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BRATS 2012BRATS 2012A Target for Transit Development in Baldwin County
Stan Virden, President Baldwin County Public Transit Coalition 26 April 2002 Overview
With a population expectation close to 160,000 within ten years, Baldwin County is approaching metropolitan size with metropolitan problems, including the challenge of ensuring adequate personal mobility for its citizens. The difference between our county and a city is geographic size that spreads us out over nearly 1600 square miles – 300 more than the State of Rhode Island. At present, most personal movement beyond the range of walking is by personally owned vehicle. Unfortunately, for those who do not personally command the use of an automobile, the freedom to travel to places and at times of their own choosing is severely limited. For numerous others an automobile may be available, at least part time, but circumstances make public transport, if available, much more practical. The recently published Public Transit Needs Assessment, South Alabama Regional Planning Commission, February 2002, revealed that 27% of Baldwin County residents (representing over 43,000 people in 2012) would regularly or occasionally use public transportation if it was reasonably convenient to do so. Clearly, the need for public transit is considerable and increasing.
At present, most public transportation is provided by the Baldwin Rural Area Transportation Services (BRATS), a county department. BRATS provides on-call service requiring 24-hours advance reservations. This service is used primarily for medically essential travel and by handicapped persons. Additionally, BRATS provides transport by contract for employers and for public events, and operates several fixed routes for the general public. BRATS is nationally recognized for its exceptional management and high quality service, but its reach is sharply restricted by inadequate operations funding. The Baldwin County Public Transit Coalition (PTC) was formed three years ago as a grassroots organization dedicated to finding the means by which public transit could be extended to all persons in the county as a reasonable and convenient alternative to the use of automobiles.
The first priority for BRATS is and will remain specialized, on-call, medically essential travel. A significant number of people must report several times each week for dialysis, radiation, or chemotherapy. Their treatments render them unable to drive, whatever their resources. Their families seldom can provide transportation on a prolonged basis without enormous sacrifice. These patients’ physical condition and finances make ambulance transport unnecessary and impractical. Yet their ability to report for treatment is a matter of life or death. BRATS is the only answer, and solves the problem with sensitivity, effectiveness, and economy.
BRATS’ second priority is contract service, by which certain employers ensure that their employees report to work on a reliable basis. Contract service is also provided for private schools, for single-instance excursion trips (especially for seniors), and for park-and-ride service at large public events. Contract service has important economic benefits for users and provides an essential and predictable income stream for BRATS.
Third, BRATS does provide variable scheduled route service for the general public within and between a few municipalities, particularly when traffic volume or local subsidy makes this feasible. It is the purpose of PTC/BRATS long-range planning to expand this service countywide and with sufficient frequency to enable anyone to consider the use of public transit as a reasonable substitute for use of a personal vehicle. Such a service appears essential to continued growth and economic health of the county, as it has important implications for general quality of life, especially for those who find mobility to be a disheartening challenge.
Development of full transit service requires action on three fronts:
· Design of a comprehensive and coherent route system with highly reliable schedules and sufficient frequency to attract large numbers of riders.
· Sufficient sources of local funding to overcome lack of state subsidy, to qualify for Federal grant programs, and to ensure an attractive fare structure.
· Extensive public education to inform potential riders of advantages to be gained from full service public transit and to inspire active institutional and political support.
The BRATS 2012 System
The BRATS 2012 System cannot spring forth fully-grown. One must expect it to emerge phase by phase. Nevertheless, the closer it gets to full service capacity, the faster it will grow in utility and ridership. As it reaches farther more often, offering ever-greater personal flexibility, more people will see it as convenient to their needs. By the year 2012 this system should take on the following characteristics: Trunk Routes
The basic route structure will follow the county’s two main arteries: · State Highway 59, between Bay Minette and Gulf Shores. · U.S. Highway 98, between Lillian, Fairhope, and Spanish Fort.
There will also be connections along: · State Highway 59 between Bay Minette and Little River, · U.S. 31 between Bay Minette and Spanish Fort, and · U.S. 90/98 or Interstate 10 between Spanish Fort and Mobile.
Feeder Routes
It is obvious that numerous potential riders will live farther than walking distance from the trunk routes. Their needs will require feeder routes that can transport them to the main line bus stops or provide short lifts within their own communities. Different localities will have differing needs that mandate a variety of approaches. Two prominent possibilities are:
· Local service contracts, in which a municipality may subsidize or partially subsidize an agreed upon set of internal routes and schedules operated by BRATS. · Community Transit Cooperatives (CTC) in which BRATS provides and maintains vehicles, trains drivers, and performs dispatching. The CTC, sponsored by an association of local interests, provides paid or volunteer drivers, determines service levels appropriate to the community, and pays operating costs. Bus Stops and Hubs
Bus stops along the trunk routes must be spaced in a manner convenient to prominent destinations and to riders approaching by foot or by feeder vehicles. To the maximum extent possible bus stops should provide seating and some degree of weather protection. It is vital to remember that a service enjoyed is a service used. Passenger safety and comfort are essential to an effective system.
Hubs are expanded bus stops, with restroom and, in some cases, park-and-ride facilities. They are primary terminals for some trunk routes, as well as transfer points for passengers changing from east west to north south, and vice versa. Hubs are most likely to be established at: · Foley · Robertsdale · Bay Minette · Spanish Fort
The Robertsdale hub, current headquarters of BRATS, will include the central dispatching office. An additional hub might be established at Gulf Shores if a local route between Orange Beach and Fort Morgan or West Beach is created. Scheduling and Dispatching
It is absolutely essential that schedules, once published, be adhered to exactly. Busses that arrive and depart early at any stop will frustrate passengers who arrive on time. Busses that arrive late will miss transfer connections, creating additional frustrations. Electronic technology available today makes it possible for the central dispatcher continuously to track every vehicle in the system and to control its progress through voice communication. This will assure that transfer connections are accurate and that passengers will be able to rely upon established travel times. It will allow the dispatcher to act quickly and efficiently in emergencies. Early installation of such electronic controls is crucial to full service system development.
Funding
Public investment of tax dollars in public transit is commonplace. The reasons lie in public benefit from reduced road congestion, reduced air pollution, and reduced consumption of natural resources – especially as gasoline prices rise. Further, efficient commuting service attracts new businesses to the area by increasing the effectively available number of workers, especially at lower wage levels. More jobs bring more income and spending, which, in turn, increase tax revenues and reduce tax expenditures for public assistance. With efficient public transit those who do not drive – young, old, infirm, or otherwise – spend more time in public and generate more sales for local merchants. Everybody wins.
Local investment in transit has an additional benefit, in that numerous Federal grant programs match local funds, in some cases several times over. Grants, however, tend to sponsor capital equipment and facilities acquisition. Operations and maintenance costs are mainly a local matter. Unfortunately, the Alabama Constitution and state policy provide little support for transit. How then can we generate more operating dollars for BRATS?
A typical municipality may expect transit revenues to return 40% or less of actual costs. Public expenditure subsidizes the rest, and local governments still consider the money well spent. BRATS, nationally recognized as a leader in efficiency, covers about 90% of cost with its own revenue. This is partly because its restricted range of services makes it easier to match operations with predictable revenue. Under a program of expansion to full service routes covering the entire county one cannot expect the fare box to keep up with costs, especially while the public is adjusting its traveling habits. Where else can money come from? Advertising
One obvious source of revenue is advertising, for which BRATS needs to maximize its potential. Advertisers can: · Pay for billboards inside busses and hubs. · Pay for naming rights to busses, which can be decorated outside with corporate logos and messages. · Pay to construct and advertise on bus stops. · Sponsor news and music broadcasting within busses. Fare Innovations
With adequate service in effect, BRATS can supplement contract operations by simply selling tickets and limited time (week or month) passes to the general public, to businesses, and to service agencies. Tickets and passes would allow holders to travel any route at any time. A supermarket could provide a ticket with every $25 in purchases. Passes could be given as premiums. Employers and agencies could re-sell or award tickets or passes to their employees and clients to ensure their arrival where and when needed. Parents could give passes to their children for transport to recreation. Such activity would increase ridership and provide income, particularly if service levels fully met public needs.
Baldwin County Public Transit Foundation
One notion currently under consideration is conversion of the PTC to a Section 501(c)(3) Non-profit Foundation. Such a foundation would be independent of BRATS and of the County Commission, but would work in close cooperation with both. The governing board would include representatives of the commission, of municipal governments, of business (or business associations), of government and private social service agencies, of medical facilities, of church groups, and of the general public. Board members would be elected by their constituencies. The chair would be someone with a history of community service and an influential place in local society. This would help to ensure foundation prestige and board quality.
As a community enterprise, the foundation would create widespread interest in promoting the success of public transit. As a general repository of transportation fund-raising the foundation could pool the resources of its constituent members in order to maximize the financing of services while ensuring that the transportation needs of all concerned were fully met.
The mission of the foundation would be to: · Educate the public and its decision-making bodies on the value and utility of public transit. · Raise funds for support of public transit operations and maintenance. · Advise the County Commission and municipal governments on levels of public expenditure for transit. · Conduct hearings and studies regarding needs for public transit. · Encourage logical and businesslike development of full service public transit for the citizens of Baldwin County.
Conclusion
If Baldwin County is to sustain or improve upon its position of leadership as a premier location in which to live, work, vacation, and retire there is little choice but to proceed smartly with public transit development. The foregoing outlines one vision of the future. It is malleable, subject to the many influences that affect its details. But however public transit in this county may evolve, those who shape its future must remain aware that transit compensates for disappearance of the small, self-sufficient village of former times. Personal mobility has become as fundamental to survival in our modern, dispersed society as food, clothing, or shelter. When all our citizens are allowed maximum opportunity to travel to places and at times of their own choosing, this county will be maximizing its potential as a center for both business and leisure. We have a fine opportunity to build upon the excellence we already have established. Let’s roll.
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