The Yolo Transportation District is seeking public feedback for its 2024-2031 Short Range Transit Plan through a short online survey.
"A Short Range Transit Plan details how a public transportation system will function over the next several years, usually spanning five to 10 years," the transportation district's press release explained. "Both the Federal Transit Administration and regional organizations like SACOG require an up-to-date SRTP for agencies to obtain federal and state transportation funds."
The survey was launched to gather input on riders' experiences on Yolobus services including its fixed route service, BeeLine and ADA paratransit service, according to a press release. It's available in English, Spanish and Russian and can be taken by visiting bit.ly/YolobusSurvey-SRTP.
The release noted that survey takers who leave their information will be entered for a chance to win a gift card. Winners will be contacted after July 26.
The website for the transportation district's plan explained that the last plan was created in 2014 even though a lot has changed since then in travel habits, funding and technology. Additionally, it noted that ridership recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic has been slower than other transit agencies with only 41% of its 2019 riders having returned.
Other similar agencies have seen 60% to 76% of their riders come back, according to the Urban Integrated National Transit Database peer analysis.
The website added that ridership is down on all routes except for routes 37 and 138, the Causeway Connection, which started after the pandemic began.
"Travel patterns have clearly changed with fewer people using Yolobus now than before the pandemic," the plan's website stated. "Understanding these changes will help us better plan for the future of Yolobus."
Furthermore, the transit plan found that Yolo County residents are making fewer trips in the morning and more in the afternoon and evening, which is similar to trends occurring across the country.
"With more people working from home, their first trips are happening later in the day," the plan stressed. "By adjusting our transit schedules to match these new patterns, we can increase ridership on Yolobus services."
For more information about the plan, visit storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/016fe9a5d00140d2b718d74dcf325a02.
Caltrans faces legal battle over I-80 freeway improvement project
This survey comes a month after the Sierra Club and the Environmental Council of Sacramento filed a lawsuit against Caltrans alleging legally inadequate environmental analysis of the Yolo 80 Corridor Improvement Project that would add two new lanes through Yolo County.
The project, which would widen 17 miles of the freeway from six to eight lanes between Davis and Sacramento through the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area, was created by Caltrans to ease congestion, improve freeway operation, support reliable transport of goods and services throughout the region, improve modality and travel time reliability and provide expedited traveler information and monitoring systems.
The Yolo Transportation District has fully supported the project arguing that it will address congestion issues that impact Yolo County drivers and some of its bus routes.
"We have been a key partner with Caltrans District 3 since securing $85.9 million in federal INFRA grants in 2021 and have actively contributed to the project's development," Autumn Bernstein, executive director for the Yolo Transportation District, stated in an email. "YoloTD is committed to addressing the severe congestion on I-80 in Yolo County, which affects all road users, including our core transit services such as Route 42 A/B, Causeway Connection and downtown Sacramento express commuter buses."
Bernstein noted that the current traffic conditions are untenable and create significant delays impacting commuters' travel times. She argued that the project would enhance safety by reducing the high percentage of traffic fatalities caused by congestion while also addressing the issue of excess traffic diverting onto adjacent residential streets and rural roads, which were not designed for high traffic volumes.
Furthermore, she argued that some opponents of the project are misrepresenting what the term "induced demand" means.
"The Yolo Causeway is literally a land bridge between the Bay Area and Sacramento regions, as well as a major interstate freeway," she stressed. "So demand for travel on this freeway is driven by much bigger forces such as housing costs and economic growth across Northern California and beyond."
She claimed that the Caltrans 2023 Interstate 80 Comprehensive Multimodal Corridor Plan found that only 16% of the additional travel on the new lanes is attributable to induced demand with the remaining 84% being due to regional factors like population and employment growth.
"From a financial perspective, the Yolo 80 Managed Lanes project will provide essential funding to enhance our Route 42 A/B and Causeway Connection services," Bernstein remarked. "These lanes, managed through tolling, will allow our buses to bypass traffic making public transit a competitive option compared to cars. We anticipate this will increase, not decrease, ridership."
To read more about the freeway widening project and the debate regarding induced demand, visit dailydemocrat.com/2024/06/07/caltrans-faces-legal-battle-over-i-80-freeway-improvement-project-in-yolo-county.
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