Minutes 01-27-2017 - Laserfiche WebLink

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4 In reply to a question from Commissioner McKee, Theo Letman said there would be some overlap during the morning and evening peak times between the Hillsborough Circulator and the Efland-Hillsborough Commuter Loop. Commissioner McKee said riders would appreciate any steps the County could take to shorten the trip from Durham Tech to downtown. In reply to a question from Commissioner Price, Theo Letman said the Efland- Hillsborough Commuter Loop is currently planned to go in one direction but that there will be some reverse routing introduced to the Hillsborough Circulator. Travis Myren added that staff could look at the feasibility of adding a stop to service Perry Hill. Commissioner McKee said he expected such a stop to be used because there are 100-150 homes near there in a subdivision just off of US-70. In reply to a suggestion from Commissioner Rich, Theo Letman said the staff would organize a field trip for the Board to ride the new routes expected by July 1, 2017. In reply to a question from Commissioner Marcoplos, Theo Letman said service in the part of the County south of Chapel Hill around Smith Level/Heritage Hills is provided by Chapel Hill Transit. In reply to a question from Commissioner Jacobs, Theo Letman said a deviated zonal route is a demand-response type of service. It is a shared ride. The plan is to serve different quadrants on different days. The advantage is that service comes closer to where patrons are located. The disadvantage is that the riders are taken off-route to accommodate others' needs, which adds time to each rider's trip. Travis Myren added that time is built into the schedule to allow for the deviations; riders can rely on the schedule to be somewhere at a certain time. Commissioner Jacobs said the public should be helped to understand that the deviated zonal route is a work in progress, that when they get on the bus the route will not be what they expected; some people will be on a tight schedule and not very pleased. Commissioner Price said she has spoken with people who have used EZ Rider in the past and ACCESS in Durham, which are analogous to the Rural Deviated Zonal Routes. Riders tell the schedulers what time they have to be somewhere and then are told what time they will be picked up to accommodate that need. If the rider cannot work with the pick-up time, then they have the option of using a taxi. It is similar to using Super Shuttle service for an airport; you expect to ride around for a while but the timing has been worked out. She said most people are happy with this; they like the luxury of door to door service. Riders know what will happen when they get on the bus. In reply to a question from Commissioner Jacobs, Theo Letman said there is no future service planned for the southwestern/White Cross quadrant of the County. Staff needs to update the transit study from the one conducted in 2015 and to explore the transit options for the southern half of the County. Commissioner Jacobs said maps and other communications with the public should explain that the NW and NE quadrants are not the end of our transportation planning, that we are looking at additional options. If not, then members of the public are going to want to know about their own parts of the County, and why future service is not shown on the maps. Bonnie Hammersley said she appreciated the Board's discussion about public transportation today. She said she is proud to note that Theo Letman is the County's first Transit Director. She said we need to look at how we are doing transportation. They are hearing from residents that we need more transportation in the north. Maybe we can be more creative in how we do the Rural Deviated Zonal Routes, how we run a door-to-door dedicated system, or how we run a route that does not have deviations.