2001 Transfort Strategic Operating Plan - Executive Summary

Transfort Existing Fixed Route System (by Frequency)
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Introduction

This report is the Revised Draft Service Plan for Transfort. This is the second step in the Strategic Operating Plan process, following the Draft Existing Conditions Report that was submitted in May 2000. The purpose of the Strategic Operating Plan is to

• Identify transit needs, opportunities and constraints, and service goals;
• Prepare a service plan for the system; and
• Develop an operating, implementation and funding plan to support the strategic plan.

A key outcome of the existing conditions portion of the process was to determine the City’s preferred split of resources between maximizing ridership (productivity) and providing transit access regardless of the numbers of riders using the bus system. City staff, based on Council recommendation, gave direction to enhance productivity on the Transfort system. This is the emphasis for this draft service plan.

This document lays out four service alternatives at three different levels of investment. Ultimately, the recommended Scenario 4 is designed to meet the City Council’s goals for:

• increased productivity (ridership per dollar spent), and
• increased relevance of the system to the entire city and the University.

Keys to a Productive System

A high-productivity transit system has the following time-tested features:

• Minimal duplication between routes, generally with parallel routes no less than one half- mile apart.
• Convenient access to major centers of demand from all parts of the city.
• Simple, straight routes that are easy to understand.
• Direct, no-transfer service from all parts of the city to major centers of demand, to the extent feasible without creating duplication.
• Convenient, fast transfers between routes to serve origin-destination pairs that cannot be served with a single bus.
• Two-way service on all route segments, so that transit is competitive for a trip in both directions.
• A service design focused on the high-density portions of the city (seven dwelling units per acre or greater), since these are the areas that generate trip demand in sufficient volume to support transit service. In practice, this requires focusing on apartments, and to a lesser extent on mobile home parks, duplexes, and old neighborhoods where extensive reuse has increased the population density above what the dwelling-unit density would indicate.
• Frequent services in the (relatively few) corridors where high-ridership service is possible, with minimal service for coverage to parts of the city where current development will not generate high transit demand.
• Simplicity in service design, so that it is easy to learn the system not just for the trip you make routinely, but also for trips anywhere in the service area.

Transit Challenges

Fort Collins has some obstacles to providing productive service as the system currently operates. These include:

• The street and development patterns in Fort Collins have resulted in low-density growth and areas in which pedestrian access is limited.
• The layout, orientation, and location of the existing CSU Transit Center, coupled with required transfers for through-travel, reduces the overall efficiency of the system.
• Continuing growth on the south side of the urban growth area (UGA) has created new travel patterns that are not served by the current system.
• The current route structure provides separate transit centers in the downtown and at the University with largely separate systems of routes emanating from both.
• The heavy reliance on timed transfers at all three transit centers requires unforgiving on-time performance.
• Increasing traffic congestion has reduced roadway speeds in some areas at varying times of day, affecting transit schedules.

Four Service Alternatives

We have developed and refined four scenarios in consultation with City staff.

• All four of the alternatives assume the relocation of the Colorado State University Transit Center to the Lory Student Center location on the north side of the University campus, south of Meldrum and Laurel.
• Scenario 1 assumes no budget growth is required for its implementation. Scenario 2 assumes the implementation of transit service in the Mason Street corridor and assumes budget growth at one and one quarter times the current budget. Scenario 3 assumes the implementation of the Mason Street corridor coupled with other service enhancements and budget growth equal to slightly more than one and one half times the current budget. Scenario 4 assumes the implementation of a full transit grid and the Mason Street corridor and budget growth at roughly twice the current budget.
• The scenarios 2, 3, and 4 require cost increases over Scenario 1. In FY 2000 dollars, Scenario 1 would be similar to existing service, with estimated annual operational costs at approximately $3,390,000. Scenario 2 which adds the Mason Street Corridor bus service is estimated at $4,300,000. Scenario 3 begins the process of transitioning to a grid system with an estimated annual operating cost of $5,470,000. Scenario 4 is estimated at $7,370,000, showing a little more than double the resources to implement the alternative.
• The four scenarios should be viewed as the building blocks required to achieve a productive transit system for Fort Collins.

The Four Service Alternatives

• Scenario 1: No Budget Growth, Minimal Redesign
• Scenario 2: Minimal Redesign Plus Mason Street Corridor Service
• Scenario 3: Transition to Grid Service
• Scenario 4: Proposed Route System - 2010 Transit System

Next Steps

Once the City has reviewed and approved the Service Plan, we will develop the Operating Plan. The Operating Plan will include other changes and modifications identified by the City of Fort Collins. Implementation and a detailed financial and capital plan will be developed based on the approved Service Plan.