Origin and Destination Study – Hampton Roads Transit

Origin and Destination Study

Hampton Roads Transit provides regional transit service to six cities in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia — Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Virginia Beach. The base year for the data in the study is 2016. In FY2016, HRT carried 15.2 million passengers by bus, rail, and ferry.

The HRT fixed-route bus system (2016) consists of approximately 70 fixed-routes, with local service (53 routes), Express Service (10 routes), Peninsula Commuter Service (5 routes), and seasonal service in Virginia Beach (3 routes). HRT also operates The Tide light rail service and the Elizabeth River Ferry.

The 2016 Regional Origin and Destination Study provides data, information, maps, and graphical representations of the regional transit system. The details of the study and the updated origin and destination data provides HRT staff, leadership, the TDCHR (HRT’s governing board), the six-member cities, stakeholders and the public, with information highlighting who HRT’s riders are, where they are going, and how they get there.

This information is critical in HRT’s decision-making processes, short and long-term regional strategies related to transit, growth in the region, and the regional economy that transit supports.

Key Findings

  • 71% of all HRT riders use HRT transit 4-7 days per week
  • Riders primarily travel to and from home and work
  • Seventy-six (76%) percent of riders are employed

The data shows that our riders do not recognize city boundaries or lines in their travel patterns. Therefore, we must continue to create, expand, and foster a transit system that supports the regional travel behaviors and patterns exhibited in the findings of this study.

2016 Origin & Destination Survey Overview