Agenda - 02-19-2019 8-a - Minutes

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10 1 purchase 8 buses, 5 of which went into service last year, and 3 are currently on order, expected 2 to arrive in Chapel Hill in August 2019. 3 Brian Litchfield said funding will also be used to upgrade 13 bus stops, ranging from 4 ADA improvements to replacing entire shelters and adding sidewalks. He said the Orange 5 County transit plan is also funding the north-south Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project, which is 6 moving into preliminary design and environmental work. He said staff continues to work on the 7 local funding associated with that project, but it is moving forward. He said work is being done 8 with partners to develop a short-range transit plan, a component of which will be testing the 9 micro-transit or ride hailing services within Chapel Hill and Carrboro as well. He said the goal is 10 to use in-house services. 11 Alderman Slade asked if the Town is getting an electric bus. 12 Brian Litchfield said hopefully two electric buses. 13 Alderman Slade asked if there is a plan moving forward regarding buses. 14 Brian Litchfield said a federal grant was received to fund two electric buses, and the 15 invitation to bid should go out within the next week, bringing the buses into service 12-18 16 months thereafter. He said the idea is to bring two of these buses into the fleet, try them out in 17 different scenarios, and see how they work out. He said if the experience is positive, the goal 18 will be to expand the fleet. He said they have already learned a lot of lessons from the hybrid 19 buses in the fleet. 20 21 Commissioner McKee arrived at 7:53 p.m. 22 23 Alderman Slade suggested looking into the feasibility of charging these buses with in- 24 house solar power. 25 Brian Litchfield said staff has written a few grants to fund feasibility studies to move this 26 idea forward. He said this has been unsuccessful so far, but staff is looking for other ways to 27 pursue this possibility. 28 Theo Letman reviewed Attachment 2c— Summary of OCPT Data. 29 30 d) Current Transit Connections (i.e. how people move from town to town, county to 31 county) 32 Theo Letman said the fixed routes are not as popular, and ridership is not as strong, so 33 services may shift to other routes. He said one idea is service from northern Orange County to 34 Durham. He said the mid-day connection between Chapel Hill and Hillsborough is not as strong 35 either. 36 37 Attachment 2d-1 — Transportation Needs Extend Throughout County 38 Attachment 2d-2— Transit Strategies 39 Attachment 2d-3— Regional System Map 40 41 Mayor Stevens said at some point he would like a lot more information about the 42 circulator, especially the idea of a reverse circulator. He said it is important, on many levels, for 43 residents to be able to get around with greater efficiency. 44 Theo Letman said the inter-locking loop concept may provide more frequency and meet 45 more needs. 46 Commissioner Ferguson said she is happy to see the Durham and Hillsborough 47 connector, and asked if there is a reason for the hours being 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., as this 48 misses commuter hours. 49 Theo Letman said transit in this area is a regional concept, rather than just one service. 50 He said if Orange County does not provide service during a peak area then someone else may.