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Home My WebLink About168-18 RESOLUTION04 fnrC CfF h V /[^ J •Y 'IgYAH`+'PS 113 West Mountain Street Fayetteville, AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 Resolution: 168-18 File Number: 2018-0398 FARE -FREE TRANSIT RIDERSHIP PROGRAM: A RESOLUTION TO APPROVE A BUDGET ADJUSTMENT IN THE AMOUNT OF $23,275.00 TO PROVIDE A FARE -FREE TRANSIT RIDERSHIP PROGRAM IN THE CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE BETWEEN THE OZARK REGIONAL TRANSIT AND RAZORBACK TRANSIT SYSTEMS THROUGH THE END OF 2018 WHEREAS, City staff conducted an assessment of the transit services available in the City of Fayetteville to reduce duplication of routes, improve frequency and days of service, and evaluate route design to increase ridership; and WHEREAS, during the course of the assessment, staff identified a significant barrier to ridership in that citizens may ride for free on Razorback Transit but must pay a fare when transferring to Ozark Regional Transit, which often resulted in Razorback Transit riders not taking the most direct routes available; and WHEREAS, creating a fare -free system is expected to improve ridership on both transit systems. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS: Section 1: That the City Council of the City of Fayetteville, Arkansas hereby approves a budget adjustment, a copy of which is attached to this Resolution, in the amount of $23,275.00 to provide a fare -free transit ridership program in the City of Fayetteville between the Ozark Regional Transit and Razorback Transit systems through the end of 2018. PASSED and APPROVED on 8/7/2018 Page 1 Printed on 818118 Resolution: 168-18 File Number 2018-0398 Attest: Sondra E. Smith, City Clerk Nwex t Tdv�'g�;��i �C.Or sot Page 2 Printed on 818118 City of Fayetteville, Arkansas 113 West Mountain Street Fayetteville, AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 Text File File Number: 2018-0398 Agenda Date: 8/7/2018 Version: 1 Status: Passed In Control: City Council Meeting File Type: Resolution Agenda Number: A. 12 FARE -FREE TRANSIT RIDERSHIP PROGRAM: A RESOLUTION TO APPROVE A BUDGET ADJUSTMENT IN THE AMOUNT OF $23,275.00 TO PROVIDE A FARE -FREE TRANSIT RIDERSHIP PROGRAM IN THE CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE BETWEEN THE OZARK REGIONAL TRANSIT AND RAZORBACK TRANSIT SYSTEMS THROUGH THE END OF 2018 WHEREAS, City staff conducted an assessment of the transit services available in the City of Fayetteville to reduce duplication of routes, improve frequency and days of service, and evaluate route design to increase ridership; and WHEREAS, during the course of the assessment, staff identified a significant barrier to ridership in that citizens may ride for free on Razorback Transit but must pay a fare when transferring to Ozark Regional Transit, which often resulted in Razorback Transit riders not taking the most direct routes available; and WHEREAS, creating a fare -free system is expected to improve ridership on both transit systems. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS: Section 1: That the City Council of the City of Fayetteville, Arkansas hereby approves a budget adjustment, a copy of which is attached to this Resolution, in the amount of $23,275.00 to provide a fare -free transit ridership program in the City of Fayetteville between the Ozark Regional Transit and Razorback Transit systems through the end of 2018. City of Fayetteville, Arkansas Page 1 Printed on 8/8/2018 Don Marr, Chief of Staff Submitted By City of Fayetteville Staff Review Form 2018-0398 City Council Meeting Date - Agenda Item Only N/A for Non -Agenda Item 7/24/2018 TRANSPORTATION SERVICES (410) Submitted Date Division / Department Action Recommendation: Approval of a budget adjustment for $23,275 to cover fare box fare budget/actuals for the City of Fayetteville fares and move to a fare free system between ORT and Razorback Transit systems for the remainder of 2018. 2100.410.4100.5723.00 Account Number Project Number Budgeted Item? No Does item have a cost? Yes Budget Adjustment Attached? Yes Previous Ordinance or Resolution # 2017-0766 Original Contract Number: Comments: Budget Impact: Street Fund Fund Approval Date; 422,908.00 422,908.00 23,275.00 23,275.00 V20140710 Project Title Current Budget $ Funds Obligated $ Current Balance $ Item Cost $ Budget Adjustment $ Remaining Budget �- Approval Date; 422,908.00 422,908.00 23,275.00 23,275.00 V20140710 CITY OF Fay' V, I —V1 I e• ARKANSAS TO: Mayor Lioneld Jordan Fayetteville City Council Members FROM: Don Marr, Chief of Staff DATE: July 24, 2018 STAFF MEMO SUBJECT: City Council Agenda Session Item to approve a Budget Adjustment of $23,275, and approve a fare free transit ridership program in the City of Fayetteville between Ozark Regional Transit System and Razorback Transit Systems RECOMMENDATION: City Staff recommends the City Council approve and the Mayor sign the attached budget adjustment of $23,21b and authorize a tare tree ridership program beginning August 20th 2018 and running for the remainder of 2018 calendar year for Fayetteville Citizens riding within the City of Fayetteville limits on transit routes of Ozark Regional Transit and Razorback Transit. Additionally, there would be no additional fare fees when riders switch between the two systems within the City of Fayetteville routes. This was presented to the City Council Transportation Committee on July 10th and approved 3-0 with a recommendation to approve and forward to the full City Council. BACKGROUND:_ The City staff was charged with evaluating transit routes within the City of Fayetteville to reduce duplication of routes between Ozark Regional Transit Routes and Razorback Transit Routes. Additionally, the staff was charged to work with the transit providers to improve frequency, and days of service, and to evaluate route design for increased ridership with the current budgeted funding. During this review, revisions were made and duplication was eliminated, frequency of routes was improved to the extent that eligible funding permitted. During this assessment, it was identified, that a current barrier of ridership is that citizens within the City of Fayetteville could ride for free on Razorback Transit but when students transferred between Razorback Transit to Ozark Regional Transit they were charged a fee for fare, thus resulting in Razorback Transit Riders not taking more direct routes because of the additional charges. We felt it would improve ridership to make fare free for both systems, and allow the student transportation fee, and the Citizens of Fayetteville general tax revenues/transportation taxes to cover their cost of transit without additional fees at this time. Mailing Address: 113 W. Mountain Street www.fayetteville-ar.gov Fayetteville, AR 72701 BUDGET/STAFF IMPACT: The Fayetteville Fare Box portion annually is $63,700. This revenue collected from riders on a system where the annual operating budget is over 3.3 Million making up 1.8% of the annual revenue. The request is to make the systems fare free for the remainder of 2018 and evaluate if this results in increased ridership, and improved freedom of access to routes between the two City of Fayetteville Transit Systems. The cost of this pilot for the remainder of 2018 is $23,275 (estimated 63,700 annual fare box intake and divide it by 52 weeks we come up with a weekly intake average of 1225. Then multiply it by the remaining 19 weeks from August 20 through the end of December, we come up with a remaining balance of 23,275. This would be the amount needed to off -set the fare box balance to provide a fare free system) This was presented to the City Council's Transportation Committee on July 10th, and passed 3-0 with a recommendation to approve to the full City Council. Attachments: 1. Staff review form 2. Transit PowerPoint Presentation out -lining route changes, and fare free request. 3. Budget Adjustment. Razorback Transit & ORT 2018. Route Changes Presented to the City of Fayetteville by Razorback Transit and ORT July 10, 2018 Fayetteville Rou-�e Changes Current City Wide IF Proposed City Wide Current City Wide Coverage Area Proposed City Wide Coverage Area *Not including Industrial Area Industrial Area Inset for Proposed City Wide Change FaYettev;«e Statistical Comparison Current System Statistics (Peak Service) • Total Routes Operating —12 • Total Buses Operating - 23 Population Served — 52,068 ° Jobs in Coverage Area — 33,375 Proposed System Statistics (Peak Service) 1!otal Routes Operating —14 Total Buses Operating - 23 ° Population Served — 52,595, ° Jobs in Coverage Area — 32,617,.,•., *Includes calculations from Industrial Area Inset **Removed information from the City of Johnson Overall System Improvements • ORT Peak Service M/F — 6AM to 7:30PM ORT Routes 1 and 3 — Doubling Frequency to every 30 Minutes Razorback Peak Service — 6AM to 6PM 11 routes 19 buses — M/F 6AM to 6PM: Route 44 increased to 4x/hour to allow for addition to MLK Walmart • Razorback Night Service 6PM —10:45 Same number of routes and buses, Frequency ',ncrease to 40 min on Route 4 (Purple Reduced) to allow for the addition of the MLK Walmart Razorback Non -Peak Service — University Breaks/Summer Breaks 7 routes 11 buses, Route 4 every 20 minutes, Route 1 every 15 minutes • Razorback Saturday Service — 7AM to 6PM Route 4 adding service to MLK Walmart ORT Current versus Proposed Current Coverage Area I �,j z:" - Proposed Coverage Area ❑::r�acrnr�+. ti gFati Razorback Current versus Proposed Current Coverage Area Proposed Coverage Area ORT System Improvements • Route 1 - Increased frequency between Downtown, Midtown and Uptown Fayetteville (from service every hour to service every % hour) • Route 2 —Improving on-time performance (on-call deviated fixed route for industrial area) Route 3 — Increased frequency from NWA Mall to Uptown Fayetteville, DHS and Social Security. • Removing "flag zones" and installing fixed point bus stops in all areas. • Increased Transfer Points to Razorback Transit. orr rropro ,cd 1 ; 4 ORT nroposrd 2 C alines 4vehicles 0 26,437 population 24,979 jobs 28.7% in poverty Razorback Transit Improvements • New connection from Campus to MLK WalMart Improved frequency to MLK WalMart from 1x/hour (ORT) to 4x/hour (RT) • Realignment of Route 48 to better serve the Revenue Office, Beachwood Apt and Arkansas Workforce Center • Increased transfer points to ORT System Recommendations • Improved stop with Shelter at MLK Walmart • Improved stop with Shelter at Mall Avenue Walmart Improved stop with Shelter at Frontage and E. Shepard Lane • Improved stop with Shelter at Hill and MILK Blvd Improved stop with Shelter at Washington Regional NIC and Appleby • Improved stop with Shelter at Porter Avenue and Houston Street • Sidewalk improvements at College' (71B) and Evelyn Hills Shopping center (curb to sidewalk connection) • Sidewalk improvements at Morningside Dr. and Chesapeake Way (curb to sidewalk connection) • Sidewalk improvements at S. School Avenue and 26th Street • Sidewalk improvements along Leverett Avenue • Sidewalk improvements along Gregg Avenue • Sidewalk improvements at Porter Avenue and Houston Street Seamless transfers from Razorback to ORT Razorback to ORT Transferring • Razorback transit is fare free, ORT requires a fare. • Passengers can transfer from ORT to Riazorback without paying. • Passengers must pay a fare if transferring from Razorback to ORT. • To make this transfer seamless, the recommendation would be to make ORT fare free in Fayetteville. • ORT currently takes in $63,700 from fore's in Fayetteville, • To make ORT fare free, ORT would have to find a way to replace the lost income. City of Fayetteville, Arkansas - Budget Adjustment Form (Legistar) Budget Year Division Adjustment Number /Org2 MAYORS ADMIN (015) 2018 Reques#or: Mayor Lioneld Jordan BUDGET ADJUSTMENT DESCRIPTION / JUSTIFICATION: Approval of a budget adjustment for $23,275.00 to cover fare box fare budget/actuals for the City of Fayetteville fares and to move to a fare free system between ORT and Razorback Transit for the remainder of 2018. COUNCIL DATE: LEGISTAR FILE ID#: 8/7/2018 2018-0398 L ilk H utdeny 7/24/2018 2:01 PM Budget Director Date TYPE: DESCRIPTION: H:\Budget\Budget Adjustments\2018_Budget\CITY_COUNCIL\2018-08-07\2018-0398 BA Fare Free Funding 1 of 1 GLDATE: RESOLUTION/ORDINANCE I POSTED: TOTAL 23,275 23,275 v.20180627 Increase / (Decrease) Projecf.Sub## Account Number Expense Revenue Project Sub AT Account Name 2100.410.4100-4999.99 - 23,275 RE Use Fund Balance - Current 2100.410.4100-5723.00 23,275 - 40901 4001 EX Transfer to -Ozark Regional Transit H:\Budget\Budget Adjustments\2018_Budget\CITY_COUNCIL\2018-08-07\2018-0398 BA Fare Free Funding 1 of 1