Ten-Year Long Range Plan2007-2017

Strategic Business and Operations Plan

Transit Planning in Ashland

Providing and Promoting Efficient Transportation

Quality of Life

•Transit and paratransit increase access to basic services.

•Levels of economic opportunity are increased for people who have access to transit.

Land Use

•Transit ridership of 1,000 passengers per hour on surface streets during peak hours equates to an extra lane of traffic in terms of reduction in congestion.

•Demand for parking spaces is reduced in areas served by transit.

Economic Vitality

•Low-Cost transportation expands employees choices for work.

•A vibrant transit system will attract businesses to locate in the Rogue Valley.

Environment

•Non-auto travel choices are essential for reducing our carbon footprint.

Service Today• RVTD serves most of the urbanized area in Jackson County, or

approximately 150,000 people.

• Established in 1975 under ORS 267.510-650 as a “Transportation District”

• Public transportation

– 6 Routes that run Monday through Friday between 5:00 am and 6:30 pm with 30 min to 1 hour frequency.

• Paratransit

– Valley Lift serves qualifying residents within ¾ mile of each route in compliance with the ADA standards.

– Translink serves OHP and Medicaid clients in 7 southern Oregon Counties and is fully funded by the non-RVTD sources.

Additional Services RVTD Provides:

•Safe Routes to School program coordination

•Transit education through Gus Rides the Bus

•Bicycle Safety education for grades K-5

•Skateboard safety education in summer

•Employer services and bus pass programs

•Carpool/ vanpool coordination

•Event planning and participation

•Government liaison planning and TDM encouragement

Tiered Service Expansion Prioritized List

Tier Two. Tier One, Additional Routes, Express Routes, Peak Service

Tier Three. Tier Two, Additional Routes/ Grid System

Tier One. Extended Hours and Minor Service Expansion

Region Major Destination

Southeast Medford Barnett Rd. x N. Phoenix Rd./ RVMCExpand service hours~4am 10 pm All Routes except low productivity routes

West White City Table Rock Rd. x Antelope Rd.

Saturday Service Base service from 7am to 8pm

Region Major Destination

West and southwest Central Point Twin Creeks TOD.

East Medford McAndrews Rd. x Foothill Rd. Ashland Talent Phoenix Circulators

West of Hwy 99 in Talent and Phoenix/ East of Hwy 99 in Ashland

4 Hour Peak Service All Routes except low productivity routes

Southwest Medford/ Jacksonville Stewart Ave. x Lozier Rd.Express Routes (15 min.) to Ashland and White City

Front St. to Ashland Plaza and Front St. to Cascade Shopping Ctr.

Northwest MedfordSage Rd. x Rossanley Dr. (North Gate Centre)

Region Major Destination

Foothills Rd. Corridor from Barnett to Coker Butte

Table Rock Rd. Corridor from Midway Rd. to Antelope Rd.

Hwy 99 Corridor from Table Rock Rd. to Scenic Ave.

Delta Waters TOD Region not yet defined

South Ashland Region not yet defined

Market Analysis and Route Performance

We expect RVTD’s ridership to increase by approximately

800,000 trips per year once Tier One is in service, almost

double of what we see today.

2007-2008 Current System Performance:

28.06 - Passenger Per Revenue Hour

27% - System-wide farebox recovery

15< - Average Passenger Peak on Routes 1, 2, 30, 40, 60

The average passenger peak for Route 10 is 24.45. RVTD is considering investing resources into this route to alleviate capacity issues.

All routes are subject to be modified through a public hearings process.

Productivity- Maximizing efficiency by serving densely populated corridors

versus Coverage- providing transit to all areas of a community

including low densities.

Efficient transit relies on land use densities of at least 20 people per acre (Urban Land Institute);

Ashland currently has approximately 55 out of 2,500 or 2% of acres within a ¼ mile of route 10 matching or

exceeding this density requirement.

Efficient Transit relies on two primary factors: Densities and Land Use

Is all of this Really possible in the Rogue Valley?

The true cost of running premium transit, let alone RVTD’s current system is not…well cheap.

First and foremost-

Federal Transit Administration (FTA) governs all transit modes if any Federal funding is used.

Additional Considerations:

•Major capital investments require an ‘Alternatives Analysis’ to be completed.

•Communities such as ours would need to set sail together ~ one line links 5 cities.

•Ongoing operations financing does not exist currently.

How can the City of Ashland

prepare transit concepts

in collaboration with RVTD?

Current Project: Transportation System PlanThe City has completed several plans outlining transit routes:

•TSP

•Comprehensive Plan

•Transit Options for a Livable Ashland and

•Ashland in Action Committee reports.

Eight routes are proposed within current plans

•Three that provide service along the main corridor of Ashland/Lithia and Siskiyou providing 7.5 minute service

•Four that provide service to the outlaying neighborhoods

•One that provides express service using the I-5 Freeway

Data Needs to Support Concepts

•Land Uses for major parcels (current & future)

•Densities for all parcels (current & future)

•Occupancy information if available

•Bicycle and Pedestrian pathways (current & future)

•Employment data (type of work and shifts)

•Community surveying

•Road accesses (40’ vehicles versus vans)

•Passenger waiting areas

SOU/ RVTD Survey in Ashland- May 2009

70 surveys completed by passengers on the bus.

Key Findings:

•The majority of Ashland customers ride the bus four to five days per week.

•Many respondents indicated they would appreciate weekend service (Sat. and Sun.).

•About ¾ of the population surveyed live in Ashland.

•Over half of the population surveyed are employed in Ashland.

•Most customers are using the bus for work/business, shopping, and commuting to school.

•Customers were willing to pay increased fare in exchange for improved or expanded services.

*Project Leaders: Ryan Slagle and Wei Kai Hwang, SOU Business Survey class

Future Projects

Railroad District

Plaza

SOU

Croman Mill Site

And…

Rogue Valley Bus Rapid Transit

Essential Features:

•Significant passenger waiting areas

•Traffic signal priority, dedicated lanes when possible

•Low-floor buses, level boarding, easy fare

•Branding, marketing of service

•10-min peak/ 15 min off-peak at least 14 hours/day

Criteria for eligibility:

•Cost under $50 Million ($ 3 Million per mile)

•Existing weekday ridership exceeds 3,000

•Alternatives Analysis…North South Corridor Study

The harsh reality of financing future projects or service

•2009 Oregon Legislative Session was disappointing

•Federal and State operations funding not likely

$2.18

$8.80

$14.60

$70.58

$51.22

$112.08

$28.26

$0.00

$20.00

$40.00

$60.00

$80.00

$100.00

$120.00

Group 1Average

Group 2Average

Group 3Average

Group 4Average

Group 5Average

Transit-Operator

StateAverage

All StateAverage

$36.9

$1.7$1.0

$22.3

$1.1 Special Trans

Public

Intercity

TDM

Planning

Federal Funding

State Funding

Oregon Average is $44.08 per person

Rogue Valley Transportation DistrictResource and Cost Projections

Current Resources and Service Levels

$-

$2,000,000

$4,000,000

$6,000,000

$8,000,000

$10,000,000

$12,000,000

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Estimated Resources Current Level Total Costs

The harsher reality of maintaining current service

•Currently receive 17 cents/thousand in property tax.

•Passenger fares account for 10-20% of operation costs.

•Federal operations funding based on population and land densities.

•State funds do not contribute to fixed-route operations.

Considering…

•Local levy consideration for November 2010 to adopt a regional payroll tax.

•Federal, State Earmark requests; CMAQ funds.

How RVTD is primarily funded

More InformationContact

Julie Brown, RVTD General Manager

j.brown@rvtd.org

(541) 779-5821

Paige Townsend, RVTD Senior Planner

p.townsend@rvtd.org

(541) 608-2429