Transit Notes
By Rachele Reyes
November. The AAATA could earn more than
$4.4 million in revenue due to the tax. The
AAATA will also seek funding from state and
federal matching funds.
Im still struck at the opportunity before us,
because it is a significant potential increase
in service that were talking about here, said
Charles Griffith, chairman of the AAATA
board, Its quite a broad collection of frequency improvements, route changes. The
evening and then especially the weekend
services are big changes.
After three years of planning, the Ann Arbor
Area Transportation Authority finally voted
unanimously to adopt a five-year plan that
would expand transit services in Ann Arbor,
Ypsilanti and the urban areas of Washtenaw
County.
Funding the expansion will require the voters approvals, so the AAATA will meet again
in February to discuss implementing a $0.7
million tax on voters in Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti
and Ypsilanti Township in May, August or
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but the funds from a state capital bond bill
and transportation bill has ultimately moved
the project forward. The state Legislature
and governor approved and signed the bills
last November.
The daily service will include buses traveling along Route 68 to Interstate 79, to the
North Shore where passengers can load and
unload.
The entire project will cost less than $9 million and include 6 new 45-foot coach buses
that cost $750,000 each.
The new transit service is at a new fueling
system on the authoritys Butler township
natural gas facility that has been under construction since last October. The new facility
should be up and running by the end of the
year.
Ann Arbors, Ypsilantis Transit Services
Could Expand This Year
The expansion in transit services would add
an additional 90,000 service hours, which
include evening service hours on bus routes,
in the areas. The plan also adds 15,000 new
service hours in the communities of Saline,
Pittsfield Township and Superior Township.
Winter-Spring 2014
Butler Area Transit Authority to Begin
Service to Pittsburgh
After four years of envisioning and planning,
and having the majority of bus services in
the central area of Butler County, the Butler
Area Transit Authority is on its way to begin a new Butler-to-Pittsburgh mass transit
service that is powered by natural gas. The
transit authority has received funding from
the federal, state, county and Transit Authority levels for all components of the project,
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This is going to be a big year for us, said
John Paul, executive director, We havent
done anything even close to this in terms
of the size of the project. It takes time and
patience to move projects of this scope forward.
Northwest Connections Compliments
Services in West Valley
Northwest Connections will compliment existing services in the West Valley and provide
seniors with more transportation options.
The new transportation system will run from
the areas of Surprise and Glendale, Ariz.,
and offer evening and weekend services. The
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Transit Notes
services will support riders 60 years or older,
but may be altered to accommodate other
riders
Northwest Connections will consist of drivers, who are volunteers, a dispatcher and an
executive director. A mobility manager for
the Northwest region of the Valley will track
incoming calls to gather more information
on the types of transportation needed in the
area.
The South Dakota Department of Transportation has granted Prairie Hills Transit with
a State of Good Repair Grant, but the transit
must now show DOT that it can secure at
least 20 percent of the total cost of the new
buses. Prairie Hills Transit Executive Director Barb Cline estimated that one new bus
will cost more than $70,000, so the transit
must secure at least $14,000 to $15,000 per
bus.
The transportation system will require funding, and will turn to the Maricopa Association of Governments for assistance.
Cline approached the Spearfish City Council
to ask for its financial support of $30,000,
and the council unanimously agreed to grant
the request.
Clearly with the business plan that we put
together, that alone is not going to support
this effort, said Michelle Dioniso, president
and CEO of Benevilla, Were going to have
to do fundraising and grant writing to help
support this new non-profit.
The generosity of the city and the help this
gives us toward the purchase is absolutely
wonderful, Cline said, And sparkling new
vehicles go a long way in improving the communitys perspective of riding public transit.
Southern Minnesota Area Rural Transit
Begins Service
Prairie Hills Transit Receives Grant for
New Buses
Prairie Hills Transit is one step closer to
purchasing three new buses that will replace
ones that have been in use for more than a
decade. Two of the new buses will serve the
Spearfish area, and one will serve the Sturgis
area.
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Steele Countys Steele County Area Transit (SCAT) ended Dec. 31, 2014, and the
Southern Minnesota Area Rural Transit
(SMART) began the very next day. The rapid
switch occurred after MnDOT approached
SCAT, Austin-Mower County Area Transit
and Albert Lea Area Transit to discuss the
states Transit for our Future initiative that
would improve customer service in Greater
Minnesota.
Early November we got the go ahead from
MnDOT, and not were trying to get everything into place.
SCATs services in the Steele, Freeborn and
Mower counties will remain the same with
SMART, but residents will soon see changes.
Residents now have to identify the community they are calling from when scheduling
a pick-up with Dial-a-Ride; however, the
dispatcher, who is now located in Austin,
can schedule the pickup two weeks ahead
of time. Residents are also no longer able to
schedule an evening pick-up, so residents
must schedule evening pick-ups before 5
p.m. that same day.
Local buses soon show SMART logos and
only accept fare tokens. During this transition, SMART will still accept any remaining
fare tickets, tokens and passes from previous transit systems. SMART will offer reduced student and senior fare tokens, and
unlimited one-month route passes for $30.
SMARTs website is live at [Link].
This has been the fastest shortest term project, Melinda Estey, SMARTs manager said,
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