A case study of a temporary interruption of transit service

A very critical question confronting many small and medium-size cities is the role that public transportation plays in meeting the critical mobility needs of individual citizens. The six-week strike of the Knoxville Transit Corporation in 1977 provides an insight as to the community consequences resulting from a temporary interruption of transit service. The strike stranded an estimated 700o daily fixed-route bus riders and 600 daily express bus riders. The strike study showed that the temporary loss of transit services can have adverse impact on the community and its citizens.

For captive transit riders, this loss of mobility resulted in a reduction in trip making (especially for trips of a discretionary nature) and a forced shift in travel modes and destinations. The group of captives most affected was the elderly living in senior citizen complexes. These individuals had to suppress almost one-third of their normal travel. The captive group as a whole was able to find alternative arrangements for essential travel by relying in most cases on relatives and friends. However, discretionary trips previously made by transit (religious trips, visits to friends and relatives, leisure/ recreational trips and personal business trips) were cancelled in many cases.

With a shift in the travel pattern of the transit users due to the strike, downtown merchants, particularly those catering to transit dependents, lost substantial amounts of business. A number of firms reported drops in sales of 50 to 80 percent, forcing reduced operating hours and layoffs of sales personnel. The downtown business establishments that were affected most seriously were specialty shops, clothing and shoe stores, restaurants and fast food/drug/variety stores. Interviews with store managers, however, revealed that sales returned to normal levels within two months after the strike was settled. Interestingly, many CBD merchants felt only minor repercussions ranging from no loss to 5 or 10 percent declines in sales during the strike. In the cases of many of these merchants, the patrons were automobile-oriented commuters.

Most of the major Knoxville employers reported little difficulty in having their employees get to work during the strike. The strike forced less adjustment than the severe winter and the natural gas curtailment. Some special accommodations were required but, in most cases, these were worked out with little difficulty. . No evidence was encountered to suggest excessive traffic congestion. Only in the CBD area was parking mentioned as a problem.

The transit system itself felt the most adverse impact from the strike with system-wide ridership declines of 9 to 12 percent continuing even five months after the strike was settled. This loss in ridership represents about 6,400 to 8,500 transit trips per week. System-wide fare increases, which were anticipated to increase revenue by a minimum of 20 percent, have resulted in a gain of only 10 percent over 1976 revenues. Although some operating costs were deferred during the strike, the loss of revenue during the strike and the loss of ridership due to the strike offset any savings. All parties involved with the Knoxville Transit Corporation strike (city officials, the operating company, the labor union and the riders) would have benefited by averting the strike or at least by attempting to limit its duration. The loss in ridership almost nullified the gain from the fair increase that had been scheduled prior to the strike. Prevention of the work stoppage could have kept many choice regular and express route transit users from switching to another mode.