HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda Report - April 18, 1990 (48)C v U N C I L C0MMU-N I CA 1'0N
TO: THE CITY COLWL
R;CM THE CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE
COLWL MEETING DATE
APRIL 18, 1990
SUBJECT: RECEIVE SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY UNMET TRANSIT NEEDS REPORT
PREPARED BY:
Assistant City Manager
RECOMMENDED ACTION: The City Council receive the Unmet Transit
Analvsis and Determination for Fiscal Year 1�
public a by the San Joaquin County Counc
Governments {COG).
BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Pursuant to law, the San Joaquin County Council of
Governments (COG) must identify unmet transit needs
i n the County. COG must ensure that reasonable needs
are met before "TDA" funds are allocated for
non -transit purposes.
COG staff recommends no findings of unmet transit needs solely within the
jurisdiction of the City of Lodi.
COG staff did find an unmet transit need within the jurisdictions of the County
and cities of San Joaquin for inter -city service. However, this need i s not
deemed reasonable t o meet a t t h i s time.
COG further found an unmet transit need at the Freeway Mobile Home Park and
recommends the County contract with the City to meet this need.
1 have attached the salient pages from the subject report.
Respectfully submitte,4,
erry L. Glenn
Assistant City Manager
JLG:br
Attachment
COUNC801
3. Viand service hours to 9ara_9na
As a result of the above-mentioned survey of Escalon transit
patrons, COG staff uncovered an additional potential transit
need for longer service hours. Twenty percent of those
responding to the survey stated their desire for transit
service from 9aa to Spm rather than, the current service from
10as to 3pa.
An analysis of the operating data for the Escalon PTS shows
that the additional service hours could be provided at a cost
less than the rural reasonableness standard, even if the
system took on no additional riders as a result of the
expanded service. However; COG staff is not convinced that
the addition of three service hours would be in the best
interest of both the transit system and its patrons.
Discussions with Escalon PTS staff have revealed that
expanded service hours would probably go unutilized,
especially in light of the largre time gaps during the day
when fewer riders use the service.
Therefore, COG staff recommends no finding of unmet transit
need.
Although COG staff does not recommend a finding of unmet
transit need for expanded service hours, COG recommends
that the City of Escalon survey its riders to determine if
additional morning service hours would not only be beneficial
but also would be utilized,
CONCLUSION:t
M
There is an unmet transit need for Saturday local service, For
the stated reasons, that need is not reasonable -to meet at this
time.
Please see the Intercity and Commuter Transit section for addi-
tional recommendations for unmet transit needs,
IX. LODI
The data available on the City of Lodi indicates relatively high
concentrations of seniors (15.8% 65+ vs. county average of 11.3%)
but much lower numbers of low income residents, Local residents
are presently served by the Lodi Dial -A -Ride. The vehicles, five
full-size station wagons, two mini -vans, and a wheelchair -
accessible van, are owned by the City and operated by the local
taxi company. Saturday Dial -A -Ride service was implemented dur-
ing the summer of 1985. The system now operates six days per
week.
The general public Dial -A -Ride fare was lowered during 1985 to
encourage ridership. Several diesel powered taxis were replaced
with more reliable gasoline powered vehicles, and the fleet was
expanded by one vehicle. Late last year, the.tao mini -vans were
added and one of the other vehicles was retired. In addition,
the City acquired the wheelchair -accessible van in Fall 1989.
On t i m e performance has improved significantly since last year' s
Unmet Transit Needs hearing, Last year, 78% of all riders were
picked up within the system's waiting time goal of no longer than
45 minutes. Thisear, the percentage of people picked up on
time approached 90r.
From July 1988 to June 1989, the system served 73,115
riders.
NEEDS
Table 12 identified 6 potential unmet transit needs for the
Lodi area, for the period 1988-92:
1. Intercity service to Stockton
2. Sunday service
3. Evening service
4. slow response times
5. Increased publicity
6. Wheelchair service
Discussion
1. ZMcitY service to Stockton
MAs potential need has been discussed in the COG Transit
Development Plan, The 1988 Regional Transportation Plan
Update, and the Lodi Five Year Transit Plan.
It is the position of the City of Lodi that the concept of
intercity transit is good, but it will not be funded with LTF
or STA funds allocated to Lodi. The new owners of the Lodi
Taxi Company which provides the DAR service under contract to
the City are interested in providing intercity service to
Stockton. However, it must be done on a fully self
supporting basis.
The COG staff partially agrees with the reasoning of the City
of Lodi in that no one jurisdiction should be the sole source
of funds for an intercity network and recommends no unmet
need finding for the City of Lodi for intercity transit.
Please refer to the Countywide Intercity Transit section
immediately proceeding the Evaluation section of this
document for a full discussion of intercity transit needs.
2. Sunday Service
The City of Lodi is committed to meeting the reasonable
transit needs of all City residents. The City feels that
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3.
the requests for Sunday service go beyond basic needs. The
City is not prepared to transport the large number of
passengers who might be expected to request travel to
religious services -it is felt this function is properly the
responsibility of the churches and their congregations, The
COG s adopted definition of "unmet transit need does not
specifically mention transportation to religious services.
In 1987, COG staff evaluated evening services' potential
ridership using City of Lodits generated data on existing
ridership in the early evening hours and found that usage
drops significantly after 5:00 p.m. from a peak of 42 betweegi
10:00 and 11:00 a.m. to 1 between 6:00 and 7:00 p.m. -1he
last call of the day was usually at 6:30 p.m. In view of the
costs associated with renegotiating a contract, COG Staff
believes that City Cab's unsubsidized operation can best meet
the limited demand that presently exists past 7:00 p.m.
There is no indication that evening Dial -A -Ride service is
essential to meet unmet needs in view of the 12 hour
six -day -per -week service that is presently provided. In view
of the ridership patterns indicated on the study it might
even be argued that the City could shorten its service hours
in favor of placing more vehicles on the street during peak
hours. COG staff therefore supports the City's decision not
to pursue this issue further.
4. Slow Response Time
On-time performance is no longer considered to be a major
problem. With the acquisition of additional vehicles,
including a wheelchair -accessible van, the City is currently
meeting its standard of 90% of its patrons picked up within
45 minutes.
5. InQreased Publlc tv for Service
It is the belief of COG staff that advertising and rider
education, while highly desirable, cannot be considered to be
an unmet need within the adopted definition. Nevertheless,
COG staff would encourage the City to improve advertising
particularly in light of the fact that this item has appeared
for Lodi for the past four years. COG staff would also
encourage efforts to better inform riders of the rules of the
system.
6. Wt eelchair Eaui=ed Van
Wheelchair equipped service for handicapped riders not able
to use existing taxis has been requested periodically by
social service agencies in Lodi over the years. Drivers
assisted riders from wheelchairs into the cab, then place the
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chair in the cargo portion of the vehicle. This is a high
risk procedure for the City, for the cab company and for the'
patron compared to the use of a handicapped accessible
vehicle.
Because of the sufficient numbers of wheelchair-bound
residents within Lodi, the city recently acquired a
wheelchair -accessible van. A previously unmet transit need
that is reasonable to meet has been fulfilled.
The following six items brought up at this year's Unmet
Transit Needs hearing in Lodi on December 18, 1989, Some have
already been discussed above under "Potential Needs."
1. Evening service to 9:00 p.m.
2. Slow response times
3. Intercity service to Stockton
4. Better advertise the rules of the system
5. Fixed route service
6. DAR service to the Freeway Mobile Home Park
Discussion
1. §jkXyicjk 9=ensjon to 9:00
This item was discussed in the section above.
This item was discussed in the previous section,
3. Intercity service to Stockton
This item was discussed in the previous section.
4. Better advertise the rules of the ml=
This item was discussed in the previous section.
The possible need for fixed route scheduled transit service
was highlighted by a petition calling for a fixed route
system in 1985 and it has become a perennial item in the
unmet needs analysis. The City's position is that fixed
route transit is a method of service delivery, rather than a
transit need. The City is reluctant to implement such a
change because it may favor only a few individuals at the
expense of the system as a whole.
COG staff believes that successful fixed route transit
operation is possible in the City of Lodi. The large
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i
population of seniors, the relatively compact pattern of
settlement, the square grid street layout, and the conclusion
of previous studies (specifically the 1981 Caltrans Fixed
Route Study) all support this belief. While a fixed route
system can be successful, this does not necessarily mean that
a fixed route system should be immediately implemented,
The question of timing is important, in light of the success
of the Lodi Dial -A -Ride,
In informal discussions with COG staff, Caltrans staff have
cited the 40,000 population figure a8 a rough "rule of thumb"
for fixed route transit. In other words, cities larger than
40,000 people are typically large enough to support fixed
route transit. While not in disagreement with this concept,
COG staff's research has revealed several cities with
populations frown 43, 000 t i 83, 000 which are successfully
served only by demand responsive transit, In California,
this includes the Cities of El Cajon, la Mesa, Corona,
Arcadia, and la Mirada. Perhaps more to the point, one
document reports that demand responsive transit "has been
considered appropriate for areas with a population densit of
between 3,000 and 7,000 persons per square mile." The Ci�y
of Lodi falls in the lower half of this range, with a
population density of 4,500 people per square mile,
Rather than embrace, perhaps prematurely, a fixed route
transit system, the City of Lodi desires to improve the Lodi
Dial -A -Ride, COG staff continues to support this course of
action as we have in previous Unmet Need findings.
See the Evaluation section for the County of San Joaquin for
a description of this request and recommended COG action.
COG staff recommends no finding of unmet transit need solely
within the jurisdiction of the City or" Lodi
Please see the Intercity and Commuter Transit section for recom-
mendations on other unmet transit needs.
'9M
not be able to participate in the program due to lack to
transportation,
In order to assess the potential need for special
transportation to this program, COG staff spoke with staff of
the Manteca Recreation Program. This discussion revealed
that the C it y had offered special programs in Lathrop
and French Camp in both of the last two years, but few
parents signed up their children. An a result, the City had
o cancel both programs for lack of interest. Because of
this apparent lack of demand for the Manteca suer
recreation program in French Camp, COG staff is reluctant to
make a finding of unmet transit need for special
transportation to this program.
There was a county sponsored public hearing'at the Larch
Clover Community Center, just outside of Tracy, on January
19, 1990, at which three comments were received.
L Need general public intercity transit
2. Excessive service delays
3, Dirty taxis
Froff . - . . -
Please see the Countywide Intercity Transit section
immediately following the Evaluation section for a full
discussion of intercity transit needs.
2. ZX!;essive service delays
This complaint was apparently directed towards the Tracy
provided services rather than the CAT service-
This complaint also was apparently directed towards the Tracy
services.
Woodbridge Munic.ioai Advisory Council
A County sponsored public hearing was held at a meeting of
the Woodbridge MAC on January 25, 1990. There were no
comments received.
City Of Lodi --S a wise to the Freewav Mobile Home Park
Although the County did not sponsor an Unmet Transit Needs
hearing for the City of Lodi, public comment generated in
Lodi pertains directly to County -funded transit service.
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The Freeway Mobile Home Park is located just south of the
Lodi city limits adjacen to Highway 99 between Armstrong
Road and Harney LaY� O its 71 spaces and 8 apartments,
approximately 602 are occupied by senior and disabled
people, same of whom either do not have access to an
automobile or can no longer drive because of age or ill
health.
In October 1989, COG staff received apetition and several
letters signed by residents of the mobile home park
requesting Dial -a -Ride service into Lodi. In addition,
several survey forms were submitted showing the potential
demand for the service, Residents of the park would use the
service primarily for medical appointments, although there is
a need for shopping, business, and social trips. At the Lodi
Unmet Needs hearings, City staff agreed that the Lodi DAR
could adequately serve park residents as long as the County
agreed to pay for the service.
Because of the mobile home park's proximity to the City of
Lodi and the fact that a precedent for such service was set
for the Acampo Mobile Home Park (which is located farther
away from Lodi than is this park) , COG staff can find no
reason to determine this service request to be unreasonable.
Therefore, staff makes a finding of�et transit need in the
jurisdiction of the County of San Joaquin that is reasonable
to meet for Lodi DAR service to the Freeway Mobile Home Park.
The County should enter into negotiations with the City of
Lodi to implement the service as soon as possible.
COG recommends a finding of unmet transit need within the juris-
diction of San Joaquin County for Lodi DAR service to the Freeway
Mobile Home Park: furthermore, staff finds this need reasonable
to meet.
Please see the Intercity and Commuter Transit section for recom-
mendations on other unmet transit needs,
V1. STOCKTON
The demographic data indicate that Stockton has extremely high
potential transit needs, There are large concentrations of
seniors and low-income people in the area, particularly in South
Stockton. Studies have shown that age and income are highly
correlated with automobile ownership and usage, The majority of
non -drivers found in San Joaquin County reside in the Stockton
area, based on data on Table 6. It is probable that a majority of
the County's handicapped population reside in Stockton. This is
borne out by the Table 8 data on numbers of public transit
disabled.
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In almost every Unmet Transit Needs public hearing in the County,
residents suggested the implementation of general public
intercity service to supplement the E&H intercity service
provided by County Area Transit. As more and more people must
travel between the cities to obtain particular goods and
services, the Council of Goverramts' mares jurisdictions are
under increasing pressure to provide intercity transit service
for a variety of purposes, including medical, social, and
business trips. In addition, air quality concerns have further
elevated the importance of intercity transit services, since the
County will be forced to reduce the number of single -occupant
vehicles in an attempt to mitigate air quality impacts.
This discussion of interjurisdictional transit' services will be
completed in two parts. The first section will deal with
intercity service within San Joaquin County, while the second
section deals primarily vith intercounty commuter transit
service.
Intercity transit service needs fall under the jurisdiction of
the Council of Governments particularly where transportation -
disadvantaged people need to travel between the cities to obtain
essential goods and services. This is especially true in the
outlying areas, where lover -income people and senior citizens
have less access to essential government services such as welfare
and medical facilities in the urban areas,
In 1987, the Stockton Metropolitan Transit District contracted
with Crain & Associates to evaluate the potential for intercity
transit service and make recommendations for implementation of
such service- As part of the analysis, the consultant projected
that intercity transit patronage could reach 2.7 million riders
annually by 2010 under a high-growth scenario and that the Stock-
ton -Lodi and Stockton -Manteca corridors would comprise about 2/3
of this projected demand. TII a consultant has also projected
transit demand for outlying areas such as Ripon -Manteca and
Escalon-Manceca, but these corridors would be much less traveled
than the Lodi -Stockton -Manteca corridor,
Although the potential demand for intercity transit service
exists, there are several institutional and financial roadblocks
that limit the feasibility of providing the service:
Institutional facbar. constraining sorvics options
SMTD would be a prime candidate for supplying intercity ser-
vice, but it is prohibited from providing service outside of
its existing district boundaries through its enabling legis-
lation. This legislation allows SMTD to collect property tax
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revenue from property owners within district boundaries;.
therefore any service that is operated outside of the bound-
aries must either directly benefit district residents or be
self-supporting. SMTD's latest 5 -Year Transit Plan identi-
fies several options by which the district can provide inter-
city service, including subscription bus service and privati-
zation (contracting intercity service to a third party).
Other possibilities exist for implementing countywide inter-
city service. Given the County,s existing service base,
County Area Transit could be expanded to include general
public intercity transit in addition to its E&H service.
Consideration should also be given to the creation of a
countywide transit district or agency to supply the service.
While institutional constraints exist for these possibilities
as well, they both are as feasible as SMTD.
Local government limitations
While local officials recognize the need for general public
intercity service, their individual jurisdictions are reluc-
tant to carry a large financial burden for the service. COG
has supported the belief that no one jurisdiction should be
the sole source of funds for an intercity network and has
therefore never made any findings of unmet transit need for
intercity service. The Stockton Metropolitan Transit Dis-
trict has been working on a joint powers agreement by which
to fund the service, but this document is in its early
stages. The County and cities of San Joaquin could enter
into an agreement on their own, much like other
counties/cities in California have done, but their ability to
do so is limited by the possible scenarios described below.
Inadequate funding
As in most situations where a new service is contemplated,
the available financial source is the limiting factor.
According to Crain & Associates Countywide Transit Needs
Analysis Study, LTF funds are the most promising source for
funding intercity service. In the analysis, the consultant
projected that a complete intercity network operated under
SMTD would cost approximately $1.8 million (1986 dollars)
annually. Adjusted to 1990 dollars using a 5% inflation
factor, this figure would be approximately $2.2 million out
of a countywide projected LTF apportionment of approximately
$10 million. However, there is widespread sentiment among
local officials for preserving LTF monies for local
services.
The next major alternative for intercity transit funding
would be a dedicated sales tax increase such as that pre-
sently proposed for the County. A portion of the 1/2 percent
sales tax increase could be designated for the provision of
intercity transit service. However, since the increase would
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have to be approved by a majority of the San Joaquin County
voters, this potential funding source is uncertain at this
time.
Another potential financial resource is the State Transit
Assistance (STA) fund. This fund, like LTF, is allocated
by the State from a portion of the state sales tax revenues.
However, STA monies may be removed froom the budget by the
Governor, For several years, the Governor has eliminated
these funds from the state budget: however, STA money may
again become available if California voters approve Proposi-
tion 111 (SCA 1) in June 1990. Also, a new governor less
likely to eliminate STA funding would help to increase this
revenue source substantially.
Intercity transit demand
While the Crain & Associates report shows a substantial
demand for intercity service in 2010, there is recious
little mentioned regarding current demand for what promises
to be an expensive service. According to the COG's defini-
tion of "reasonable to meet", the average cost per passenger
for intercity service must be comparable to similar service
in other areas; if countywide intercity service is classi-
fied as a rural system, the reasonableness standard would be
$8.16 per passenger. Given this standard, ridership demand
for intercity service would have to exceed 250,000 passen-
gers annually for this service to be considered reasonable
to meet. To date, there has been no information provided
to show whether or not this minimum could be achieved. With-
out such information, COG staff cannot find intercity transit
service needs to be reasonable to meet.
.i � • Y�4D. � � •
COG staff recommends a finding of unmet transit need within the
j-urisdictions of the County and cities of San Joaquin for inter-
city service. However, this need is not: deemed reasonable to
meet at this time for the following reason:
Although potential 2010 demand for intercity transit service
would certainly justify the provision of the service,
estimates of current demand are nebulous at best. There are
currently no strong methods by which to determine current
ridership demand for an intercity service; lack of support-
ing evidence calls into question the reasonableness of pro-
viding intercity transit. COG staff recommends that a study
be undertaken to determine the demand for this service. If
the study shows sufficient demand, then the potential need
and reasonableness issue should be re-evaluated.
It appears that intercity transit is a public service option that
is in San Joaquin's near future. Unmet needs hearings have
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R
recognized a growing call for this transit option, and the result
is staff's recommendation to find an unmet transit need. At the
same time, staff is not in a position to describe how well the
service would be utilized and what the best means for service
delivery and financial obligations would be, There are too many
outstanding questions for staff to even consider a finding of
reasonableness, Staff believes, however, that this places an
obligation on the planning process to arnwtr these questions.
Although not considered transit dependent under COG's adopted
definition, the Cb mty's commuting population and their transit
needs must be addressed, Mw population figures in Tables 3 and
4 show that much of the growth is located in the southern portion
of San Joaquin County, where commuters can take advantage of
direct commute links into the Bay Area (specifically I-5, I-580,
I-205, and SR 120). Employment projections show that greater
than 40% of new Manteca residents and 60% of new Tracy residents
will be commuters over the Altamont. However, there are few
transportation alternatives to the use of private vehicles.
As the number of San Joaquin County residents commuting over the
Altamont increases, the congestion on the already crowded I-205
corridor will increase, thereby worsening an almost intolerable
air quality problem. While the individual cities are developing
possible solutions to the air quality issue, there should be some
coordinated effort to remove single-xcupant vehicles from the
highways. As more and more pressure is placed on San Joaquin
County and the local jurisdictions to meet the requirements of
the California Clean Air Act, viable alternatives to the
single -occupant vehicle, including increased ridesharing,
intercity transit, and transit over the Altamont, will need to be
implemented,
Commuter transit in San Joaquin County faces the same institu-
tional and financial problems as intercity transit does. Again,
SMTD is willing to provide commuter transit both within +he
County and over the Altamont, but the District's enabling legis-
lation limits its activities. SXTD has been successful at imple-
menting a commuter service from Stockton to the Lawrence Liver-
more Laboratory, with a future stop in Tracy, but only because
the service is described as self-supporting (100%farebox recov-
ery ratio or supported by the local jurisdictions) and because
the service originates and ends within the District. Any addi-
tional service outside of the District's boundaries would have to
be self-supporting as well.
Because comi..ters within San Joaquin County are, by the COG's
definition, not transportation -disadvantaged (they have jobs and
most have access to a private automobile), COG staff cannot make
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any finding of unset transit need for commuter transit. However,
given the State,'s air quality attainment goals and the lack of
funding for additional -highway capacity -enhancement projects,
COG recomsends that its meaber jurisdictions work together to
provide alternatives to the single -occupant vehicle. COG staff
also recoanends a review of the existing transit needs definition
to investigate its adequacy in view of the growing commuter pop-
ulation and the demands for improved air quality.
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