Orange County NC Website
Approved 9/20/2017 <br />53 Peter Murphy began the presentation. He reviewed the Quarterly Operational Update which corresponded with a <br />54 presentation projected onto the screen in the room. Mr. Murphy explained that Staff had collected more ridership <br />55 data over the past six months, since the last quarterly update, showing a comparison from last year's ridership <br />56 numbers. The total ridership last year was 55,413 riders. Ridership grew to 61,297 riders this year, even with fewer <br />57 hours on the fixed routes of the Hillsborough Circulator and the Hill -to -Hill Shuttle. There was growth in ridership on <br />58 both of these routes in FY2016 -2017. The major 2015 change in the Hill -to -Hill route increased the hours from 3 <br />59 hours /day to 12 hours /day, which changed the tracking. However, Staff tracked passengers in a "per hour served" to <br />60 maintain a proper comparison. The Circulator has 8 to 9 passengers per hour compared to peer counties, which see <br />61 a ratio of 3.6 passengers per hour. The Hill -to Hill -is less than that but is still growing, especially once the "Go Pass" <br />62 was added in September 2016, resulting in increased passengers (over 2 passengers per hour). Staff expects these <br />63 numbers to grow. Mr. Murphy said that due to consolidations, fixed route transit services are running fewer hours with <br />64 more passengers per hour during operation. Mr. Murphy went through various graphs and charts on passenger data. <br />65 <br />66 Art Menius said that he was curious about the big spike in passengers on the Circulator in February and wondered <br />67 if Peter Murphy knew why this happened. <br />68 <br />69 Peter Murphy responded that he has not looked into it yet. <br />70 <br />71 Art Menius replied that he hoped there would be a spike again. <br />72 <br />73 Peter Murphy said that the department had planned more services for a long time but not all of them have been <br />74 implemented. As an update, Staff is interviewing drivers now. They plan to roll out services in the order presented <br />75 on the slide in the presentation (Efland Hillsborough Commuter Loop, Orange Alamance Connector (mid -day US -70 <br />76 service), and Rural Zonal routes). <br />77 <br />78 Abigaile Pittman asked if everyone remembered the Rural Zonal routes. <br />79 <br />80 Alex Castro asked Staff how they are marketing the routes and how they are alerting the public online that new <br />81 routes are coming. <br />82 <br />83 Peter Murphy answered that once they have a set date, the information will be publicized. He said that Staff would <br />84 discuss media, marketing, and the new logo later in the presentation. <br />85 <br />86 Jenn Sykes asked for more information on the Rural Zonal routes. <br />87 <br />88 Peter Murphy said that Rural Zonal routes are deviated fixed routes set to go 2 days a week into different sections <br />89 of the County (northeast, northwest, southern zones, etc.) on certain days of the week. Riders can also call and <br />90 schedule a ride 2 days in advance for a discounted rate. This is adding more services to rural areas that do not <br />91 currently get service, except for rural residents that use transit to make medical trips. <br />92 <br />93 Peter Murphy continued the presentation by turning it over to Theo Letman. <br />94 <br />95 Theo Letman presented staffing information. He said the department was able to get more staff positions approved <br />96 through this year's budget. Now there are 5 full time bus driver positions added to the total operator roster. Staff is <br />97 continuing to interview candidates and plans to finish hiring new drivers by the end of the month. New drivers are <br />98 going through orientation and training for the new routes and regular service. Mr. Letman said that when he first <br />99 came to Orange County, he noticed that there was no official Transit Dispatcher position. Instead, there were <br />100 drivers that were assigned to do dispatching work, which causes internal conflict. The Board of County <br />101 Commissioners (BOCC) just approved a Transit Dispatcher position, classified as a supervisor level position <br />102 dedicated to operations. Additionally, through a transit - demand grant, Brennan Bouma secured funding for a Transit <br />103 Demand Coordinator position. The person in this role will provide transit options to the public by educating the <br />104 community and marketing the department's services. It will be housed out of the Orange Public Transportation <br />2 <br />