University Assembly Transportation Advisory Committee

Transportation Advisory Committee Meeting
Friday, February 20, 2009
12:15 - 1:30pm
316 Day Hall
MINUTES

I. Call to Order

Present:

Members- Marin Clarkberg, Marisa LaFalce, Lois Levitan, John Ludders, David Proctor
Ex-Officio- Judy Eckard, Tanya Husick, Inda Mahler, Helen Steh, Bill Wendt
Guests- Nancy Oltz, Nicole Tedesco
Excused- Tim Fahey, Jim Gibbs, Melissa Hardstone and Arnim Meyburg

M. LaFalce called the meeting to order at 12:20 P.M., introductions were made around the table. The minutes from the January meeting were approved.

J. Eckard noted that Tim Fahey and Melissa Hardstone are unable to attend this semesters meetings because of class conflicts.

II. TCAT Transit Development Plan

N. Tedesco passed out the Transit Development Plan. First she asked who rides TCAT. A number of members said they ride the following routes: 53, 54, 10, anything to downtown, 50, 40, 81 and 20.

N. Tedesco talked about the background on the project. The last time TCAT looked at its service was ten to eleven years ago. So they started by looking at the big picture level. They hired a consultant and it took six months to do the background work which included a ridership survey. During the Fall 2008 TCAT worked on recommendations. A series of public meetings where held the week of February 9th; 200 people attended and there were 400 written comments. They are seeing themes emerge and have a clear idea where TCAT needs to go. They will take the feedback into consideration and will revise the plan and go back out to the public in late March.

III. Changes to South Ithaca Routes

Connect Route 11 to Route 30 to create a constant all day, all night service through the community. It replaces Route 12 (night service between Cornell and Ithaca College). Route 28 which runs North Campus, West Campus, and to downtown shopping centers will be replaced by connecting Route 15 to a revised Route 32. It will run seven days a week, 7:00 A.M. - 8:00 P.M. and go to Cornell, downtown shopping centers, Ithaca Airport and the Northwoods Apartments without changing buses. Plan shows discontinuing Long View service, but TCAT is looking to add it back. Tompkins Community Action and Salvation Army need more service rather than at commuter time. Titus Towers customers will have to ride around a loop rather than 2-way service (takes longer). King Road/Coddington Road, no service extended there སྭ not enough people to warrant the service.

IV. Changes to North Ithaca Routes

Route 13 and Route 16 are combined. Passengers can go to the Ithaca Mall without going through Cornell. Concern has been expressed about not being able to go to Aldi’s.

V. Changes to West Hill Routes

Route 20 works well and won’t be changed. Route 21 to Trumansburg - the Cayuga Medical Center is taken off Route 21 and put on Route 14, which will make the Route 21 service faster.

L. Levitan suggested locating a park and ride lot in the West Hill area. B. Wendt said that they are looking at park and ride sites and are looking near the Cayuga Medical Center.

VI. Changes to Northeast Ithaca Routes

Routes 31 and 32 service will be reduced on Warren Road, Hanshaw Road, Dart Drive behind the Ithaca Mall. N. Tedesco said that they tried to straighten out the routes (not so winding). Route 30 is a good performer and will run an express from North Campus directly to the Ithaca Mall. Route 31 will provide service between Winston Court and Cornell and will operate hourly. Sapsucker Woods Road would be taken off this route and will be replaced by a peak-hour demand response service on Route 41. Route 32 will improve access to the Ithaca Airport. This route will run 7 days a week and will be a direct link from the Ithaca Airport, Cornell and Downtown shopping areas. It will run on the half-hour during the week and once an hour on weekend.

B. Wendt said that the City is moving the Human Services Department to Brown Road. Cornell also has the potential to add a park and ride on Brown Road. He noted that when we talk about park and ride, it necessitates express bus service during commute hours. N. Tedesco said there may be changes to make other routes work better. Warren Road loses regular service and we need to look at that.

B. Wendt noted that Route 31 will serve East Hill Plaza and Collegetown. N. Tedesco said that TCAT has to look at half-hour service on that route.

VII. Service changes to Dryden/Groton/Etna/Freeville/McLean

N. Tedesco said there is a large area (Etna) which is low density and doesn’t have high ridership. So TCAT is trying dial-a-ride on fixed routes to a certain point and then go to locations where riders call for a ride at houses or certain pick up points as needed. D. Proctor said that it’s a fantastic idea and to make it integrated into TCAT’s website. A lot of Grad/Professional students live in that area. B. Wendt said the website link sounds like a good student project!

J. Ludders asked how riders get back home on the dial-a-ride service. N. Tedesco said it must be scheduled like the in-bound trips.

additional service is added to Route 43, 7 days/week. This route is heavily productive in-bound and out-bound.

L. Levitan asked who designates bus stops on campus. B. Wendt said it happens in a lot of ways - planning departments, Cornell reps, etc. The Campus Master Plan suggests we look for a transit hub on campus and we are working to design that.

VIII. Changes to East Hill Routes

N. Tedesco commented that there has been a lot of feedback and will result in changes. The largest movement is downtown, campus, East Hill Plaza and then ridership drops off. We had to cut service where we were only seeing 2 - 3 riders/hour སྭ Honness Lane and Turkey Hill Road. We have to be real about what mass-transit can do and can not do. The Snyder Hill portion of Route 50 had more ridership than Honness Lane. The Commonlands feedback asked for night service (not day-time).

N. Tedesco also noted that TCAT’s looking at adding a couple of trips on Route 54 at commuting times for Turkey Hill Road.

IX. Changes to Campus Routes

Route 83 will service North Campus, West Campus, and Central Campus Route 82 will mirror Route 81 through Campus and then to East Hill Plaza. TCAT is looking at adding Maplewood Park.

B. Wendt said this will help give more direct service to East Hill Plaza.

N. Tedesco said currently there is one weekend day-time route, (Route 85) and two night-time routes, (Routes 92, 93). These will be combined into one bi-directional route, Route 85. D. Proctor said thank-you for that because no one can figure out the other routes, when and where they go.

N. Oltz asked the committee if the idea of Route 85 is confusing when the bus is going north or east? L. Levitan said that improved signage at stops is needed. Signs on buses སྭ maybe Route 85 East and Route 85 North would help. D. Proctor said a better idea is to say the next destination. J. Ludders asked if at these key stops there will be signs and direction? N. Tedesco said TCAT will be doing a significant amount of outreach སྭ will be redoing their maps and signage.

B. Wendt said TCAT is looking to make changes in August but with all the changes maybe some will be in August and some later. L. Levitan commented that with the outreach TCAT should do some beta testing with non-English speaking people.

B. Wendt commented that the whole idea of the Transit Development Plan came from the t-GEIS study. D. Proctor asked when the next public meeting will be. N. Tedesco said late March, early April.

I. Mahler noted that when TCAT picked up the Schuyler route there was talk about money for a bus. B. Wendt said; yes, it will be in the rural transit program but it will take at least 18 months to get this bus.

X. Adjourn

M. LaFalce thanked TCAT for coming and adjourned the meeting at 1:30 P.M.