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HomeMy Public PortalAbout05 May 5, 1986 Citizens' Advisory040242 RIVERSIDE COUNTY TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION AGENDA CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE 1:30 P.M., MAY 5, 1986 RIVERSIDE CITY HALL, 5TH FLOOR CONFERENCE ROOM 3900 MAIN STREET, RIVERSIDE 1. Call to Order. 2. Approval of Minutes. 3. Olympic Legacy Program. (INFO) 4. Amtrak Service in Riverside. (INFO) 5. Highways 74 & 79 Safety Problems. (DISC) 6. FY 1987-1991 Short Range Transit Plan (ACTION) for Riverside County. 7. Other Business. 8. Adjournment. RIVERSIDE COUNTY TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE Minutes of Meeting No. 3-86 April 7, 1986 1. Call to Order. The meeting of the Citizens Advisory Committee was called to order by Chairman Terry Allen at 1:40 P.M. on April 7, 1986 at the Riverside City Hall, 5th Floor Conference Room, 3900 Main Street, Riverside. Members present: Terry Allen Harry Brinton Jordis Cameron Marian Carpelan Members absent: Shiela Velez Others present: Jesse Roach, RTA Bill Freeman Jim Kenna Herbert Krauch Don Kurz Joanne Moore Rena Parker Don Senger Ran Wyder Bertram Vinson 2. Approval of Minutes. There being no additions or corrections to the minutes of the March 10, 1986 meeting, the minutes were approved as submitted. 3. Unmet Transit Needs. Copies of staff report to the Commission on unmet transit needs were distributed to members of the Committee. Barry Beck, Executive Director, briefed the Committee on the source of Transportation Development Act funds, and the purpose of the unmet transit needs hearings. He reviewed the requests received that are planned to be accommodated this coming fiscal year or in some cases sooner: 1) Improvements on SunLine's Line 19; 2) Service to Belltown area of Rubidoux; 3) Improvements to RTA's Line 29; 4)Establishment of service between the San Gor- gonio Pass area and Hemet; 5) Improvement to Line 16 service in North Riverside; and, 6) Service to Roseland Mobile Home Park. Chairman Allen asked about the type of marketing effort RTA will be doing for the service from the San Gorgonio Pass area and Hemet. Jesse Roach stated that during the first week of implementation of the route, RTA will not charge a fare to the riders. A marketing campaign will be done a month prior to the implementa- tion of the route. He mentioned that he spoke with the Mt. Jacinto College staff regarding the service and they indicated 1 that they would like to work with RTA in hopes the college may be able to drop the transportation service they provide to their Pass area students. Jesse Roach explained to him that the pur- pose of the RTA service is not to take over their service imme- diately but possibly in the future if the route is successful in serving other needs. Barry Beck said that there may be a problem if Mt. San Jacinto College drops their service. They provide transit service to 30- 35 students and that dropping their service would overload the RTA service. He suggested that perhaps the hours of the RTA service may be more oriented to medical and shopping -type trips rather than school trips. In response to Chairman Allen's question whether RTA had con- tacted the Department of Social Services to make sure that clients will be made aware of the service, Jesse Roach said that he talked with a DPSS representative and that they are willing to provide their clients with information about the service. Barry Beck continued and reviewed requests received that will be either partially accommodated or will be further investigated for possible resolution as follows: 1) Service to the Desert Crest area, southeast of Desert Hot Springs; 2) Special service between Hemet and Loma Linda medical facilities; 3) Dial -a -ride service in Moreno Valley; 4) Dial -a -ride service in Murrieta; and, 5) Expansion of Beaumont dial -a -ride to operate on Saturdays. Re- quests received for improved or revised service that in staff's opinion should not be implemented because the cost could not be justified by the anticipated usage are: 1) Operating the Palm Springs dial -a -ride on Saturdays; 2) Expanding service on Palm Desert trolley; 3) Making the Riverside Special Services avail- able to everyone; 4) Expanding the hours of service on Line 21 to serve Orange and Los Angeles County commuters; 5) Providing service from Sun City to Canyon Lake; and, 5) Expanding Hemet fixed -route service. Chairman Allen asked about the proposed routing of the service between the San Gorgonio Pass area and Hemet. Barry Beck said that the service between the San Gorgonio Pass area and Hemet will partially duplicate the routing of the Line 30 service but that RTA is currently considering rerouting the Line 30 service to be more of an east -west routing if the new route is successful. Chairman Allen said that the Hemet Chamber of Commerce has indi- cated that there is a need for an east -west service primarily along Florida Avenue. He said that the current Line 30 routing does not go anywhere. Paul Blackwelder, Assistant Director, added that one of the functions of Line 30 is to take people from San Jacinto to Hemet. Barry Beck informed the Committee that a complaint was received regarding the Corona dial -a -ride. The complaint indicated that at times the Corona dial -a -ride has an extremely long wait times (1 3/4 hours) which is well outside the normal standard operating parameters of a dial -a -ride service. This will be investigated by staff. One other request was received from the Inland Re- gional Center who is responsible of providing service to deve- lopmentally disabled clients. They have requested that the public transit operators provide the service or pay for the private providers that IRC contracts with. He said that a number of IRC's clients are being transported on the regular fixed route and dial -a -ride systems. Unless there is a current service in an area to accommodate their clients or if we could make modest changes in existing lines, staff feels that it is the IRC's obligation to provide the service. Rena Parker commented that the IRC has transportation funds but in some cases public transit services are dropped for various reasons leaving the IRC clients with no way to get to workshops. Barry Beck stated that in all instances, some arrangements were eventually made and that the services were reinstated. M/S/C (PARKER/MOORE) to recommend that the Commission, based on a review of existing services and new or improved service planned to be implemented by next fiscal year, find that there are no unmet transit needs that can be reasonably met and request that SCAG concur in this finding. 4. Transportation Issues. Herb Krauch submitted a statement that to date, Caltrans has not erected guard rails on Highway 79 as promised last year. In addition, reflector post lights are missing for a stretch of 200 feet or more. Another problem that needs attention is the inter- section of Gilman Hot Springs Road and Sanderson Avenue where Highway 79 comes out of Lambs Canyon. There are stop signs on Gilman Hot Springs Road but none on the Lambs Canyon/Sanderson Avenue. A warning sign posted by Caltrans which is 3' across and says "Cross Traffic Does Not Stop" was placed on the east side of Gilman Hot Springs Road. The sign blocks the view of the drivers waiting to cross from seeing cars coming down the hill. Chairman Allen stated that he was under the impression that Caltrans was going to budget funds for installing the guard rails. Bill Freeman passed out information material on Route 86. He said that the 18 miles of Route 86 in Riverside County has a fatality rate of 340% which is above the average fatality rate. The State average on fatality rate for this type of highway is 2 1/2 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles. The last figures available from Caltrans on Highway 86 is 26.04 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles indicating that Highway 86 is 10 times more dangerous to drive. The Federal Highway Administration rates any highway that has more than 20% truck traffic as a dangerous 3 situation. Highway 86 has 38.7% heavy truck traffic. He noted that on Highway 86, trucks and buses are involved in 64% of all accidents and 90% of all fatal accidents. Since 1977, there have been a total of 151 fatalities on Highway 86. He requested that Highway 86 be retained as a high priority item and that the Committee work through the Commission to maintain it as the highest priority for the County. He added that the State Commis- sion at their last meeting, approved $9.6 million to begin the 8 mile 4 -lane expressway in Imperial County. Another 18 mile project was approved by the State Commission and is included in the five-year program. Barry Beck said that with 1-215 to be 100% funded by 1990, High- way 86 will be the County's top priority for any future funds that come in the County. At this time, the Committee reviewed and updated the list of transportation issues and priorities. A question was raised regarding the Committee's role and whether Commission members are being made aware of items discussed and actions taken by the Committee. Barry Beck explained that when the Committee initiates or takes action on an item, staff forwards the action to the Commission where it is given adequate consideration. Committee members are always welcomed to introduce new items of interest to be included in the Committee agenda. Jim Kenna suggested that perhaps the Committee meet with the Commission once a year. Chairman Allen added that Committee members could also attend the Commission meetings. 6. Commission Transit Planning & Programming Responsibilities. Paul Blackwelder stated that in response to the Commission's per- formance audit recommendation in January, a policy statement and procedural guide had been developed to specify the Commission's role and responsibilities in the transit planning process. The Commission and transit operator roles and responsibilities were identified in a paper titled "Transit Planning and Programming Responsibilities of the Riverside County Transportation Commis- sion" approved by the Commission and is included in the agenda packet. 7. Adjournment. M/S/C (KRAUCH/CARPELAN) to adjourn the meeting at 3:20 p.m. Respectfully submitted, 7 -Paul Blackwelder Assistant Director nk 4 RIVERSIDE COUNTY TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION TO: Citizens Advisory Committee FROM: Paul Blackwelder, Assistant Director SUBJECT: Olympic Legacy Program Jim Kenna, CAC member and Automobile Club representative, will make a video presentation on traffic management stra- tegies that were successful during the 1984 Olympics. Com- mission staff has had the opportunity to see this 15-20 minute film presentation at other meetings. The film pro- vides an excellent overview of the potential for coordinated traffic management strategies to help ease the ever- increasing traffic congestion throughout Southern California. PB:nk CAC Agenda Item No. 3 May 5, 1986 R IVERSIDE COUNTY TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION advisory Committee FROM: Paul Blackwelder, Assistant Director SUBJECT: Lii:iltraK Service in Riverside Beginning April 27, 1986, the Amtrak Desert Wind service will be routed through Riverside. The Desert Wind nro,T4dec one train daily in each direction between Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Las Vegas and Chicago. The Los Angeles -San Bernardino portion of the route that ran through Pasadena and Pomona is being rerouted through Fullerton and Riverside. Arthur Lloyd, Director of Public Affairs for Amtrak, has advised us that a stop in Riverside could be easily imple- mented. The requirements are a letter requesting a stop at the Santa Fe Depot, repair of the Depot loading platform at local expense, and installation of a pay telephone. Ticket- ing would be handled by local travel agencies, by telephone to Amtrak, and by purchasing tickets on board the train. Staff from the City of Riverside and the Commission have determined that platform area repairs will be minor and the cost is minimal (less than $5,000). The approximate daily departure and arrival times for the Desert Wind service would be: ' Riverside -Los Angeles Riverside -Las Vegas Lv Riv 12:45 P.M. Lv LA 1:20 P.M. Lv Riv 2:45 P.M. Lv L.V. 7:00 A.M. Arr LA 2:15 P.M. Arr Riv 2:45 P.M. Arr L.V. 8:50 P.M. Arr Riv 12:45 P.M. The Riverside -Los Angeles service would be useful only to persons planning to spend 2+ days in either city. Commission staff feels this is an excellent opportunity to reinstate intercity rail service for the City of Riverside at a minor cost for repair to the platform and should be pursued. The Commission at its last meeting authorized the Chairman and the Executive Director to pursue obtaining a regular stop for the Desert Wind service in Riverside. PB : nk CAC Agenda Item No. 4 May 5, 1986 RIVERSIDE COUNTY TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION TO: Citizens Advisory Committee FROM: Paul Blackwelder, Assistant Director SUBJECT: Highways 74 (Lambs Canyon) and 79 (Ortega Highway) Safety Problems Nick Davies of Caltrans will attend the meeting to discuss the safety problems and to update the Committee on proposed improvements for these two sections of highway within Riverside County. PB:nk CAC Agenda Item No. 5 May 5, 1986 R IVERSIDE COUNTY TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION TO: Citizens Advisory Committee FROM: Paul Blackwelder, Assistant Director SUBJECT: FY 1987-1991 Short Range Transit Plan The Commission is scheduled to approve the FY 1987-1991 Short Range Transit Plan for Riverside County at their meeting on May 15, 1986. The draft plans for the public transit operators have been prepared. Copies of the plans for the small operators are enclosed. The plans for the Riverside Transit Agency and the SunLine Transit Agency will not be available until May 1st. Copies of those plans will be handed out at the meeting. There are only minor service changes proposed by the transit operators. The fact that only minor changes are being proposed reflects that transit services are maturing and becoming well established and that unmet transit needs identified in the hearing process are localized problems for small communities in the unincor- porated areas of the County. The existing transit system provides service within and between most of the cities and major unincorporated areas of the County. The proposed service level changes for each operator are summarized below. CITY OF BEAUMONT DIAL -A -RIDE Reduce the number of holidays from 12 to 6 in FY 1987 and continue the existing level of service for the five-year plan period. TY Q. BANNING No service changes are proposed for the plan period. CITY 2 CORONA A study of the feasibility of implementing fixed -route service to replace the dial -a -ride service will be conducted early in FY 1987. The study to be accomplished by the Commission, City of Corona and the Riverside Transit Agency will include services within the Corona -Norco area and intercity service connections to Riverside. No service changes are proposed pending the results of this study. LAKE ELSINORE TRANSIT SYSTEM No service changes are proposed for the plan period. PALO VERDE VALLEY TRANSIT AGENCY No service changes are proposed for the plan period. CITY QF RANCHO MIRAGE DIAL -A -ChB No service changes are proposed for the plan period. CAC Agenda Item No. 6 May 5, 1986 1 CITY QF RIVERSIDE SPECIAL SERVICES PROGRAM No service changes are proposed for the plan period. RIVERSIDE TRANSIT AGENCY (RTA) The only new service proposed by the RTA is a route between Banning - Beaumont and Hemet scheduled to start in September, 1986. The remain- ing changes are improvements or expansion of existing services. FY 1987 o Implement a fixed -route service from Banning -Beaumont to Hemet operating on a 90 -minute headway Monday -Friday as a six-month demonstration project. o Add Saturday service to Route 29 (Rubidoux to Riverside) and realign the route to serve the Belltown area, north of Highway 60. o Extend the Hemet dial -a -ride boundaries to include the Roseland Village mobile home park. Service to Hemet will be provided by RTA Line 27. Return service to Roseland will be provided by prescheduling with the Hemet dial -a -ride service. o Improve mid -day service on Route 16 to the north end of Riverside to a 60 -minute frequency. Service is currently operated every 90 minutes from 9:25 a.m. to 2:55 p.m. FY 1988 o Improve the frequency of Route 29 (Rubidoux to Riverside) service to 60 minutes. Buses curently run every 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 25 minutes. o Add Sunday service on Route 27 (Hemet -Riverside) and 15 (Tyler Mall to Downtown via Arlington Avenue). Both routes currently operate Monday -Saturday. o Expand afternoon service hours and add Saturday service on Route 21 (Country Village -Tyler Mall). Service is currently operated from 7:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday -Friday with the last bus leaving Tyler Mall at 4:45 p.m. FY 1989-1991 No service changes are proposed. SUNLINE TRANSIT AGENCY SunLine proposes the elimination of three services and minor expansion and frequency impro vex nts on most other services in FY 1987. No service changes are for FYs 1988-1991. SunLine intends to take a closer look at the period 1988 and beyond as part of the next update of the plan. 2 Elimination Qf 'Services Palm Desert Trolley service is not programmed to continue in FY 1987. The service could not attain the 12-13 passengers per hour or $3.00 maximum subsidy per passenger trip goals established for this service between the hotels and exclusive El Paseo shopping area of Palm Desert. SunLine and the City of Palm Desert will attempt to privatize this service with subsidies as needed to be provided by the business community and the City of Palm Desert. Desert Hot Springs dial -a -ride Saturday service operated during the winter season will not be continued in FY 1987. Overall ridership has continually declined for the past three years. Saturday ridership for this service as for most other services is lower than weekday rider- ship and would result in a higher subsidy per passenger trip than the already high $7.18 subsidy per passenger trip expected by SunLine in FY 1987. North Palm Springs service to Desert Hot Springs will be eliminated as a service operated directly by SunLine. SunLine will provide a per passenger trip subsidy to the Hands of the Desert, a non-profit agency, to provide service on an as -needed basis. Service Improvements Line 4 (La Quinta to Palm Desert) service will be realigned to serve new developments along Cook Street and Country Club Drive. The ser- vice frequency will be improved to 40 minutes and service will operate Monday -Saturday year round. The existing service operates on a 60 - minute frequency Monday -Friday with Saturday service operated only during the winter season. Line 5 (formerly the southern portion of Line 19) will provide local service in the Indio -Coachella area and improve year-round frequency to 40 minutes Monday -Saturday. Service is currently provided by Line 19 with a 60 -minute frequency in the summer and a 30 -minute frequency in the winter. Operating the southern part of Line 19 as a separate route is intended to elimilnate problems in maintaining the schedule on Line 19 between Palm Springs and Indio. Line 19 (Desert Hot Springs to Indio) frequency between Palm Springs and Indio will be improved to 30 minutes and Sunday service will be operated on a 60 -minute headway year round. Service is currently operated on a 60 -minute headway Monday -Saturday in the summer and on a 30 -minute headway Monday -Saturday with Sunday service operated on a 60 -minute headway during the winter season. Service will be operated at the same level throughout the year. Line 20 (Palm Springs to Indio) weekday frequency during the winter months will be improved to 30 minutes between Palm Springs and Palm Desert, the segment not duplicated by Line 19, and Sunday service hours will be expanded to 10 hours/day during the winter season. Service is currently operated on a 60 -minute headway year round with Sunday service operated 8hours/day during the winter season. 3 Palm Springs Sun Special service frequency will be improved to 15 minutes. This service operates during the winter season to provide transportation between the hotels and shopping areas in Palm Springs. The service currently operates on a 25 -minute headway. RECCMMENLATIQ T Recommend that the Commission approve the service levels proposed by the transit operators in the FY 1987-1991 Short Range Transit Plan for Riverside County. PB:nk 4 May 5, 1986 Citizens Advisory Comm —tee .,tee - SIGN IN SHEET -- '�' emu. «�►., 564 6- RERRESENTINN TEL. 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