Citizens' jump start on feasibility studies

You may have heard the phrase "You can't ride a study" before. However, whenever a public agency pours money into conducting such research, the results often provide critical planning data for The Transit Coalition and the public. We look at such research, ensure any political spin is out, and use this information toward our positions. More often than not, these research-and-development projects come with a high price tag which can creep into the six figure mark.

As transit studies are vital to us, public entities and regulators need to realize that highly useful fact-based transportation data is already available to support such government transportation research. They just need to spend some time to certify existing published facts and common knowledge for contractors tasked to do studies. Reducing redundancy can save taxpayers thousands of dollars per study as the focus would be spotting and addressing red flags on the original ideas. 

Las Vegas Intercity Corridor - Transit Station "Feasbility Study"

Let's suppose an agency needs to research possible intercity transit stops in and out of Las Vegas. Here's a clever piece of data that's out there in cyberspace: A combination of recent time lapse videos showing a transcontinential drive from LAX to Orlando through Las Vegas.

Yes, you heard that right. Courtesy of a YouTube user, we have a cross country time lapse of video imagery of from cost to coast, through Las Vegas, available to watch:

• LAX-Las Vegas Segment
• Las Vegas-Orlando Segment

 A video-savvy researcher can take a look at the video and adjust its playback speed to match real time travel speeds. There it is. Some useful ideas of where to place station stops and rest areas would be available on the spot. The actual government study can then focus on the specifics and finding issues.

As mentioned before, government agencies should review the massive library of current and recent data that is out there to be researched and used for intelligence-driven studies. Agencies should have the power to be able to certify relevant facts and current common knowledge for transportation planning so it doesn't have to be researched a second time all in the name of legal fine print. Even a few hours worth of research at hand can improve research productivity and save big bucks in taxpayer money on studies.

"Feasibility Study" for dual high occupancy carpool/toll lanes on I-15

Want another example? Let's look at the possibility of extending San Diego County's robust and award-winning I-15 Express Lane facility all the way to Victorville. San Diego County is exploring the Escondido-Temecula segment, Riverside County has looked at the segment between Lake Elsinore to Ontario, and San Bernardino County has been studying Ontario-Victorville link since 2008. With the obvious fact of Temecula's big plans to redevelop its western side of the of the city, why not close the Temecula-Lake Elsinore gap? Here's another time lapse of the I-15 between San Diego and Vegas. Could you draw any suggestions of where the direct access ramps to existing transit stations should go? How about the intermediate access points?

Having a set of two high occupancy express lanes in each direction where 2+ or 3+ carpools can travel for free without a transponder and solo drivers have the option to buy their way into the carpool lane works. Link the lanes with direct access ramps for seamless connections to transit centers and park & ride lots. Offer a fast and friendly rapid express bus network with timed connections with the local routes to get up and down the corridor quickly. There's plenty of data out there to build up an impartial case that would support such an expansion. Conducting a real feasibility study for such a robust facility would involve checking for red flags on the initial ideas conceived and providing fact-based solutions to those problems.

Proposed east/west Omnitrans sbX BRT routes move forward

What is going on with bus rapid transit in the Inland Empire? It is no secret that Omnitrans is building the sbX system on E Street in San Bernardino. However, the agency has plans to expand the concept with a much grander east-west sbX rapid route mostly following Holt Boulevard and 4th Street through Ontario. Omnitrans recently secured a federal grant that would study BRT through this corridor, which would ultimately have endpoints at Pomona and Yucaipa. The Holt Boulevard route would directly link points from Fontana with Foothill Transit's Silver Streak service in Pomona, thus providing an east-west backbone of rapid bus routes spanning from Santa Monica to San Bernardino. Of course, Metrolink stops its trains at the Inland Empire transfer points and LA Metro will soon have the Metro Expo Line extended to Santa Monica; the rail lines would continue to cater for longer distance end-to-end trips. However, these new rapid routes promise to bring a speedy alternative for those points in between.

Cities along the proposed route are even more excited, as several are conducting studies as to whether BRT is feasible and what kind of transit-oriented development opportunities BRT would bring. Check out Omintrans' BRT master plan here. Note that the proposed Holt Boulevard line is marked in purple:

Calimesa: Adopting Transit Study Recommendations

Why were recommendations that were made in a transit study, paid for by Riverside County taxpayers, never adopted for the Pass Area?

The Inland Empire's Pass Area which includes Calimesa, Beaumont, Banning and Cabazon, will have its transit system analyzed, courtesy of the City of Beaumont. This is welcoming news for Calimesa as this small town between Yucaipa and Beaumont currently lacks through-bus service; its residents are urged to take an active part in the study. However, the fact that Beaumont taxpayers are footing the bill for the study remains questionable. In addition, the fact remains that recommendations from a 2007 transit study to establish a productive bus route for the corridor were never adopted.

The transit corridor linking Beaumont through Calimesa into Yucaipa has a history of major route changes. The Riverside Transit Agency once operated bus Route 36 which previously served the City of Calimesa and directly connected the region with Yucaipa to the north and Beaumont to the south. RTA is mandated by the Riverside County Transportation Commission to meet productive performance standards for its bus lines. Route 36 did not meet several of them and the line was proposed to be canceled in the summer of 2009.

As mentioned, the corridor was studied back in 2007, paid for by Riverside County taxpayers. RTA's 2007 Comprehensive Operational Analysis recommended that the transit corridor connecting the Pass Area into San Bernardino be Omnitrans-operated and connect directly with major points in San Bernardino. However, no transit agency in the area adopted the recommendation. Instead, the City of Beaumont agreed to launch the Pass Transit Express Route on June 22, 2009, connecting central Beaumont to central Calimesa to replace Route 36. Unfortunately, a multitude of problems became clear as one looked at the Express Route bus schedule and map. One fundamental flaw was its limited coverage. Following another restructure, the express route now serves as a peak-only CommuterLink Route 120 with direct service to the San Bernardino Metrolink Station. However, RSVP's are required and the last morning bus out of Beaumont is 5:00 am.

Under the recommendations made by the 2007 RTA COA transit study, The Transit Coalition envisions an all-day regional bus connector for the Beaumont-Calimesa-San Bernardino corridor with hourly headways paid for by Pass-area cities and San Bernardino County which would be operated by Omnitrans. The line would be an extension of the existing Omnitrans Route 9 which would directly connect Beaumont, Calimesa, and Yucaipa to major points in Loma Linda and San Bernardino, terminating at the downtown transit station. An up-to-date study will further assist The Transit Coalition in restoring productive public transit for Calimesa. Let's hope officials adopt its recommendations this time around.

Friday Transportation Tips: Help RTA build its 10 Year Transit Plan

The Riverside Transit Agency wants your feedback. Beginning February 23, RTA surveyors will issue surveys onboard buses as part of its Comprehensive Operational Analysis study. RTA plans to examine how to improve transit center connections, establish direct connections to employment centers and schools, increasing service frequency and span, expanding bus service to underserved areas and improving existing commuter routes. The Transit Coalition utilizes information from the COA to develop concepts, build up transportation campaigns, and take positions on issues. So the next time you're on the bus, be sure to fill out one of these surveys. If you desire to get Riverside County moving with a productive multi-modal transportation system, your voice will be counted.

Ready-Made Time Lapse Videos for Transportation Planners

(2/12/13) – IE Transit Talking Points Short

Government transit agencies spend countless amounts of their resources toward studies. What the agencies may or may not know is that highly useful transportation data is already available on the Internet. For example, search for “los angeles las vegas time lapse” on Google’s Video search and see what comes up.

At the surface, the returning results may look like nothing more than freeway fans filming long stretches of the I-15 between LA and Vegas, speeding the footage up in their video editors, and posting them to YouTube. However, if one is to take a video and slow it back down to actual speed, some useful planning information would be available on the spot. Therefore, individuals who film entire freeway and rail corridors and posting them online are patriots.

For instance, simply by viewing footage of the I-15 freeway, toll lane planners would be able to instantly see San Diego County’s I-15 Express Lane facility end-to-end and note its peculiarities. Likewise, slowing the video down to emulate traffic congestion can help planners calculate the cost and misery of gridlocked freeways.

Public entities may want to review the data that is available out in cyberspace, certify any relevant findings without infringing copyrights, and keep a library of this data available to the public and contractors assigned to conduct studies. Even a few hours worth of research at hand can save big bucks in taxpayer money on studies.

Political Chaos with the Hemet Transit Center

Unnecessary Bureaucratic Red Tape is sapping proposed Riverside County Transit Centers at epidemic levels

Political money games and the lack of cooperation between public entities are sapping worthy Inland Empire transit projects once more. Again, The Transit Coalition has to remind the state and feds: You have to know what's it like to be in the real world.

This Google Maps satellite aerial imagery shows the general location of a city-identified site and a prime location for a proposed transit center in the City of Hemet. The multi-modal station was proposed to be developed adjacent to a proposed courthouse in the heart of the historic downtown core complete with a transit village.

In reality, developing the transit center, a courthouse with a public square and a future Metrolink station in this area would be very desirable for this Inland suburb starved for free market economic growth. However, according to this RTA Budget & Finance Committee Report, delays at the state level combined with potential de-obligation actions from the federal government has led to nothing except for bureaucratic red tape for the Hemet Transit Center. RTA thus decided to conduct a site feasibility study to determine another optimal transit center location.

This is an outrage because plans for the Hemet station have already been in the works for nearly a decade by local officials. This is why the lack of cooperation with the state combined with overregulation and spending deadlines with the federal funds is bad for transportation projects - too many hurdles which negate Inland Empire transit development. This has happened before. RTA was forced to empty nearly all of the funds for a very desirable transit center project at the Riverside Downtown Metrolink station. According to the latest public documents from RTA, the alternative site for the Riverside Transit Center which is currently under study is now the site of the proposed Moreno Valley Transit Center, located on the western edge of the City of Moreno Valley at a proposed station for the Metrolink Perris Valley Line; the transit hub is now labeled the Northwest Transit Center. Basically, the Downtown Riverside Transit Center is back on the drawing board sitting with a near empty fund. Both the state and the White House should be outraged as The Transit Coalition is.

Moving ahead, the City of Hemet does have some local control over their transit center. Because the city envisions the development of a transit village adjacent to the transit center, why not entice private developers to come in by designating the transit center and courthouse block as a specific plan and offer tax incentives to the entrepreneurial class to build both of the public buildings and the courthouse square as part of the village complete with private sector jobs? The truth is Hemet is starved for a private job marketplace. Its residents could use some logistics, manufacturing, distribution and other blue-collar jobs. That is a smart way in getting Hemet back to a healthy state.

If local officials are serious about getting both the Riverside and the Hemet Transit Centers built next to the Metrolink rail system without going through a decade of planning, they must take the unnecessary regulations off the backs of the private sector and incentivize them to come in and build the facilities. Local officials need to have the desire and the will to have Riverside and Hemet not only survive, but to thrive. Meanwhile, both the state and the feds need to get out from their desks, visit the affected transit center sites themselves, and see what upper-level regulatory reform needs to be done to move these projects forward. The bottom line of this story: Government roadblocks continue unchecked, our transportation projects are being delayed at epidemic levels, and the riding public is paying for it.

What the Heck Happened with the Riverside Transit Center?

Political football games with transportation money is destructive to Inland Empire mobility.

As communities around California seek to reinvent their streets to be more multimodal this will be an additional challenge that must be addressed. Millions in dedicated funds for a proposed transit center in Downtown Riverside was locally de-obligated and assigned elsewhere, upsetting local bus riders. At their November 13, 2012 meeting, the Riverside City Council voted in a 6-1 majority to reaffirm its commitment toward building a multi-modal transit center on Vine Street near the downtown Metrolink station. The City agreed to work with the Riverside Transit Agency to work out differences over the project; however, some of those "differences" combined with federal deadlines and regulations came with a disastrous price tag for the Riverside riding public.

RTA had secured approximately $7 million toward this project from various public sources; the federal funding portion however was strapped with spending deadlines. Because officials failed to see how moving the existing transit hub several blocks east to Vine Street would affect the connecting bus routes, RTA decided in September to shelve the Vine Street location and instead spend $4.5 million of the transit center's funds to redevelop the existing Downtown Terminal station. The city and the local business community then expressed concerns about that plan, thus more fuel was dumped on the political fire.

Even though the City of Riverside can commit the Riverside Transit Center project to any public site it pleases, RTA has fiduciary responsibility over the project's funds, not the city. What the city can and should do instead is designate the Metrolink station block as a specific plan and offer local property tax incentives and rebates so that private developers and entrepreneurs can invest and build the transit center combined with a much-needed free market job site. This win-win funding concept has yet to be adopted.

With the Riverside Transit Center mired in public financial regulations and deadlines, RTA changed course and emptied the project's fund. At their October 2012 Board of Directors meeting, RTA redirected nearly all of the Riverside Transit Center's project funds toward the Twin Cities Transit Center in the Temecula/Murrieta area.

From the perspective of the riding public, this is a complete disgrace to Inland Empire mobility. Multi-modal connectivity between the downtown core, local buses and trains at the Riverside Downtown Metrolink station is very limited. That is very clear. To be fair, the Twin Cities Transit Center down south promises to address a growing region in the Inland Empire and coordinating the project with future high-speed rail is finally in the talks. But what is disappointing to the Riverside public is the lack of cooperation between local and federal officials to get the worthy Vine Street Transit Center built with the $7 million in funds already collected, among other issues (Page 5).

$7 million is more than enough to start up a first phase of the project by adding additional bus stops along the existing streets and moving the hub and bus routes over. The truth is the project was so strapped with rules and regulations that such a logical and cost-effective move wouldn't likely work on a sheet of legal paper, but work fine out in the real world. These political roadblocks must be reformed. Unnecessary federal regulations and political football games with transportation money only delays worthwhile projects, adds layers of cost, and is destructive to Inland Empire mobility. It will be continually confronted by The Transit Coalition

The Riverside City Council also indicated that RTA was potentially moving to a grid-based bus system based on a post on the Riding in Riverside Transit Blog. It's far too early to determine what proposals are in store, but Riverside County's street layout and demographics make a countywide grid-based bus system absolutely illogical. We all remember in 2000 OCTA's ill-advised Point-to-Point grid system that negated ridership systemwide. That colossal blunder led OCTA to alter several of its routes back to a hybrid grid and hub-and-spoke model. RTA's current system operates smartly on this hybrid system: The majority of routes connect at a major hub, fan out over the region, and emulate the grid system with direct service via major streets before rejoining again at the next hub. Aside from some changes outlined in The Transit Coalition's Future Vision, RTA should maintain its current route model.

The Twin Cities Transit Center and High Speed Rail

Coordination between local and state public agencies would be an efficient and cost effective way to build a true multi-modal Twin Cities Transit Center.

The Riverside Transit Agency has secured the funding for a proposed world-class transit center in the Temecula and Murrieta region. What makes this facility set apart from other transit centers? According to public officials, the Twin Cities Transit Center is envisioned to be a multi-modal transportation hub serving local bus routes, express bus services, potential bus rapid transit, and possible Metrolink rail extensions associated with the near term implementation of the Perris Valley Line.

It is evident that the Temecula Valley is not getting a full scale Grand Central Terminal just yet, at least not initially. To compare, the $9.1 million Twin Cities Transit Center will likely mimic the Montclair TransCenter or Pomona TransCenter; both cater to local routes, express lines, Silver Streak BRT and Metrolink trains. In contrast, Anaheim's massive intermodal transit center facility with its eye-catching architecture cost $184 million.

The transit center will without question benefit the riding public. However, The Transit Coalition has long been wondering how future high-speed rail service will fit into this transit center and has advocated for project coordination between this facility and the California High Speed Rail Authority's proposed Murrieta train station. The result would be a centralized first-rate multi-modal facility for the region. Such cooperation for a combined project has not happened and planning for two separate transit centers spaced less than two miles apart continue.

Another questionable expense of the RTA Twin Cities Transit Center is the reported $364,000 price tag for scouting a suitable location along Jefferson Avenue. To be fair, existing studies never included future rail extensions and making the transit center Metrolink and high-speed rail compatible is essential for long term planning. The site feasibility study may also address the separate train station plans by CHSRA in Murrieta, but this six-figure public expense may have fared better if the research was combined with another study, such as the Highway 395 Corridor Study or Jefferson Avenue Study Area. Officials need to ensure precious public transportation dollars are making it to the streets and are not being wasted with too many studies.

Nevertheless, the Twin Cities Transit Center remains promising for the future of mass transit in the Temecula and Murrieta region. Existing bus riders will benefit. Demand for a high-speed inland rail link through this region north to Los Angeles and south to San Diego will continue to grow. Project coordination between local and state public agencies would be an efficient and cost effective way to build a true multi-modal Twin Cities Transit Center.

Bus Transit Efficiency in Temecula & Murrieta

The cities and RTA should straighten up the routes to attract riders.



Looking to get more people to ride its local buses, the Riverside Transit Agency launched a promotional campaign for the Murrieta and Temecula area which allows local residents and employees to try out the bus for free during the month of October. RTA ran ads in local newspapers and mailed out flyers in the area. Each ad had a coupon good toward an RTA day pass which could be redeemed aboard two of the area's local bus lines, Route 23 or 24. Both routes have seen substantial ridership gains; however, productivity performance for these routes remains a bit lackluster.

Fix the Circuitous Bus Routes:
Local area bus riders have attested in the past that both of these routes are extremely long and slow, or more accurately, very circuitous. Circuitous local bus routes have many loops and extensions, are difficult to understand, and use excessive resources. This explains why Routes 23 and 24 averaged less than 8.5 passenger boardings per hour combined with a high subsidy-per-passenger rate during the month of August despite the reported ridership gains.

Studies Back Straighter Bus Routing:
Two 2007 studies, one local, one federal, confirm that Murrieta's and Temecula's bus routes should be more direct. However, one doesn't even need these studies as evidence. The RTA System Map already shows the overwhelmingly circuitous nature of Routes 23 and 24 and local trips between southern Temecula and northern Murrieta can last in excess of 1 1/2 to 2 hours according to RTA route timetables.

Here's the reality: No choice rider would want to spend well over an hour aboard a bus for a 5-7 mile local trip. If RTA and the local cities desire to incline more patrons to ride the bus in Southwest Riverside County, each of the public entities must consider ways to simplify and streamline the area's local bus routes to offer more direct and bidirectional connections while also reducing unproductive costs and maintaining local transit mobility. Streamlined bus routing with through-service at the proposed Twin Cities Transit Center and timed transfers to connecting routes would significantly speed up trips. Travel times between major activity centers would then be reduced dramatically. That's how the public can be inclined to patronize the local bus system.