The challenge is to make public transit more efficient and effective. The Kansas Collaborative and KDOT need the involvement of county leadership to meet this challenge. KDOT has asked The Kansas Collaborative to launch four regional Breakthrough Teams. We hope you will take the opportunity to read this article and, if appropriate, consider joining one of the Breakthrough Teams.
Background Information
The T-LINK Taskforce is recommending pilots to examine the possibility of a regional transit approach to expand and improve delivery of rural transit service. The following passage from the Draft Recommendation of the T-LINK Taskforce describes the faults with the current system:
“The CTD delivery system sometimes hinders efficient regional service because most operators are small, focused on single communities and they do not have the authority to consolidate and coordinate services. This approach limits travel outside of the providers’ borders, even if that is where riders need to go. Poor coordination can cause duplication of administrative functions, service connectivity gaps between communities, and missed opportunities to invest in technologies like “one-call” ride dispatching that improve service efficiency. An expanded, regional transit approach would bring greater efficiency by leveraging rural transit funding to provide a more modern, comprehensive, strategic way of providing service.”
Four Pilot Sites for Regional Breakthrough Teams
The T-Link Taskforce recommended the creation of one or more pilot projects that look at regional transportation options in Kansas. To that end, KDOT Office of Public Transportation with the assistance of the Kansas Collaborative used the month of February to meet with the following providers who have been identified as potential regional managers: OCCK (Salina), DSNWK (Hays), Reno County Area Transportation (Hutchinson) and Finney County Council on Aging (Garden City). These four locations were identified as potential regional manager locations because they possessed the following attributes:
- Maintenance Facilities: transit-only maintenance facilities, constructed using Federal Transit Administration and KDOT funds.
- ITS pilot projects: DSNWK and Reno County are currently part of the KDOT Rural Dispatching pilot project. OCCK and Finney County are the next two sites to join the pilot. This pilot uses computer-aided dispatching and technology upgrades in vehicles to improve efficiency.
- Fixed Route Transit: Finney County, Reno County, and OCCK currently operate fixed route transit services. DSNWK is currently in the process of establishing a fixed route transit service. Having a fixed route program as the backbone of a regional transit service will be important to providing effective mobility in the region.
- Regional Centers: Each of these locations serves as regional centers where individuals from surrounding communities visit in order to receive necessary services (medical, shopping, etc.). Having the regional center as the manager will create efficiencies because many of the trips will have the regional center as the destination.
- Capacity for Regional Service: Each of these agencies has the professional capacity to act as a stand-alone regional transit agency. Many of the other KDOT providers offer transit as part of a menu of services or do not have the staff capacity to operate a major transit operation. While OCCK and DNSWK are non-profits that have transit as only a portion of their service menu, they have proven that regional transit is an important part of their mission.
Additionally, KDOT and The Kansas Collaborative intend to meet with Riley County ATA (Manhattan) to discuss the option of identifying regional needs in the Ft. Riley area. Because of the workforce transportation needs in this region, along with the emerging Fixed Route operating in Riley County, this is an important location to explore. Also, it will be important to define a market boundary between the Riley County region and the Salina region.
Timeframe
Time is of the essence in creating pilot projects in the aforementioned locations. The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (Stimulus Bill) has passed. KDOT has been allocated $14 million for rural public transportation capital projects. According to the language of the bill, 50% of that funding would need to be spent within 180 days of award. The best utilization of these funds is toward supporting a regional mobility framework, i.e. vehicles, maintenance facilities, ITS equipment and fixed route amenities that will support the recommendations of the T-LINK Task Force.
What does all this mean for you?
County leaders need to be involved in the Breakthrough Teams in each of the four pilot locations. Team members are being identified right now with a kick off date in late April/early May. All it takes to sign up is to email Lisa Koch, Public Transit Manager, at lisak@ksdot.org and tell her why you need to be on the Breakthrough Team. You can view the draft team charter by visiting the Resource Center at www.kansascollaborative.com.
Looking forward to working with you.
Until next month,
Kathleen and Joel