AGENDA# 4g
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Petition for Reinstatement of Service on the F Bus Route
DATE: January 10, 2000
Adoption of the attached resolution would reinstate mid-day bus service in the Pine Knolls neighborhood at a cost of $15,000 for this fiscal year. Cost would be paid from unexpended funds in several Transportation Department accounts.
The Town Council received a petition from residents living in the Pine Knolls neighborhood at its October 11, 1999, meeting requesting reinstatement of mid-day bus service on the F bus route. An identical petition was presented to the Transportation Board at its September 7, 1999 meeting.
The F route operates in an east-west direction primarily along Franklin Street. Its eastern terminus is Colony Woods in Chapel Hill and the western terminus is McDougle School in Carrboro. Passengers can travel from the residential areas on either end to downtown Chapel Hill or Carrboro, the UNC campus, and to various shopping areas. Over several years, the F route evolved to include a number of modifications that resulted in a complicated route and schedule, with few consecutive trips following the same route. Examples of route modifications include diversions to University Mall, Hillview and Roosevelt Drives, Crest and Cole Drives.
Service to Crest and Cole Drives in the Pine Knolls neighborhood began about 1985. At that time, the method of assigning costs to the partners in the transit system was based on the amount of service received each partner. Carrboro elected to make certain service reductions to save money, and eliminated all midday service on the F route. Accordingly, route service between 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. was adjusted and looped through the Pine Knolls neighborhoods on Crest and Cole Drives.
In 1995, the C route was modified to run along Merritt Mill Road, adding 27 bus trips per weekday near the area.
The recommendation to modify the F route was made based on the following factors:
· Ridership on the F route in the Crest and Cole as well as the Hillview and Roosevelt areas was low. Survey data collected over the years show that boardings from the bus stops along these route segments ranged from zero to 4-5 per day.
· Most homes in this neighborhood would continue to be with ¼ mile of the bus stops served by the C bus along Merritt Mill Road.
· Shared Ride Feeder Service would be available from the stops near Crest and Cole Drives.
· EZ-Rider Service is available for eligible patrons who cannot access the fixed route buses.
· The recommended changes would result in a more consistent and easy to use transit route.
At that time, the staff believed that the Pine Knolls neighborhood received an adequate level of service through a combination of the C route, Shared Ride Feeder Service and the EZ-Rider Service (for qualified patrons).
Following the referral of the petition by the Council, the Transportation Board met with a number of the residents from that neighborhood on December 7th. The Transportation Board discussed the lack of ridership and other reasons for the change in service and listened to the neighbors concerns about the availability of bus service. The Transportation Board asked the staff to explore service options and to develop a plan to reinstate an equivalent number of trips to the neighborhood without disrupting other scheduled services.
At its meeting on January 4th, the Transportation Board discussed options for service to this neighborhood including the reinstatement of an equivalent number of fixed route trips, and continuing Shared Ride. The reinstatement of about 6 trips each weekday would add about 3.5 hours of service to the current bus schedule and cost about $140 per day. The total cost to add this service for the remainder of this fiscal year would be $15,000. Cost can be paid within the current Transportation Department budget by making various expenditure adjustments. The Transportation Board unanimously passed a resolution recommending that the Council authorize the staff to reinstate 6 midday trips to this neighborhood as soon as possible. The Board also recommended that the staff monitor service so that an evaluation can be done to determine if this service should be continued as part of the 2000-2001 budget.
That the Council approve the attached resolution directing the Manager to reinstate six bus trips per weekday to the Pine Knolls Neighborhood and monitor this service during the spring to evaluate and recommend to the Council whether it should be continued in 2000-2001.
Petition to the Council (10/11/99)(page5)
Petition to the transportation Board (8/19/99)(page6)
Letter to Jennie Chavis (9/24/99)(page7)
Area Map – Pine Knolls Neighborhood (page 8)
A
RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE MANAGER TO REINSTATE ADDITIONAL FIXED ROUTE BUS
TRIPS TO THE PINE KNOLLS NEIGHBORHOOD
(2000-01-10/R-6)
WHEREAS, the Town of Chapel Hill has received a petition for the residents of the Pine Knolls neighborhood regarding the reinstatement of some fixed route bus trips; and
WHEREAS, the petition has been referred to the Transportation Advisory Board and the staff for a recommendation; and
WHEREAS, the Transportation Board and the staff recommend a temporary reinstatement of six trips per weekday to this neighborhood for the remainder of this fiscal year;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill that the Manager be directed to reinstate six bus trips as soon as possible, and that the use of this service be monitored over the next few months and that a recommendation be provided from the Manager and the Transportation Board regarding the continuation of this service in the FY2000-2001 Budget.
This
the 10th day of January, 2000.