate potential reliability issues (variation of speed).

0 80

Travel Time

What is ShownSum of average travel time (y-axis) of chosen segments across 15-minute increments of the day (x-axis).

How to Read• Light Blue – Possible Time Savings:

Average observed travel time for each trip attributable to various forms of delay, slow speeds in traffic, etc.

• Gray – Baseline: Average minimum travel time throughout the day. This is used as a proxy to estimate free-flow traffic.

NoteOnly shows average travel time.Does not indicate potential reliability issues (variation of travel time).

Travel Time by Percentile Group

What is ShownTravel time (y-axis) of chosen segments across 15-minute increments of the day (x-axis) by 25th, 50th (median), 75th and100th (maximum).

How to ReadEach percentile group represents travel time of ¼ of trips through a specific stop segment.Average travel time is shown by

Heat Map

What is ShownAverage speed(km/h) across all stops along a route (y-axis) across 15-minute increments of the day (x-axis).

How to ReadColour indicates average speed between bus stops. A white block indicates lack of data.• Horizontal pattern: Speed influenced by

location.• Vertical pattern: Speed influenced by

time of day.

NoteOnly shows average speed. Does not indicate potential reliability issues (variation of speed).