Thursday, March 21, 2013

Improving Riverside County's Public Transportation System

What exactly needs to be done to improve transit mobility?

An RTA bus. The Riverside Transit Agency has been working on an updated Comprehensive Operational Analysis which will provide the agency a blueprint of future transit planning. According to the February, 2013 RTA Board of Directors Agenda, the consultant firm assigned to develop the study conducted a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis. The SWOT generally affirmed several concepts and ideas already illustrated on The Transit Coalition's Future Vision of Inland Empire Mass Transit and what county officials need to do to improve mobility. Here are a few findings:

  • The SWOT report shows a transit mobility threat of continued freeway expansion proposals without bus infrastructure. Ever wonder why The Transit Coalition advocates for direct access ramps between HOV/HOT lanes and major transit centers? Will there be seamless bus transit connections between the Corona Transit Center and the extended 91 Express Lanes?

  • Constrained financial resources and high unemployment: Are cities and Riverside County establishing business-friendly and transit-oriented land use decisions for marketplace job development to reduce long distance solo commuting? A local robust job marketplace provides the resources for productive public transit service.

  • Reported Dial-a-Ride constraints: Paratransit gives mobility to the immobile, but is hard on the taxpayer if overused by mobile riders. What can RTA do to improve its Travel Training program? Has RTA considered putting in a team of volunteer transit ambassadors into Travel Training to better educate mobile riders on using the fixed route system?

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