Yuma Regional Transit Study

              Yuma Regional Transit Study
Meeting Summary
Meeting Date: October 13, 2011
Meeting Time: 12:30pm – 3:30pm
Location: 2351 W 26 th Street, Gold Room, Yuma, AZ
Subject: Technical Advisory Committee – Review of Public Outreach, Goals and Objectives, Deficiencies, and
Service Alternatives
Distribution Date: October 28, 2011
Attendees: See page 4
Distributed by: Jennifer Love
1. Public Outreach
a. Public Opinion Survey Key Results (Debra)
The transit public opinion survey results are similar to the previous survey results. They especially
highlight the following points:
· Bus riders (25% of respondents) use bus both on weekdays and weekends, to go to work, school
and shopping. They mainly use the Yellow and Green routes.
· Most‐wanted improvements are more frequent service and later service.
· 51 % of all respondents would support a transit‐dedicated sales tax increase.
2. Review of Deficiencies
a. Transit structure and operations
· Lack of network coverage in downtown Yuma, San Luis and Fortuna Foothills
· Lack of service on Sundays and later than 6pm
· Limited connectivity
· No adjustments to seasonal transit demand
b. Management system and financial viability
· Confusing fare system
· Limited and unreliable funding
· Limited marketing and communication programs
3. Service Alternatives
a. General comments
· Bus service should be provided to Aztec High School. The school purchases bus passes through
the Smile program.
· Bus service should be provided to the Yuma main library, the Social Security, MCAS Housing, 4 th
Avenue, and to the Department of Health.
· Somerton high school students go to Cibola High School
· Operating buses (driving through, turning, dropping passengers) into parking lots should be
avoided.
Yuma Regional Transit Study
TAC Meeting #2 – Meeting Summary
Page 2/4
· Cocopah Indian Tribe receives a grant and reimburses the transit operator for the services
provided to the reservation and to the Tribe. Any “Tribe‐dedicated” service is subject to the
availability of tribal funding.
· The Cocopah Indian Tribe would like service to be provided in the East Reservation.
· There is not sufficient transit demand in the Town of Wellton to provide continuous service. A
life‐line type service would be adequate.
· More frequent service and later service should be provided to AWC, according to the availability
of funding or in agreement with the University.
· There is no destination to serve between Ave 4E and Araby Road. Therefore, trips between
these roads should be optimized.
b. Yellow Route
· Dead‐head to San Luis (Don): An option would be to use a San Luis facility for bus storage at
night, to avoid operating a very early trip from Yuma to San Luis. A dead‐head is less costly for
the operator and is recommended. This solution could imply having a driver who lives in the
south of Yuma County.
· Paul: concern over relying on needing a driver living in San Luis, as well as storage, reliability
and maintenance of a vehicle stored in San Luis.
· A circulator or other form of transit service is needed in San Luis. Transit service should
especially be provided to the library, students, and eastern portions of the City.
· The three buses currently operating in San Luis have about 35 minutes of dead time, which
could be used to provide additional service in the City.
· School bus in San Luis is provided to students living more than 2 miles away from the school.
· The Yellow route has the highest ridership and demand is higher in the mid‐day and in the
evening. It is recommended to :
o Operate at the same frequencies on weekdays and weekends
o Operate continuously (i.e. without mid‐day break).
c. Dial‐A‐Ride services
· It is proposed to operate DAR services as a flexible bus route in some locations, such as Fortuna
Foothills. It would be possible for riders to ask for service with up to a 30‐minute notice.
d. Fare system
· It is proposed to implement a simplified price fare system. One pass would be sold for $2,
regardless of the destination.
· Discounts would be offered to riders who use a smart‐card or buy booklets of passes.
4. Next Steps
a. Comments on the following reports and documents have to be received by PB before Friday, October
28 th : Public Outreach, Deficiencies, Goals and Objectives, Proposed Service Alternatives.
b. Members of the TAC are asked to share any information/data relevant to the study with PB.
c. Organizing the upcoming public meeting (Thursday, November 17).
d. PB ‐ Update of proposed service alternatives.
Yuma Regional Transit Study
TAC Meeting #2 – Meeting Summary
Page 3/4
Sign
In
Name Organization, Title Phone Email
Study Area Representatives
Allison Collins Fort Yuma Quechan Tribe, Transportation Planner 760.572.5270 a.collins@quechantribe.com
X Charlene Fitzgerald YMPO
X Don Kilner First Transit, Inc., General Manager 928.919.6576 Don.kilner@firstgroup.com
X Rudy Reyes First Transit, Inc., Transit Operator
X Jessy Roach First Transit, Inc., Transit Operator
X Jennifer Albers City of Yuma, Planner 928.373.5175 jennifer.albers@yumaaz.gov
X John Andoh YCIPTA, Transit Director 928.539.7076 jandoh@ycipta.org
X John Starkey City of San Luis, Public Works Director 928.341.8577 jstarkey@cityofsanluis.org
Norma Lekan YMPO, Communication Transit Coordinator 928.783.8911 nlekan@ympo.org
X Paul Melcher Yuma County, Planning & Zoning Director 928.817.5180 paul.melcher@yumacountyaz.gov
Paul Soto Cocopah Indian Tribe, Planning Director 928.627.2102 psoto@cocopah.com
X Robert Misemer MCAS, Community Planning & Liason 928.269.2272 robert.misemer@usmc.mil
Rodney Rinehart Town of Wellton, Town Manager 928.785.3348 wellton@town.wellton.az.us
Samuel Palacios City of Somerton, Public Works Director 928.627.4115 samp@cityofsomerton.com
ADOT
X Mark Hoffman ADOT/MPD, Project Manager 602.712.7454 mhoffman@azdot.gov
X Gabriella Kemp ADOT/CCP, Public Information Officer 928.699.8983 gkemp@azdot.gov
PB
Steve Hogan PB, Project Principal 480.927.6864 hogan@pbworld.com
X Jennifer Love PB, Project Manager 480.449.7734 love@pbworld.com
X Melina Baala PB, Transportation Planner 480.449.4628 baalamm@pbworld.com
Public Involvement
John Godec Godec Randall & Assoc. 602.266.5556 info@godecrandall.com
X Debra Duerr Godec Randall & Assoc.