Agenda - 05-08-2014 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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7 1 percent goes to Triangle Transit; and 12% goes to OPT. He said staff has been working with 2 TTA for the past year on the OPT and Triangle Transit routes that would service central and 3 rural Orange County. 4 5 b) Central and Rural Orange County 5-Year Bus Service Expansion Program, 6 Including Update on Hillsborough Circulator 7 Craig Benedict said staff is looking at some routes based on community outreach and 8 will be providing a formal presentation with Triangle Transit to the Board of County 9 Commissioners on April 1St 10 Craig Benedict reviewed the routes while referring to a display map. He said the majority 11 of the money in this new program will be put toward an East/West route in Mebane, Efland, 12 Hillsborough and over to Durham. He said the important piece in this is stopping in northern 13 Hillsborough and creating some sort of transit stop to hook up with the Hillsborough circulator 14 route and the 420 route. 15 Kathleen Ferguson asked if this would include the grocery stores and stops along 70. 16 Craig Benedict said this would be more of a regional express route. He said the 17 Hillsborough circulator might be able to branch out to go to the Food Lion, but this would be 18 more of a local route. 19 Kathleen Ferguson said it is critical that the 70 corridor have a route with stops for 20 northern residents. She said this is vital, as it is the only transportation for many of those 21 citizens. 22 Craig Benedict said there are many different types of routes, and the task will be finding 23 a combination of routes that serve the community best. He said conversations have been had 24 with Hillsborough residents about this. He said there are limited hours available to add, and 25 one full day route is 3,500 hours. 26 Kathleen Ferguson said she understands this, but this is about people who have no 27 other option. She said if that group of citizens is not being served she does not see the point. 28 Commissioner Price agreed and said the majority of residents she has spoken with are 29 looking for a local bus with local stops. She said maybe the percentages need to be 30 reconsidered. She said there are more people moving in at Hampton Pointe and in the new 31 development on Business 70, and these residents are going to need bus service. 32 Craig Benedict said he does not disagree with the needs along 70; however it may 33 require using a variety of routes and providers to make this work. He said there are limitations, 34 and maybe these numbers can be reviewed at a subsequent meeting. He said these 35 comments are being noted and will be kept in mind by his staff and TTA. 36 He finished reviewing the display map. 37 Craig Benedict said OPT received $88,000 the first year; it will receive $200,000 this 38 year, $300,000 the following year, and $380,000 the last year. He said that is a reasonable 39 amount of money; but there is about $800,000 now in OPT's budget, $400,000 of which is out 40 of OPT's pocket, with the rest being leveraged by state and federal dollars. He said this runs 41 20,000 hours, so $300,000 doesn't stretch too far. He said Commissioner Gordon and 42 Commissioner Price have stressed in past meetings, the importance of additional bus hours, 43 and staff is examining this. 44 Commissioner McKee said that the focus must be on the needs of the users, rather than 45 the convenience of the service providers. 46 Kathleen Ferguson said those with no options or few options should be served before 47 those who have multiple options. 48 Craig Benedict said staff has developed maps of transit dependent populations, and 49 these are noted in northern Hillsborough the Efland Cheeks area. He said the senior citizen