[Cccnfbw] C-Tran: Public Invited to Weigh in on Service Change Concepts–Updated

[Merribeth Manning]

Effective March 7, service change concepts for the following routes have
additional options:ROUTE 19

Route 19 was designed mainly to serve the Legacy Salmon Creek Hospital and
Washington State University Vancouver. The route starts at the 99th Street
Transit Center to provide connections to and from other routes.

*Initial Concept:* The original concept was to maintain the existing
routing to WSU but also to bring service up to the school on Saturday and
possibly Sunday. Several requests have been received to serve medical
clinics that have located onto Northeast 20th Avenue, but staff desires to
minimize out-of-direction travel for passengers trying to reach WSU.
Additionally, increasing the length would impact the ability to keep the
route on schedule.

*Second Option:* C-TRAN received one suggestion that would loop the route
west of the university by turning north off of 139th Street onto 29th
Avenue. WSU would then be accessed from the multi-use path that starts at
29th, and the bus stop would be about 0.25 miles from the center of campus.
The route would loop back to 139th using 159th Street and 20th Avenue where
the clinics are located. This option removes the least productive part of
the existing route south of 139th, reduces the routes overall length and
increases the number of people served, which would improve the long-term
viability of the weekend service.
ROUTE 25

The overall purpose of the route is to connect the St. Johns area with both
downtown Vancouver and the 99th Street Transit Center as well as provide a
direct connection to grocery shopping. To avoid traveling out-of-direction,
which requires extra time and miles, the concept for Route 25 was to
eliminate travel between 88th and 99th streets. This also would help reduce
the round-trip time to 90 minutes so that the three buses that serve the
route could operate on 30-minute frequencies. (In moving between these two
streets, the route is extended by a mile in each direction, or two miles
round trip, and requires 10 additional minutes to complete.)

*Initial Concept:* The concept is to operate fully on 88th so that the St.
Johns area would still connect to the Walmart and Winco along Highway 99 as
well as maintain the bus stop directly in front of the Sea Mar dental
clinic on 88th. In presenting this concept, many comments have focused on
the impact to riders who board along 99th Street. They maintain that those
riders would no longer be able to use transit and that the number of people
that use the service in the area is significant.

*Second Option:* In evaluating these concerns, staff has developed a second
option where the route would be modified to operate solely on 99th Street
with the following notes:

   - The section of 88th Street that would be dropped is much shorter than
   what would be impacted on 99th Street
   - Highway 99 would still be serviced by Route 71
   - St. Johns residents would still be able to access Winco without a
   transfer
   - The two miles of out-of-direction travel would still be saved
   - Sea Mar clients would still be within .20-.25 miles of a bus stop on
   Highway 99

ROUTE 74

Route 74 is a conceptual new route that would provide service along eastern
Fourth Plain Boulevard once the Route 44 is discontinued and if the Route
72 no longer operates on Fourth Plain, as is being considered.

*Initial Concept:* The concept is to provide service east of Ward Road,
where existing service currently ends, to 162nd Avenue. The route would
turn south there and use 65th Street and 157th Avenue to get back to Fourth
Plain for the westbound trip. Concern was raised that, although the Route
72 does travel far out of direction, it does work for some trying to get
from that route’s large loop to the north down to destinations on Fourth
Plain that are east of the mall.
*Second Option:* Along with the concern about lack of connections to Fourth
Plain, a suggestion was received to bring the new Route 74 north at 162nd
to 78th Street and then south on Ward Road to Fourth Plain. This would
increase the population served, continue to provide service on Ward Road
and allow some possibility of connections with the Route 72 in the eastern
portion of both routes.

People are invited to take advantage of one or more of the following
opportunities to discuss the service change concepts:
*March 30, 2016:* Open house meeting, 4-5:45 p.m., Three Creeks Community
Library, Community Room, 800 N.E. Tenney Road, Vancouver
(served by Routes 9, 105, 134)
- *March 31, 2016:* Open house meeting during C-TRAN Citizens Advisory
Committee meeting, C-TRAN Administration Building, Conference Room A, 2425
N.E. 65th Ave., Vancouver
(served by Routes 4 and 30)
- *April 12, 2016:* Public hearing at C-TRAN Board of Directors meeting,
5:30 p.m., Vancouver Community Library, 901 C St., Vancouver
(served by Routes 2, 3, 4, 25, 30, 32, 37, 38 41, 44, 47, 71, 105)

Any changes approved would take effect in September. Comments can be
emailed directly to C-TRAN at feedback at c-tran.com
<feedback at c-tran.com?subject=Service%20Change%20Comments>.

Contact: Christine Selk, Communication and Public Affairs Manager/PIO
(360) 906-7314 Office
(360) 619-8742 Cell
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