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HomeMy WebLinkAboutpacket 3_1-16_Update on the status of the Streamline buses Commission Memorandum REPORT TO: Honorable Mayor and City Commission FROM: Brit Fontenot, City Clerk David Kack, Western Transportation Institute SUBJECT: Presentation and update on the Streamline buses MEETING DATE: March 26, 2007 RECOMMENDATION: Consider the presentation and update on the status of the Streamline buses by Mr. David Kack of the Western Transportation Institute. On the basis of the information provided by Mr. Kack, consider the attached draft resolution and direct staff to return with a final version, as amended by the Commission, for approval. BACKGROUND: see attached memos FISCAL EFFECTS: Undetermined. ALTERNATIVES: As directed by the Commission. Respectfully submitted, _____________________ ________________________ Brit Fontenot, City Clerk Chris Kukulski, City Manager 111 Draft Resolution Supporting Streamline Buses Whereas the Bozeman City Commission voted to invest $42,000 to provide the “local match” for two buses for the Streamline public transportation in the greater Bozeman area (Resolution Number ????), and the resolution specifically stated support for the bustle (rounded) back bus; and, Whereas, the Montana Department of transportation has issued a purchase order for the buses and will pay 86 percent of the costs of the buses, but the bustle back feature of the bus is now an option, which would cost an additional $8,200 per bus; Now, therefore, be it resolved that the City of Bozeman supports the bustle back bus and will contribute an additional $16,400 to provide for the bustle back option on the two buses previously supported by the Commission; Or Now, therefore, bet it resolved that the City of Bozeman has deemed a bustle- back not necessary, and therefore resolves to amend its original Resolution, and will provide $42,000 of funds to be used as “local match” for Streamline buses that will have a flat back. 112 1 Streamline Update Presentation to City Commission David Kack, Streamline/Galavan Advisory Board Chair Lisa Ballard, P.E., Bozeman Area Transportation Coordinator March 26, 2007 Purpose of Presentation ƒ Provide an update on Streamline before submittal of FY 2008 application to Montana Department of Transportation ƒ Discuss bus purchase and “bustle back” vs. “straight back” ƒ Discuss street furniture and coordination with City staff ƒ Discuss bus barn Streamline Update 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 8/14/068/28/069/11/069/25/0610/9/0610/23/0611/6/0611/20/0612/4/0612/18/061/1/071/15/071/29/072/12/072/26/073/12/073/26/074/9/07Week of ServiceAverage Daily RidershipStreamline Galavan Total ProjectedVeteran's DayThanksgivingWinterBreakSpringBreakPresident'sDay Average daily ridership for each week of service. ƒ Hit 50,000 rides week of March 21 ƒ Ridership twice projections ƒ Holiday ridership exceeding expectations ƒ Cross section of Bozeman rides bus: MSU students and faculty, Big Sky seasonal employees, seniors, people with low incomes, one-car households (by choice or necessity), visitors, other choice riders Streamline receives funding from a variety of local sources as well as the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). In FY 2007, approximately $390,000 of local money is being invested in Streamline. An overview of the sources of funds is shown in the following table. 113 2 Streamline/Galavan Local Operating Funds (FY 2007) Source Amount ASMSU $90,000 City of Bozeman $62,000 Reach Contract $60,000 Gallatin County $45,000 Head Start Contract $42,000 United Way $28,000 MDT TransADE Grant $18,500 City of Belgrade $15,000 Donations $10,000 Title III b $10,000 Advertising $10,000 TOTAL $390,500 These local funds are used to leverage federal funding. Currently, Streamline receives just under $548,000 in Federal Transit Administration Section 5311 funds. The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has several key programs that support public transportation systems. In Montana, the program that provides funding to rural (less than 50,000 people) general public transportation systems, known as the FTA Section 5311 program, is administered by the Montana Department of Public Transportation (MDT). Providers such as Streamline must make an annual request to MDT for the funds, which operate on a Fiscal Year of July 1-June 30. This year’s request is due May 1, 2007. In general, the FTA funds provide 54 percent of the cost of operating the transit system. Other funds are available for capital equipment, and the FTA provides 80-86 percent of the cost of capital purchases (buses, bus shelters, vehicle storage facilities, etc.). The balance of funds for operations or capital must come from “local” sources, which includes non-transportation federal, state, county or city, and community funds. Through the Surface Transportation Bill (or “Highway Bill”) that was passed by Congress in 2005, known as SAFETEA-LU (Safe, Accountable, Flexible Efficient Transportation Act – a Legacy for Users), Montana saw its allocation of Section 5311 funds increase from approximately $1.8 million in FY05, to nearly $6.2 million in FY06. Funding is scheduled to increase through FY09 to 7.4 million dollars. While funding is dependent upon Congress and the President, it is anticipated that the FTA funds should remain available through the Montana Department of Transportation, and Streamline can use these funds to match the local monies it receives from various sources. The FY 2008 operating budget will be largely the same as FY 2007, with potential additional funds from Bridger Bowl for ski season service and ASMSU and/or the drunk driving task force for late night service Thursday - Saturday. We also are working with Reach to include more of their services. At this time we believe we need no additional operating funds from the Cities or County. 114 3 Bus Purchase (Flat back vs. Bustle Back Buses) MDT has selected the Ameritrans “yellow bus” for Streamline (see attached letter). The issue, however, is now the price to get the rounded back or "Bustle Back". The rounded back ties the bus distinctly to our region and the historic yellow buses used in Yellowstone The State is on its fourth bid on the buses. Because they did not specify the bustle back, all buses were bid with a flat back, with the bustle back as an option. Therefore, we (locally) need to pay the entire cost of getting the bustle back. Based on the bid, the buses will cost us $21,700 in match, just slightly more than the $21,000 we estimated. However, to get the bustle back will cost another $8,200 per bus. Therefore, the local match per bus for the bustle back bus would be approximately $29,900 per bus, almost $9,000 more per bus than was estimated when we started this process. The following photos show the different looks of the buses. We can expect to replace the chosen buses in 10 years. The City of Bozeman allocated $45,360 in FY 2007 for the 14% local match on two buses ($42,000) and four shelters ($3,360). Because MDT did not award funding for the shelters, we would like to roll the $3,360 bus shelter budget into FY 2008. Additionally, we would like to request funding for four additional shelters at $3,360 locally. The $9,000 per bus will result in a FY 2008 request for $24,720. We quickly need to decide if the community will support the additional funds for the bustle back buses. We are not done quite yet, but we have cleared a major hurdle. Note: The “flat back” bus doe not need to have a rear door. Also, this unit has an auxilary roof-top air conditioner, which we do not need. 115 4 Infrastructure, bus stops, and other coordination with the City We would like to work with the City on siting benches and shelters and on selecting an appropriate design for this street furniture. The inclusion of advertising, while aesthetically less pleasing, would help offset costs. We will bring pictures to the meeting on Monday and would like direction from the commission on the appearance. We are working on locations for shelters, starting with an assessment of volume at each of the stops (see table below). We will work with City staff to consider sidewalk geometry and other site-specific issues. Some stretches of routes have inadequate bus stops or with “flag stops” because the road has inadequate shoulders or sidewalks for the planners to recommend full stops during the first year of operation. For example, the Red Line as it travels eastbound on Main Street in front of the high school and the Coop goes 12 blocks without a stop. We would like to work with the City and MDT to see if we can find ways to make stops in some of these areas.Other areas of coordination with the City include working with Planning on subdivisions and longer-term planning. Preliminary ranking of bus stop loadings based on Jan 22 - Jan 24, 2007 data Top 20 Locations Usage Rank Stop Dir Avg Daily Loadings Nearby building shelter Notes 1 MSU SUB WB 166 TRUE 2 Mendenhall at Old Kenyon Noble WB 52 Garage should provide shelter and seating 3 Wal-Mart NA 34 TRUE 4 Gallatin Valley Mall (Jo-Ann's) NA 31 TRUE 5 Max & Burke (Gallatin Center) NA 17 6 15th & Beall (McDonald's) SB 13 7 Willson & Beall (Medical Arts) NB 13 8 Garfield & 15th (MSU Housing) EB 12 9 K-Mart NA 9.0 TRUE 10 8th & Babcock SB 8.7 11 Belgrade (Cenex) NA 8.7 TRUE 12 20th & Beall SB 6.7 13 Wallace & Main NB 6.7 14 Babcock & Fowler SB 6.3 15 Babcock & Rouse EB 6.3 16 Babcock & Yellowstone EB 6.0 17 Belgrade (Country Kitchen) NA 6.0 TRUE 18 Bridger Peaks Town Center NB 6.0 TRUE 19 22nd & Charlotte SB 5.7 20 Ferguson & Babcock NB 5.0 116 5 Bus Barn (bus storage) facility issues HRDC received a grant of $250,000 three years ago to build a bus storage facility, or bus barn. This money has to be substantially obligated by September 30 of this year, or we will loose the money. The $250,000 requires a 20 percent match, so $50,000 of local money or match is necessary. Typically, match is secured by finding land on which to build the facility. The site initially selected was the school district land where their bus storage facility is located (roughly 27th Street & Valley Center Road). This issue with this location became the “subdivision” requirements that would have to be met, including paving streets and other factors that would cost a substantial amount of funding. While this is the preferred location, unless these subdivision requirements can be waived, a new location needs to be secured. To build a facility that could grow with the Streamline bus system, a total of 1.5 to 2.0 acres is needed. The initial facility would need about 1 acre. For match purposes, it is beneficial if HRDC would not need to pay for this land, or would only pay a minimal lease rate of pennies on the dollar. Timing is now critical. We must find a location, bid out construction, and begin construction by September 30, 2007 or we will loose the funding. Given that Streamline is purchasing new vehicles, some of those with funds from the City of Bozeman, it is important that we have a facility to house those buses, so they remain out of the elements when they are not in use. 117 Attachments - MDT letter on award of buses - 2006 letter regarding buses from Debbie Arkell - Article on Streamline (FYI) 118 THIS BOOMING TOWN REALLY DOES NEED PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION Streamline: Bozeman’s New Public Transit System By Marjorie Smith, 3-20-07 Since last August, Bozeman and Belgrade residents have taken 50,000 rides on the new Streamline bus system, which is Bozeman’s first public transportation system since the death of the old trolleys that plied the streets between downtown and the MSU campus more than seventy years ago. I’ve taken at least 40 of those Streamline rides myself. For the past six weeks, I’ve been wandering the streets of Bozeman with my new heartthrob. I can’t begin to describe how deliciously disconcerting it is for me with my abiding (my daughter calls it bizarre) fondness for public transportation to view the familiar scenes of my hometown from the windows of a bus. According to David Kack, who chairs the Galavan-Streamline advisory board, “What we projected would be 300 rides a day in the first year is already over 500 rides a day.” On the days I take a music class at MSU, I stroll four blocks from my house to the downtown central bus stop by the old Kenyon Noble store and hop aboard either the red or yellow line. Ten to 12 minutes later I get off at the Student Union Building. It’s a darn sight more pleasant to walk from the SUB to the music building across campus than it is to hike approximately twice as far from the remote (cheap) parking lot out beyond the fieldhouse through whatever weather the west wind decides to fling at Eleventh Avenue. When class is over, I have half an hour to stroll back to the SUB, time enough to grab a latte along the way perhaps, and take either the yellow or blue route home. Either bus lets me off two blocks from my house. I realize that my inner city location gives me optimum access to Streamline, but apparently it works for hundreds of other folks, too, and gives me an entirely new view of this little mountain boom town. The first day I took the bus I was charmed to find several of my fellow passengers conversing in Spanish. Another day two young men got on speaking a Slavic language. One day I took the green route to Belgrade and back. This bus caters to the park-and-ride crowd, and the driver praised the folks at the Valley Bank Belgrade, the Country Kitchen and the former Valley Ice Garden for letting bus riders park for free in their lots. Oh, did I mention that the bus rides are also free to riders? They’re funded with a combination of federal transportation funds ($548,000 in this first year), with $380,000 coming from other sources including Galavan, the local non-profit that provides transportation for elderly and disabled residents, plus the United Way and the Montana Department of Transportation. The Associated Students of MSU kicked in what would otherwise have gone to their commuter bus system. As I ride – and watch my fellow passengers – I have to wonder: how much could Streamline charge for this ride and still get passengers? How much would I pay to avoid the rigors of that remote parking lot? David Kack says, “I don’t see us charging in the near future. We have to apply for the federal grant each year, but at present, federal funding is a percentage of our operations budget after any collected fares are deducted, so collecting fares would cut down on that grant.” He points out that charging fares involves additional challenges. “We’d have to buy fare boxes, set up systems to prevent theft, establish discounts 119 for seniors or students, and then enforce against misuse of discount passes.” He mentions comparable communities that have free bus service: Park City and Logan in Utah, and Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. “And,” he points out, “except on campus, parking is free so people tend to think driving to the mall or downtown is free. Most people don’t think about the cost of gasoline until they’re filling their tanks.” Streamline’s success has inevitably resulted in requests for expansion of service. Right now, three of the routes are traversed once an hour from roughly 7 AM to 7 PM, while the Belgrade route has morning buses that leave at 6:10 AM and 7:10 AM, two mid-day circuits from the Student Union to Belgrade and back, and two evening trips to Belgrade departing the SUB at 5:10 and 6:10 PM. The buses run Monday through Friday except on major holidays. Most of the buses travel in one-way circles, so the ride home might be a good deal longer than the ride to work or vice versa. Yet Bozeman is still small enough that most of these detours don’t take long. “People are constantly asking, couldn’t you start earlier or run a couple hours later, or run on Saturdays? For that to happen, we’d have to have a new source of funding,” says David Kack. “We might move to an urban transportation district to fund Saturday and Sunday service.” A transportation district, with carefully designated borders, would ask its voters to approve a mil levy dedicated to the bus system. There have been requests for MSU to put something into the pot beyond what the Associated Students contribute. In a recent article in the student newspaper, the Exponent, MSU’s vice president for finance, Craig Roloff, was quoted as insisting that he would have to see evidence that MSU faculty and staff were using the system before Streamline finds a place in MSU’s the budget. I could give him anecdotal evidence about the folks I see riding the bus, but Kack thinks a broader approach is needed. “They need to consider the university’s impact on traffic, look at the broader community implications. Is MSU going to be part of the community and invest in this? Perhaps the bus system can postpone the need for additional parking on campus.” Kack’s position as chair of the Streamline advisory board is voluntary, but in his day job he is a research associate at MSU’s Western Transportation Institute, and he can marshal pro-public transportation arguments to suit many audiences. “There are always people who grumble if it comes to approving a mil levy that they never have taken the bus and never will,” he says. “We have to help them see that for every person riding the bus, that’s one less car competing for parking or backing up traffic at the stoplights.” Kack and all the Streamline drivers I’ve spoken to are anxiously awaiting news on when the system will get new buses. The current buses came from the Laidlaw fleet in Spokane (Laidlaw operates Streamline, Galavan and the Bozeman School District’s bus system). The current buses seat 16 passengers and have space for a wheelchair. There are bike racks on the fronts of the buses and they are all fitted with wheel chair lifts. New buses would be bigger. “We don’t want to promote too many new riders when some of the rush hour runs are already standing room only,” says Kack. Lee Hazelbaker, supervisor of both Streamline and Galavan, who works out of the Bozeman Senior Center, says that traditional Galavan customers who are sufficiently mobile take the scheduled Streamline buses, cutting down a bit on demand for Galavan’s customized rides. Even so, Galavan averages about 90 rides a day, having extended the areas it serves. (While Mondays, Wednesday and Thursdays are limited to the Bozeman city limits, on Fridays people in Belgrade can request rides and on Tuesdays Galavan provides rides as far away as Three Forks.) Vance Ruff, branch manager for Laidlaw, finds it a little hard to define how many new drivers were employed as a result of adding Streamline to the mix because many of Laidlaw’s school bus drivers added 120 some Streamline driving hours to their mid-day off time. “Certainly adding the Streamline runs has helped me in recruiting drivers in this tight labor market,” he says. “We’re attracting new people because driving transit means they can work more hours.” And, he adds, “Some drivers would probably really rather drive transit than school buses because they don’t have to deal with discipline issues.” I’ve spoken to many of the Streamline drivers in my explorations of the system (doing my best not to distract them as they drive). Being on a bus when they switch drivers is sometimes reminiscent of Pony Express days. A new driver shows up at the old Kenyon Noble with a school bus, relieving the previous driver so she can go do her school bus run. All the drivers I’ve met are friendly and appear to enjoy their interaction with riders, both newcomers and regulars. When a regular rider doesn’t show up at his usual stop, the drivers worry. I asked David Kack if local public transportation officials had pitched the need for help financing the system to any of the developers proposing major new subdivisions in Bozeman or Belgrade. “Sure we have. The usual response is to offer to buy some buses for the fleet. Unfortunately, buying buses is not the answer. It’s the operating expenses that you have meet in order to expand the system and keep it attractive to riders. That’s where we need help.” Here’s hoping – for all our sakes – we get that help from many sources. (To see route maps and schedules for the bus system, go to www.streamlinebus.com) [End of article] This article was printed from www.newwest.net at the following URL: http://www.newwest.net/index.php/main/article/streamline_bozemans_new_public_transit_system/ © 2006 NewWest, All Rights Reserved Use of this site is subject to New West's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. 121 Multimodal Planning Bureau Phone: (406) 444–3423 Fax: (406) 444–7671 Rail, Transit and Planning Division TTY: (800) 335–7592 Web Page: www.mdt.mt.gov March 19, 2007 District IX HRDC/Galavan/Streamline Lee Hazelbaker 32 South Tracy Avenue Bozeman, MT. 59715 Subject: Bid Award HWY-307176-RP I have recommended to the Montana Department of Transportation Purchasing Bureau that we award the bid to Intermountain Coach Leasing of Colorado Springs, CO. The cost for the 23 Passenger Bus will be $155,209.00 for each bus. For the cost of five of them will be $766,045.00. The cost for the 35 Passenger will be $161,973.00. The options that your agency can choose from are overhead storage compartments or roof mounted air conditioning. Overhead Storage Compartments for each vehicle will be: • 23 and 35 passenger buses will be $2,475.00 each. Roof mounted air conditioning for each vehicle will be: • 23 and 35 passenger buses will be $7,950.00 each. If any of the options above are requested the cost will be 86% Federal, and 14% local match. The last option for the bussel back or retro tour buses appearance will be paid 100% by the local agency if they choose this option. • The bussel back or retro tour buses appearance will cost for each bus $8,200.00. 122 If your agency is interested in any of the options listed above you need to send a letter to MDT Transit Section no later than March 28, 2007. MDT purchasing will then issue a purchase order adjustment to the vendor. Please call me at (406) 444-6120 if you have any questions. Patrick Sanders Montana Department of Transportation Rail, Transit, and Planning Division Regional Transit Planner Phone (406) 444-6120 Email psanders@mt.gov copies: Agency vehicle file 123 Commission Memorandum REPORT TO: Honorable Mayor and City Commission FROM: Debbie Arkell, Director of Public Service Chris Kukulski, City Manager SUBJECT: Galavan Public Transit - Request for Funding MEETING DATE: February 21, 2006 BACKGROUND: HRDC/Galavan, through David Kack, Chair of the Galavan Advisory Board, is requesting that the City contribute an additional $24,360 (minimum) to the Galavan Public Transit project. Galavan currently receives approximately $55,000 (one mill levy) from the City for operation costs. The $24,360 (minimum) would be in addition to that funding, and would be used as the match to purchase one bus and four passenger shelters. They are also seeking match funding for one (or two) buses from Gallatin County and MSU Administration, and any balance needed would likely come from their operations budget. The Galavan Advisory Board has been working for several years to expand public transportation in the Bozeman and Belgrade areas. The Montana Department of Transportation is accepting applications for public transit funding assistance, and the application due-date has been extended to mid-April. However, they are trying to order their vehicles as soon as possible, because if funding can be attained, the buses should be here by July. The City Commission adopted Resolution No. 3877 on December 12, 2005 that recognizes and designates the Human Resource Development Council, District IX (HRDC) to be the recipient of FTA Section 5311 Funds in the Greater Bozeman Area. A copy of the Resolution is attached for convenience. The Greater Bozeman Area Transit Development Plan was developed in conjunction with the 2001 Bozeman Area Transportation Plan Update. The Transit Development Plan includes several goals, including: modify the transit service to include fixed routes and shuttles, and provide bus stations and shelters. The Plan further identifies specific transit needs that define the attributes needed to meet the transit goals. Those include: • Improve the transit system that serves MSU; • Help Galavan expand their service to accommodate the growing elderly population; • Provide reliable year-round transit service for the general public; • Capitalize on federal grant money for public transit systems; • Provide for rural transit service between smaller communities and Bozeman; and • Work with and support existing taxi service. 124 2 In February 2005, the Transit Task Force received a letter of support from the City Commission for the “Yellow Bus Demonstration Project”. These buses are “retrofit” of the original Yellowstone Park tour buses, and they operate on alternative fuels. Their current application will be for the purchase of five “yellow buses” and four passenger shelters. GALAVAN ADVISORY BOARD PLAN: While their routes and hours of operation cannot be set until they know how many buses they will have, they have four different route options under consideration, and plan to provide bus service 11 hours per day, Monday through Friday, with some Saturday service. The buses would serve the City of Bozeman, and they are proposing six runs per day between Bozeman and Belgrade. Bobcat Transit now does one run in morning and one run during the day to Belgrade, which is not convenient for workers, students or shoppers. They are proposing installing four “typical plexi-glass type” shelters at locations not yet known. Mr. Kack is aware that applicable city departments will have to approve the location and design before they are installed. However, they will be installed in residential areas, such as on South Willson Avenue, as buildings will be available for riders to wait in at commercial area bus stops for the present time. FUNDS REQUESTED: Each bus will cost $150,000. The Federal grant will pay 86% of the cost. They are requesting the 14% match - $21,000 from the City for one bus, or $42,000 for two buses. The cost of the passenger shelters is $6,000 each. Again, the Federal grant will pay 86% of the cost. They are requesting $3,360 for the 14% match for four shelters. RECOMMENDATION: No staff recommendation. If the Commission chooses to support this project and commit to sharing in the required match, a motion should be made to direct the City Manager and Finance Director to determine which fund the money can be attained from, and to commit the desired amount of funding ($21,000 for one bus or $42,000 for two buses; plus $3,360 for four shelters) if the Federal grant is received. The funding for the shelters should be contingent that the shelters are constructed within the City of Bozeman, and that the location, design and construction be reviewed and approved by appropriate City departments. FISCAL EFFECTS: A funding source for $24,360 for one bus and four shelters or $45,360 for two buses and four shelters will have to be identified. If the Federal grant is received and the buses and shelters are purchased prior to June 30, 2006, a budget amendment to the FY06 budget will be needed. ALTERNATIVES: As suggested by the City Commission. Respectfully submitted, _________________________________ ____________________________ Debbie Arkell, Director of Public Services Chris A. Kukulski, City Manager Attachment: Resolution No. 3877 CC: David Kack, Western Transportation Institute Report compiled on February 13, 2006 125