Golden Empire Transit District | Kern Council of Governments METROPOLITAN BAKERSFIELD TRANSIT SYSTEM LONG-RANGE PLAN Final Report April 2012 Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates Inc. | i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS METROPOLITAN BAKERSFIELD LONG-RANGE TRANSIT PLAN STEERING COMMITTEE Golden Empire Transit • Karen King, Chief Executive Officer • Gina Hayden, Marketing Manager • Emery Rendez, Planner Kern Council of Governments • Rob Ball, Interim Director • Ron Brummett, Executive Director (Retired December 2011) • Bob Snoddy, Regional Planner CONSULTANT TEAM Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates • Linda Rhine, Project Manager • Paul Jewel, Deputy Project Manager • Steve Boland, Lead Service Planner • Kara Vuicich, Financial Planner • Anneka Imkamp, GIS /Cartographer Fehr & Peers Transportation Consultants • Richard Lee, Modeler • Kyle Cooke, Assistant Modeler VRPA Technologies, Inc. • Georgiena M. Vivian, Marketing Specialist • Dena Graham, Marketing Assistant Table of Contents Page 1 Executive Summary .........................................................................................................1-1 Existing Conditions ................................................................................................................................. 1-1 Best Practices .......................................................................................................................................... 1-2 Public Outreach ...................................................................................................................................... 1-3 Service Plans ........................................................................................................................................... 1-4 Financial Plan .......................................................................................................................................... 1-9 Implementation and Next Steps ....................................................................................................... 1-12 2 Existing Conditions ..........................................................................................................2-1 Key Findings ............................................................................................................................................ 2-1 Opportunities for Enhancing Transit Service ..................................................................................... 2-4 3 Best Practices ...................................................................................................................3-1 Overview ................................................................................................................................................. 3-1 Alternative Service Delivery Models ................................................................................................. 3-1 High Capacity Transit/Quality Bus Service ...................................................................................... 3-3 University and Transit Agency Partnerships ..................................................................................... 3-7 4 Outreach ..........................................................................................................................4-1 Stakeholder Interviews ......................................................................................................................... 4-1 "Smithville" Planning Game ................................................................................................................. 4-3 Roundtable Meetings ............................................................................................................................ 4-5 Operator Interviews .............................................................................................................................. 4-6 Public Outreach ...................................................................................................................................... 4-6 5 Service Plans....................................................................................................................5-1 Service Plans Guidelines ...................................................................................................................... 5-1 Short-Term Service Plan (2013-2020) .............................................................................................. 5-2 Midterm (2021-25) & Long-Term (2026-2035) Service Plans .................................................. 5-14 6 Financial Plan ..................................................................................................................6-1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 6-1 Short-Term Service Plan Cost Projections .......................................................................................... 6-1 Midterm Service Plan Cost Projections ............................................................................................ 6-10 Long-Term Service Plan Cost Projections ........................................................................................ 6-20 Existing Funding Sources ..................................................................................................................... 6-21 Potential New Funding Sources ......................................................................................................... 6-23 Summary and Conclusions .................................................................................................................. 6-30 7 Implementation and Next Steps .......................................................................................7-1 Phasing Schedule ................................................................................................................................... 7-1 What are the major tasks to implement the Short-Term Service Plan? ...................................... 7-1 Service Planning ..................................................................................................................................... 7-3 Operations .............................................................................................................................................. 7-6 Bus Stops and Facilities ......................................................................................................................... 7-7 Marketing/Public Information ............................................................................................................. 7-8 Recommended Transit-Supportive Policies ....................................................................................... 7-9 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................. 7-12 Appendix A: Travel Demand Modeling Methodology ............................................................ A-1 Appendix B: CSUB Transit Center ............................................................................................B-1 Background .............................................................................................................................................. B-1 Appendix C: Proposed Additional Service Priorities and Productivity Standards ................... C-1 Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates Inc. | i METROPOLITAN BAKERSFIELD TRANSIT SYSTEM LONG-RANGE PLAN | DRAFT FINAL REPORT Golden Empire Transit District | Kern Council of Governments Table of Figures Page Figure 1-1 Draft Proposed Short-Term Route Network .................................................................... 1-6 Figure 1-2 Draft Proposed Midterm Route Network & Population-Employment Density (2020) ........................................................................... 1-7 Figure 1-3 Draft Proposed 2050 Route Network & Population-Employment (2035) ................ 1-8 Figure 1-4 Short-Term Funding Strategy ........................................................................................... 1-10 Figure 2-1 Busiest GET Stops .................................................................................................................. 2-3 Figure 3-1 Bus Rapid Transit in Eugene, Oregon ............................................................................... 3-3 Figure 3-2 Approximate Subsidy per Trip: Heavy Rail, Light Rail, BRT and Commuter Rail .... 3-5 Figure 4-1 “Smithville” Transit Planning Game© in action at GET District offices ....................... 4-3 Figure 4-2 Public Outreach Events ........................................................................................................ 4-7 Figure 4-3 Completed Surveys .............................................................................................................. 4-8 Figure 4-4 Frequency of Use by Respondents .................................................................................... 4-8 Figure 4-5 Response to New Structure ................................................................................................. 4-9 Figure 5-1 Map of Proposed GET Fixed-Route Service (Short-Term) ............................................ 5-7 Figure 5-2 Calculation of Revenue Hours (Short-Term) ..................................................................... 5-8 Figure 5-3 Map of Proposed GET, Enhanced KRT, and Commuter Rail Fixed-Route Service (Midterm) .............................................................................................................................