AGENDA
#4i
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Information report regarding a petition for a Retail Shuttle Bus
DATE: March 27, 2000
At its October 11, 1999 meeting, the Town Council received a petition (please see Attachment 1) from Council Member Kevin Foy proposing a new shuttle bus route serving the community’s retail areas: Downtown, University Mall, Eastgate, and Ram’s Plaza. This report describes existing services and previous experiences, and discusses the feasibility of such new retail shuttle service.
The attached resolution would authorize the Manager to enter into negotiations for a demonstration bus shuttle project.
Chapel Hill Transit has never operated a shuttle route exclusively to connect the retail areas addressed in this petition; however, there are several existing transit routes which serve these areas (The 1999-2000 Chapel Hill Transit Guide contains detailed maps and service schedules.) Many citizens currently use transit services to access the retail areas. The following is a summary of available services, showing both weekday and weekend service for each retail area.
Downtown – This is the best served of all of the retail areas. Ten of 15 weekday bus routes (A, CL, D, F, G, J, N, N/S, T, and the U) operate through the Downtown area from various residential areas. Four others (C, C-express, S, and the RU) operate within one block of Downtown on Cameron Avenue. Only the P route, which travels on Hillsborough and Raleigh Streets, does not go through Downtown.
University Mall – The Mall is served by the F and G routes on weekdays.
Eastgate – Currently no bus routes travel through this shopping area, although the F route did directly serve this area in the past. Shopping center owners, who were concerned about the impact of buses on the paving and the drainage pipe in this area asked Chapel Hill Transit to discontinue this service. The CL, D, and F routes serve this area, with bus stops on Franklin Street and on Ephesus Church Road, respectively.
Ram’s Plaza – Like Eastgate, no buses operate through this privately-owned shopping area. However, service stops are made near this plaza by the CL and D routes with stops on the Durham Boulevard Service Road and by the F route, which stops on Ephesus Church Road.
Downtown –All five Saturday bus routes (A/T, C, D/J, F, and the U) operate through the Downtown area.
University Mall – The Mall
is served by the C, D, and the F routes on Saturdays.
Eastgate – Eastgate is served by the D route (along
Franklin Street) and the F route (along Ephesus Church Road) on Saturdays.
Ram’s Plaza –This area is
served by the F route (along Ephesus Church Road) on Saturdays.
At this time there is no empirical data to suggest what the latent demand for such a “Chapel Hill Retail Shuttle” might be. Some effort to confirm this demand would be well spent prior to detailed service planning for such a route. Perhaps the Shopping Center owners could conduct a survey of employees and customers.
A customary measure of future demand is the number of public inquiries received by the Transportation staff about a potential new service. Prior to this petition, only two inquiries about similar services had been received. One was in 1995, from the new owners of the Eastgate Shopping Center wanting to know the feasibility of reinstating transit service to their facility. The second request was in 1998 from the managers of A Southern Season asking about the feasibility of park/ride service for its employees during the Christmas Season.
Chapel Hill Transit has limited experience in operating shuttle services specifically designed to accommodate retail customers. The Downtown Trolley Shuttle was established in 1989 to bring patrons from the campus and the hospital to the Downtown area at midday. This service was discontinued in 1996 because of cost and lack of ridership.
In May 1999, Chapel Hill Transit began operating a Saturday Trolley Shuttle between the Carrboro Farmers Market and Carr Mill Mall in Carrboro. This shuttle carried about 15 passengers per service hour (about half of the system average), and it was discontinued at the end of September.
In planning such a retail shuttle as that proposed, several questions should be asked: 1. Who are the likely customers? 2. Will service operate between retail areas or to and from other areas, such as residences and employment areas? 3. What is the desired frequency of this service? The answers to these questions would help develop the routes and schedules for such a service. Once service schedules are developed, then a cost estimate can be prepared. Generally the gross cost of a new route is directly correlated to the number of service hours operated. Starting a new route, which might require the purchase of new buses and all of their associated capital and maintenance costs, would be higher than simply extending the hours of service of an existing route.
Currently, Chapel Hill Transit does not have spare buses available for new services during peak commuting hours. However, three new small buses are on order and should be delivered in April 2000. If the demand were light, these smaller capacity vehicles may be a good match for a retail shuttle service.
The operating cost for smaller vehicles is not expected to be significantly lower than that of a full size bus. Driver salaries and fringes, which are major cost components, would be the same for either vehicle. Fuel and maintenance cost savings with a small bus might reduce our average operating cost of $45 per hour by about $1.50 to $2.00 per hour.
The FY1998-99 Annual report shows that our system averages about 30 passenger trips per hour of service, and that revenues of 53 cents per trip offset part of our average cost of $1.87 per passenger trip.
Using these variables, the estimated net operating cost is in the range of $30 to $45 per hour. Assuming that a new route operated Monday through Saturday for 10 hours per day the net cost of such a new route would range from $90,000 to $135,000. This would depend upon whether a fare was charged for this service and any corresponding revenues generated from actual ridership.
A successful route has the potential of generating some increase in federal transit assistance. However, it takes three years after the report of any new ridership before any additional federal revenues generated by it are actually received by the Town. Even if this were a successful route the increase in federal funding would be less than $10,000 per year. The State has discontinued its program of providing a separate source of funding for new transit service so such a shuttle route would not significantly affect State funding levels.
A suggestion was made that some of the retail organizations may be willing to finance an experimental service. To effectively plan for this service, the retail owners should be contacted to gauge their interest and determine what level of financing they may support. This funding could vary with the level of service provided so some preliminary routing and scheduling decisions may have to be made prior to contacting the business owners.
CONCLUSION
Based on previous experience with retail shuttles in this community, we could not be sure that such a retail shuttle service, operated on a year-round basis, would generate sufficient ridership to be considered a success. Therefore, this service is not recommended for implementation in the near future.
We believe it would be reasonable to test the general concept by arranging a demonstration project during the end-of-the-year holiday shopping season. Such a limited demonstration project operated for about 6 weeks during November and December would cost between $10,000 and $14,000 depending upon the application of fares and the actual patronage. We would recommend conducting the demonstration project only if the business operators who logically would gain the most from the patronage agreed to pay a substantial part of the cost. Therefore, we recommend that the Council adopt the attached resolution authorizing the Manager to enter into negotiations regarding conducting such a demonstration program. We would report results after concluding discussions.
1. Petition from Council Member Foy (p. 6).
A RESOLUTION
AUTHORIZING THE MANAGER TO ENTER INTO NEGOTIATIONS REGARDING CONDUCTING A
DEMONSTRATION FOR A HOLIDAY BUS SHUTTLE SERVICE (2000-03-27/R-9)
WHEREAS, the Manager is authorized to enter into negotiations with appropriate parties to determine interest in conducting a holiday bus shuttle project that would service downtown, University Mall, Eastgate and Ram’s Plaza Shopping Center;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill that the Council hereby authorizes the Manager to enter into negotiations to determine interest in a holiday bus shuttle project during November through January.
This the 27th day of March, 2000.