Transit systems aim to enhance bus service, rider amenities / LJWorld.com

Archive for Monday, April 13, 2009

Bus riders between Lawrence and Johnson County will soon be riding in well-connected comfort.

April 13, 2009

New buses. More stops. Wireless online access.

Such are only a few of the service upgrades and envisioned amenities for transit, the service that used to just be a matter of getting from here to there.

Now it’s becoming more about the trip itself, and what riders can get done during it.

“I do think, especially with the people we have associated with our transit, that we’re really committed to making sure everyone enjoys the ride,” said Donna Hultine, director of parking and transit at Kansas University.

Helping fuel the focus is a newfound infusion of financing.

The Lawrence Transit System, known as the T, is getting nearly $2 million in financing through the federal economic stimulus program. And on April 1, consumers started paying additional sales taxes in Lawrence to help finance ongoing and enhanced transit service.

Johnson Country Transit also is investing in its system, ramping up the frequency of service on its popular K-10 Connector that runs from three spots in Lawrence to stops at Johnson County Community College and KU’s Edwards Campus in Overland Park.

Coming soon: Two over-the-road motorcoaches for the trips along K-10, offering a new level of comfort and convenience for riders headed to and from class or work.

“We’re working on adding a wireless component,” said Alice Amrein, transportation director for Johnson County Transit. “We’re starting it as a pilot on the K-10 Connector. Hopefully we’ll have it going in the next 30 to 60 days.”

Johnson County Transit, also known as the JO, is working to increase fares by up to 80 percent on the connector. Offering wireless connectivity for laptops and other devices could go a long way toward helping riders get the most for their money, Amrein said.

“We think the fares are commensurate with the level of service and the amenities that they will see,” she said.

Next stop: New buses

The T isn’t looking toward such amenities — at least not yet, said Casey Toomay, interim transit administrator.

For now the focus is on the most basic of services: increasing the efficiency and timing of buses, and improving the reliability and performance of the vehicles themselves.

The T plans to replace its fleet of 12 diesel buses with new models that run on alternative fuel. Six to eight of the buses would be similar in size to the current 29-foot-long buses that now run on city streets, Toomay said.

Another four to six likely would be smaller, similar to the ones currently serving the T’s paratransit service that provides door-to-door rides for people who qualify.

For Toomay and others working on the T, improving the ride is more about boosting efficiency, adding bus frequency and — as early as this coming fall — implementing a “designated stop” system.

Such a stop system would establish specific loading and unloading locations for passengers every quarter-mile or so on each route, rather than allowing people to continue simply flagging down a bus from the curb.

“That improves the timing of your route, which riders would see as an improvement,” Toomay said.

The T and KU on Wheels, which serves KU, also are combining routes to increase service beginning in the fall. The main coordinated route — connecting downtown Lawrence with campus and on to the retail area on South Iowa Street — will allow passengers to catch rides every 30 minutes, instead of the current 80, without either service having to spend more money.

“That’s our most immediate improvement,” Toomay said.

GPS connections

KU on Wheels also has been busy with its own host of efficiency and timing issues. Just this past fall, the system went to a “free-fare” approach, in an effort to reduce parking demand on campus and boost transit ridership.

After having 1.2 million riders last academic year, Hultine said, KU on Wheels is on track to have 2.5 million riders. Much of this year has been spent tweaking operations to see that as many people who want to ride actually can get onto a bus.

As the academic year began, Hultine said, a route serving the Meadowbrook Apartments proved so popular that some residents ended up being left at the curb. Ridership soon dropped.

“People couldn’t count on the bus getting there on time,” she said. “We’ve tweaked and tweaked to get that trust back. People make their whole schedule based on what we say we will do. We want to get them back.”

Such efforts won’t simply be limited to running more buses, or more often.

While riders already can sign up for text alerts, informing them of when a KU on Wheels bus has been taken out of service or been forced into being rerouted, Hultine would like to take the concept even further.

Hultine would like to use GPS technology to give anyone a chance to track the timing and positioning of each of the system’s 43 vehicles.

“It’s a would-be-nice thing,” she said. “It’s on our wish list.”

Such a system also could communicate other messages to potential patrons, she said.

“There are systems that have bus shelters that have flashing-message signs that tell you how many minutes it will be until a bus gets there,” Hultine said. “Anything can be done with money.”

Discussion

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13 April 2009
at 6:37 a.m.

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xbusguy (Anonymous) says…

Ms. Hultine is good caring person. KU is lucky to have her.
13 April 2009
at 6:39 a.m.

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pool_playa (Anonymous) says…

cool!!
13 April 2009
at 6:57 a.m.

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begin60 (Anonymous) says…

Discrimination means treating people differently based on legally protected characteristics. This happens a lot on the local bus systems, both the T and KU on Wheels. Drivers and riders need to better adhere to privacy laws. If someone needed help mounting the bus they'd ask for it. It's totally inappropriate and presumptuous for riders to physically grab onto people or their possessions. They claim to be helping, but ironically they don't seem to care at all about how the beneficiary feels about this. Obtuse drivers ask new riders if they need help as well or if they have a half-price pass. These are uneducated and uncultured attitudes and behaviors constituting illegal discrimination Most people around here obviously are bad people-readers and would not be smart or perceptive enough to provide any useful help anyway— they have just been conditioned through bad, bigoted upbringings to ask this mindless, self-important question. It's crucial that the buses are fully accessible so everyone can be treated the same. I'm surprised no one has filed a civil rights complaint about this.
13 April 2009
at 7:12 a.m.

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laika (Anonymous) says…

Hultine would like to use GPS technology to give anyone a chance to track the timing and positioning of each of the system’s 43 vehicles.

This system already exists, I use it every week. http://www.frotp.com/ They even have a mobile version now.

Perhaps the article was just confusing, and she meant to say that this will be implemented more widely. It is admittedly not that well known.
13 April 2009
at 8:26 a.m.

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SettingTheRecordStraight (Anonymous) says…

Thank you, government, for taking care of my every need. I'm too dumb to realize that the more you “give” me, the more I become dependent upon you. I'm also too stupid to realize that when you tax and redistribute (then tax and redistribute), I and my fellow voters become enslaved to those politicians who promise more and more government spending.

Soon it will become unnecessary for me to care for myself and my family. Soon I will have given away the last of my freedoms. Soon I will have lost all identity and will have become an automaton of the State. But at least I can count on goverment, and its cradle-to-grave involvement in my life, to see me through it all.
13 April 2009
at 8:37 a.m.

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snap_pop_no_crackle (Anonymous) says…

Moist towelette, anyone?
13 April 2009
at 9:33 a.m.

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redmoonrising (Anonymous) says…

If you're offering, snap, I'll take one. Have to wipe my eyes and see if I read all this correctly. Guess I'm naive in that I never realized that the bus schedule would have such an effect on my life.

13 April 2009
at 9:55 a.m.

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RoeDapple (Anonymous) says…

begin60 is the center of the universe. There are people who honestly appreciate a little help now and then but are too bashful or embarrassed to ask. After picking up groceries for an elderly lady who had spilled them I was thanked three times. begin60 would have had me ignore her. Maybe I will next time. She can thank begin60
13 April 2009
at 10:08 a.m.

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none2 (Anonymous) says…

begin60 (Anonymous) says…

Discrimination means treating people differently based on legally protected characteristics. This happens a lot on the local bus systems, both the T and KU on Wheels. Drivers and riders need to better adhere to privacy laws. If someone needed help mounting the bus they'd ask for it. It's totally inappropriate and presumptuous for riders to physically grab onto people or their possessions. They claim to be helping, but ironically they don't seem to care at all about how the beneficiary feels about this. Obtuse drivers ask new riders if they need help as well or if they have a half-price pass. These are uneducated and uncultured attitudes and behaviors constituting illegal discrimination Most people around here obviously are bad people-readers and would not be smart or perceptive enough to provide any useful help anyway— they have just been conditioned through bad, bigoted upbringings to ask this mindless, self-important question. It's crucial that the buses are fully accessible so everyone can be treated the same. I'm surprised no one has filed a civil rights complaint about this.
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To comply with disability laws does cost individuals & society money, so you should be thankful of all the work that has been done up to this point instead of “expecting” society to make your life easy. There are plenty of places that still need work as many buildings and sidewalks were put in place way before people even thought of how it would affect the disabled. I'm sure over time as those things need repair, such accommodation adjustments will be made. I can recall how it struck me odd that an apartment complex on the west side of Tennessee Street put in sidewalk to accommodate wheelchairs. However, the old Maupintour house just a ways south, has old sidewalks with curbing for the drive way, so someone in a wheel chair, better be prepared for an obstacle course. Likewise, somewhere north of 18th — perhaps on Louisiana Street , there is a section of public sidewalk on the west side that has several steps. Whomever came up with that idea should have had their head examined. That one doesn't make sense regardless of when it was done. Yes the block is on a slope, but surely there was something better they could have done to lower the slope angle. So yes we are all aware that there are still plenty of places that need to work towards being more accessible to all. That takes time.

In the mean time if someone offers to assist you and you don't want it, simply say “no thank you” and move on. I bet you wouldn't have such a condescending attitude here if you were back in your more “enlightened” parts of the country and got accosted where no one offered to assist you because they didn't want to get involved.
13 April 2009
at 10:29 a.m.

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jonas_opines (Anonymous) says…

Begin60 is insecure, that is all.
13 April 2009
at 2:43 p.m.

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Vinny1 (Anonymous) says…

They are taking taxpayer money to add wireless internet to a bus???

Sounds like a great idea to waste money to me!
13 April 2009
at 10:58 p.m.

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oneeye_wilbur (Anonymous) says…

glad you fools raised your sales tax to support more tomfoolery, Legends here we come, more to open there, the Arkies from Eudora are spending their money elsewhere