Technical Training to Michigan Transit Agencies on Cost Reduction Strategies | Best Practice Case Studies Service Design Strategies “CROSS-POLLINATED” REGIONAL COMMUTER ROUTES Addison County Transit Resources (ACTR), Middlebury, Vermont SUMMARY OF THE STRATEGY AGENCY PROFILE ACTR operates three inter-county commuter routes in collaboration with Organization Type: Nonprofit Corporation transit authorities in adjacent counties. Service Area: Rural Addison County, Vermont (770 Routes were designed to meet specific square miles; 2010 population of 36,821) - Service is travel demands. concentrated in the towns of Middlebury (pop. 8,496), Bristol (pop. 3,128) and Vergennes (pop. DETAILED DESCRIPTION: 2,091) with inter-county commuter service to Burlington and Rutland, Vermont’s two largest cities. ACTR shares in operating three inter- Middlebury is home to Middlebury College (2,450 county commuter routes, in collaboration students). with transit authorities in adjacent counties. Resources: Middlebury - Burlington Link Express Fleet size: 16 vehicles - shared operations with Chittenden Staff size: 26 County Transportation Authority Operating Budget: $1.96 million in FY 2011 (CCTA). CCTA operates the service on weekdays, when the fixed route and Service Summary: schedule is oriented toward getting to Modes Operated: fixed-route, deviated fixed and from employment in Burlington. route, demand-response ACTR operates the service on a route- Days and Hours of Service: vary by route; deviation basis on Saturdays, geared earliest begin 6:30 a.m. weekdays/9:00 a.m. toward Middlebury College students Saturdays; latest end 7:30 p.m. weekdays/9:45 traveling to Burlington and back, late p.m. Saturdays morning through early evening. General Public Cash Fare: $1.00 in-county; $2.00 to Rutland; $4.00 to Burlington Middlebury - Rutland Connector - Passenger Trips/Year: 155,920 in FY 2011 shared operations with Marble Valley Regional Transit District (MVRTD). Contact: ACTR and MVRTD both operate on this Jim Moulton, Executive Director P.O. Box 532 deviated fixed route. Bi-directional Middlebury, VT 05753 commuter service on weekdays (two 802-388-1946 round trips per transit agency) is www.actr-vt.org operated each weekday. One round mid-day trip is operated on Tuesday and Friday, with the transit agencies meeting at a middle point along the route and turning around after passengers have an opportunity to transfer. Planning is under way to Technical Training to Michigan Transit Agencies on Cost Reduction Strategies | Best Practice Case Studies expand mid-day service and add expressed approached ACTR in 2006 with a Saturday service. strong desire for Saturday service, and they came up with the matching funds for a 116 Commuter - shared operations with grant from the Vermont Agency on CCTA; operates weekday peak hours Transportation (VTrans). along Highway 116 (a north-south corridor that lies east of the corridor The Middlebury - Rutland Connector was served by the Middlebury - Burlington also implemented in 2006, funded by Link route). ACTR operates service coordinated VTrans grants to both ACTR between Middlebury and Burlington, and MVRTD. Each agency came up with timed to provide communities along the its own local match, focusing on regional route service to both destinations. employers. CCTA operates a subset of the route between Burlington only as far south as The 116 Commuter Route was just Hinesburg. The CCTA portion is timed launched in April 2012, in response to a to provide commuter transportation for very active group of citizens in the Hinesburg residents to jobs in Hinesburg area. The Town of Hinesburg Burlington. provides the entire local match for this service. Each of the above routes is cross-marketed by its operating agencies, and fares and operating policies were made consistent to RESULTS OF THE STRATEGY: ensure a relatively consistent passenger The “cross-pollination” of services jointly experience regardless of which transit operated by two providers is felt to be more agency is operating the service. On the efficient and effective than a single agency Middlebury - Rutland Connector route, could implement independently. Not only only the logo on the bus is different. ACTR can more service be provided, the joint and its partners have also developed bus marketing of the service reaches a broader stop signs which have the logos of each population which is more likely to ride agency that services the stop. with a greater number of choices available to them. It is also more cost-efficient by minimizing dead-head miles and time. CONDITIONS THAT PROMPTED THE STRATEGY: METHODS USED TO DOCUMENT RESULTS: Prior to service implementation, there were FY 2011 operating statistics for the two gaps in the regional transportation service existing routes included: network. Historically Vermont Transit and Greyhound provided a more extensive Route Total Passenger ACTR ACTR network of routes which diminished over Trips Cost per Boardings Rider per Hour time. 3,523 ACTR Middlebury- (Saturdays) Burlington $6.23 7.05 (22,409 CCTA - The first route of these to be implemented Link Express weekdays) was weekday Middlebury - Burlington Middlebury- 5,462 ACTR Link Express service, operated by CCTA. Rutland $12.62 3.70 (6,900 MVRTD) The students of Middlebury College Connector Technical Training to Michigan Transit Agencies on Cost Reduction Strategies | Best Practice Case Studies ACTR tracks operating statistics by route The State of Vermont made a and compares them to VTrans performance commitment to increase investment benchmarks for comparable transit services. in local public transportation in the mid 2000s. The immediate success of KEY FACTORS FOR SUCCESS: the Link and Connector routes helped spur additional investment. An open-minded approach with a desire to: CHALLENGES: o look for opportunities to benefit riders/potential rider Educating employees on new fare o work to overcome challenges and operating policies to ensure they o collaborate and compromise were prepared to provide consistent when necessary, and cross-agency service to customers o learn from the experience. was an initial challenge. Looking closely at the demographics For the 116 Commuter route, ACTR and travel needs of communities to and CCTA needed a model for be served and choosing the most allocating fare revenues to partners, appropriate service design for that based on the assumption that both mix of communities. services have an important, synergistic role in generating A shared effort to develop consistent ridership. The selected approach is fares and passenger policies. to pool total fares and allocate based upon service operating costs. Cross-marketing by both partner agencies. When selecting new bus stops, identifying stop locations that met Communications between partner the safe operating needs of both agencies - intensive during the agencies operating vehicles of planning process, ongoing as difference sizes (e.g., cutaways needed. ACTR and its partners operated by ACTR and transit buses continue to share information about operated by CCTA) and were ridership and feedback received appropriate for the community. In from customers, and to look for one area, an existing park and ride ways to improve services. lot used by carpoolers appeared to be a logical stop location. However, The preexisting gaps in regional it was found to be a privately-owned transit services made the area ripe lot and the landowner was unhappy for new services. with the existing park and ride utilization, so the transit agencies The groundwork for collaboration decided to find another stop had been laid by relationships location. developed through the state transit association in the early 2000s. There was not a sense of territorialism to overcome. Technical Training to Michigan Transit Agencies on Cost Reduction Strategies | Best Practice Case Studies IMPLEMENTATION GUIDE RECOMMENDED FOR: Communities from which residents commute out-of-county Communities into which residents from other counties commute RECOMMENDED ELEMENTS FOR SUCCESS: An open-minded approach with an interest in collaboration and learning Collaborative relationships with transit agencies in adjacent counties Analysis of local travel patterns and needs for transportation services at which to target planning efforts Shared effort to develop consistent fares and passenger policies Cross-marketing by both partner agencies Ongoing communications between partner agencies METHODS FOR DOCUMENTING RESULTS: Track ridership, revenue hours, revenue miles, fare revenues Compare operating costs of shared services to independently-operated services IMPLEMENTATION TOOLS: ACTR schedule brochure (see pages 16-18) CCTA brochures for LINK Express and Route 116 (examples of cross-marketing) MVRTD Connector brochure (example of cross-marketing) Since 1992 Bus Maps & Schedules Includes Dial-A-Ride Information Effective September 1, 2010 802-388-1946 www.actr-vt.org TDD 711 BURLINGTON ACTR Shuttle Bus Welcome Aboard! System Map It’s been 6 months since we launched SOUTH BURLINGTON our 40% Shuttle Bus System Expansion and ridership has already increased SHELBURNE by 25%! This is remarkable, since Burlington Link Express our pilot grant allows us three years A shared service between ACTR (Saturday) and CCTA (Monday - Friday) to hit our performance benchmarks. Connecting Middlebury to Burlington, We are pleased to receive this ringing with points in between. See p.30-33 for map, schedule & deviation endorsement of our