Southwestern Community Services Short Range Transit Operations Plan Existing Conditions Memorandum DRAFT Upper Valley Lake Sunapee Regional Planning Commission Southwestern Community Services October 2018 Short Range Transit Operations Plan Contents 1. Study Overview................................................................................................................................... 4 2. Introduction to Sullivan County........................................................................................................... 4 2.1 Demographics and Socioeconomics ............................................................................................... 5 2.2 Employment .................................................................................................................................. 7 2.3 Travel Patterns ............................................................................................................................. 10 2.4 Key Findings ................................................................................................................................. 10 3. Current Transit Services .................................................................................................................... 12 3.1 Southwestern Community Services Transportation Services......................................................... 12 Description of Existing Routes/Services.......................................................................................... 14 3.2 Route Diagnostics ........................................................................................................................ 18 Ridership ....................................................................................................................................... 18 Service Effectiveness ..................................................................................................................... 23 Financial Efficiency ........................................................................................................................ 24 Cost Effectiveness .......................................................................................................................... 25 Fleet Analysis ................................................................................................................................. 27 3.2 Other Regional Transportation Providers ..................................................................................... 27 Intercity Bus .................................................................................................................................. 27 Rail ................................................................................................................................................ 27 Rideshare Services ......................................................................................................................... 27 Other ............................................................................................................................................. 28 3.3 Key Findings ................................................................................................................................. 28 4. Unmet Transportation Needs............................................................................................................ 29 4.1 Stakeholder and Public Outreach ................................................................................................. 29 Mobility Visioning Workshops........................................................................................................ 29 Chamber of Commerce Workshops ............................................................................................... 31 Community Survey ........................................................................................................................ 31 Rider Survey .................................................................................................................................. 31 Driver Survey ................................................................................................................................. 31 4.2 NHDOT Compliance Review ......................................................................................................... 31 5. Peer System Review.......................................................................................................................... 32 5.1 Description of Peer Systems ......................................................................................................... 32 New River Transit Authority (WV) .................................................................................................. 32 Bluefield Area Transit (WV) ............................................................................................................ 33 RTS Orleans (NY) ............................................................................................................................ 34 SMOC/Prairieland Transit (MN) ..................................................................................................... 34 Brown Cab (WI) ............................................................................................................................. 34 HCS Keene (NH) ............................................................................................................................. 34 Advance Transit (NH) ..................................................................................................................... 36 The Current (NH/VT) ...................................................................................................................... 36 1 | Page Short Range Transit Operations Plan Peer Service Summary ................................................................................................................... 37 5.2 Operations ................................................................................................................................... 38 5.3 Fares ............................................................................................................................................ 39 5.4 Technology .................................................................................................................................. 40 5.6 Summary of Peers Analysis .......................................................................................................... 41 FIGURES Figure 1-1. Study Area Overview.............................................................................................................. 4 Figure 2-1. Sullivan County Population Density 2016 ............................................................................... 6 Figure 2-2. Sullivan County Job Density 2015 ........................................................................................... 9 Figure 2-3. Sullivan County Commuting Patterns ................................................................................... 10 Figure 3-1. SCS Deviated Fixed Routes ................................................................................................... 13 Figure 3-2. Claremont Route Map .......................................................................................................... 15 Figure 3-3. Newport Route .................................................................................................................... 16 Figure 3-4. Charlestown Route............................................................................................................... 17 Figure 3-5. Daily Ridership by Route ...................................................................................................... 19 Figure 3-6. SCS 2018 Monthly Ridership by Route .................................................................................. 19 Figure 5-1. New River Transit Authority Map ......................................................................................... 33 Figure 5-2. HCS Keene Map ................................................................................................................... 35 Figure 5-3. Advance Transit Map ........................................................................................................... 36 Figure 5-4. The Current Map .................................................................................................................. 37 2 | Page Short Range Transit Operations Plan TABLES Table 2-1. Demographic and Socioeconomic Characteristics .................................................................... 5 Table 2-2. Vehicle Availability by Household ............................................................................................ 5 Table 2-3. Labor Force Characteristics ..................................................................................................... 7 Table 2-4. Employment Characteristics .................................................................................................... 7 Table 2-5. Major Employers in the Study Area ......................................................................................... 8 Table 2-6. Travel Patterns ...................................................................................................................... 11 Table 3-1. SCS Fares and Passes ............................................................................................................