Key West Transit Development Plan FY2025-2034

3.1 Existing Transit Services Overview

Figure 3-10: Correlation Heatmap: KWT Ridership vs. Tourism Factors (2019-2022)

Further, a Pearson Correlation Coefficient Calculation was used to quantify the strength and direction of the relationship between KWT ridership and each tourism factor. This method measures the linear correlation between two variables, providing a value between -1 and 1, where: » 1 indicates a perfect positive relationship, » 0 indicates no relationship, » -1 indicates a perfect negative relationship. » Results Interpretation The results were evaluated based on the strength of correlations. In general, strong positive correlations were interpreted as significant relationships, where increases in tourism directly influenced higher KWT ridership. Moderate or weak correlations suggested that the tourism factor had less impact or was subject to external influences. Negative correlations indicated inverse relationships, meaning that a decrease in tourism was associated with an increase in transit usage, or vice versa. Specifically, Cruise Ship Passenger Arrivals: Strong positive correlation with KWT ridership (0.97). This indicates that cruise ship activity significantly impacts transit ridership. Airport Passenger Arrivals: Weak negative correlation with ridership (-0.24). While air travel tourism influences transit, it is less impactful compared to cruise passengers. Ferry Passenger Counts: Moderate positive correlation with ridership (0.56), indicating some relationship but not as strong as cruise ship passengers.

1.0

Year

1

-0.71

0.71

-0.69 -0.014 0.13

0.8

-0.71

1

-0.24 0.97 0.56 0.47

Monthly Ridership

0.6

0.4

Airport Passenger Arrivals Cruise Ship Passenger Arrivals Ferry Passenger Counts

0.71

-0.24

1

-0.36 0.65 0.74

0.2

-0.69 0.97 -0.36 1

0.41

0.33

0.0

-0.2

-0.014 0.56 0.65 0.41

1

0.99

-0.4

Hotel Occupancy (%)

0.13 0.47 0.74 0.33 0.99

1

-0.6

Year

Ferry

Airport

Cruise Ship

Monthly Ridership

Passenger Counts

Passenger Arrivals

Passenger Arrivals

Hotel Occupancy (%)

Hotel Occupancy: Moderate positive correlation with ridership (0.47), showing that hotel occupancy trends somewhat align with ridership, though other factors like cruise activity are more influential.

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Transit Development Plan FY 2025–2034