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Page 4-29 • Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates

Route 6

This route provides hourly service between the South Transit Center and the CSU Transit Center, and serves Drake Crossing, Northwood Apartments, and CSU.

Route 6 Northbound begins at the South Transit Center, and travels east along Horsetooth, north along Dunbar, east along Drake, and north on Taft Hill to Stuart. At Prospect the route resumes its northerly direction and terminates at the CSU Transit Center. The bus follows the same route southbound.

Route 6 operates on 60-minute frequencies Monday through Saturday. The first trip begins at 6:15 AM at the South Transit Center, and the last trip of the day ends there at 7:10 PM. One-way running time is approximately 25 minutes. Evening service on Route 6-7 operates one-way between the CTC and STC (see description for Route 6-7).

Ridership Type Figure 4-22 shows the ridership distribution across fare types. The majority of passengers, 49%, are youth, followed by CSU students at 23%. The next highest ridership category is the general public at 18%. Disabled and Senior Citizens comprise nine percent of the ridership for Route 6.

Figure 4-22 Route 6: Ridership Type by Fare Category

Disabled7%

Youth50%

General Public18%

CSU Students23%

Senior Citizens2%

T r a n s f o r t S t r a t e g i c O p e r a t i n g P l a n • F i n a l R e p o r t

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Connections to Other Routes Route 6 connects with Routes 2, 3, 4, 7, 10, and 11 at the CSU Transit Center. Routes 1, 5, 7, Fox Trot, and the South Side Shuttle connect with Route 6 at the South Transit Center. Frequencies on connecting routes range from 30 to 60 minutes, with the exception of the South Side Shuttle which runs every 75 minutes during commute hours.

Ridership Total ridership in FY 1999 was 108,197. This translates to an average of about 27 passengers per hour, just above the system average of 26 passengers per hour. Route 6 is tied with Route 1 as the fifth most productive route in the system.

Ridership on this route is clearly driven by the CSU and Poudre School District schedules: the lowest ridership months were June, July and August. Those months averaged 2,000 to 4,000 riders less than the fall and winter months.

Boardings by Stop To determine the most active stops along Route 6, data was used from the most recent full-day ridecheck taken on October 21, 1998. Total ridership on this date was 442 passengers, with 256 traveling in the northbound direction, and 186 traveling in the southbound direction. Of the total, 21.9% or 56 passengers boarded at the Square at the South Transit Center on northbound trips, and 55.4% or 103 passengers boarded at the CSU Transit Center on southbound trips. Figure 4-23 shows key stops in the northbound direction, and Figure 4-24 shows key stops in the southbound direction.

Figure 4-23 Route 6: Key Stops, Northbound

Stop Location Boardings % of Total Boardings

South Transit Center, The Square 56 21.9% Dunbar - Swallow 43 16.8% Stuart - Heatheridge 29 11.3% Stuart - Heritage Circle 21 8.2% Dunbar - Hastings 18 7.0% One Day Total Boardings, All Stops 256 100%

Figure 4-24 Route 6: Key Stops, Southbound

Stop Location Boardings % of Total Boardings

CSU Transit Center 103 55.4% Taft Hill - Blevins Junior High School 19 10.2% Dunbar - Swallow 16 8.6% One Day Total Boardings, All Stops 186 100%

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Boardings in this direction

Boardings in this direction

Total Weekday Boardings

Transit Center

1-5 Boardings6-10 Boardings11-20 Boardings21-50 Boardings

51-100 Boardings

101+ Boardings

LEGEND

105

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Route Frequency (min)

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Source: 1998 North Front Range Transportation& Air Quality Planning Council (MPO)

Weekday BoardingsPurple Route

Figure 4-25

#6

TRANSFORT

Ridecheck taken on Wednesday, 10-21-98

T r a n s f o r t S t r a t e g i c O p e r a t i n g P l a n • F i n a l R e p o r t

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On-Time Performance Schedule adherence on Route 6 northbound was achieved on all runs (zero to five minutes late is considered on-time) except three of 13 operating late at key timepoints and one operating ahead of schedule. In the southbound direction, three of 13 operated early at the selected timepoints.

Driver Comments Transfort drivers participated in group interviews to solicit input and comments on existing bus routes. The following are comments received for Route 6:

l Speed bumps on the route along Stuart are annoying. Plus there are two impossible turns: Stuart/Taft Hill and Dunbar.

l Taft is too congested to travel long. Take Shield to Drake.

l Dunbar and Horsetooth have a high number of boardings.

l Especially unproductive between 10:00 AM and 1:00 PM.

l The congestion between Shields and the Square has improved with the addition of the right turn lane.

l Horsetooth and College is the busiest intersection in Fort Collins. The route slows down later in the day: there are afternoon timing problems. Mornings aren’t too bad.