HomeMy Public PortalAbout03 March 9, 1987 Citizens Advisory040246
RIVERSIDE COUNTY TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION
AGENDA
CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE
1:30 P.M., MONDAY, MARCH 9, 1987
RIVERSIDE CITY HALL
5TH FLOOR CONFERENCE ROOM
3900 MAIN STREET, RIVERSIDE 92522
1. Call to Order.
2. Approval of Minutes.
3. Election of Officers. ACTION
4. Quarterly Transit Operations Report. DISCUSSION
5. RTA Route 31 Status Report. DISCUSSION/POSSIBLE ACTION
6. 1988-1992 Short Range Transit Plan. DISCUSSION
7. Other Business.
8. Adjournment.
R IVERSIDE COUNTY'TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION
CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Minutes of Meeting No. 7-86
December 8, 1986
1. Call to Order.
The meeting of the Citizens Advisory Committee was called to
order by Chairman Terry Allen at 12:30 P.M., on December 8, 1986,
at the Riverside City Hall, 5th Floor Conference Room, 3900 Main
Street, Riverside.
Members present:
Terry Allen
Harry Brinton
Jordis Cameron
Herb Krauch
Don Kurz
Members absent:
Marian Carpelan
Bill Freeman
Jim Kenna
Others present:
Joanne Moore
Rena Parker
Don Senger
Bertram Vinson
Sheila Velez
Ran Wyder
Ray Millen, Automobile Club of So. California
Jesse Roach, Riverside Transit Agency
2. Approval of Minutes.
M/S/C (PARKER/KRAUCH) to approve the minutes of the October 6,
1986 meeting as presented.
3. Quarterly Transit Operations Report.
Paul Blackwelder, Assistant Director, informed the Committee that
ridership for the quarter, July 1, 1986 - September 30, 1986, was
1.1 million passengers. The SunLine Transit Agency reported the
highest ridership increase (17.6%) and the Riverside Transit Agency
ridership increased by 3.2%. Total operating costs increased 8%
over last year due to additional service operated. The operating
subsidy for the quarter was $2.24 million.
Paul Blackwelder said that the RTA Board, in order to reduce the
subsidy per passenger on RTA services, had approved increasing
fares and reducing its services. The RTA routes with a high
subsidy included Routes 17, 30 and 19. The RTA proposal includes
eliminating Routes 17 and 30, reducing the Route 19 service to 8
hours/day on weekdays, and eliminating the Saturday service. Route
30 will be replaced with a new east -west route in Hemet in May. In
the SunLine area, the Desert Hot Springs tel-a-ride has a subsidy
1
for the quarter of $9.95 per passenger trip. Staff has discussed
the service with SunLine and will continue to work with them to
determine what actions need to be taken.
4. RTA Service Reductions and Fare Increase.
Paul Blackwelder said that in order to offset part of the $1.156
million loss in State Transit Assistance funds for operations, the
Riverside Transit Agency recently approved a fare increase and
service reductions. The fare increase will generate an additional
$153,000/year in fare revenue. The service reductions will de-
crease operating expenses by $198,000/year. An additional
$805,000/year in TDA funds will be needed to fund the existing RTA
services. However, because the fare increase and service re-
ductions will be in effect for only half of FY 1986/87, $981,000 in
additional TDA funds will be needed this year.
Chairman Allen asked how the Hemet dial -a -ride 24 -hour advance
reservation system will be operated.
Paul Blackwelder explained that Route 30 will not be eliminated
until May, 1987. At that time, a new east -west route will be
implemented along Florida Avenue. The change of the dial -a -ride
system to a 24 -hour advance reservation, instead of same day
service, will induce riders to use the fixed route service rather
than the dial -a -ride service. There will be limited room for same
day dial -a -ride service on a space available basis.
Don Senger commented that as long as the dial -a -ride exists, it
will be difficult to attract ridership on the fixed route.
Jesse Roach responded that there is a restriction that non -handi-
capped persons residing within a quarter mile of the fixed -route
service cannot use the dial -a -ride service.
Herb Krauch stated the 24 -hour advance reservation will be diffi-
cult for senior citizens in cases of emergency. Perhaps it could
be arranged that senior citizens over 65 years old could be served
on a same day basis.
Paul Blackwelder said that some limited same day service will be
available and every effort will be made to accommodate seniors
going to doctor appointments.
M/S/C (MOORE/VINSON) to recommend that the Commission approve
the fare increase and service reductions approved by RTA as
amendments to the Short Range Transit Plan.
5. New SCAG Population Projections.
Paul Blackwelder said that SCAG has recently released projections
for population, housing and employment for 2010 in the six -county
region. The Riverside County projection for population shows an
increase from 757,500 in 1984 to 2,017,200 in 2010. The forecast
for employment is 247,000 jobs in 1984 increasing to 477,000 jobs
2
in 2010. SCAG's projection for employment for Riverside County is
at a much slower rate than population, and, thus, the jobs/housing
imbalance would worsen. Staff does not feel that the trend will
continue. The SCAG projection for County population in 2010 is
over 2 million with approximately 900,000 workers. The projection
on the number of jobs is only 477,000. Approximately 400,000
people would have to work outside of the county. This would re-
quire 75 freeway lanes in each direction just for intercounty
commuters. Since it is not possible that the needed freeway capa-
city could be provided, SCAG needs to relook at their projection
and either lower the population rate or increase the employment
rate.
Herb Krauch said that with all the talent and skills of the people
settling in the Moreno Valley area, employers might relocate their
business in this County.
Chairman Allen stated that the County of Riverside, to attract
major employers, needs to provide tax incentives similar to what is
being offerred in the Rancho California/Temecula area.
Barry Beck, Executive Director, said that the growth rate required
to reach 2 million population in 24 years is approximately 5% a
year. The projections were based on the experience for the past 15
years and then projected out to the future. Whether the County
would maintain that same growth rate as in the past 15 years is
uncertain. For the commuters, there are only two basic freeways to
get to the adjoining counties so it will be difficult to provide
capacity. What is less clear is if we had a better population/jobs
balance even under ideal conditions whether our internal system
could handle the forecasted population increase. This is a more
difficult analysis as it will include all local streets and the the
number of people that would be using them. He is doubtful whether
we have sufficient capacity internally to handle the trips.
Don Senger said that there are a number of factors to consider such
as the economy, the price and availability of gasoline. If
interest rates go up, the building industry will come to a halt.
Barry Beck agreed and added that prices are going to be sensitive.
Also, the time that it takes to commute will get people to have
second thoughts about buying a home in this area. He understands
that there are a number of turnovers in homes of commuters who have
bought homes in this area and selling them because they no longer
want to commute to Orange County.
6. New Long Range Highway Corridors.
Barry Beck stated that the need to identify new corridors that will
be needed in the future to handle the projected growth was raised
by the Caltrans District 8 Director at a previous Commission meet-
ing. A small informal committee was formed to look at possible new
corridors for future freeways when the type of population projected
does occur. He said that the population per number of lane miles
and the population for center lane miles of the freeway in Los
3
Angeles or Orange County today is 2,000 people per lane mile. If
Riverside County does not build additional freeways in 20-25 years,
it will be worse off in the number of lane miles of freeway than
Los Angeles or Orange Counties. The Committee is looking at a
number of corridors such as: 1) extending Cajalco Road to Route
79/Ramona Expressway; 2) a corridor from Cajalc❑ to parallel Route
91; 3) a corridor by Route 74; 4) a corridor by the Rancho
California area ; 5) a corridor by Route 79 on through the
Hemet/San Jacinto area; 6) a corridor which takes off of the Ramona
Expressway through Moreno Valley and up to Redlands by I-10; 7) a
corridor which parallels Route 91 to Chino Hills and connects to I-
15, etc.
Rena Parker commented that if it is determined that the Cajalco
corridor should be built, it should be extended further to the
west.
Don Kurz commented that with the projected population increase, the
Commission should also look at the railroad to provide transpor-
tation.
Barry Beck said that the problem is being able to justify the
expense for capital and operating if there are not enough people to
use the train.
7. Banning/Beaumont to Hemet Route Status Report.
Paul Blackwelder reviewed the status of the Banning/Beaumont to
Hemet route. He said that the service was started in September,
1986 as a demonstration route to determine transit demand between
Banning/Beaumont and Hemet. The goal established for successful
operation and continued service were 70 passengers/day and a subsi-
dy per passenger trip at not more than $4.00. Average daily
passengers from September 8 through November 14 is only 35-40. To
meet the goal for continued operation, ridership will need to be
doubled in the next three months. RTA's efforts to increase rider-
ship have included: 1) placing ads in the Banning Record Gazette
and the Hemet News each week since the service started; and, 2)
promotional announcements through radio station KGUD. Additional
promotions being considered are: 1) rider alerts on the buses;
and, 2) ads in the Press Enterprise.
Herb Krauch stated that the schedule of Route 31 does not allow
people to use the service to commute work.
Paul Blackwelder replied that prior to implementation of Route 31 a
study and a survey of major employers in the area was done. It
revealed that there was not sufficient demand for transportation
for people going to work from the Pass area to Hemet.
Paul Blackwelder noted that ridership and subsidy goals for Route
31 should be reconsidered if a significant amount of the ridership
is for local trips. A lower subsidy per passenger trip goal should
be established to reflect the combination of local trips and longer
intercity trips from the Pass area if Route 31 is continued without
4
meeting the initial goals established when Route 30 is eliminated.
8. Other Items.
A. Barry Beck informed the Committee of a problem with the SB 821
expenditures. It was discovered that a great amount of funds
allocated to local agencies for SB 821 projects are not being
spent. There was a balance of approximately $500,000 at the
end of FY 84-85. SB 821 funds are to be spent in the same
fiscal year that they are is allocated. Staff is proposing
the following policies to govern the timely expenditure of SB
821 funds: 1) Funds would not be allocated to a project
until the agency awards a contract for the construction of the
project or until local agency forces begin construction of the
project; 2) If the funds for a project are not claimed by the
end of the fiscal year, the project would be removed from the
program and funds would be reprogrammed in the next fiscal
year's SB 821 program; 3) An extension beyond June 30th would
be provided if substantial progress has been made on the
project; and, 4) Funds allocated for projects in FY 86/87 and
prior years must be spent or encumbered by December 31, 1987
or funds and interest earned on the funds shall be returned to
the SB 821 Account.
M/S/C (KURZ/VINSON) to recommend that the Commission
approve the staff proposed policies to govern timely
expenditure of SB 821 funds.
B. Don Kurz asked if it was proper for the Committee to discuss
and take action on advertisement on buses.
Barry Beck said that the matter is not appropriate for this
Committee and it should be taken up with RTA and the City of
Riverside.
C. Herb Krauch announced his appointment as a member of the
Southern California Rapid Transit District Directors' Advisory
Committee.
9. Adjournment.
There being no other items before the Committee, Chairman Allen
adjourned the meeting at 1:51 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
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5
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auk 13 ackwelder
Assistant Director
DATE March 9, 1987
CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE
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AGENDA ITEM NO. 4
RIVERSIDE COUNTY TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION
TO: Citizens Advisory Committee
FROM: Paul Blackwelder, Assistant Director
SUBJECT: Quarterly Transit Operations Report
The attached table and graphs show transit operations data for
the public transit operators in Riverside County for the period
October 1, 1986 through December 31, 1986. The information used
to develop this report was provided by the operators.
Rider,5hip
Total ridership in the quarter was 1.22 million passengers. As
illustrated in Attachment II, ridership has increased in each of
the past 4 years. The second quarter increase for this year is
5.7%. The SunLine Transit Agency reported the highest increase,
14.9% as shown in Attachment V. Riverside Transit Agency rider-
ship increased by 3.6% and the other operators remained about the
same as last year.
Operating Costs and Subsidies
Total operating costs for the quarter were $3.2 million, an
increase of 17.6% over last year. The half year (6 month) costs
were $5.96 million, an increase of 13.1% over last year. A major
factor in the 13.1% increase was in increase in service hours
operated of 8.1% over last year. The SunLine Transit Agency
reported an increase in vehicle hours operated of 24% for service
improvements on Line 19, the intercity line from Desert Hot
Springs to Indio.
The average subsidy per passenger trip increased from $1.95 last
year to $2.12 this year. The RTA subsidy per passenger trip
remained the same as last year. The SunLine subsidy per
passenger trip increased by 11.3% from $2.47 to $2.75. Attach-
ment IV and VI show the subsidy per passenger trip for each of
the services operated by RTA and SunLine.
The highest subsidy per passenger trip routes for RTA are Lines
17, 19 and 31. Line 17 was discontinued in December. Line 19
Saturday service was discontinued and weekday service hours were
shortened in December. Line 31 is scheduled for a six-month
review in March and is discussed in a separate agenda item.
The highest subsidy per passenger trip service for SunLine is the
Desert Hot Springs tel-a-ride. This service is operating at a
subsidy of more than $8 per passenger trip. During the develop-
ment and review of the Short Range Transit Plan, staff will
discuss opportunities to increase ridership or reduce the oper-
ating costs with SunLine staff to lower the subsidy of this
service.
PB:nk
Attachments Agenda Item No. 4
Marrh 4. 1487
TOTAL RIVERSIDE COUNTY
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0.6
0.5
0.4
0,3
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1.5
1.4
1.3
1.2
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1960/81 1961/32
1982/63 1983/ 84 58%/85 1985/36 1980./97
F la_
SECOND QUARTER RIDERSHIP
TOTAL RIVERSIDE COUNTY
-
0.9
0.8 //;/
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0,
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1980/31 1981/32
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1962/63
„63/84
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1934/55
1385/66
1936/97
JSILi'I E [J PAS SI-I'1CT. R'
PTA: SE(CJND QUARTER
FIXED -ROUTES
2 Corona - Riv
1 Magn olia Av
15 Arlington Av
14 Indiana Av
16 More no Valley - Riv
25 Riv - Loma Lin da
13 Arlanza
12 Califor nia Av
29 Ru bidoux
21 Co untry Village - Tyle r Ma ll
24 La ke Els. - Perris - Riv
22 Perris - Riv
18 Mor eno Va lley
30 Hem et - San Jacinto
27 Hemet - Perris -- Riv
19 Moren o - Pe rris
17 U C R - Mag Cen ter
31 Banning - Heme t
DIAL -A -RIDES
SC Sun City D -A -R
P Perris D -A -R
H He met/ Sa n Jacin to D--A--R
N Norco D- A -R
15
14
13
12
11
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41
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2 1 5 14 6 25 13 12 29 21 24 22 18 3i.; 27 19 17 31 :;C f' H N
PALO VERDE VALLEY TRANSIT
RIDERSHIP
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20
19
18 -+
17
16-{
15
144
13
11
104
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0 T T T f r r r f T I I I I F F 1 ! I
1980;81 1981/82 1982/83 1983/84 1984/85 1985/89 198/87
50
Fiscal gears
RIVERSIDE SPECIAL SERVICES
RIDERSHIP
1980/81 1981/82 1982/83 1983/84 1984/85 1985/86
Fiscal Years
1285/S7
CORONA DIA'-A-RIDE
RIDERSHIP
50
40-i
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V
304
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19^00/91 1981/82
1932/93 1983/84
R- e i `.ears
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19EL/95
LAKE ELSINORE TRANSIT
RIDERSHIP
!995/^35 1986,'5'
4-0 —
30 —
20 I
11,
1980/81 1981/82 1982/93 1983/84 1994/85 1995/88 1966/87
Fiscai Years
SUBSIDY PET
SUNLINE: SECOND AKER
FIXED -ROUTES
19 DHS - Coache lla
20 Palm Spr ings - Coac hella
2 Palm Sprin gs Loca l
5 In dio
MV Mt. View- 1000 Palms
4 La Quinta - Palm De sert
TEL -A -RIDES
IV In terva lley Hdcp D -A -R
PS Palm Sprin gs D -A -R
PD Pa lm Desert Dial -A -Ride
DHS De ser t Hot Springs D--A--R
Cb
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la
6
L
0
0
I1•
1
14
13
12
II-
10
9
a
7
6
5
4
1
19 20
IN' '1 IV PS PD DINS
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AGENDA ITEM NO. 5
R IVERSIDE COUNTY TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION
TO: Citizens Advisory Committee
FROM: Paul Blackwelder, Assistant Director
SUBJECT: RTA Route 31 (Banning/Beaumont-Hemet)
Route 31, service between Banning/Beaumont and Hemet, was started
on September 8, 1986. This service was started as a demon-
stration project to measure the need for service over a six-month
period. The goals established for continuation were 70 passen-
gers per day and a maximum $4.00 subsidy per passenger trip. The
attached graph shows the average passengers per day for each week
of operation from September through mid -February. The six-month
demonstration period ends on March 8th.
This service has not met the initial goals established by RTA.
The only week ridership averaged above 70 passengers/day was the
first week when service was operated with a free fare. Ridership
over the past two months averaged between 40-50 passengers per
day. The second quarter subsidy per passenger is between $7-$8
per passenger trip. RTA has continually made attempts to market
this service through newspaer ads and by providing information to
social service agencies, senior centers and local transit oper-
ators in Banning and Beaumont. Action to continue or discontinue
this service is scheduled for the RTA Board meeting in March.
RTA staff has advised us that they will recommend an extension to
the demonstration period for an additional 3-6 months. The
reason for the extension recommendation is a service change
planned in the Hemet -San Jacinto area to be implemented when new
buses are delivered to be used for fixed -route service. The
proposed change will eliminate Route 30, the route from San
Jacinto to Hemet, and institute a local east -west route in Hemet
along the Route 74 alignment. Route 30 carries an average of 60-
70 passengers per day. RTA expects the majority of Route 30
riders will use Route 31 which travels on the more productive
segments of the Route 30 alignment in San Jacinto. The new east -
west route in Hemet is expected to attract additional demand for
Route 31 service as it will be coordinated with the Route 31
schedule and it will provide access to the major commercial areas
of Hemet. Route 31 riders currently must use the dial -a -ride in
Hemet to go to destinations not directly along the route. Should
Route 31 be discontinued before the Hemet service change, all
current riders on Route 30 would have to use the dial -a -ride when
that route is replaced by the proposed new route. New passenger
per day and subsidy per trip goals will be established for Route
31 to consider the intercity and local trip percentages when
Route 30 is discontinued.
PB:nk
Attachment
Agenda Item No. 5
March 9, 1987
" 1 1 . 4 ; : G F r i \ : : ; _ _ ; f : N J i ; E f , . . _ , ; ; ( '