Before reallocating public transportation resources in Fairfax County, VA, as part of a new transit development plan, the County Department of Transportation commissioned WBA to conduct a three-phase research program measuring use and attitudes.

The first phase consisted of counting arrivals and departures on every individual bus trip within and to and from the County to outlying districts. Each trip had to be measured two times on weekdays, two times on Saturdays and two times on Sundays, resulting in 10,666 platform hours of transit. The second phase involved distribution of more than 25,000 English and Spanish questionnaires. While extremely labor intensive, it was all accomplished with full-time WBA staff. Phase three, a public perceptions study of riders and non-riders, was comprised of 1,000 telephone interviews.