Agenda 8-a - Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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16 1 Commissioner Dorosin said the Orange-Chapel Hill midday connector has 15 average 2 daily riders, and asked if this is accurate. 3 Theo Letman that is correct for the midday. He said the bulk of that service is provided 4 around peak travel times (morning and afternoon). 5 Commissioner Dorosin asked if it is financially feasible to maintain a route that only has 6 15 average daily riders. 7 Theo Letman said it is questionable. He said the plan is not etched in marble and can 8 be changed, with the goal of always improving transit. 9 Commissioner Dorosin referred to the table in figure ES-2, and asked if staff could 10 identify the services that would be considered mobility on demand. 11 Theo Letman said the zonal services and the vanpool services. 12 Commissioner Dorosin clarified that some of the services in this table are not currently 13 funded. 14 Theo Letman said some are currently funded, and items 1, 2 and 3 are proposed for 15 funding. 16 Commissioner Dorosin asked if the vanpool subsidy program, item 7, is a mobility-on- 17 demand service. 18 Theo Letman said yes, and this service is not currently funded. 19 Commissioner Dorosin said the idea for a County Uber-type service as been floated 20 around previously. He said he would like to know projected ridership numbers for some of the 21 services, so the Board can evaluate the best way to use funding. He said he appreciates the 22 report and the priority of providing useful transportation services, but wants to make sure 23 ridership is being optimized, and the most residents being reached by the dollars available. 24 Commissioner McKee asked if any studies were done on an Uber-like service and the 25 cost differences between on demand services versus County fleets. 26 Theo Letman said the consultants looked into existing services as well as researching 27 other entities that have greater mobility-on-demand services. He said comparisons were 28 completed and can be brought the Board retreat later this week. 29 Commissioner Marcoplos asked if there is a status update on the reverse circulator. 30 Theo Letman said that is one of the items at the top of the list, and was strongly 31 supported by staff with the consultants. 32 Commissioner Marcoplos asked if there is a timeline. 33 Theo Letman said hopefully this year. 34 Chair Rich said there was a previous suggestion to run the service for a decent period of 35 time (more than a month), and then evaluate the numbers. She said she even recalls the 36 proposal of gathering numbers for a 2-year period. 37 Commissioner Price asked if the anticipated cost to the consumer can be researched to 38 insure that low income residents can access the transportation. 39 Commissioner Dorosin said he was not suggesting a private Uber-like service, but 40 rather a County run model that was on demand and could be subsidized. 41 Commissioner McKee said he would also like to know how the Department of Social 42 Services (DSS) and the Health Department could play into offsetting the costs for lower income 43 residents. 44 Commissioner Bedford said the report discussed splitting the Hillsborough connector in 45 two, and noted that some comments said this service is too slow, which affects ridership. She 46 would like to weigh the cost of adding the additional drivers with the ridership numbers. 47 Theo Letman said he can get this information. 48 Commissioner Price the Hillsborough Circulator has been the topic of discussion for 49 many years, and the issue is that it can take one 5 minutes to get from point A to B, but when 50 one wants to go back home, it can take 55 minutes.