Title
Inter-city Bus Travel (B)
Explanation
At the request of Commissioner Hawkins on May 2, 2013, the City Commission referred inter-city bus travel to the Community Development Committee (CDC). The referral was broad, however, there were some specific issues identified for discussion, such as common terminal and parking areas, schedules and routes.
The CDC heard an update presentation on the inter-city bus status on March 12, 2014. The CDC moved and directed staff 1) to research and provide basic data on statistics from other inter-city bus travel companies to identify where services are and what their counts are; and 2) to call the companies to invite them to participate in a conversation about ways to co-locate our stops or taxi stands. The CDC directed staff to report back with their results.
Regional Transit System (RTS) was also included in that discussion. Every five (5) years, RTS conducts a major update to its Transit Development Plan (TDP). Based on projected ridership, existing service area needs, anticipated future funding levels, and user feedback, the major TDP update adopted in August 2014 does not include inter-city bus service in the 10-year plan. However, as part of the Transportation Surtax initiative, RTS reached out to surrounding municipalities to assess their interest in such service, providing them with potential schedules, costs, and routes, but none were interested in using surtax funding for inter-city bus service.
Currently, RTS provides bus bays at the Rosa Parks Downtown Station for the loading and unloading of passengers to Ride Solution of Palatka (Putnam County), the Magenta Line from Keystone Heights (Clay County) and Martz Motorcoach (provider of transportation for AMTRAK). Negotiations with Megabus and RedCoach inter-city bus travel companies are on-going, with an anticipated start date for service in early November 2014.
Fiscal Note
None.
Recommendation
The Community Development Committee hear update and direct...
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