Re: Proposed Fiscal Year Short Range Transit Plan

Transcription

1 Recommendations on RTA Proposed Southern California's Short Range Leading Transit Plan Transit Advocacy Page 1 Group P.O. Box 567 * San Fernando, CA Wednesday, June 16, 2010 Mark Stanley, Director of Planning Riverside Transit Agency 1825 Third St. Riverside, CA Re: Proposed Fiscal Year Short Range Transit Plan Dear Mr. Stanley: Thank you for the opportunity to review and comment upon the proposed Short Range Transit Plan. Our community based nonprofit organization has analyzed the SRTP proposals and we have attached a report with recommendations for your consideration. The Transit Coalition understands that RTA, like several other public transit providers in the State of California, has been negatively impacted by reduced funding in relation to the economic recession. We do have a number of concerns, suggestions and recommendations that we present in the accompanying report. As an organization that works to improve public transportation and mobility in conjunction with land use planning, we believe implementation of our comments will help to improve and to streamline transit service and quality of life in Riverside County. Thank you for your support. Sincerely, Kenneth S. Alpern, M.D. Chair, Advisory Board Attachment 1: Concepts to Improve Route 217 TC-CFC-RTA217-PIP.PDF

2 Recommendations on RTA Proposed Short Range Transit Plan Page 2 Photo: Pechanga Resort & Casino Funding Concept to maintain and extend RTA Span of Service - Public Private Partnerships: RTA and cities should continue to explore public/private partnership opportunities with the entertainment and hospitality sector for additional funding. Such partnerships could allow for funding for COA-recommended service changes and meet the requests for late night bus service all around Riverside County. Graphic: Nicholas Ventrone, The Transit Coalition Improving Route 216 Transit Service: This directly-operated express route offers peak period express service on weekdays and 4 trips a day on weekends on the 91 Freeway between the Downtown Terminal and Galleria at Tyler in Riverside, Corona, and the Village at Orange in Orange County. COArecommendations suggest that service on the route be considered to be standardized at 60-minutes and to be operated all day to at least 9:00pm. TABLE OF CONTENTS Funding Issues & Demographics... 3 New Service Warrants... 4 Productivity Improvement Program... 4 Transit Centers... 6 Public-Private Partnership Funding... 7 Planned Service Changes... 8 TC-Letter2Person Letter2RTA.doc

3 Recommendations on RTA Proposed Short Range Transit Plan Page 3 Current Public Transit Funding Circumstances The Transit Coalition supports the vast majority of the Short Range Transit Plan proposals and strongly believes that RTA is making a sincere attempt to address customer service demand and invest in important capital improvement needs as Riverside County recovers from the economic recession. We understand that cuts in state transit funding, decreased tax revenue and high unemployment rates have affected RTA s operating budget. As the latter two will recover slowly as the economy picks up again, RTA should continue to work on improving the productivity and reliability of the transit network. Economic recovery is slowly but surely happening. Corporations are reporting massive profits. The unemployment rate, which is currently ravaging ridership counts on mass transit lines, lags behind recovery according to most economists. Rehiring by recovering companies cannot be far away, which means a possible future increase in riders taking transit. Demographic Projections: Because the highest employment growths in Riverside County are projected in Hemet-San Jacinto and Banning-Beaumont with 86% and 92%, respectively, RTA should study the possible travel patterns between residential areas and these potential job regions. The already heavy travel demands on I-10, SR-60, SR-79, and the Ramona Expressway need to be addressed. Expenses on Operational Facilities: RTA is to be praised for modernizing its facilities with more efficient lighting systems. The agency should continue to look for ways to eliminate wasteful internal spending within Administration, Operations, and Maintenance. For instance, measures and policies can be implemented on reducing unnecessary fuel consumption on RTA and county owned vehicles used by staff.

4 Recommendations on RTA Proposed Short Range Transit Plan Page 4 New Service Warrants: When demographics dictate new transit service, in addition to launching new bus routes, RTA should also consider extending existing bus lines into the new service areas to maximize productivity whenever feasible. For example, the Clinton Keith Road corridor currently offers very limited service via Route 23 and has been recommended for expanded service between French Valley and Wildomar through the 2007 Comprehensive Operational Analysis study (COA). Extending Route 7 through Inland Valley Medical Center east into French Valley with service to the Southwest Justice Center upon completion of the Clinton Keith Road corridor could be a productive and cost-effective means to address the recommendation in lieu of adding a brand new line and having to make it PIP-compliant from scratch. Productivity Improvement Program (PIP) RTA should continue to study local travel patterns and find ways to make underperforming bus routes more useful and productive in lieu of simply cutting trips or cancelling such lines. This concept would drive up ridership and fare revenues while maintaining productive transit mobility for the lower-demand areas. This is crucial for lifeline bus routes with no alternatives such as interregional connectors. Backbone and local bus routes should also not be overly circuitous nor double-back through low density areas. Photo: Nicholas Ventrone, The Transit Coalition Improving instead of Cancelling Unproductive Lines: Restructuring unproductive bus lines into streamlined, corridor-based routes, and/or combining such lines with other routes could stimulate ridership and improve PIP performance without having to resort to undesired service cuts.

5 Recommendations on RTA Proposed Short Range Transit Plan Page 5 A Very Unproductive Route 61 in 2007: Disturbing PIP and low ridership figures such as these can prompt RTA staff to cancel bus lines. When Route 61 was proposed to be cancelled in 2007, local patrons objected. When the line was converted from a Sun City circulator into a regional connector connecting Sun City to Temecula, ridership increased and the route became more PIP-compliant (RTA March, 2007 PIP Performance Summary). Further Improving Route 61 Performance: Despite improvements in performance, Route 61 passengers-per-hour remains at Further improvements such as route streamlining in Sun City, connections to the Loma Linda medical facility in Murrieta (under construction), extending the north terminal to the Perris Station Transit Center, and extending the south terminal to additional activity centers in Temecula to the south could make this route PIP-compliant and more productive (RTA April, 2010 PIP Performance Summary). Fixing Bus Service in Eastern Moreno Valley: Route 35 (based on April, 2010 PIP Performance Summary data) productively replaced several portions of the unproductive Route 17 (based on March, 2008 PIP Performance Summary data) in Moreno Valley to maintain transit mobility in the affected areas as well as direct connections between the major transit hubs. An extension to Riverside Downtown, recommended by the COA, could further improve Route 35 productivity with better passengers-per-hour. More Riders on the new CommuterLink Buses: The schedule and/or routing for Route 212 could be coordinated better to match the high-demand travel patterns on the Ramona Expressway between Riverside and Hemet. Likewise, by working with the San Diego Association of Governments, Route 217 could be brought further down the I-15 Toll Lanes to directly connect to employment centers from Rancho Bernardo to Kearny Mesa without the need to transfer buses in Escondido. The fact that major employment centers in Rancho Bernardo, Carmel Mountain, and Kearny Mesa are not covered may be a cause of the non PIP-compliancy along this major commuter corridor. Additional details are addressed on Page 11 of this report and Attachment 1.

6 Recommendations on RTA Proposed Short Range Transit Plan Page 6 Transit Centers: We praise RTA for performing such a challenging task of developing these stateof-the-art transit hubs all throughout Riverside County. We support the vast majority of transit center proposals presented with the following remarks: Proposed RCTC Metrolink Perris Valley Line Stations with Bus Loops: The Riverside County Transportation Commission (RCTC) has rightly proposed developing centralized bus loops within the planned train station parking lots for the proposed Metrolink Perris Valley Line. We suggest that the RCTC-developed bus loops be referenced in the SRTP as centralized transit hubs for public awareness, even though these transit hubs are not being developed by RTA. Temecula/Murrieta Intermodal Transit Center: We believe this intermodal transit center combined with local plans for transit oriented development will strongly benefit this now automobiledominated region. While we strongly support the need for a centralized transit hub in the Temecula and Murrieta area, we also believe that the Temecula Transit Center facility must be compatible and complimentary with the proposed passenger rail station projects for the area and not serve as a stand-alone commuter park & ride and bus-only center. Feasible commuter rail extensions to Temecula and the proposed California High Speed Rail station stop for the region are such rail proposals that should be coordinated and integrated into this transit center. RTA has smartly coordinated the plans for the Moreno Valley Transit Center with the Riverside County Transportation Commission for multi modal connections to Metrolink; the same should be done for the Temecula facility for future commuter and high speed rail.

7 Recommendations on RTA Proposed Short Range Transit Plan Page 7 Public-Private Partnership Funding Concepts: RTA staff, city and county officials are encouraged to continue to look to the private sector to help fill any public transit capital and operational funding gaps created by strained public resources and increased ridership demand. We are aware that public-private partnerships (PPP) should not be viewed as the full funding solution whenever public resources are lacking, but rather a PPP should complement the existing resources to maintain and expand local public services. Any PPP proposal should provide maximum benefits and high return-on-investments for the private sector while all transit policy remains controlled and overseen by RTA, RCTC, and the public sector. PPP s with developers, high volume entertainment centers, theaters, amusement parks, shopping malls, regional nightclubs, and casinos could allow RTA to attain the funds needed to meet the requests for late night bus service all around Riverside County and maintain existing service span levels. Proposed Riverside Downtown Station Transit Center concepts and development. Concept by SCAG Compass Blueprint A Fun Fremont Street in Downtown Riverside: Under a public-private partnership, RTA and the City of Riverside could have a fully funded pedestrian bridge and its own Fremont Street Experience between the proposed Riverside Downtown Station Transit Center and the downtown core via 11 th St. The PPP would help pay for construction and maintenance of the bridge over SR-91 between the transit center and the downtown area which would otherwise not be feasible to build using public funds alone. The Freemont Street Experience is a PPP between the City of Las Vegas and the Freemont Street Experience Limited Liability Company.

8 Recommendations on RTA Proposed Short Range Transit Plan Page 8 Planned Service Changes: We support the vast majority of planned COA-recommended bus line changes with the following remarks: Route 216: We support the proposals to address the major commuter demand with direct services connecting major residential and employment areas. Route 216 is the primary bus line that serves the congested SR-91 Freeway between Riverside and Orange counties and should be considered to be standardized at 60-minutes and to be operated all day with the last bus departing no earlier than 9:00 p.m. with possible late night service on Friday and Saturday evenings. Extending the line to Fullerton and/or the proposed Anaheim Intermodal Transit Center/Disneyland Resort with closed-door operation service (westbound discharge only, eastbound pick up only) west of the Village at Orange hub would enable passengers to transfer between this line and trains along the LOSSAN Rail Corridor and several OCTA bus lines. PPP s with Disneyland, Honda Center, Angel Stadium, and other major private sector businesses could further fund these expansions.

9 Recommendations on RTA Proposed Short Range Transit Plan Page 9 Corona Norco Riverside - Mira Loma and Vicinity To provide frequent services and transit priority measures on primary corridors such as Hamner and Arlington Avenues as proposed in the SRTP, RTA should consider operating the existing Route 3 and 15 at hourly intervals with hourly Route 15A runs overlapping the two lines, spaced evenly apart, connecting the two roads between Corona and Riverside via Old Town Norco for productive 30 minute headways on Hamner and Arlington Avenues. This could also productively restore transit through Old Town Norco via 6 th Street with hourly service. Route 3 should also offer school-trip runs to Norco High School to further improve productivity.

10 Recommendations on RTA Proposed Short Range Transit Plan Page 10 Moreno Valley To support the establishment of a base transit network serving major activity centers including schools, RTA should consider reconfiguring Routes 16, 19, and 20 to match the studied travel patterns. In addition, Route 35 should be considered to be extended west to Downtown Riverside via UCR to improve route performance. The realignment of Route 41 could also improve its performance. Consideration should be given to operate the service into the major residential areas east of Perris Blvd to connect the region to RCC and RCR Medical Center as well as the major shopping areas in Perris. In addition, timed connections should be provided with other routes at the Perris Station Transit Center. 30 minute service should also be considered for this route once BRT is commenced. Perris Sun City - Menifee In Perris, Route 30 should be further streamlined through the downtown area to reduce unproductive circuitous routing. Routes 61 and 40 should also be considered to connect to the Perris Station Transit Center serving underserved regions such as Nuevo. Route 74 should be restructured through this region with 60 minute headways spaced evenly apart from Route 27. Service span would also match Route 27. This would allow RTA to eliminate the Sun City stop from Route 27 without negating transit mobility as Route 74 connects to Hemet via Winchester.

11 Recommendations on RTA Proposed Short Range Transit Plan Page 11 Hemet San Jacinto RTA should continue to work with the Western Riverside County of Governments for public transportation alternatives along the proposed Mid County Parkway. Route 217 unproductively overlaps several of the runs offered by Route 79 and fails to connect to several major employment centers in San Diego County. We suggest RTA to consider cancelling the Hemet- Temecula segment and established a timed transfer point between this line and Route 79 at Temecula. This would eliminate the overlapping service and free resources to extend Route 217 south to connect to the major employment centers in Rancho Bernardo, Carmel Mountain, and Kearny Mesa as illustrated in Attachment 1. A connection at the Rancho Bernardo Transit Station also adds a transfer opportunity to the job-rich Sorrento Valley area via MTS Route 880. To maintain quick travel times, we suggest that two runs connect to employment centers at Kearny Mesa and the other two circulate through Rancho Bernardo and Carmel Mountain. All runs would continue to serve the Escondido Transit Center with connections to MTS Route 810 and NCTD buses and trains. Lake Elsinore Wildomar RTA should ensure that any interlining of the local and regional routes to reduce transfer requirements does not result in reduced on-time performance as Route 22 is already one of the longest bus routes in the RTA system. RTA should also explore ways to connect Lake Elsinore to the Corona Transit Center during peak and off-peak hours. We believe direct connections to Temecula/Murrieta are long overdue as a local Route 23 trip between Wildomar and the Promenade Mall in Temecula lasts over an hour. Banning - Beaumont Route 31 should be considered to be upgraded to 60 minute headways with timed connections to Pass Transit buses at the Beaumont Wal- Mart and Route 79 in Hemet. This should improve productivity. Minor streamlining of the route through Hemet can free up resources. RTA staff should continue to work with the local cities to streamline the Pass Transit bus system. We have noted that this system is very circuitous and should be considered to be simplified to offer more direct and bidirectional connections all while reducing unproductive costs and maintaining local transit mobility. Pass Transit Routes 1 and 2 should be combined into a Route 1/1A with hourly service. At Cabazon, the line would serve the Outlet Center and Morongo Resort before circulating through the residential areas. Route 4 should be extended northwest to the Yucaipa Transit Center via Calimesa, replacing the express line. Routes 5 and 6 would be combined into one streamlined bidirectional circulator. Route 3 would also be streamlined into a bidirectional circulator.

12 Recommendations on RTA Proposed Short Range Transit Plan Page 12 Temecula / Murrieta Local and intra-county routes should provide combined frequent service on the major commercial corridors such as Winchester Rd, Ynez Rd, Rancho California Rd, Margarita Rd, and Temecula Pkwy. The COA recommends a complete restructure of Routes 23 and 24. The existing lines are very circuitous which may be the contributing factor to non PIP-compliancy in this populated region. The routes should be restructured to serve the major corridors and connect seamlessly with CommuterLink express buses and regional connectors. We suggest the following: Route 7 would be extended from Wildomar to French Valley via Clinton Keith Rd. Route 23 would be split into two lines: One connecting Pechanga Resort to Inland Valley Medical Center along major corridors west of I-15. The second segment would start at the Promenade Mall area and circulate to Inland Valley Medical Center on streets on the east side of the I-15. Productive school trip runs would be maintained. Route 24 would primarily serve the Margarita Rd corridor with Route 24A runs to the Temecula Library between the proposed intermodal transit center and Great Oak High School. Service through the Vail Ranch residential area would be maintained and extended further into the Redhawk area. Route 61 would be also be realigned to improve productivity and extended to the Sterling Senior Center via Rancho California Rd, connecting high density and senior apartments to several medical facilities and retail centers. The turnaround loop would serve additional residential areas. Route 61 would also be the primary route serving the business districts west of I-15 via Diaz Rd. PPP s with the local wineries could also fund extended service through Temecula Wine Country and special service to the annual Temecula Balloon and Wine Festival at Lake Skinner. Route 79 would be realigned from Diaz to Ynez Rd and extended south toward the Temecula Wal-Mart area via Old Town Temecula, providing direct service to the proposed regional medical center. Its turnaround loop would also link additional residential areas to the bus system. A developer-funded shuttle or trolley would connect the Roripaugh Ranch development to French Valley to the north and the Promenade Mall and transit center to the south.