The City Council is questioning whether to proceed with an overhaul of the bus system when some council members are interested in significantly reducing its budget.
DEENA WINTER / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Monday, October 1, 2007 7:00 pm
The City Council is questioning whether to proceed with an overhaul of the bus system when some council members are interested in significantly reducing its budget.
The council was briefed Monday on proposed StarTran route and service changes crafted with the help of consultants and approved by a StarTran Advisory Board earlier this summer.
The changes were the result of the first comprehensive review of the bus system in 20 years — a review more commonly done every five years.
The council will hold a public hearing Monday on a revenue-neutral proposal that would concentrate service to areas where people use buses most and eliminate service in little-used areas. StarTran now serves about 88 percent of the city.
The buses would still run for the same number of hours, but routes would change beginning in June.
Council members Jon Camp, John Spatz, Ken Svoboda and Robin Eschliman have talked about reducing the bus budget and creating “base” or “core” routes the city would essentially promise to continue serving for 10 to 15 years to aid future development.
During budget deliberations this summer, the Lincoln Independent Business Association urged the council to cut StarTran’s budget by $1 million, and Eschliman proposed about a quarter-million cut that failed.
City Transportation Planner David Cary, project manager for the study, said it would likely take a few months to identify core routes.
Former Councilwoman Patte Newman, who was on an advisory committee during the route study, said the new plan has not provoked a public outcry, but having to create “core routes” could restart the whole process.
Camp pressed Cary and StarTran employees for an estimate of the cost per StarTran rider, excluding university and Husker game shuttle riders, which he said “masks underperforming routes.”
Among the changes contained in the StarTran overhaul:
* Bus service would be extended to the Haymarket, Wal-Mart in southeast Lincoln, the Regional Center and Kawasaki plant.
* A free downtown shuttle service would begin running during weekday lunch hours and Thursday through Saturday evenings.
* Buses would hit major stops at 30-minute intervals (during peak hours) to 60-minute intervals (off-peak hours), rather than the longer schedules now.
* New neighborhood routes would run for 10 hours on weekdays from Westfield Gateway Mall to northeast and southwest neighborhoods.
The proposal also identifies long-term goals that would cost money, including expanded evening service, increased service on key routes and a downtown streetcar. Among proposed long-term capital improvements are bike racks on buses.
Svoboda questioned why the downtown shuttle would be free.
“Even 50 cents would be appropriate,” he said.
But Cary said free downtown shuttles are more successful.
“Even if you put a quarter cost on it, it’s enough of a deterrent,” Cary said.
The council decided to proceed with the StarTran public hearing on Monday, but to delay voting on the proposal until Oct. 29.
Reach Deena Winter at 473-2642 or dwinter@journalstar.com.