New bus route (1948)

@1 – at the very least, the last time they were well managed and broke even on operating costs…

In today’s form, it seems to be an exercise in seeing how much money they can piss away with buses carrying one or two riders across town.

Hey, I serve on the City Council GRTC Task Force.
One of the recommendations that has come from it is to change the City Code so that City Council no longer determines bus routes, GRTC does (while still having hearings and public input). That will hopefully make it easier for GRTC to adjust routes in the future.

Here is an email I sent at the beginning of the year:

From: Scott Burger
Subject: City Council GRTC Task Force
Date: January 22, 2013 11:45:38 AM EST
To: Scott Burger

Not sure what is happening with the task force with Tyler gone and a new Council. I hope something positive comes from the time and energy spent on it.

A few thoughts:

I think task force members were in agreement that City Council should get out of the route determining business, and let GRTC decide where routes should go, based on their own efficiencies and ridership, as I do think GRTC has proven to be a good steward overall of their budget and efficiency. I wish that had already been presented formerly to Council as a recommendation.

I was very disappointed that the GRTC study for deciding the location of the transfer station excluded Shockoe Bottom and Main Street Station. I find that incredibly shortsighted given the variables involved. The decision-making seems to be more about downtown real estate politics than what makes practical sense.

I don’t think we can count on county leadership for anything. I think its pretty evident that ‘Greater Richmond’ Transit falls back to the city and that is where efforts should concentrate until the counties make more of a commitment. With Route 5 plans on hold and Chesterfield bus commuters becoming motivated, this is a good time to press the case with counties for that real commitment, but I am not convinced they will step up.

I think the Fulton community did a good job of mobilizing and presenting their concerns. We received some great comments from citizens overall that deserve more attention.

I am disappointed with how slowly bus signage is being implemented. That is something that has been brought up again and again in the past and I asked about at just about every meeting. It’s hard to tell who is ultimately responsible for this shortcoming (and I am NOT necessarily pointing fingers at particular GRTC staff), but regardless, it does not speak well for accountability. The GRTC mobile phone app will be nice, but it will not replace the need for easily readable maps and signage.

The Care Van service is going to become more socially vital as well as more of a resource drain in the future. Unfortunately, the persistent public perception of GRTC as a social service rather than a transportation alternative is a consistent theme that needs changing.

Tyler was right in looking for a ‘game-changer’ in public perception for GRTC – and I think it needs to be a robust downtown circulator effort. Unfortunately, I don’t see VCU or U of R contributing to that while they have contracts with Groom Transportation, and they are desperately needed in order to make a circulator effort an obvious success. Personally, I think circulator planning should be seen as part of the planning for Bus Rapid Transit.

Sadly, I don’t think the local environmental community has done enough to make public mass transit a real priority. I think it has been voiced and given a lot of lip service in the media and by politicians, but not brought home, so to speak.

I would be interested in hearing more about where you think this goes from here.

Thanks,
Scott

Top Reasons People Stop Using Public Transit
http://www.governing.com/blogs/view/gov-reasons-riders-abandon-public-transit.html#.UPgANkkG6p0.buffer