Orange County NC Website
DRAFT <br />2 <br />54 <br />Allyson Coltrane: It’s not technically cash in hand, but you can get GoPerks. To get GoPerks you must log your 55 <br />commute through our ShareTheRideNC page; it’s there you can get free Joe VanGo coffee, free Dunkin Donuts, etc. 56 <br />57 <br />Allyson Coltrane: Below is the operating costs annually and the revenue hours need to all of this. 58 <br />59 <br />Johanna Birckmayer: What are revenue hours?60 <br />61 <br />Allyson Coltrane: DOT allots us certain hours that we can dedicate to certain routes and services, so those are hours 62 <br />you would need to make the Hillsborough circulator run every 30 minutes, or to expand the service to 8:00 P.M. 63 <br />64 <br />Art Menius: How far short is our capacity, people, and money compared to the excellent goals laid out in the 65 <br />PowerPoint?66 <br />67 <br />Theo Letman: We are very far apart. There was a discussion a year ago regarding the light rail in the transit plan. A lot 68 <br />of the money is going toward the light rail and not a lot towards bus. Part of the transit plan is to push what the needs 69 <br />are in the area and what the folks want. Myself; Travis Myren, the Deputy County Manager; as well as Craig Benedict go 70 <br />to the staff working group meetings with GoTriangle and the other transportation providers, and we push for this and as 71 <br />much dollars as we can to get out the transit plan for these projects, but there is a huge gap between what is proposed 72 <br />and allocated. Negotiations are still going on between the entities to finalize what our cut should be.73 <br />74 <br />Heidi Perry: So the circulator is out, was that one of the ones they took off the plan in order to only have the light rail go 75 <br />forward for funding?76 <br />77 <br />Theo Letman: There was a proposal that I put out to have a reverse circulator and that is what they took off, but I am not 78 <br />letting it die. I do have another plan. The idea is to divide the circulator into two intersecting routes. We currently have 79 <br />one loop and it is a very long ride for everyone. So my thought is to break it into two different routes.80 <br />81 <br />Heidi Perry: Like a figure 8?82 <br />83 <br />Theo Letman: Exactly. Bisecting in the middle of the town and they can make their connections. It would provide more 84 <br />frequent service and will require more hours. I am working on getting it done.85 <br />86 <br />AGENDA ITEM 5C:TRANSIT ADVISORY SERVICES (TAS)COMMENTS/QUESTIONS (THEO LETMAN)-87 <br />88 <br />Theo Letman: To follow Allyson on the status of the transit plan, it is in final draft mode and is currently being reviewed. 89 <br />Once reviewed by staff, it will be brought to the OUTBoard for review. Our concern has always been that we provide 90 <br />more on-demand services than fixed routes. Both GoTriangle and Chapel Hill Transit provide fixed route services. In 91 <br />our rural county, we do a lot of on demand; a lot of Medicaid transportation and a lot of paratransit services that provide 92 <br />for the elderly and the disabled. My focus is to meet the needs of those populations and provide as much service as 93 <br />possible. To organize services that are both cost effective and meet those needs is not always possible because of 94 <br />ridership. Part of the transit planning is to bring those ideas and efforts forward in a comprehensive plan that articulates 95 <br />the needs of this community. We are going through the review process with GoTriangle. We will bring that report 96 <br />forward for the OUTBoard to review. Staffing is almost back up to full staff since the last meeting. We are currently 97 <br />hiring for part time and full-time drivers and a full-time, operations assistant. It has been grant season with NCDOT since 98 <br />our last meeting, and for the first time, we applied for a 5307 grant which is an urbanized area grant. The grant provides99 <br />dollars for more positions, and it provides for the transit amenities that we are planning for. We have a semi-seat project 100 <br />that we are working with the Department on Aging on, and as of a year ago, the project is still on going so the grant 101 <br />provides money to make sure the labor is still there. It will purchase bike racks and vehicles that were purchased without 102 <br />bike racks. Mobile pay will be a way for people to use an app on their cell phones to pay the fare as they board the bus. 103 <br />We are just about finished with our procurement for upgrading our software that will help us manage the internal the day-104 <br />to-day services and scheduling and provide external means for passengers to look up when their ride will arrive. They 105