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OK then, it looks to me that Call-in-Ride is a part of Access-A-Ride. If it is not, then where is it in the RTD budget? It's certainly not a fixed route service.
Regardless, if you think this type of door to door service is cheap, and will continue, I think you are fooling yourself. RTD has already eliminated a number of these Call-in-Ride services, with their budget cuts. Including the Superior Call-in-Ride, and thay have very low standards for them. Only three passengers per hour.
With RTDs massive budget problems, its just a matter of time before all of these Call-in-Ride services get cut. Its just too expensive, even if they didn't have budget problems.
I don't know where you get this idea. That link you posted was not the entirety of RTD's budget. There are many services included in the non-fixed route group, e.g. (from the RTD website):
Special Services
access-a-Ride,
Bolder/Boulder,
BroncosRide,
BuffRide,
call-n-Rides,
CU/CSU Football Game Bus Service,
Komen Denver Race for the Cure Bus Service,
RockiesRide,
runRide,
seniorRide
vanpool (DRCOG's Commuter Services and North Front Range's VanGo)Special Services
Have you ever been on a BroncosRide or a RockiesRide? Those buses are packed! It can't possibly cost $44.63 per person!
Have you ever been on a BroncosRide or a RockiesRide? Those buses are packed! It can't possibly cost $44.63 per person!
Those sound like "extra transit for special events", which other places have too, rather than "transit by individual request" that the OP mentioned.. Taking lots of people to one destination is the most-efficient case for transit.
Those sound like "extra transit for special events", which other places have too, rather than "transit by individual request" that the OP mentioned.. Taking lots of people to one destination is the most-efficient case for transit.
They are all lumped into one group on the RTD website.
During high school, especially in the last couple years, I often walked 1.5 miles to school. Was just as fast as the school bus. Ended up getting ride offers frequently.
I lived about two miles away and usually beat the bus. Got out and 3:30, the bus left at 3:45 unless it was late, which was often, and the bus stop was two blocks from home.
Those sound like "extra transit for special events", which other places have too, rather than "transit by individual request" that the OP mentioned.. Taking lots of people to one destination is the most-efficient case for transit.
Baltimore's state-run transit agency ceased running special event transit a few years ago once a court determined that FTA funding could not be used for this "premium" service.
Baltimore's state-run transit agency ceased running special event transit a few years ago once a court determined that FTA funding could not be used for this "premium" service.
Thats pretty weird. It seems to me that providing service for special events is a responsibility of any local transit agency. Not providing special events service could result in regular transit service being overwhelmed. Causing a disruption to all transit riders, in addition to not serving the needs of residents who need transit service to the special event.
When I lived in Denver, the RTD would provide probably 200 plus buses for Bronco Games. Without that service, thousands of extra cars on the road would have caused gridlock for miles around the stadium. Plus the regular Sunday local bus service would have been rendered useless. As busses would have filled to capacity, and had to pass by hundreds of bus stops.
Baltimore's state-run transit agency ceased running special event transit a few years ago once a court determined that FTA funding could not be used for this "premium" service.
Here we have two main events that run special events transit - the Balloon Fiesta and the State Fair. Across the city they set up a few park and rides and they are pretty successful at getting high usage and helping to ease congestion.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nei
Those sound like "extra transit for special events", which other places have too, rather than "transit by individual request" that the OP mentioned.. Taking lots of people to one destination is the most-efficient case for transit.
What i'm suggesting rather than just 'transit by individual request' is for there to still be a fixed route with designated loading/unloading stops. The main difference between this and a bus line is that the busses (or vans or cars) would respond directly to the user needs instead of passengers having to adhere to the existing bus schedules. Of course this would only be applicable for routes with less ridership and most likely in less dense suburban-type areas.
If this were implemented, there would be two types of transit lines - demand response (DR) and fixed route (FR). If people were confident that they wouldn't have to wait over 20 minutes for either one then a lot more people would consider the bus a viable alternative to driving.
Thats pretty weird. It seems to me that providing service for special events is a responsibility of any local transit agency.
It would, but they could not use FTA funds for the service and would thus have to charge substantially more for it. At which point people would just drive to the game.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KaaBoom
Not providing special events service could result in regular transit service being overwhelmed.
Eh, these buses were provided to those in the suburban counties who really didn't have any other buses to choose from. It didn't matter, they just drove. Private bus companies run service to games from parking lots, too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KaaBoom
When I lived in Denver, the RTD would provide probably 200 plus buses for Bronco Games. Without that service, thousands of extra cars on the road would have caused gridlock for miles around the stadium. Plus the regular Sunday local bus service would have been rendered useless. As busses would have filled to capacity, and had to pass by hundreds of bus stops.
RTD is a pretty comprehensive system. It's also more expensive than ours and has a better farebox recovery rate. The state views our system as charity only, for the most part.
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