HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/07/1995, 1 - UNMET TRANSIT NEEDS HEARING "J T JI S 0131 SPO march 7,
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COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT '�"'' NUMBER: /
FROM: Michael D. McCluskey, Director of Public Work!,
Prepared by: Harry Watson, Transit Manager
SUBJECT: Unmet Transit Needs Hearing
CAO RECOMMENDATION:
1. Receive testimony. 2. Direct staff to analyze requests, using the City's
adopted definitions of "unmet transit need" and "reasonable to meet"
and return to Council at a future meeting with recommended findings on
transit needs.
DISCUSSION:
Background
With the City's designation as an "Urban" community in 1992, San Luis Obispo became
eligible for Section 9 Federal Transit Administration (FTA) funding. As a condition of
Section 9 funding, the governing body (San Luis Obispo City Council) is required to hold
annual unmet transit needs hearings. This is the second year to hold a hearing to provide
the public with an opportunity to request new, expanded, or modified transit services. In
addition to the testimony received at the public hearing, the Council will be presented with
testimony received by staff prior to the hearing through the mail or by telephone. After
Council has received the testimony, staff will analyze each request for transit services to
determine if any meet the City adopted definitions of "reasonable to meet" and "unmet
transit.need". Staff will return to Council with recommendations on each request and ask
Council for direction to implement a new or expanded transit service.
Attached are copies of the Notice of Public Hearing published in the Telegram-Tribune,
News Release, and the flyer which was mailed to social service/activity agencies and
distributed aboard SLO Transit.
This public hearing should not be confused with the unmet transit needs hearings held by the
San Luis Obispo Council of Governments (SLOC.OG). SLOCOG annually is required to
take testimony on unmet transit needs, as a requirement .of a different transit funding
source, the Transportation Development Act (TDA). SLOCOG's hearings are held to
determine if all reasonable transit demands are met,prior to releasing TDA funds for transit
and street and road improvement purposes. The TDA states that "All transit needs that are
reasonable to meet will be addressed before TDA is spent on street and road projects.This
is not an issue for San Luis Obispo, as the City has determined that all TDA funds will be
used for Alternative Transportation services.
city of Sant OBISPO
COUNCIL AGENDA REP RT
Unmet Needs
Page Two
Definition of an "Unmet Transit Need" and "Reasonable to Meet"
Previously, Council has adopted the following definitions for "Unmet Transit Need" and
"Reasonable to Meet".
"UNMET TRANSIT NEED"
An "Unmet Transit Need" is one which would fill an existing gap in services currently
provided, such as service to an area of the city not currently being served. A gap could also
be perceived as an undue amount of time between current bus service. A gap can also be
perceived as a sub-standard level of service, such as a route that only provides service in one
direction, requiring a rider to complete an entire loop of the system to return from a trip.
A sufficient number of people should request the same service to have a finding of ati
"Unmet Transit Need". Staff's suggested number is 15 requests for fixed route, and 10
requests for paratransit service.
The request should be an existing need, not a perceived future need, such as providing
service now for an area that will be annexed into the city at a future date.
An "Unmet Transit Need" finding should not be made to accommodate minor requests
about operational issues such as route changes and bus stop locations.
"REASONABLE TO MEET"
A request for service would not be "Reasonable To Meet", if the cost of providing the
service exceeded the combined funding available to provide the service as a whole.
A request for service would not be "Reasonable To Meet", if it did not generate at least a
20% farebox ratio, exceeded the general service level of the system as a whole, or served
a particular market in excess of 40% of the capacity of the bus.
A request for service would not be 'Reasonable To Meet", if the funding required to provide
the new service would cause a reduction in other existing service.
city of San as OBispo
COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
Unmet Needs
Page Three
Unmet Needs Hearing and Evaluation Process
Tonight's meeting is to take testimony. At a future Council meeting staff will return and
recommend findings, based on the adopted definitions, that there are:
1. no "unmet transit needs", or
2. no "unmet transit needs" that are "reasonable to meet", or
3. there are "unmet transit needs" that are not "reasonable to meet", or
4. there are "unmet transit needs", including those that are "reasonable to meet".
The Council will then consider, discuss, and/or modify the findings prior to adoption by
resolution. The Council's findings then become part of the application for Section 9
allocations.
FISCAL EWPACT
Holding this public hearing is a requirement of the Section 9 Federal grant application
process. The current Federal approved grant amount is $635,014.
Attachments: Notice of Hearing
News Release
Flyer
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I
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO
Public Notice is hereby given that of the seventh day of March
1995, at the hour of 7:00 pm, or as soon thereafter as possible,
the San Luis Obispo City Council will hold a public hearing in the
Council Chambers, City Hall, 990 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo, CA,
for the purpose of inviting suggestions and requests relative to
UNMET PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION NEEDS (bus) which can reasonably be met
(required by Section 9 of the Federal Transit Administration) . All
interested persons are invited to be present and to submit
statements orally or in writing before or during the meeting. If
you have concerns about the service level, frequency, or hours of
operation, the City Council wants to hear from you. Statements may
also be made by phone by calling Harry Watson at 781-7121, or by
mail to City of San Luis Obispo, (transit) , 955 Morro Street, San
Luis Obispo, CA 93401.
S/Diane Gladwell
City Clerk
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NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Harry Watson, 781-7121 March 7, 1995
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CHANGES IN CITY
TRANSIT BUS SERVICE SOUGHT
Do you :have transit needs that are not being met in the City of San
Luis Obispo?
The City Council wants to hear from you.
To determine if any changes need to be made in the City transit
system, the City Council is holding an "UNMET TRANSIT NEEDS
HEARING"
There are three ways to make your needs heard:
1. Come to the hearing, Tuesday, March 7, 1995 at 7pm at City
Hall.
2. Call Transit Manager at 781-7121 before March 7, 1995.
3. Write down your requests and send them to SLO Transit, 955
Morro Street, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401, attention H.
Watson. (Requests must be received before March 7, 1995)
All communications will be presented to the City council at their
March 7, 1995 meeting.
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PUBLIC
HEARING
The SLO City Council wants to hear from you!
The Council is holding a PUBLIC HEARING to listen to
your transit needs and wants.
March 7th @ 7 :00 P.M .
City Hall, 990 Palm Street
For transportation info call: Run-A-Bout 541-2228 or Bus 541-BUSS
LAttn:
re unable to attend,
=extended
plan to attend this hearing,
write the City of SLO at: on SLO Transit will be
orro Street, SLO, 93401
ure a return trip.
arry Watson
All written and phone requests
Harry Watson, 781 -7121 will be presented to the Council
MEETING AGENDA 882 Mission Street
DATE # San Luis Obispo, Ca 93405-2343
3 March 1995
Mayor Settle
990 Palm Street
San Luis Obispo, Ca 93403
Dear Mayor Settle;
When you were campaigning for office last November 1994 ,- you stopped
at my house to ask for support in getting elected. I had told you that I
would support you. While talking with you I mentioned that I was
interested in having the bus stop moved from Murray Street to Mission
Street . You showed some consern in my request . Starting 16 January 1995
the Transit System changed my route, Route 1 . There is now nolonger have
any bus serve on Chorro Street .
With the counsil hearing on the "SLO Bus Service" public hearing on
7 March 1995, I want to voice my objections to this new Bus Route change.
I have enclosed a copy of my objection sent to Harry Watson, Transit
Manger.
Since ly,
Mi hael N. Baker
Enclosure
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❑ PERS DIR RECEIVED
MAR 1995
SpNCI Y COUNCIL'
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882 Mission Street
San Luis Obispo, Ca 93405-2343
3 March 1995
Harry Watson, Transit Manager
City of San Luis Obispo
990 Palm Street
Box 8100
San Luis Obispo, CA 93403-8100
Dear Mr. Watson:
I wish to voice my opinion on the San Luis Obispo Transit route change
for Route I .
Myself : I have a missing left forearm and hand. I have angina and
three ( 3 ) years ago I had an Ischemic stroke (Transient
Ischemic Attack) .
1 ) The TIA left me with limited ability to walk, due to a
leftsided weakness. I need the use of a cain to walk;
cannot walk extended distances, climb stairs easily nor
walk fast and unable to drive an automobile.
2 ) The Angina prevents me from exerting myself physically
( i .e. climbing hills , walking fast ) .
Route change:
Since 1992 , the sole method of transportation I have (unless someone
takes me) is the use of the public transit system. I use this to get
home from Cuesta, to and from the downtown area where I do my banking,
shopping, etc. Route 1 ran down Chorro Street which is 1 block from
my home ( 2 blocks to bus stop) . This year, Route 1 was changed to
exclude Chorro street and moved over to Santa Rosa Street (which is
all ready heavily used) .
I must now walk over the Murray Street hill to the bus stop six blocks
( f mile) over a steep hill , and this trip on foot takes me between 40
minutes and 1 hour. If I need to go downtown, I have to walk eleven
blocks (7/10 of a mile, up another hill ) to get to city hall or
downtown; this takes between 2 and 21 hours to make a round trip
into/out of town.
Now that the weather has turned inclement this walk leaves me
susceptible to illness as I would be walking for 30-60 minutes in the
rain (without protection of an umbrella as I have only one arm) and/or
cold winds .
Being disabled, I am now deprived of easy access to San Luis via
ublic transportation. The Runabout Bus is impractical as I don ' t know 24
.curs in advance when I will need to go into town .
1
The "Chorro Street Homeowners Association" who hushed this bus route
change did not consult with residents on Mission Street (nor any
handicapped residents i .e. Benny, the blind fellow living next to me) nor
on Lincoln Street ( I polled several ) that I could find about whether they
wanted the bus service to cease running on Chorro Street .
The bus takes 5 minutes to travel from Foothill Blvd. to city hall ,
and they do not exceed the speed limit , cause excessive noise, nor exhaust
( they run on natural gas) ; the automobiles cause these problems (buses are
big enough and slow enough to be easily identified) , as you would find out
if you try to cross the street , especially at morning/evening rush hour .
Those people that do cause these problems are those using Chorro
Street for access to the downtown area by car ( for work, shopping, Farmers
market , La Fiesta and Mardi Gras) and they are those residents in
North/NorthWest San Luis Obispo (and Chorro Street residents who don' t use
the bus service) , and College students .
I would recommend that the city install additional "Stop" signs on
Chorro street to stop those speeding (with enforcement ) . I would like to
see a stop signs on the corner of Chorro Street and Mission & Center
Streets , this should slow the traffic to a safe limit . With the extra stop
signs this may discourage heavy traffic use upon Chorro Street .
In conclusion, I would like to have the Chorro Street route reinstated
so that the three disabled people plus myself , the elderly, would again
have easy access to public transportation.
iicSicrely,hael Baker
cc: Mayor Settle
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