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28 <br /> �1 <br /> ORANGE COUNTY <br /> NORTH CAROLINA <br /> ORANGE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION ADA PARATRANSIT PLAN <br /> described in the Description of Current Paratransit Services section of this document will be <br /> implemented and will apply to the new and expanded services. The same eligibility <br /> determination process will also apply to the new and expanded fixed-route services. <br /> Estimate of Demand and Description of Estimation Methodology: <br /> The current demand for ADA paratransit service in OPT's fixed-route ADA service area is <br /> estimated at 2.7 paratransit trips per day (based on 2014 data). This estimation is based on <br /> an assumption that approximately four (4) percent of trips associated with fixed-route <br /> service would be provided as ADA paratransit trips and borrows from the experience of a <br /> similar system in a similar hybrid rural/urban environment, Apple Country Transit in <br /> Hendersonville, North Carolina. Experiences of other providers in the Triangle region range <br /> from a low of approximately 0.9 percent for Chapel Hill Transit to a high of approximately <br /> 7.1 percent for C-Tran, the Town of Cary's local public transportation provider. As such, the <br /> four (4) percent assumption lies safely in the middle of the range for the region. When <br /> OPT's fixed-route ADA service area expands in the spring of 2015, demand is estimated to <br /> increase to approximately eight (8) paratransit trips per day. <br /> Complementary ADA paratransit trips are generally more expensive to provide than fixed- <br /> route trips or ADA paratransit trips provided as deviations from fixed-route service. <br /> However, given that a good portion of OPT's existing service is provided in a demand <br /> response format, OPT can continue to realize the cost per trip benefit of combining <br /> complementary ADA paratransit trips with demand response trips provided for other <br /> purposes. Consequently, the use of OPT's existing cost per trip for the system is a good <br /> estimation of the cost per trip for those dispatched to service ADA paratransit clients. The <br /> current cost per trip for OPT's demand response service (using 2014 data), including both <br /> pure operating and administrative costs, is $12.85. Assuming a demand of eight (8) ADA <br /> paratransit trips per day and 2,000 per year based on an assumption of there being 250 <br /> days of service per year, the total cost to provide these trips is anticipated to be $25,700 per <br /> year with an escalation of approximately three (3) percent per year to account for <br /> inflation/increases in costs over time. <br /> Operating and Capital Budget for Proposed ADA Paratransit Service: <br /> The operating budget for proposed ADA paratransit service for the next five (5) years is <br /> provided in Table 2 and is based on the estimation of demand explained in the previous <br /> section. <br /> Table 2: Five-Year ADA Paratransit Service Operating Budget <br /> Year FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020 <br /> Budget $27,265 $28,083 $28,926 $29,793 $30,687 <br /> Based on the anticipated cost per year to absorb the estimated demand for ADA paratransit <br /> service and in the manner it is anticipated to be provided, no additional capital needs are <br /> foreseen as necessary. OPT vehicles used for fixed-route service that may deviate to <br /> provide service to an ADA-eligible client are ADA-accessible and equipped with lifts. OPT <br /> 10 <br />