Agenda 7-a-1 Attachment: OPT SRTP final report

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Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates, Inc. | 5-1 5 SERVICE PRIORITIZATION The rural nature of much of Orange County necessitates a refined approach to providing transit based on limited resources and the diverse needs of the community. As such, recommendations identified for OPT identify and prioritize rural services that combine to provide a transit network designed for local operating conditions. The prioritized recommendations described in this chapter are intended to provide the maximum benefit within current funding levels and make improvements should additional funding become available. PRIORITIZATION PROCESS To provide successful transit service in rural areas, a “family of services” approach is recommended to tailor transit service to specific rider needs and Orange County’s low-density operating environment. Providing rural service cannot be a one-size-fits-all approach; additionally, available funding is a constraint that can limit the level and type of service provided. In Orange County, transit improvements must be carefully considered to provide the most cost effective benefits and form a complete system to best meet the needs of the community. Recommended improvements for OPT were prioritized to provide access to jobs from rural areas, respond to public feedback by expanding service hours and improving frequency on existing routes, and improving connections between Mebane, Efland, and Hillsborough. A summary of these improvements is provided in Figure 5-1. Van programs and zone service are prioritized first as low-cost strategies for providing connections to jobs and services from rural areas. Improving local circulation and connections between key destinations that are capable of supporting fixed-route transit emerged as the next priorities. After providing connections to Alamance County and improving service in Hillsborough, improving the frequency and service span of existing services to provide all day connections between Hillsborough and Chapel Hill are a priority. Finally, should sufficient resources become available, providing new fixed-route services between additional key destinations including Durham, Cedar Grove, and White Cross, as well as improving transit amenities in Hillsborough, round out the identified priorities and transit improvement strategies for the OPT system. The proposed system map is shown in Figure 5-2. The remainder of the chapter describes each of the recommended improvements in additional detail, as well as providing cost estimates for each service type.