The document summarizes the findings of a transportation alliance board meeting discussing public transportation in Hampton Roads. Key points include:
- Ridership on The Tide ferry has been increasing but is still below projections.
- Over 70% of bus trips are for work or school. Many passengers transfer or walk to stops.
- Demographic findings show most bus riders are low-income, African American, and transit-dependent.
- A survey found riders gave fair to good ratings for service but wanted improvements to shelters, hours, on-time performance, and safety at stops.
Our customers are our only priorities We pick people up and get them to where they are going (on-time) We convey good information to help our customers meet their transportation needs We meet the mobility needs of 57,000 people every day
Good Information Data from our website Responsiveness to customer complaints Passenger Conveniences Shelters New Signs IVR System
Go Pass 365 Currently 4 educational institutions serving 62,000 students/staff 3 private companies serving about 2,000 employees Will generate nearly $600,000 in new revenues In-house Sales team is generating new revenue streams E-Tickets to ride the Tide $3.00 round trip Internet based fare purchase
HRT has some high performing routes The top 25% of routes account for almost 60% of our total passengers and revenue But the bottom 25% are very infrequently used; accounting for 3-4% of total passengers and revenue An inordinate level of subsidy supports our lowest performing 25% of routes; at least half of these require over $10 of subsidy In one case, taxpayers are paying $14 per boarding customer
80% of our seats are empty, yet we incur the same operating costs weather they are occupied or empty
18 th Street Facility Supports 60% of 1.4 million trips made every month Built to Silver LEED standard Replaces a nearly 100 year old facility New administration building Resigning all 3500 bus stops with new signs that includes detailed route information Installing over 160 new bus shelters throughout the system
VBTES Study underway Newtown to Independence: 3.18 miles Newtown to Lynnhaven: 6.93 miles Newtown to Oceanfront: 12.08 miles Other extensions in Norfolk to ODU and the Navy Base a possibility
Focused on completed construction and stop making changes Held people accountable Restructured contracts with major contractors – added in completion incentives
Opening year forecast predicted 2900 average weekday boardings 20 year forecast predicted 7100 average weekday boardings 1 out of 4 people riding the Tide board at Newtown Road Station We anticipate hitting the half million mark around December 15th