Category: Uncategorized

A Bus Operator Does Far More Than Drive

A bus operator is more than a driver of a bus or paratransit vehicle (paratransit vehicles serve seniors and people with disabilities, often door-to-door). In fact, for many people, the bus operator is the bus system. This is true at County Connection. Our operators are the heroes of our story.

A bus or paratransit vehicle (van) is often a rolling plethora of human activity. People of all types come together to share a ride on a bus or van. Many of our bus or van riders rely on the bus operator to act as customer service representative, peace keeper, and handler of the unexpected, in addition to driving the bus or van during a trip.

Think about it. It is the bus operator that collects the fares, answers questions about when buses come, where they go, makes riders feel safe, handles things like passengers getting sick while riding, sorts through any conflicts that occasionally arise between passengers, secures mobility devices, offers extra assistance to the elderly, and more.

Paratransit operators are often tasked with helping riders get on and off vehicles, getting to and from doors of buildings, helping with packages, managing riders with IV hook ups or who are in a weakened condition from recent kidney dialysis, making sure confused passengers do not get lost, or making sure passengers are not left in what could be dangerous situations upon reaching a destination.

Bus operators get to know their riders and their communities. They become part of the communities they serve in ways that go well beyond just driver. This provides extra benefits in many ways. One way is with the youth of our area. It is well documented that many youth use County Connection to travel to and from school, as well as other activities. This has created a situation where many of our bus operators get to know these students, as well as the various school schedules. Positive mentoring can occur and does. We have bus operators who know that if certain students board their bus at certain times, that they are probably missing school. These operators will call this out to these youths, telling them that they need be to in class. I have witnessed this first-hand during my career.

We have had bus operators or van operators who have picked up passengers who were in clear need of medical or social services. These operators have been the first link to getting people connected to badly needed social or health services. Sometimes when there are 20 or so people of vastly different walks of life on a bus, two or more passengers may develop a conflict. Bus operators most often can diffuse these situations from escalating into something serious, thereby keeping the peace and keeping everyone safe.

Along a more routine theme, bus operators are often providing riders with instant information on how to use the system effectively. They answer many questions in a given day. Most of our passengers never interact with anyone except their bus operators in using our services.

So, I put forward the notion that a bus or van operator is much more than a driver. They are multi-taskers who are the face of County Connection; much like a police officer is the face of a city – doing much more than catching criminals.

Without our bus operators doing so much more than driving the bus, I suspect that the rider experience would not be anywhere near as good as it is today. In short, our bus operators are indispensable! If you think so too, take a minute and thank your driver!

Like many public agencies, County Connection operates on a fiscal year that runs from July 1 through June 30, which means we are in the 8^th month of our fiscal year 2016. We use the fiscal year to budget and to track things like service productivity and ridership.

To that end, total ridership is up through the first half of this fiscal year (between July and December) over the identical time period last year by 2.5%. This is after we saw an increase in ridership of 8.1% in fiscal year 2015 (July 1, 2014 through June 30, 2015) over fiscal year 2014 (July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014).

As we investigate what is behind the gains in ridership, a few things stand out. Fares on routes 5 and 7 in Walnut Creek became free to passengers at one point during fiscal year 2015. Also, both routes were streamlined and overhauled to become more direct. This makes the travel time on the bus, faster.

In the case of Route 5, the City of Walnut Creek has elected to cover the fares on behalf of all Route 5 passengers. This Route provides a direct link between the fairly dense Creekside area to both downtown Walnut Creek, as well as the Walnut Creek BART station. With Route 7, we have a different, but just as effective, approach. Route 7 was streamlined to provide a better direct link between the Shadelands business park in Walnut Creek and the Pleasant Hill BART station. The buses used on this service have been identified as the Shadelands shuttle. The property owners within Shadelands are covering the fares of all the passengers that use Route 7.

Last year, County Connection conducted its triennial passenger survey. Nearly 3,000 completed passenger surveys were collected. Among the information this trove of data provides is the recognition that 36% of our passengers are between the ages of 19 and 35. This group is commonly referred to as the Millennial generation. Various marketing studies strongly suggest that Millennials want to drive less and use more public transportation. They also want to live near good public transit. Consistent with this, we are seeing much of our ridership gains among this age group.

Finally, in 2014, we implemented Bus Tracker. This system allows a passenger to “track” their bus. So, one can download an app that will allow you to see when the bus you want to take will arrive at the bus stop you want to use. This takes the guess work out of “waiting” for the bus at a bus stop. You can also do this from your laptop, work station, etc. This is just one of many ways County Connection is and has implemented technology to greatly improve the bus riding experience.

I believe there is a strong correlation between County Connection ridership gains and the full implementation of Bus Tracker at County Connection.

I think those transit systems that embrace and take full advantage of technology will continue to see increases in ridership. This is exciting to consider because transportation-based technology advances are only at their beginning stages and promise to make riding public transit even easier and more efficient. If you aren’t using our Bus Tracker I encourage you to give it a try!

Did you ever wonder how County Connection services are made possible? There’s a reason why we can’t just establish a bus line anywhere in our service area; we have to operate within very tight budget constraints, while maximizing service to the best of our abilities. If YOU had the choice, where would you place County Connection bus lines? For a limited time, you actually have the opportunity to be a bus planner for a day and vote for where you would like to see local transit services in Contra Costa. Your suggestions may be included in a long-term Transportation Expenditure Plan (TEP).

Your specific votes for County Connection are especially vital. As a public service, County Connection is funded much like any other governmental service. That is, County Connection is heavily supported by taxes of various kinds. While about 16 to 18 percent of the total annual operating budget at County Connection comes from the fares riders pay, the bulk of the funding comes from federal, state and local funding. Of these, local funding is by far the largest piece. This funding as a whole makes up the operating budget (labor, fuel, insurance, maintenance, marketing, utilities, etc.).

County Connection also has a Capital Improvement Program that is largely funded by federal grants, as well as local match funding. Capital grants can only be used for particular expenses, and are largely used to replace the buses and vans in a timely manner. We are also allowed to use capital funding to maintain the maintenance facility where the buses are stored, fueled, and maintained. Federal grants used for these approved purposes are fairly reliable, as long as we have a federal transportation program. The Senate just passed a new six-year re-authorization that maintains this federal commitment to public transit (as well as the federal commitment to highways). That legislation will be taken up in the House this fall.

Let’s look more closely at the operating budget, and the revenues that support it. Of the taxes that sustain our operations, roughly 3 percent comes from federal sources, about 9 percent comes from state sources, and the rest – about 70-72 percent – is locally sourced. That’s right, approximately 70 percent or more of the County Connection operating revenue must come from local tax sources.

In fact, the trend for suburban transit systems, like County Connection, is to see more of its support come from local sources, as the federal and state governments re-orient their support for public transit towards the larger and more urban systems.

For example, the federal authorization that just expired saw a multi-billion dollar shift away from a funding program that largely benefitted smaller urban and suburban bus systems to a new program that benefits older large heavy rail systems – primarily in places like Chicago, New York, Boston, and Philadelphia.

Meanwhile, the state of California seems to be transitioning their approach to funding public transit to one that is heavily tied to the new Cap and Trade based greenhouse gas reduction programs. Areas like Contra Costa County are not doing well under Cap and Trade-based programs because of our relatively good air quality. In short, lately our share of state transit funding is trending downward.

This means, as we move forward, County Connection and other similar systems are going to become more and more reliant on local funding sources. In recognition of this expectation, the Contra Costa Transportation Authority is currently working on developing its potential plan (TEP) for transportation projects funded by a future Contra Costa County tax measure.

This is where YOU come in. County Connection could greatly benefit by new funding through such a measure to improve transit services where they are needed most. Be a part of Contra Costa Transportation Authority’s public input to help prioritize what projects and programs should be included in the long-term roadmap (TEP) we are developing for future transportation investments.

Vote Today

To make sharing your transit priorities easy, a collection tool is available where you can sign in to access a personal piggybank with 10 virtual coins that you can invest across the projects and programs you care most about. How you divvy them up is your choice – you can use all of your coins in one place, spread them out among 10 different priorities, or anything in between.

You can also participate by attending one of the number of public meetings on the development of the Expenditure Plan that Contra Costa Transportation Authority is planning. You can visit Contra Costa Transportation Authority’s website to learn more.

Finally, if you would like to see the Contra Costa Transportation Authority’s Expenditure Plan include new funding for bus transit, let your locally elected officials know! Tell them how important good bus service is for you and your community.

Remember, the future of bus transit in our area is going to be locally driven and locally funded, so let us know your transit priorities!

Martinez Community Shuttle – Route 3 Begins Monday, August 17th

I’ve said it before here, but it’s worth repeating: I strongly believe good collaborative planning often leads to better results. On Monday, August 17 such a product of good collaborative planning will take hold in Martinez. That is the first day of County Connection’s new Martinez community shuttle – Route 3.

Here’s a re-cap of how the long-awaited Route 3 finally came to be:

The City of Martinez identified the need for some type of shuttle between downtown and the neighborhoods in its 2009 Downtown Martinez Community-Based Transportation Plan. Unfortunately, shortly after that, the recession hit and County Connection was forced to cut service – rather than increase it – due to massive losses of sales tax revenues.

Flash-forward four years, as the area emerged from the recession, County Connection completed its Adaptive Service Plan (ASP) in 2013. This plan was the result of a joint planning effort involving County Connection, the City of Concord, the City of Clayton, the City of Martinez, the City of Pleasant Hill, and the City of Walnut Creek. The five cities participated through TRANSPAC, one of the four Regional Transportation Planning Committees (RTPC) of the Contra Costa Transportation Authority. The purpose of the plan was to identify projects to extend transit services to areas that were either underserved or could benefit from a non-traditional approach to transit service.

The ASP made recommendations for service improvements in Martinez and Walnut Creek. The two service improvements in Walnut Creek were implemented in 2014. This involved making service improvements to Route 5, which connects the high-density area of Creekside in Walnut Creek directly to downtown Walnut Creek, including the BART station. The City of Walnut in turn, chose to subsidize the fares of riders on Route 5 making it “free” to the passenger. This has led to a nearly four-fold increase in average daily ridership on this service!

Another service improvement in Walnut Creek from the ASP was a streamlining of Route 7, which connects the Pleasant Hill BART station with the Shadelands business park. The improvements make it much more attractive to shuttle back and forth between these two locations. This in turn has led the Shadelands property owners to underwrite the fares on Route 7, making this route also “free” to the public. Similar to Route 5, ridership on Route 7 has increased by approximately 50 percent since these improvements were made. And, as of this summer, the Route 7 buses have a special wrap that clearly identifies the bus as a Shadelands BART Shuttle.

Both of these ASP recommendations were made possible by restructuring Route 2 (with a ridership of less than 50 people a day), which was another ASP recommendation. Thus, these improvements were cost neutral. The area Route 2 serves has been identified for future innovative technology-based transportation options (i.e. Uber style services).

The remaining ASP recommendation from 2013 was to implement a community shuttle in Martinez. While the ASP provided a cost neutral recommendation to pay for a new community shuttle, public meetings and outreach indicated that restructuring services in Martinez was not the preferred course of action. Instead, it was determined to wait until new funding for the new community shuttle could be secured.

This is where the final piece of the puzzle comes into play. In 2014, the State of California enacted a spending plan for the revenue raised through a state cap-and-trade greenhouse gas reduction program <http://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/capandtrade/capandtrade.htm>, as a response to climate change. This program started in January 2012. Within this spending plan, the state allocates transit funding to various parts of the state to make transit improvements that will both reduce greenhouse gases, as well as provide new transit options to “disadvantaged communities (DAC)”. The state defines these DACs largely using indicators of the considered ill effects of air pollution.

Looping back to the City of Martinez, the zone identified for the desired Martinez community shuttle provides direct services to an area of Martinez that the state has designated as a DAC. Therefore, it qualifies for newly available funding from the cap-and-trade program. In the Bay Area, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) is the entity that disburses cap-and-trade transit funding to Bay Area transit operators. County Connection applied for cap-and-trade funding to MTC to fund the new Martinez community shuttle and MTC agreed to fund it!

As a result of this multi-partner collaborative planning process, we begin service on our new County Connection Route 3 on Monday, August 17. It is exciting to enable people living in Martinez to be minutes away from their downtown by transit, where they work, play and enjoy all the wonderful new and old things to do in downtown Martinez, including the Martinez marina.

This is a prime example of how good planning and good transit can enrich the community experience.

Earlier this month, County Connection proudly participated in a national event called “Stand Up For Transportation” (SU4T). This national event , held on April 9, was organized and sponsored by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) with the goal to highlight and emphasize just how important transportation infrastructure is to the United States.

County Connection, along with over 20 other Bay Area organizations, participated in a joint event at the temporary Transbay Terminal in San Francisco to lend our voices to the day-long, national outcry to congress demanding long-term investment in our nation’s transportation infrastructure to keep America moving forward.

Why was SU4T necessary? Because investment in all transportation is at record lows, when accounting for inflation, going back to before the 1950s. Yet, our economy and our daily lives have never depended more on our various transportation systems than they do now. Meanwhile, other countries, like China, are building new transportation systems at a breakneck pace.

Beyond building awareness, SU4T events specifically called out federal leaders with the demand that they address the unacceptable lack of investment in transportation by passing an overdue reauthorization of a federal transportation bill with adequate funding before the current federal transportation funding bill, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), expires on May 31.

Imagine if the nation had not invested in the interstate freeway system in the 1950s and 1960s. Imagine if we had not invested in BART in the 1960s and 1970s. Those things were not built to last forever. All of these transportation systems are in dire need of full replacement. The sad truth is we don’t have to imagine anything. The daily drive down our local streets and roads is already an exercise in dodging potholes, avoiding traffic backups, and the need for meditation tapes! After all, being late for work puts you at risk economically, as does paying for costly repairs to your car when you have to drive down streets of disrepair.

This is to say nothing of our struggles to keep up with demand for additional transportation options and opportunities. We are essentially relying on the same levels of transportation services as we did in 1990. Yet, population and job growth have been extensive. We need to find ways of increasing transportation services and facilities.

How did we get to this state of disrepair and stagnation with respect to transportation? Well, like anything of this magnitude, there is no one single reason. However, our financial investment has dwindled significantly. This is a main part of the problem, as we can’t build or maintain any transportation facilities or services for free. They all cost a lot of money.

Federal investment in transportation peaked in 1993 and has been steadily eroding ever since. This is because the funding source of the federal investment is the federal gas tax (or excise tax). This tax has been at 18.4 cents per gallon since 1993 and in today’s dollars, buys much less than it did then. Therefore, the net result is less investment in transportation.

If you believe that our nation’s highways, streets and roads, public transit, and airports, etc. need to be improved and better maintained, then you too can join County Connection and scores of others that “Stand Up For Transportation”!  Write, call, or email your Congressperson, and let them know that adequate federal investment in transportation is vital to your quality life and your economic well-being.