UGA budget cuts impact Athens Transit

ABH: "The University of Georgia will cut subsidies for students and employees to ride Athens Transit, costing the bus system $150,000 next year, officials said Thursday."

The Athens-Clarke government does not plan to cut service or spend more local tax money on buses, Athens-Clarke Manager Alan Reddish said, because federal grant money will make up the difference.

Good news

The latest roster of SPLOST projects for voters to consider this fall has some exciting prospects for expanded transportation options:

The recommended list includes a mix of transportation, recreation and public safety projects, including money for buses, sidewalks, bicycle lanes, parks, trails, an Atlanta Highway fire station, public art, police equipment, the county animal shelter, library books, a cooperative extension headquarters and a center for hard-to-recycle materials.

Not all transportation improvements made the cut, however:

Among the likely casualties are road and intersection improvements, [as well as] bike lane [installation] along College Station Road.

All told, we are very pleased with the list, as it addresses bicycle, pedestrian and transit infrastructure. Be sure to tell your commissioner that you support these projects!

Athens Bus Campaign

Activist Michael Smith recently formed the Athens Bus Campaign to get the Athens-Clarke Commission to lower bus fares, reports the Banner-Herald, but neither Athens Transit nor the Mayor & Commission are being persuaded.

Athens Transit has become too reliant on University of Georgia students and employees whose fares are subsidized while not doing enough to attract other kinds of riders, Smith said.

He argues that many buses are not filled to capacity, so increased ridership could fill the budget gap created by dropping fares to make them more affordable.

"We feel like (lowering fares) could jump-start ridership," Smith said.

But few additional people would hop on a bus for $1.25 as opposed to the current $1.50 adult fare, Athens Transit Director Butch McDuffie said.

"The only way to increase ridership is to make your service more frequent and more available," McDuffie said. The commission has added night and Saturday service in recent years, but in the recession lacks the money to make additional improvements.

I tend to agree with Mr. McDuffie on this. How does Mr. Smith know that lowering fares would increase ridership? Has he conducted any surveys of prospective riders? If not, he should get in touch with UGA's social science departments - their students can help him do this.

An aside: What seems to increase ridership most acutely is a spike in gas prices. Until buses are as convenient to use as private automobiles (i.e. more frequent and available service), many people will only utilize transit when they have to.

Any other thoughts on this?

Bus ad revenue lower than expected

Banner-Herald reports:

Athens-Clarke County is cutting short its contract with a local firm that sells advertising on Athens Transit buses because the program is making less money than officials expected.
...

The Athens-Clarke Commission is likely to vote tonight to opt out of a two-year contract with The Summit Agency on June 30, after just one year.

The deal guarantees the county at least $75,000 per year in revenue, with the county and the agency splitting anything over that amount. After seven months, the agency has sold only $33,000 worth of ads, Athens Transit Director Butch McDuffie said.

...

The economy and a restrictive policy on what types of ads Athens Transit will accept are responsible for the poor sales, McDuffie said.

The county does not accept alcohol-related, sexual, political or religious advertising.

Commissioners adopted the policy on Athens-Clarke Attorney Bill Berryman's recommendation to head off potential lawsuits if they turned down a controversial ad to avoid the appearance that the government is endorsing a religious or political message.

...

When the county's contract with The Summit Agency ends June 30, the commission could opt to stop selling ads, hire another agency to sell them or sell them in-house. [Commissioner Kelly] Girtz said he favors continuing to sell ads.

Is the county policy too cautious? Isn't some money better than none? This is the first time this strategy has been attempted with Athens Transit, so it's to be expected that there might be some hurdles, especially in the current economic conditions.

Plenty of transit systems successfully utilize bus ads to supplement their operating budgets. We hope the commission and Athens Transit can address the challenges and continue exploring this needed funding opportunity.

Let the Commission know your thoughts on the matter.

Share your commute

Inspired by this bike commuter diary, we're looking for some show-and-tell from Athens' bike, transit, and pedestrian commuters.

Send us a narrative, photographic, and/or mapped description of your commuting route in Athens, and we'll share it here on the blog and on our website. We encourage you to share your thoughts on the route, including ways it could be improved, what you like about it, interesting experiences, etc.

Please submit to chair[at]bikeathens.com

We look forward to hearing your story!

UPDATE
We have one submission in the comments below! And, here's a short video of my walking commute from New Town to campus. The intro has a 3-4 second delay for some reason. Enjoy!

Bus study

Flagpole summarizes a recent analysis of Athens Transit.

Also, an interesting conversation on road sharing.

Athens Transit & UGA buses to receive filters

A federal grant will allow both ATS and UGA Campus transit to install emissions filters on their fleets:

For an average city bus, the filter would reduce the amount of harmful particulates by 60 percent, he said.

"It will have a substantial air-quality impact. ... It will reduce the number of tons of particulates in the atmosphere in the air that we breathe in, not just at the bus stops, but countywide."

Athens Transit begins selling ads on its buses

From the Banner-Herald:

Hoping to make enough money from advertising to add routes and frequency without raising fares or taxes, Athens-Clarke officials will begin selling ads this week on the sides, back and interior of buses.
...
The money could be enough to increase frequency on an hourly route to every half hour or run a couple more buses at night or on Saturdays.

Mass transit continues to become more popular. People made about 1.7 million trips on Athens buses in the past year, up almost 200,000 from 2006.

But fuel costs remain high, federal operating grants are flat, and the state offers no support, so the system is struggling for funding.

Fares will go up 25 cents to $1.50 on Wednesday. Even with the increased fares and anticipated ad revenue, though, the Athens-Clarke Commission did not expand bus service this year.

Bus fares rise

The Athens-Clarke commission voted 8-2 last night to raise Athens Transit fares from $1.25 to $1.50.

More on transit fares

Flagpole takes a closer look at Athens Transit's plans to raise fares and eliminate The Link service.

Transit debate continues

Commissioners and community advocates continue to toss around ideas about how to manage transit service in the face of higher costs and ever-present demands for more service.

Cuts in transit service

Via ABH:

To offset revenue that has fallen by millions of dollars in recent months, Athens-Clarke officials likely will both raise some taxes and fees and cut spending. Among the dozens of proposals:

► Reducing bus frequency along Hawthorne Avenue, saving $158,000.

► Eliminating The Link, an on-demand van service, saving $54,000.

► Raising adult bus fares by 25 cents, generating about $375,000.

Park-n-ride gets go ahead

At their meeting last night, commissioners approved "plans for a federally-funded $2.2 million Athens Transit park-and-ride lot on Oconee Street near the Athens Perimeter."

View Larger Map

Tell Athens Transit what you want

Athens Transit is taking public comment on its Long Range Plan for transit service in Athens.

Story in this week's Flagpole.

Parking, planning, paths and bus fares

Downtown parking proposal stirs up protest

UGA planning to be managed in Atlanta?

Alt-trans funds: Sidewalks & South Milledge bike-ped path

Possible bus fare increase

New & improved Athens Transit website

Check out the wholly redesigned Athens Transit website. It looks great!

This new site is a huge improvement, so kudos to ATS for completing this needed project.

While the real-time bus tracker is a very cool feature, we still need some scale maps of the routes...

Downtown parking, transit ads, & TSPLOST

ABH:

The Athens-Clarke Commission voted Tuesday to triple the fines for parking too long in downtown Athens.

Starting July 1, the fine for parking at an expired meter will rise from $3 to $10, and the fine for feeding quarters into the meter after it has expired will rise from $5 to $15.

Meters will be enforced from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., rather than the current 6 p.m.

The commission also voted to "sell advertisements on Athens Transit buses, a move that is expected to bring in about $25,000 to $50,000 a year for additional service."

ALSO,
The state legislature is moving forward on a TSPLOST bill:

The House plan favors a statewide sales tax that would raise $25 billion for transportation projects during the next decade. The Senate plan would allow counties to band together to impose a regional tax.

Georgia's business lobbyists have aggressively pushed for the increases, saying Atlanta's traffic woes are hurting their ability to recruit and keep companies. The city's commute routinely ranks among the nation's worst, and state officials say Georgia ranks near the bottom when it comes to per capita spending on transportation.

Under both plans, Georgia voters would have to approve the tax hike in 2010 as a constitutional amendment. The Senate measure requires local officials to craft a list of potential projects that local residents would consider, while the House proposal includes a lengthy list of specific projects across the state.

$500K available for alt trans projects in Athens

Athens-Clarke County has $500,000 to spend on bike, pedestrian, and transit projects, and we want to hear from you on which projects you'd like to see happen.

Read the post below and then please fill out the poll on our blog home page.

Details & project descriptions via the ABH:

A standing committee of five commissioners is deciding how to spend $500,000 the commission earmarked for alternative transportation - walking, biking and buses - in 2006.

Officials said they want to spend $75,000 to update a plan for future bike lanes written in 2001, expanding it beyond the three-mile radius from downtown that was mapped out eight years ago. They also want to hold back $25,000 for incidental expenses.

Projects that parks, transportation and Athens Transit officials said could be funded with the remaining money include:

► $400,000 to buy land for a future expansion of a planned, federally funded park-and-ride lot at Oconee Street and the Athens Perimeter.

► $400,000 to widen College Station Road between Research Drive and Barnett Shoals Road to add lanes for bike riders.

► $400,000 to build 1.3 miles of sidewalks along Oglethorpe Avenue, Whit Davis Road, Cherokee Road, Research Road and Cedar Shoals Drive.

► $400,000 to build a trail connecting the Multimodal Transportation Center to a planned rail-trail project in East Athens.

► $400,000 to supplement sales tax revenue earmarked for the North Oconee River Greenway.

► $400,000 to build paths in a proposed park along Pulaski Creek.

► $400,000 to build a bike lane along West Broad Street/Atlanta Highway from Alps Road to greenspace near the Middle Oconee River.

► $400,000 to build an off-road path connecting Milledge Avenue and Milledge Avenue Extension.

► $200,000 to buy land for bus shelters at stops where the local government does not own right-of-way.

► $50,000 to promote Athens Transit bus service.

► $20,000 to buy and install 40 bike racks around Athens.

A year for new approaches?

Flagpole covers the intersection of TSPLOST, state and local government, and Athens Transit.

The bailout: Athens area projects announced

The Athens-Clarke County government has unveiled its list of "ready to go" projects, should Congress pass Barack Obama's proposed bailout plan for national infrastructure:

Athens-Clarke County Manager Alan Reddish said, "This would provide the types of jobs and infrastructure we need in this community and this country." 

Reddish gave the mayors' group a list of 14 projects that are already on the county's books but, in many cases, lack funding. They would cost a total of $23.5 million and create 307 jobs, mostly in construction, he said. The projects include:

• Adding a turn lane to Mitchell Bridge Road and reconfiguring its intersection with Athens West Parkway
• Fixing the Barnett Shoals Road-Old Lexington Road intersection
• More frequent Athens Transit bus service

"Those are projects we think are ready to go within 90 days," Reddish said.

I'm definitely happy to hear that Athens Transit will benefit from these funds if the bailout bill passes, but how long will the funds carry "more frequent" service? Will Athens enjoy a spike in bus availability, only to revert to the current level of service when the bailout funds run dry?

For the first two projects above, how will the intersection be reconfigured and what will be fixed exactly? Will either project incorporate accessibility and safety for transit users, cyclists and pedestrians? Hopefully, more detail will emerge on these projects.