Agenda - 03-19-2013 - 5a - Laserfiche WebLink

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6 1 individuals/families transitioning out of these facilities into rental housing. Most in this transition 2 phase have jobs —jobs that barely support them. But almost all do not own cars as they cannot 3 afford the cost of the car, the upkeep, the insurance, or the licensing. These are the individuals 4 that need public transportation to get to their jobs and do their shopping. I know and have 5 worked with these families that are currently taking buses to their work — but for some —a 15-20 6 minute car ride takes 2 hours or more to get to work and three bus changes. And because 7 these individuals work on Sundays —there is no bus service at all. Some have relied on taxi 8 service —which can cost most of their salary for that day! Or they lose the opportunity to work 9 on the weekend. And the same thing happens when bus service is reduced when school is out. 10 Since 60% of the cost of the bus service is currently supported by UNC, they have tailored the 11 service to students. But when the students are not in school, it does not mean that the workers 12 are not there! The workers are the forgotten entity in this agreement. The hospital is still open 13 7 days week and UNC staffs are still working when students are not there. In addition the 14 hospital and school is expanding their clinics and campus outside Chapel Hill. And workers in 15 our community need the transportation to get to their work that may not be at UNC. That said, 16 we are very pleased that the plan now includes some service on Sundays and when school is 17 not in session, but it does not go nearly far enough to meet the needs of the residents of our 18 community. The current setup of lines needs to be expanded so residents can access the bus 19 lines to go work, shopping, or the library more easily. When it takes two or three bus changes 20 and an hour or more just to go shopping at the grocery store—you're not likely to choose this 21 route. What it does is deter you from using the bus because of the way the lines are currently 22 set up. The "hub" is currently the hospital/UNC. We need to determine where there should be 23 more "hubs" in the community and start to realign the plan to meet the needs of those that can 24 and want to utilize the bus lines. And of course align them with Durham's and other bus lines to 25 have an integrated plan. 26 The transit plan needs to be evaluated to assist those who need transportation to work, 27 to shop and to live in Orange County. This is your opportunity to look at funding significantly 28 increased service for increased use by our residents not just the students, to reevaluate the 29 plan to meet the needs of the entire community. Now is the time for better research, better 30 planning and better allocation of the money for this project to truly meet the needs of our 31 community. 32 33 Jeanne Brown read a prepared statement. 34 "I am a resident of southern Chapel Hill and, as a visually impaired individual who is 35 unable to drive, I am a transit supporter. During the past year I was a regular participant in the 36 Chapel Hill 2020 "Getting Around" group which focused on transportation issues. As a group, 37 including our staff liaisons, we agreed that Chapel Hill Transit does a good job of serving the 38 UNC/UNC healthcare downtown campus but did not feel that it does a good job serving the 39 broader community. 40 By way of example, I often talk to people about the benefit to our town of having the bus 41 system provide service to University Mall or the intersection near Estes and Franklin. From 42 those locations, riders can access Harris Teeter Grocery store, Walgreen pharmacy, the library, 43 post office, banking, doctor's offices, and more. But to get to those locations from all but a 44 couple of Chapel Hill's neighborhoods requires using multiple buses, a significant amount of 45 walking and, quite frankly, a lot of time. 46 For instance, for those living IN Southern Village, a mid-day trip to the library at 100 47 Library Drive using Chapel Hill Transit would take 2 hours and 5 minutes and involve taking 2 48 buses and walking 1.3 miles. Alternatively, the travel time can be reduced by using both TTA 49 and Chapel Hill Transit buses, walking 1.65 miles and paying a $2.00 fare.