The delivery of quality transit service is best done at a regional level with regional governance was the message sent to local officials from transit industry experts during a symposium hosted Dec. 2 by the Regional Transportation Authority.
The RTA, which is interested in exploring the consolidation of regional transit services in Pima County, brought in transit officials from major cities in the Southwest to identify what it takes to make that happen.
Jacob Snow, General Manager of the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, said it makes sense for a regional transit authority and a metropolitan planning organization, such as Pima Association of Governments, to be managed by one group because transportation planning and regional
transit planning need to be decided together. Pima Association of Governments manages the RTA.
Other Panelists included Keith Parker, President/CEO of VIA Metropolitan Transit in San Antonio, Texas; John Inglish, General Manager/CEO of Utah Transit Authority, and Cal Marsella, CEO of MV Rail and Chief of Business Development in Colorado and California.
“We invited local officials to the symposium to learn from the best in the industry about their experiences with regional transit development,” said
RTA Executive Director Gary Hayes. “We are interested in finding ways to make local transit more accessible and cost effective at the same time.”
The RTA, established in 2004, oversees the $2.1 billion RTA plan, which includes $533 million for transit improvements. Since voters approved the plan in May 2006, transit improvements include expanded evening and weekend service, new neighborhood transit circulator service, new express bus service and a new bus storage and maintenance facility.
In January, the RTA announced a new regional branding commitment that capitalizes on the Sun Tran brand and includes Sun Van, Sun Express, Sun Shuttle and Sun Rideshare. The branding effort will include the use of a “smart card” that can be used interchangeably among the transit services to pay fares.
These initial steps are paving the way for the RTA to move toward development of a regionally managed transit system, Hayes said. “It’s important that the population supports and trusts the entity that will build the system,” Marsella stated via a video-taped message.
When it comes to developing a regional transit system, Inglish said one of the critical components is governance and putting together a long-term plan that
recognizes how the regional system will be built and be equitable over time. In the long run, everyone should get what they want, but the focus in the short-term may be in one area.
The panelists agreed that the time to pursue regional transit consolidation is now because it can lead to economies of scale, improved service, operating efficiencies and reduced costs.
In response to a question from the audience on the timing of pursing regional transit consolidation, Snow said that transit development is a tremendous opportunity during a contracted economy. “People are looking for value and economic development opportunities and employment opportunities.”
In fact, interest in transit development is growing. Inglish said such interest is growing due to several global issues, including energy dependency, global warming, air quality, national security, congestion and the economy.
Since Utah has built up its transit system, 90 percent of the state’s residents favor more transit, according to a poll taken earlier this year.
Ridership is growing in other areas across the country. Parker said a recent survey shows that Charlotte’s transit ridership increased 47 percent between 2006 and 2008, the highest increase of ridership in the country.
Parker, who previously served as Director of Public Transit for the Charlotte (N.C.) Area Transit System (CATS), said that in the 1990s, when the city was the 2nd fastest growing city in the country, community leaders recognized the need to get in front of the growth by supporting development of regional Transit. In 1998, voters approved a sales tax to fund expanded transit services.
Charlotte formed the Metropolitan Transit Commission and, in 2000, established CATS. Parker said community leaders wanted to make transit a major component of how Charlotte would grow and engaged political leadership, businesses, neighborhood associations and others.
In recognition that a sound transportation plan is a core component of community development, Marsella said proactive cities that do things such as developing a regional transit system will be the great American cities of the future. “If you want to become a great city, you need to be a great region.”
Since growth is inevitable and will place pressure on the regional transportation system, he said people need to ask themselves if they want to do something about it now or wait for congestion to arrive and deal with it after the fact.
“Deal with it up front,” he recommended. |