Where are we in the process now?
Currently, KAT staff are taking the board-approved Recommended Network and transforming it into detailed routes and schedules, timepoints bus stops, and connections.
To learn more about how the public led us to this place, read on, then visit the Recommended Network page to view the final product and learn about what changed based on public input. You can also visit the Library page to find progress updates as we move through the process.
Walking vs Waiting
Most respondents preferred to minimize wait times.
Transit services can be spread out on more streets, which means shorter walks to buses that come less often. Conversely, transit services could be more concentrated on a few streets, which means longer walks to buses that come more often.
We asked respondents how they felt about this trade off in general. Of all who provided a response, 53% preferred or strongly preferred to shorter waits, while 46% preferred shorter walks.
Ridership vs Coverage Concepts
Next, we asked respondents which of the two network abstract transit concepts they preferred. Of all who provided a response, 57% preferred the high-ridership scenario, while 43% preferred the high-coverage scenario.
Between the two scenarios, most respondents tended to express more of a slight preference than a strong preference. Only 23% strongly preferred the Ridership Concept and only 19% strongly preferred the Coverage Concept. The breakdown between “preferred” and “definitely preferred” is presented in the chart below.
You can review the Ridership and Coverage Concepts here.
Priorities for Improving Transit Service
We asked respondents on what KAT should prioritize if they had additional funding for transit service. As an overall group, respondents said that the city should prioritize higher-frequency service, with providing service to areas not currently served as the second highest priority.
Note that on the survey, respondents were asked to rank the six priorities from 1 to 6, with 1 being the highest priority and 6 being the lowest priority. However, for the purposes of analysis, this order was swapped so higher numbers indicate highest priority.
Here's how KAT is responding
Based on this input, the Knoxville Transportation Authority Board (KTA) decided to set a policy to guide the next phase of work on KAT Reimagined.
On May 26, 2022 the Knoxville Transportation Authority Board (KTA) voted on a resolution to assign 70% of the transit operating budget to maximize ridership and 30% of the transit operating budget to maximize geographic coverage.
You can read the minutes from the May 26, 2022 KTA Board Meeting here.
This is a change that would mean shifting the budget from coverage to ridership.