Regional Transportation Commission, Washoe County Lee Gibson, Executive Director Roger Hanson, Senior Planner

Regional Transportation Commission, Washoe County Lee Gibson, Executive Director Roger Hanson, Senior Planner

Presentation Outline Transit System Facts Economic Challenges in the Truckee Meadows RTC Transit Funding Trends Why BRT and Why Virginia Street RAPID Operating Concept RAPID Results Going Forward

Getting People to Work: 46% of transit trips are to or from work Transit System Facts: RIDE 7.7 million rides in 2011 30.5 passengers per service hour 100% wheelchair ADA accessible

RTC INTERCITY Connects Reno and Carson City Weekday Commuter Service Links with Carson & Tahoe transit service 35,000 passengers in 2011

RTC SIERRA SPIRIT Free circulator service between UNR and downtown Reno 15 minute headways 261,000 passengers in 2011

RTC ACCESS Non ADA Zone No Service ADA Zone Required by federal law to provide complimentary ADA door-to-door, demand-response service within ¾ mile of all fixed routes. Service provided 24/7 Service split into ADA and non-ada zones Two fares: ADA Service Area = $3.00 Non-ADA = $6.00

Transit System Facts Ridership Millions 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 RTC Transit Ridership, Reno-Sparks Employment, and Washoe County Population 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 Employment and population are for calendar not fiscal year 01 02 03 04 Ridership Population Employment 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 450 400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 Population and Employment Thousands

Economic Challenges in Northern Nevada Nevada Economy Unemployment Foreclosures Public Finances Sales Tax 2006 high of $26.5 million to $19.4 million in 2011; 27% difference Political Changes Public employment Transparency/responsiveness/accountability Consolidation

Economic Challenges in Northern Nevada Unemployment Rates Building Permits

RTC Transit Funding Trends

RTC Transit Funding Trends Great Recession

RTC Transit Funding Trends 450,000 400,000 1.3 service hours per capita in 1993 (highest achieved at 265,000 RVH) Since 1993-Population: +48.5% RVH: -7.2% At 1993 ratio, 394,000 RVH but operating 251,000 RVH Transit funding in the Reno economy is not sustainable Revenue Vehicle Hours 350,000 300,000 250,000 200,000 150,000 100,000 50,000 0 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Annual Transit Service Hours Population (Reno & Sparks) 1993 Service Hour ratio per capita

RTC Transit Funding Trends RTC RIDE Operating Cost and Gas Prices Operating Cost Millions $35 $30 $25 $20 $15 $10 $5 Operating Cost Gas Prices $4.00 $3.50 $3.00 $2.50 $2.00 $1.50 $1.00 $0.50 Gas Price $0 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 Gas prices are for California and calendar not fiscal year 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 $0.00

RTC Motor Vehicle Fuel Tax Revenue RTC 5 Fuel Tax Indexing went into effect in April 2010

Why BRT and Why Virginia Street Operational challenges Long queue to board the bus Route 1 Bus in Mixed-Flow Traffic Crowded Bus Heavy Peak Traffic on Virginia Street

Supportive Land Uses City of Reno Master Plan Elements Transit Oriented Developments / Regional Centers UNR Regional Center Plan South Virginia Street TOD Downtown Reno Regional Center Plan Convention Center/Meadowood Regional Center Plan Reno City Limits Virginia Street

Core Ridership Trends RTC RIDE ROUTE 1 OPERATING STATISTICS Ridership 180,000 170,000 160,000 150,000 140,000 130,000 120,000 110,000 100,000 90,000 80,000 75.0 70.0 65.0 60.0 55.0 50.0 45.0 Productivity Jul-05 Oct-05 Oct-06 Jul-06 Apr-06 Jan-06 Jan-07 Jul-07 Apr-07 Oct-07 Ridership Productivity Linear (Productivity) Linear (Ridership)

Loss of Sales Tax Revenues Shift revenue to non-sales tax sources $30,000,000 $25,000,000 RTC Transit Sales Tax: Impact of the Great Recession $20,000,000 $15,000,000 $10,000,000 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013* 2014* 2015* 2016* Projected with 5% growth after 2006 Actual Sales Tax Revenue

RAPID Operating Concept Develop express and short haul feeder service Operate a higher level of service 10-minute headways between 5:30 AM and 8:00 PM. New 30-minute local service, CONNECT Feed RAPID express Provide 24-hour service Save $5.0M annually in local sales tax funds to offset remaining service cuts

RAPID Operating Concept Capital Costs: $11,640,000 8 New Flyer Buses $7,400,000 14 Stations $4,200,000 RIDE rebranding $40,000 Open 4 th Street Station Downtown Reno transit center Complete construction of 14 RAPID Stations Implement Transit Signal Priority & Queue Jump/Queue Bypass

RAPID Operating Concept Operating cost: $4,787,000 RTC RAPID $3,307,000 (34,244 service hours) RAPID LOCAL $1,480,000 (15,330 service hours) Service began October 11 th 2009

RAPID Performance

Rapid Performance

Funding: Public Transportation Expenses $40 $35 Millions $30 $25 $20 $15 $6.1 $5.7 $6.0 $1.2 $0.5 $6.1 $6.2 $1.7 $0.7 $3.2 $3.4 $3.5 $3.7 $3.9 $3.8 $3.8 $3.8 $3.8 $3.8 $3.8 $4.0 $4.1 $4.2 $4.4 Other Capital Match Fuel RTC Labor & Fringe ACCESS Contract Fixed Route Contract $10 $5 $0 $16.0 $15.9 $16.0 $16.2 $16.4 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Other Cost: Security Contract Maint. Custodial Loomis/TVM Insurance Night Taxi Utilities ADA Assessment

RAPID Performance: Public Transportation Revenues Millions $45 $40 $35 $30 $25 $20 $1.3 $1.4 $4.2 $4.1 $1.4 $4.6 $5.1 $4.3 $1.6 $6.7 $6.9 $7.2 $10.4 $8.5 $8.6 $1.4 $4.5 $1.6 $7.6 $5.8 $1.5 $4.5 $1.6 $8.0 $1.4 Other Section 5307 CMAQ Passenger Fares Cash Balance $15 Sales Tax $10 $15.5 $15.9 $16.3 $16.8 $17.3 $5 $0 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Assessment Operational challenges overcome Productivity and ridership increased Stations reinforce supportive land uses and compliment TOD efforts of the City of Reno Cost cutting measures have helped but revenue is still going down CMAQ funding helped bridge the deepest part of the Great Recession; yet Funding challenges still exist

Going Forward: RTP Update Develop community-based vision to address changing needs Economic development and diversification Safe and healthy communities Sustainability Increased travel choices

Going Forward: RAPID Extensions Expand RAPID to UNR, Legends & Sierra Summit/Redfield

Going Forward: 4 th Street/Prater Way RAPID type service between 4 th STREET STATION & CENTENNIAL PLAZA Next Phase of RAPID Expansion

Going Forward: New Technology Proterra floor height is close to BRT station platform height Proterra vehicles present the first opportunity for Reno to deploy an advanced technology vehicle. With a 24 mpg equivalent, the vehicles may hold an opportunity to substantially reduce RTC s fuel bill