Proposal for reconfiguring the CTS bus system

CTS provides one of the best transit systems of any small city. It features good neighborhood coverage and mobility around the urban area. However, for many people, the service is not very convenient. Most neighborhood busses come only once every hour and transfers can be time consuming. Better convenience is a priority for existing riders and is also necessary for attracting new riders.

One aspect of the existing system is that busses for six different routes travel the length of Main St and around the Downtown Mall. This insures that most neighborhood routes have good access to this commercial area - but it is not very efficient. Many busses travel the same route at the same time.

It is possible to reconfigure the existing bus system, using a single “backbone” line (based on the free trolley), with neighborhood “feeder” routes. The neighborhood feeders could either service existing stops, on a regular fixed 15 min schedule, or they could service a smaller number of regular stops on a 10 minute schedule and provide service to other stops or door-to-door service on demand. A single “backbone” provides better service to the commercial areas, and frees up additional busses for neighborhood routes. A backbone system with neighborhood feeders has the following advantages:

1)	Extends free service to all major shopping areas (Downtown, Corner, Barracks Rd, Seminole)
2)	Neighborhood routes could run on 15 min intervals or less, and could use smaller vehicles.
3)	Neighborhood routes could be diverted to go door-to-door on demand (for additional fare)
4)	Fewer numbers of busses will be traveling on the backbone, reducing bus congestion on Main St.
5)	Service along the backbone will be faster because all busses will be covering the same route.
6)	Transfers become much simpler – all neighborhood routes transfer along the backbone.
7)	No queuing of busses to synchronize transfers is needed because busses come frequently.
8)	The backbone re-enforces the commercial corridor and serves all of the major commercial areas in the City, encouraging transit oriented investment in these areas.
9)	The bus backbone is well suited to be replaced with a similar, but faster fixed-route service, such as bus rapid transit or light rail, as transit ridership increases in the future.

Challenges: There are a few challenges to the proposed system: 
•	It would take more busses - 6 trolleys on the backbone, plus 16 neighborhood routes would be 22 busses, compared to 18 on the road at any given time now. The City has had some recent success in diverting money for roads into transit operations, so some addition of busses may be possible.
•	Extending the free trolley may reduce fare box collection, although experience with the trolley so far has been that this will be made up by additional riders. 
•	The proposal doesn’t include neighborhood routes that go into the County – a configuration with possible county routes is shown, however this would be subject to County support. 
•	It may not be possible to offer door-to-door service everywhere and still keep neighborhood routes on 15 min schedules. Time vs. coverage issues may be decided on a per-neighborhood basis.

Decisions:
•	Does the proposed scheme work for existing riders and is it attractive to new riders?
•	The exact neighborhood route configurations must be determined. Fixed, or demand response? The ones shown on the map are only for illustration purposes. Routes must be selected to service the most frequently used stops in each neighborhood, with a target route time of 10-15 min. for each route
•	Fares – A proposed fare of $0.50 at a neighborhood stop ($0.75 with transfer) and $1.00 door-to-door pickup ($1.50 with transfer) must be analyzed to make sure that it is economically feasible. 
•	Scope – extending the backbone and increasing frequency of busses make the proposed system work better. This will require support from County. Additional support from the City and State may be justified if there are good indications that City ridership will increase substantially.