PSA: I ran my community shuttle on a fixed 15 minute loop for 3 weeks and it tanked ridership | Design Community Transport

Abby Kim · 2026-10-19T21:40:08.501752+00:00

Everyone in our design group keeps pushing the idea that a steady clock face schedule is the friendliest thing you can give riders, so I actually tested it on our little neighborhood shuttle here in Portland. I put the van on a strict 15 minute loop, no waiting for connections, no holding for the 7:40 crowd, just go. After 3 weeks our average boardings dropped from 41 a day to 28, and the folks who rely on it most were the ones who bailed. Turns out the people who need this service are not clock watchers, they are parents hauling groceries and older folks who need the driver to pause 20 seconds while they get seated. The clock face looked great on paper and in the flyer I designed, but it made the ride feel cold and rushed. What worked better was a soft schedule where the driver holds up to 2 minutes at the anchor stop. I am now pretty sure we copied that design rule from big city transit without asking if it fits a community van. Has anyone else tried a strict headway and had it backfire on a small route?

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PSA: I ran my community shuttle on a fixed 15 minute loop for 3 weeks and it tanked ridership | Design Community Transport - The Community Guide