The Municipality of Lambton Shores Transit System Feasibility Study Final Draft Report
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The Municipality of Lambton Shores Transit System Feasibility Study Final Draft Report December 10, 2019 Transit Consulting Network 2019 The Municipality of Lambton Shores Transit System Feasibility Study Municipality of Lambton Shores Project Team Project Team Glen Baillie, Chair, Huron Shores Transit Steering Committee Kevin Williams, CAO, Municipality of Lambton Shores Transit Consulting Network Project Team Principal & Project Manager Wally Beck, C.E.T. Project Team Charles Fitzsimmons, Senior Consultant, Specialized Transit Kim Laursen, Technical and Administrative Support ii | P a g e 2019 The Municipality of Lambton Shores Transit System Feasibility Study TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction and Background .............................................................................................1 1.1 Background ....................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Understanding ................................................................................................................... 1 1.3 Study Objectives ................................................................................................................ 2 1.4 The Case to Support Transit .............................................................................................. 3 1.5 Study Work Plan ................................................................................................................ 4 2. Community Engagement ....................................................................................................5 2.1 Study Launch Meeting ...................................................................................................... 5 2.2 Existing Huron Shores Travel Options ............................................................................... 5 2.3 Transit Focus Groups ......................................................................................................... 6 2.3.1 District Program Staff ............................................................................................. 7 2.3.2 General Public ......................................................................................................... 8 2.3.3 Business Representatives ....................................................................................... 9 2.3.4 Summary of Transit Focus Group Input ................................................................ 10 3. Public Transit Options ...................................................................................................... 12 3.1 Long-distance Inter-city Coach Service ........................................................................... 12 3.2 Local Conventional Transit Bus Fixed-route Service ....................................................... 12 3.3 Local Community Transit Service .................................................................................... 13 3.3.1 Fixed Route Community Bus Service .................................................................... 13 3.3.2 Fixed-route Shared-ride Taxi ................................................................................ 13 3.3.3 Dial-a-Ride Transit ................................................................................................ 13 3.3.4 Fixed Flex-Route Concept ..................................................................................... 14 3.4 Demand-responsive Mobile Apps ................................................................................... 14 3.4.1 Uber Taxi Model (Town of Innisfil) ....................................................................... 14 3.4.2 RideWell (Wellington County) .............................................................................. 15 3.5 Specialized Transit ........................................................................................................... 16 3.6 Short-listed Public Transit Options ................................................................................. 16 4. Development of Transit Service Plan ................................................................................. 18 4.1 Route and Service Design Challenges and Opportunities ............................................... 18 4.2 Recommended Public Transportation Strategy .............................................................. 19 4.3 Proposed Route and Service Concepts ........................................................................... 20 5. Transit Business Model ..................................................................................................... 23 5.1 Transit Business Model Options ...................................................................................... 23 5.2 Preferred Transit Business Model ................................................................................... 24 6. Transit Financial Plan ........................................................................................................ 26 6.1 Public Transportation Financial Plan Assumptions ......................................................... 26 6.1.1 Transit Costing ...................................................................................................... 26 6.1.2 Transit Ridership and Revenue Forecasting ......................................................... 27 6.2 Proposed Transit Service Levels ...................................................................................... 29 6.3 Pilot Project Budgets ....................................................................................................... 30 6.3.1 Long-distance Pilot Project Budget ...................................................................... 30 6.3.2 Local Transit Pilot Project Budget ......................................................................... 31 6.3.3 Other Transit Costs and Revenues ....................................................................... 32 iii | P a g e 2019 The Municipality of Lambton Shores Transit System Feasibility Study 6.3.4 Dedicated Gas Tax Funding .................................................................................. 32 6.4 Future Transit Ridership Growth Strategies ................................................................... 33 6.4.1 Travel Training ...................................................................................................... 33 6.4.2 Social Service Agency Clients ................................................................................ 34 6.4.3 Better Accommodating Employee Shifts .............................................................. 34 6.4.4 Regional Transit Integration ................................................................................. 34 6.4.5 Enhanced Marketing and Branding ...................................................................... 35 6.4.6 Bike Racks on Buses .............................................................................................. 35 6.4.7 Realtime Passenger Information .......................................................................... 36 6.4.8 Summary of Transit Ridership Growth Strategies ................................................ 36 6.5 Future Transit Investments ............................................................................................. 36 6.6 Recommendations .......................................................................................................... 38 6.7 Transit Service Delivery Next Steps ................................................................................. 38 Appendix A: Project Launch Meeting Appendix B: Existing Transportation Services in Huron Shores iv | P a g e 2019 The Municipality of Lambton Shores Transit System Feasibility Study 1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND The Huron Shores Transit Project has received Community Transportation Grant funds to develop both a community transportation system in Huron Shores service area, and a complementary community transit system connecting the municipalities of Bluewater, Lambton Shores, South Huron, North Middlesex, Kettle & Stony Point First Nation with Sarnia and London. Huron Shores is currently not served by either conventional transit or specialized transit, with the exception of Bluewater and South Huron that are served by OneCare EasyRide. Transit Consulting Network (TCN) was retained to work with The Municipality of Lambton Shores and the Huron Shores Transit Area committee to undertake a Transit System Feasibility Study to determine whether or not public transit service will be introduced and, if so, what the next steps will need to be. 1.1 Background The Huron Shores service population of 35,000 people is distributed among: Lambton Shores (11,000), South Huron (10,000), North Middlesex (7,000), and Bluewater (7,000). Population centres include Bayfield, Arcona, Forest, Grand Bend, Thedford, Exeter, Ailsa Craig, Corbett, Mount Carmel, Parkhill, and the Kettle & Stony Point First Nation. Of these, the larger centers are Forest, Exeter, and Grand Bend, the latter a resort area with significant seasonal employment needs to address the influx of residents, renters and visitors to beaches, Grand Bend Raceway, and other attractions during the summer months. Grand Bend employers in particular are challenged by the limited number of local youths to fill seasonal jobs, and the lack of transportation to enable youth in outlying areas to work in Grand Bend. Primary health care in Huron Shores is offered by North Lambton Community Health