LTD Bus 'Not Dead Issue"

Siuslaw News Tuesday, Nov 27th, 2007
By: Katy Fulton

The city’s Transit Advisory Committee wants to pursue funding for a pilot project.Instead of waiting for someone somewhere to come up with grant money to fund a public bus service between Eugene and Florence, the city Transit Advisory Committee is building its own positive momentum to find resources.

“The committee has decided to take a very proactive approach to identifying sources that would help fund a needs study,” Councilwoman Nola Xavier told the city council last week. “They would like to contact two or three transportation consulting firms that would be a possible source of doing that study for them.”

Xavier said at the Nov. 19 meeting that the transit committee is prepared to research the best way to construct a needs study, what it should contain and how much it would cost.

“And they want to begin to find money to address that,” Xavier said.

In review of the circumstances, Lane Transit District (LTD) was prepared to run a year-long trial bus service between the two communities as a test before providing permanent service. Lack of a needs assessment study, or the money to fund one, was one reason the Florence City Council voted Oct. 22 against applying for a ConnectOregon II grant that would have helped finance the trial bus service.

Florence had an excellent chance of receiving the grant, according to Jacque Morgan, assistant to the city manager, but the grant application, which was due Nov. 21, required documentation of funding sources. According to the proposed plan, businesses within 1.5 miles on either side of the bus route would pay an employment tax to help sponsor the bus. Before paying such a tax, business owners, however, would need to be convinced that enough people would ride the bus to make their tax contribution worth while. A needs assessment study would be one way to demonstrate public interest in the bus service.

Council members voted against attempting the ConnectOregon II application because of time constraints and a concern that grant awards must be matched. The city would have to raise approximately $90,800, or 20 percent of the estimated $454,000 cost of the pilot project.

Committee member Duane Marble said that committee representatives believe a study would be beneficial both in establishing community support for a bus service and for funding it. At this point Marble said he is fairly sure, based on recent population and economic changes in Florence and Eugene, that a study would show a real demand for a Florence-to-Eugene bus service.

The Chamber of Commerce, Three Rivers Casino, other business owners, and people who live on Highway 126 from Florence to Eugene have expressed support of and a need for a bus service, according to committee member Dianne Burch. She was disappointed that an LTD bus partnership did not make the top 30 items in the city council’s list of 2008 Needs and Issues Priorities.

“I think it really does hold a higher priority,” she said. “It isn’t a dead issue.”

Florence lacks affordable housing for service industry employees. A bus would provide transportation for people who could afford housing elsewhere, while working in Florence.

“We have a need for more employees,” said Burch, who is a business owner.

The transit committee’s 2008 challenge is to help the city locate funding for a study and identify the essential components of a survey. With the benefit of research, the committee could help educate the Florence community in general, the business community specifically, and city government about the need for and benefits of a bus service, according to Burch and Marble.

While Andy Vobora, LTD spokesman, agrees that surveys are always good background information, an actual pilot run of bus services provides valid and conclusive information, he said.

When people complete a needs assessment survey, they imagine possibilities based on their current transportation habits and practices, Vobora said. A pilot project is a more effective needs assessment because people have time to experience and participate in bus transportation services. They know first hand what a bus would mean for themselves and their neighbors, he said.

Based on his work with Florence, Vobora recommended that the city council broaden the city’s scope and participation in a bus transportation effort. If there is a larger community dialog, a funded and successful pilot project is more likely, he said.

Reflecting on his own experiences with Lane County communities, Vobora sees two ways to get a regional bus service going. Either motivation comes from citizens organizing to pressure their government officials into prioritizing bus services, or the incentive comes from the city council itself.

“It does need to come from the council, unless it’s a grass roots kind of effort,” Vobora said.”It’s up to the city.”