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UNMET TRANSIT NEEDS
IDENTIFICATION AND ANALYSIS REPORT
FISCAL YEAR2014/15
FINAL REPORT
APPROVED
6/19/2015
PER RESOLUTI
ON NO. 2015-142
The Tulare County Association of GovernmentsBoard of Governors
Janet Hinesly/Mike Smith ………………………………………………………………………...........City of DinubaDale Sally/Mary Waterman ……………………………………………………………………………….City of ExeterGreg Gomez/Paul Boyer ……………………………………………………………………………City of FarmersvillePamela Kimball/Ramona Padilla ……………………………………………………………………….City of LindsayVirginia Gurrola/Milt Stowe ………………………………………………………………………….City of PortervilleCraig Vejvoda/Maritsa Castellanoz ……………………………………………………………………..City of TulareBob Link/Steve Nelson ………………………………………………………………………………………..City of VisaliaRudy Mendoza/Francis Ortiz………………………………………………………………………….City of WoodlakeSharri Bender Ehlert/Gail Miller …………………………………………………………………………………..CaltransDennis Townsend/Luke Feldstein…………………………………………………………………..Member-at-LargeTyrone Holscher/Bob Stocker ………………………………………………………………..........Member-at-LargeWalter Stammer/Pamela K. Whitmire……………………………………………………….......Member-at-LargeAllen Ishida/Kuyler Crocker ………………………………………………………………………..Supervisor District 1Pete Vander Poel/William Cushing………………………………………………………........Supervisor District 2Phil Cox/Bill Whitlach……………………………………………………………………...............Supervisor District 3J. Steven Worthley/Ray Millard……………………………………………………………………Supervisor District 4Mike Ennis/Gregory F. Gillett……………………………………………………………………….Supervisor District 5Cameron Hamilton……………………………………………Representative from a Provider of Public Transit
Tulare County Association of GovernmentsProfessional Staff
Ted Smalley………………………………………………………………………………………….Executive DirectorBen Kimball………………………………………………………………………….....Deputy Executive DirectorBen Giuliani…………………………………………………………………………………Executive LAFCO OfficerLeslie Davis………………………………………………………….Fiscal Manager/Measure R CoordinatorMichele Boling………………………………………………………………………………………………Accountant IIElizabeth Forte………………………………………………………………………........Senior Regional PlannerMark Hays…………………………………………………………………………………….Senior Regional PlannerRoberto Brady…………………………………………………………………………......Senior Regional PlannerDerek Winning…………………………………………………………………………Associate Regional PlannerCynthia Echavarria…………………………………………………………………..Associate Regional PlannerBritt Fussell………………………………………………………………………………………………………Engineer IIIKasia Thompson………………………………………………………………………Associate Regional PlannerGabriel Gutierrez……………………………………………………………………..Associate Regional PlannerMaria Garcia-Garza…………………………………………………………………..Associate Regional PlannerBrideget Moore……………………………………………………………………………………………….Staff AnalystAndrea Apolinario……………………………………………………….Transportation Planning TechnicianPhilip Shabanov…………………………………………………………..Transportation Planning TechnicianDoreen Alvez……………………………………………………………………………………Department SecretaryAlyssa Blythe………………………………………………………………………………………….............Secretary I
TABLE OF CONTENTSSECTION I : INTRODUCTION Transportation Development Act (TDA) Requirements………………………………………1 Social Service Transportation Advisory Council (SSTAC)…………………………………...1
SECTION II: Unmet Transit Needs Process Definitions – “Unmet Transit Need” and “Reasonable to Meet”…………………………....3 Unmet Transit Needs Hearing Schedule...……………………….…………………………..5
SECTION III: Existing Conditions Size and Location of Groups Likely to be Dependent on Transit…………………………..7 General Population Estimates for Tulare County…………………………………………...7 Assessment of Transit Dependency by Elderly………………………………………..........8 Assessment of Transit Dependency by Disability…………………………………………10 Assessment of Transit Dependency by Income (Persons of Limited Means)……………..12 Analysis of Transportation Services in Tulare County…………………………………….14 Additional Transportation Services and Assistance………………………………………..18 Adequacy of Existing Services……………………………………………………………..19 Farmworker Vanpool Program Analysis…………………………………………………...19
SECTION IV: Outreach & Public Hearing Unmet Transit Needs Public Outreach….……………………………………………………23 Unmet Transit Needs Poster (English/Spanish)……………………………………………....24 Unmet Transit Needs Poster with comment card (English/Spanish) ………………………...25 Outreach to Social Service Agencies in Tulare County………………………………….…...26 Public Hearing in Visalia (pictures)…………………………….…………………………….34 Public Hearing in Porterville (minutes)……………………………………………………….35 Public Hearing in Porterville (pictures)……………………………………………………….39 Table – Unmet Transit Needs comments ………………………………………………..........40
SECTION V: Analysis of Unmet Transit Needs Comments SSTAC Meeting – Review Unmet Transit Needs Comments………………………………...49 Unmet Transit Needs Findings………………………………………………………………..57
TABLE OF FIGURES Figure 1 Population of Primary Communities in Tulare County…………………………… Figure 2 Elderly Population for Tulare County…………………………………………….. Figure 3 Senior Population Density for County of Tulare………………………………….. Figure 4 2013 American Community Survey Disability Estimates………………………… Figure 5 Persons with Disabilities in Tulare County……………………………………….. Figure 6 2013 American Community Survey Poverty Status………………………………. Figure 7 Low-Income Population Density within Tulare County………………………….. Figure 8 Countywide System Map………………………………………………………….. Figure 9 CalVans Tulare County Origins by City…………………………………………...
Figure 10 CalVans Employment Destinations……………………………………………….. Figure 11 CalVans Tulare County Destinations……………………………………………… Figure 12 Poster “Your Vision, Your Ride”………………………………………………….. Figure 13 Poser “Your Vision, Your Ride”………………………………………………….... Figure 14
APPENDIX A
SECTION I: INTRODUCTIONAs required by the California Transportation Development Act (TDA) Tulare County Association of Governments (TCAG), as the Regional Transportation Planning Agency and the Metropolitan Planning Agency for Tulare County, is required to identify any unmet transit needs that may exist in the Tulare County region. If an unmet transit need is identified then a further determination must be made to determine whether those needs are “reasonable to meet”. In accordance with the TDA regulations, the TDA funds must first be allocated to any unmet transit needs which are found reasonable to meet before any funds can be allocated to local jurisdictions for non-transit purposes. At a minimum, TCAG shall annually do all of the following:
SOCIAL SERVICES TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY COUNCIL (SSTAC)
1. TCAG shall provide for the establishment of a social services transportation advisory council (SSTAC) to participate in the identification of unmet transit needs and determine whether those identified needs are reasonable to meet. The social services transportation advisory council shall consist of the following members:
(a) One representative of potential transit users who is 60 years of age or older.
(b) One representative of potential transit users who is handicapped.
(c) Two representatives of the local social service providers for seniors, including one representative of a social service transportation provider, if one exists.
(d) Two representatives of local social service providers for the handicapped, including one representative of a social service transportation provider, if one exists.
(e) One representative of a local social service provider for persons of limited means.
(f) Two representatives from the local consolidated transportation service agency, designated pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 15975 of the Government Code, if one exists, including one representative from an operator, if one exists.
(g) The transportation planning agency may appoint additional members in accordance with the procedure prescribed in subdivision (b).
(h) Members of the social services transportation advisory council shall be appointed by the transportation planning agency which shall recruit candidates for appointment from a broad representation of social service and transit providers representing the elderly, the handicapped, and persons of limited means. In appointing council members the transportation planning agency shall strive to attain geographic and minority representation among council members. Of the initial appointments to the council, one-third of them shall be for a one-year term, one-third shall be for a two-year term, and one-third shall be for a three-year term. Subsequent to the initial appointment, the term of appointment shall be for three years, which may be renewed for an additional three-year term. The transportation planning agency may, at its discretion, delegate its responsibilities for appointment pursuant to this subdivision to the board of supervisors.
2. TCAG must ensure the establishment and implementation of a citizen participation process appropriate for Tulare County and utilize the SSTAC as a mechanism to solicit the input of transit dependent and transit disadvantaged persons, including the elderly, disabled, and persons of limited means.
3. TCAG must adopt the definition of the terms “unmet transit needs” and “reasonable to meet” with a resolution.
4. Hold at least one public hearing which is scheduled to ensure broad community participation and, if possible, the locations of the hearings shall be rotated among the various communities within TCAG’s jurisdiction.
5. Consult with the SSTAC members and analyze those transit needs using TCAG Board’s adopted definition of “unmet transit needs” and reasonable to meet” (adopted definitions provided on Pages ______ and ______ of this report).
6. TCAG must adopt a resolution a finding regarding transit needs that may be reasonable to meet. The TCAG Board will make one of the three possible findings:
(a) There are no unmet transit needs,(b) There are no unmet transit needs that are reasonable to meet, or(c) There are unmet transit needs including needs that are reasonable to meet
If TCAG adopts a finding that there are unmet transit needs, including needs that are reasonable to meet, then the unmet transit needs shall be funded before any allocation is made for streets and roads within Tulare County.
SECTION II: Unmet Transit Needs ProcessAs required by TDA before Local Transportation Funds (LTF) could be allocated for other non-transit purposes a finding must be made by TCAG Board that there are no unmet transit needs that are reasonable to meet. To comply with this requirement, TCAG has established a process to seek public input on any unmet transit needs that exist within Tulare County. TCAG adopted definitions for “unmet transit needs” and “reasonable to meet” through Resolution No. 2014-112 on February 18, 2014. A copy of the resolution is located in Appendix A. The definitions adopted by TCAG for “unmet transit need” and “reasonable to meet” are shown below.
DEFINITIONS – “UNMET TRANSIT NEED” and “REASONABLE TO MEET”
Tulare County
Unmet Transit Need Definition and Criteria
“Unmet Transit Need”: An unmet transit need, as identified during Tulare County Association of Governments annual Unmet Transit Needs Process, exists where public transit services are not currently provided for persons who rely on public transit to conduct daily activities. At a minimum, an unmet need must be identified by substantial community input through the public hearing process or identified in a Short Range Transit Plan, Coordinated Transportation Plan, or the Regional Transportation Plan and has not yet been implemented or funded.
“Reasonable to Meet”: Following is the TCAG definition of "Reasonable to Meet” including the recommended benchmarks for the passenger farebox recovery ratio for new transit services in Tulare County. An unmet transit need shall be considered “reasonable to meet” if the proposed service is in compliance with all of the following criteria, as each are applicable:
Equity1. The proposed service will not require reductions in existing transit services that have an
equal or higher priority.
Timing1. The proposed service is in response to an existing rather than future transit need.
Feasibility1. The proposed service can be provided with available TDA funding.2. The proposed service can be provided with the existing fleet or under contract to a private
provider.
Performance1. The proposed service will not unduly affect the operator's ability to maintain the required
passenger fare ratio for its system as a whole.2. The proposed service will meet the scheduled passenger fare ratio standards as described in
the recommended benchmarks for the passenger farebox recovery ratio for new transit services in Tulare County.
3. The estimated number of passengers to be carried will be in the range of similar services, and/or, the proposed service provides a "link" or connection that contributes to the effectiveness of the overall transit system.
4. The proposed service must be safe to operate and there must be adequate roadways and turnouts for transit vehicles. The proposed service must have potential providers that are available to implement the service.
Community Acceptance1. The proposed service has community acceptance and/or support as determined by the unmet
needs public hearing record, inclusion in adopted programs and plans, adopted governing board positions and/or other existing information.
Notes:1. Per state law, the lack of available resources shall not be the sole reason for finding that a
transit need is not reasonable to meet.RECOMMENDED BENCHMARKS FOR PASSENGER FAREBOX RECOVERY RATIO FOR NEW
TRANSIT SERVICES IN TULARE COUNTY.
The state has established a basic requirement in Section 99268 of the Public Utility Code for all proposed transit services in urban areas (the Visalia, Tulare, and Porterville Urbanized Areas). This requirement is to achieve a 20% passenger fare ratio by the end of the third year of operation. A similar targeted passenger fare ratio of 10% exists for special services (i.e. elderly and disabled, demand-response) and rural area services. If a provider is granted a blended farebox recovery, performance levels should be adjusted accordingly.
TCAG has established more detailed interim passenger fare ratio standards, which will be used to evaluate services as they are proposed and implemented, which are described below. Transit serving both urban and rural areas, per state law, may obtain an "intermediate" passenger fare ratio.
END OF TWELVE MONTHS OF SERVICEPerformance LevelUrban Service Special/Rural Service Recommended Action Less than 6% Less than 3% Provider may discontinue service
6% or more 3% or more Provider will continue service, with modifications if needed
________________________________________________________________________END OF TWENTY-FOUR MONTHSPerformance LevelUrban Service Special/Rural Service Recommended Action Less than 10% Less than 5% Provider may discontinue service
10% or more 5% or more Provider will continue service, with modifications, if needed.
________________________________________________________________________
END OF THIRTY-SIX MONTHSPerformance LevelUrban Service Special/Rural Service Recommended Action
Less than 15% Less than 7% Provider may discontinue service
15-20% 7-10% Provider will continue service, withmodifications if needed
20% or more 10% or more Provider will continue service, withmodifications if needed
SCHEDULE FOR UNMET TRANSIT NEEDS PROCESS
The unmet transit needs process is a year round process. TCAG staff accepts comments throughout out the fiscal year. A schedule of the Unmet Transit Needs year long process is detailed below.
January
1. Staff begins contacting local groups and initiating transit needs outreachFebruary
1. Notice of hearing printed notifying the public that Monday, March 16, 2015 is the date of the Unmet Transit Needs hearing in Visalia at 1:00 p.m. and in Porterville at 5:30 p.m. The notice includes TCAG’s telephone number, fax number, physical address, email and TCAG’s website information. The notice Posters (bilingual – English/Spanish) with comment cards attached soliciting comments for unmet transit needs were distributed throughout Tulare County. In addition the posters were placed on the buses of the transit systems that operate within Tulare County.
2. Also send written notification to those persons and organizations, which have indicated, through its citizen participation or any other source of information, an interest in the subject of the hearing.
March
1. TCAG staff collects and records all comments received prior to the public hearing.2. March 16, 2015 the public hearing is held to accept public testimony on the unmet transit
needs within Tulare County at 1:00 p.m. in Visalia and at 5:30 p.m. in Porterville. Interpreter available to allow Spanish speaking individuals to provide comments and to allow Spanish speaking individuals in the public to fully participate.
3. Deadline to submit transit requests is March 31.April
1. Comments are compiled and sent to each transit provider for consideration. 2. TCAG Staff reviews comments internally.
May
1. SSTAC meeting scheduled for May 19, 2015 to review comments received and transit provider’s responses.
2. SSTAC determines if there are any “unmet transit needs” and if there are “unmet transit needs that are reasonable to meet”.
June
1. TCAG Board reviews all requests and whether the unmet transit needs are “reasonable to meet”. TCAG adopts a resolution with the findings:
(a) There are no “unmet transit needs",(b) There are no “unmet transit needs” that are “reasonable to meet”, or(c) There are “unmet transit needs”, but they are not “reasonable to meet” at this time, or(d) There are “unmet transit needs” that are “reasonable to meet”.
July
1. Prepare documentation for submittal to Caltrans.
August
1. TCAG staff submits annual unmet transit needs documentation to Caltrans.
September
1. If any unmet transit needs are found reasonable to meet confirm transit provider is developing plans to implement service.
SECTION III: Existing Conditions
EXISTING CONDITIONS
Pursuant to California Public Utilities Code Section 99401.5, the following sections provide a brief analysis of Sections 1 through 4 as part of the unmet transit needs assessment process.
Size and Location of Groups Likely to be Dependent on Transit
As required by the TDA unmet transit needs finding, TCAG must identify the transit needs of our county as part of the transportation planning process. This group would include but is not limited to, the elderly, the handicapped (including individuals eligible for paratransit and other special transportation services pursuant to Section 12143 of Title 42 of the United States Code (the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 12101, et seq.)) and persons of limited means, including, but not limited to, recipients under the CalWORKs program.
This assessment looked at the following transit-dependent population groups:
Elderly – Individuals who are age 60 to 65 years or older:
Disabled – (as defined by the American with Disabilities Act (ADA)) a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a person who has a history or record of such impairment, or a person perceived by others as having such as impairment; and
Persons of Limited Means – individuals who are defined by the federal government as having an income below the poverty threshold
General Population Estimates for Tulare County
While the eastern half of Tulare County is mountainous and relatively unpopulated, the western half boasts a combined population of nearly 500,000 persons dispersed across several small to medium-sized cities separated by vast agricultural lands. US 99 bisects the western half of the county and provides regional connections to Fresno to the north and Bakersfield to the south. The majority of the county’s population is situated east of US 99 and west of the Sierra Nevada foothills. The primary central cities of Visalia, Porterville, Tulare, Lindsay, and Exeter are connected by State Roads 63, 65, 137, 198 and CR J20. The northern communities of Dinuba and Cutler-Orosi are connected by CR J40 and SR 63. The highest population densities are concentrated in Visalia, Tulare and Porterville. Moderate Population densities are present in Dinuba, Cutler, Orosi, Farmersville, Exeter, Lindsay, and Strathmore. Cities with a population of over 5,000 are listed in Figure 1.
There are six incorporated cities within Tulare County. As indicated in Figure 1 below, Visalia is the largest city with 127,763 people, accounting for 28% of the county’s total population. Tulare is the second largest city with a population of 61,170, accounting for 13% of the county’s total population. Porterville accounts for 12% of the county’s population and Porterville is the third largest city with a population of 55,174.
Population of Primary Communities in Tulare County
Figure 1
City Population
Visalia 127,763
Porterville 55,174
Tulare 61,170
Dinuba 23,347
Lindsay 12,974
Cutler- Orosi 13,770
Farmersville 10,720
Exeter 10,489
Earlimart 8,537
Woodlake 7,619
Source: US Census, 2013 Estimate
Assessment of Transit Dependency by Elderly
The TDA indicates that the elderly are likely to be transit dependent. Some of the transit providers in Tulare County provide a discount to elderly riders and identify those riders at 60 years and some transit providers identify them at 65years. Therefore in this section an age range of 60 to 65 is used to identify the elderly. According to the 2010 Census, within Tulare County 60,177 individuals are identified as elderly, accounting for 13.6% of the County’s total population. As Figure 2 shows below the unincorporated area of the county has the largest population of elderly at 32.3%, followed by Visalia at 28.1%, the cities of Tulare and Porterville account for 26% of the elderly population. The cities of Dinuba, Exeter, Farmersville, Woodlake and Lindsay account for 14% of the elderly population.
Figure 2
Visalia28.1%
Tulare13.41%
Porterville12.25%
Exeter2.34%Dinuba
4.9%
Farmersville2.4%
Woodlake1.6%
Lindsay2.7%
Unincorporated32.3%
Elderly Population for Tulare County
Source: 2010 Census, Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: Table DP-1
Figure 3 below, indicates that the senior population density mirrors the pattern of Tulare County’s general population. The largest concentrations occur in Visalia, Porterville, and Tulare. The main noticeable difference is that the senior population tends to locate closer towards the urban core of
each city. Other urban areas with notable concentrations of senior populations include Dinuba, Sultana-Orosi-Cutler, Exeter, and Lindsay.
Senior Population Density for County of TulareFigure 3
Assessment of Transit Dependency by Disability
American Community Survey (ACS) 2013 is able to identify those individuals with a disability living in Tulare County. According to the 2013 ACS the total civilian noninstitutionalized population of Tulare County is 442,333; of this population there are 47,392 persons with a disability in the county, which is 10.7% of the county population. As indicated in Figure 4 below, the 2013 ACS estimated that 28.3% of the county’s disabled population live in Visalia, 26.93% of the county’s total live in Tulare and Porterville. The remaining cities of Lindsay, Woodlake, Farmersville, Dinuba and Exeter account for 13.23% of the county’s total disabled population. The remainder of the population includes all the unincorporated areas which account for 31.54% of the disabled population.Figure 4
Visalia28.3%
Tulare14.23%
Porterville12.7%
Exeter2.4%
Dinuba4.76%
Farmersville2.54%
Woodlake1.47%
Lindsay2.06%
Unincorporated31.54%
2013 American community survey disability estimates
Source: American Community Survey, 5-year Estimates (2009-2013) Disability Estimates Table S1810
Figure 5 below indicates the population density of the disabled population. The population patterns of persons with disabilities within Tulare County are visibly similar to that of the senior population, with even more concentration within the core of urban areas. Visalia is the largest incorporated city and has the largest population of disabled persons. Tulare and Porterville are very close in size per population and also have a similar disabled population. Woodlake has the smallest population and therefore also has the lowest population of disabled persons. Dinuba, Exeter, Lindsay and Farmersville each have a disabled population commensurate with their population.
Persons with Disabilities in Tulare CountyFigure 5
Assessment Transit Dependency by Income (Persons of Limited Means)
The American Community Survey (ACS) provides a 5-year (2009-2013) breakdown of poverty status for Tulare County. They have indicated that the population for whom poverty status is determined in Tulare County is 440,509, of this total population the survey estimates that 115,313 persons are below the poverty level; therefore 26.2% of the county’s population were identified as persons on limited means. The City of Visalia accounts for 20.6% of the county’s total population of persons of limited means. The cities of Tulare and Porterville combined have 23.5% of the County’s total population of this group. The other five cities of Exeter, Farmersville, Dinuba, Lindsay and Woodlake account for 17.4% of this population, with the unincorporated areas accounting for 38.5% of the population. Figure 6, below, provides a further breakdown of the estimated percentage of persons of limited means living within Tulare County.
Figure 6
Visalia20.6%
Tulare11%
Porterville12.5%
Exeter2.7%
Dinuba5.5%
Farmersville3%
Woodlake1.7%
Lindsay4.5%
Unincor-porated38.5%
2013 American community survey Poverty status
Source: 2013 American Community Survey, 5-Yr. Estimate (2009-2013): Poverty Status in the Past 12 Months Table S1701
The highest densities of households below poverty are found in Tulare, Lindsay, Porterville, central Visalia, in the north part of the County near Dinuba, Orange Cove, and Sultana, and to the South in Allensworth. In these areas over half of all households are below the poverty line. The areas with lower densities of households below poverty include Cutler, east Porterville, and Goshen. Figure 7 below provides a visual overview of the low-income population density in Tulare County.
Low-Income Population Density within Tulare CountyFigure 7
ANALYSIS OF TRANSPORTATION SERVICES IN TULARE COUNTY
TULARE COUNTY TRANSIT PROVIDERS SERVICE AREA MAP FIXED ROUTE Figure 8 Countywide System Map
The County of Tulare is currently being served by four transit providers with fixed route service and Dial-A-Ride. Two of the cities only provide Dial-A-Ride service. TCAG has hired a consultant to prepare a Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) for Tulare County. The goals of the LRTP are to improve regional mobility, including transit improvements at the local, countywide, and regional levels. The LRTP is under way and a state of the system report was completed in November 2015. The report provided a comprehensive evaluation of the design, allocation, and performance of transit service in Tulare County. In addition it provided a countywide transit overview, regional transit, and local transit options in Tulare County. (To the extent possible, data gathered as part of this process has been incorporated into this report.) Figure 8 above provides a summary in map format of the Countywide fixed route public transit services prepared as a part of the LRTP
The five transit providers currently operating in Tulare County with fixed route and Dial-A-Ride service are as follows:
City of Visalia – Visalia Transit and Visalia Dial-A-Ride
City of Tulare – Tulare InterModal Express (TIME) and Tulare Dial-A-Ride
City of Porterville – Porterville Transit and Dial-A-COLT
City of Dinuba – Dinuba Area Regional Transit (DART) and DART Dial-A-Ride
County of Tulare – Tulare County Area Transit (TcaT) and TCaT Dial-A-Ride
The following cities provide Dial-A-Ride service:
City of Exeter – Exeter Dial-A-Ride
City of Woodlake – Woodlake Dial-A-Ride
CITY OF VISALIA
Visalia Transit – System Overview Visalia Transit operates thirteen fixed routes, consisting of regular local routes, one downtown circulator, and one intercity route jointly operated with Tulare Intermodal Express (TIME).
The fixed-route system operates seven days a week, with weekday service running between 6 a.m. and 10:30 p.m., and weekend service between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Dial-A-Ride service within the city limits of Visalia operates Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. and on weekends from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. All routes (aside from Route 12) begin and end at the Visalia Transit Center on the corner of East Oak Street and North Bridge Street. Here riders can connect to two TCaT routes (10 and 30) with service to other cities in Tulare County.
Systemwide ridership in Visalia increased from 2009 to 2012, reaching 1,853,165 boardings in the 2012 fiscal year, then dropping to 1,637,037 for the 2013 fiscal year.
January 2014 service changes included a change in service frequency for Routes 3 and 8A/8B (from 30 to 45 minutes), increased weekend service on Route 6, and new weekly passes. August 2014 service changes included the elimination of express service from Route 1A/1B, schedule adjustments to Routes 6, 7, and 12, and fare increases for fixed-route (from $1.25 to $1.50) and demand-response service.
CITY OF TULARE
TIME – System Overview
Tulare Intermodal Express (TIME) operates six fixed routes within Tulare and East Tulare, and one jointly-operated fixed route with Visalia Transit. Weekday service occurs between 6:30 a.m. and 10 p.m. Saturday service operates between 9 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. Dial-a-ride service is offered Monday to Friday 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Over the past five fiscal years, annual fixed-route ridership increased from 346,825 to 447,718 (FY 13/14), with a slight drop in FY 12/13. Ridership has increased an average of 7% each year since 2009. The most recent service changes include the addition of evening service during weekday hours and slight reconfiguration of various route alignments.
CITY OF PORTERVILLE
Porterville Transit – System Overview
Porterville Transit operates nine fixed routes along with dial-a-ride service within the city limits of Porterville. The fixed-route system operates seven days a week, with weekday service running between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., and weekend service between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Six of the routes operate at 40 minute frequencies seven days a week, with the remaining three operating at 60 to 80 minute frequencies. All routes begin and end at the Porterville Transit Center on the corner of West Oak Avenue and North D Street. Here riders can connect to five TCaT routes (40, 60, 70, 80, 90) with service to other cities in Tulare County.
Systemwide ridership in Porterville has seen a steady increase since 2010, reaching 625,461 boardings in the 2013 fiscal year. Ridership has increased an average of 7% each year since 2009.
The December 2012 service change included the addition of Route 9 with service to the Tulare Indian Reservation. In July 2012, weekday service span was extended to 10 p.m. Several fare-related changes were made in July 2013, including an increase in fixed-route and demand-response fares and the introduction of daily, monthly, reduced, and student passes. Sunday service was also added in July 2013.
COUNTY OF TULARE
TCaT – System Overview
Tulare County Area Transit (TCaT) operates nine fixed routes that connect areas within the county. The four intercity routes connect communities throughout the county. These routes operate seven days a week with service running from morning to evening with frequencies ranging from 35 to 90 minutes. Weekend service for these routes runs from late morning to early evening, with each route operating three to six bi-directional trips. TCaT also operates five local circulator routes and offers dial-a-ride service to members of the general public within four service areas in the county.
Systemwide ridership has seen a steady increase over the past five fiscal years, with nearly 350,000 annual boardings in 2013.. Ridership has increased an average of 25% each year since 2009. Boardings per hour are highest on the North County and Southeast County routes.
CITY OF DINUBA
DART – Dinuaba Area Rural Transit
Dinuba Area Regional Transit (DART) operates two flex-route services with dial-a-ride components, one circulator (Jolly Trolley), and one fixed-route regional service (Dinuba Connection). During the previous five fiscal years, systemwide ridership has seen an increase from 107,044 in 2009 to 145,766 in 2013. Ridership increased an average of 8% between 2009 and 2013; however it has been relatively flat for the two most recent years for which data was available. The bulk of ridership can be attributed to the Jolly Trolley, a fare-free downtown circulator that carried nearly the same number of riders as the flex routes and fixed route combined. All routes begin and end at the Dinuba Transit Center on the corner of East Merced Street and North M Street.
CITY OF WOODLAKE
Woodlake Dial-A-Ride
Woodlake Dial-A-Ride provides door-to-door service within the city limits of Woodlake and some unincorporated areas of Tulare County only. Ridership has increased slightly over the past five years; an average of 4% a year
CITY OF EXETER
Exeter Dial-A-RideExeter Dial-A-Ride provides door-to-door service within the city limits of Exeter only. Ridership has trended downward over the past five years, with an average decline of 12% a year.
ORANGE BELT STAGES
Orange Belt Stages operates two intercity fixed-routes using 54-foot coach buses that make several stops in Tulare County. The routes connect Las Vegas, Barstow, Boron, Mohave, Tehachapi, Bakersfied, Ducor, Terra Bella, Porterville, Strathmore, Lindsay, Exeter, Farmersville, Visalia, Goshen and Hanford. The route operates one daily round-trip between Las Vegas and Visalia and two daily round-trips between Visalia and Hanford. Orange Belt Stages operates seven days a week, 365 days a year. Fares vary depending upon the destination. Some of the buses are ADA equipped. If anyone needs wheelchair assistance they have to call 24 to 48 hours in advance. TCaT cash fare subsidy program is available for trips that originate and end within Tulare County. A rider pays the TCaT fare of $1.50 to ride Orange Belt Stages instead of the regular fare if they qualify for the subsidy program.
GREYHOUND
Greyhound bus serves stations in Tulare, Goshen, Visalia, and Delano. Services include daily trips to Fresno, Bakersfield, and Hanford. Stop locations in Tulare County include Visalia, Ducor, Farmersville, Exeter, Lindsay, Strathmore, Porterville, Terra Bella, and Goshen via the Bakersfield-Hanford Route and Delano, Tulare, Goshen (select trips) and Visalia via the Bakersfield-Fresno route.
Additional Transportation Services and Assistance
In addition to the seven public transit providers there are several social service agencies that offer assistance in paying for transportation services for their clients. There are two agencies that offers transportation services to their clients because their clients have special needs that are unable to be serviced by the public transit services.
Tulare County Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) provides a variety of social services to the residents within Tulare County. They provide help to seniors, children in foster care, prenatal and postnatal care to women and children and they also provide help to families on public
assistance. HHSA offers a wide range of health related services to children, adults and seniors. In addition, HHSA will offer vouchers or tokens for their clients to use on the existing public transit systems.
Kings/Tulare Area Agency on Aging (KTAAA) provides information about programs and services available to seniors and their caregivers. They were developed to serve the most economically and socially needy, K/T AAA coordinates a wide range of community-based services to address a variety of needs for seniors. K/T AAA has a comprehensive data base of community resources to provide assistance when seniors need help with Medicare counseling, home-delivered means, writing a will, finding a caregiver, finding employment, fighting off depression or with transportation assistance.
Community Services and Employment Training (CSET) provides assistance to Tulare County residents by providing education and training. They help their clients find work, provide job training and develop youth leadership skills. When needed they also provide tokens to their clients so they can use public transit to get to and from work and to training programs.
Porterville Sheltered Workshop (PSW) is a social service agency that provides a variety of services to developmentally disabled residents. They provide service to all of Tulare County, Northern Kern, Southern Fresno and Eastern Kings County. They offer services to persons with mild to profound disabilities. They provide work training, assistance with finding employment, and independent living skills training. PSW operates a full range of wheelchair accessible vans and buses to meet individual transportation needs to and from their programs.
Able Industries is a social service agency that provides work training and community crew/employment services for adults with disabilities. It also has a Life Skills Learning Center which addresses the life skill needs of adults with more severe disability issues. Able Industries provides transportation to its clients with moderate to severe developmental disabilities, many with ambulatory, behavioral and medical challenges. They require constant supervision from trained Direct Care Staff and are unable to use public transit.
ADEQUACY OF EXISTING SERVICES
The “adequacy” of existing public transportation services and specialized transportation services is a subjective term that TCAG does not address in the adopted definition of unmet transit needs. TCAG has an unmet transit needs process which reviews any public comments received with the SSTAC members and our existing transit providers. TCAG meets with the SSTAC every quarter to evaluate the adequacy of the region’s current transit operations and further identify any unmet transit needs that may or may not be reasonable to meet. The region’s public transit operators and social service agencies continue to cooperatively adjust their services to feasibly meet any identified unmet transit need throughout the year.
FARMWORKER VANPOOL PROGRAM ANALYSIS
There exists within Tulare County a vanpool program that services the needs of the farmworkers that reside within the county. The California Vanpool Authority (CalVans) is a ridesharing service that is tailored to the needs of commuters who cannot travel between home and work with local fixed-route or demand-response service. The program in its current form grew out of a pilot project known as the Agricultural Industries Transportation Services (AITS) in Kings County, targeted at providing safer transportation options for farm workers. The CalVans program operates across multiple counties, with over 200 vanpools serving commuters and 150 serving farm workers.
Currently, there are 95 vehicles that provide service to workers who live or work in Tulare County, with a total capacity of 625 passengers. While the majority of vans in Tulare County operate out of Visalia (Figure 9), Porterville is the second highest origin of vanpools. The primary employment destinations are correctional facilities in Corcoran and Delano, including California State Prison and Kern Valley State Prison (Figure 10). In total nearly 70% of vanpools starting or ending in Tulare County serve correctional institutions. Other destinations include several state, medical, and agricultural employers. Figure 11 shows the original and destination pairs for existing CalVans.
Figure 9 CalVans Tulare County Origins by City
Origin Capacity VansPercent Total Capacity
Visalia 731 52 55%
Porterville 191 14 15%
Tulare 105 9 9%
Dinuba 60 4 4%
Orosi 60 4 4%
Orange Cove 45 3 3%
Cutler 30 2 2%
Lindsay 30 2 2%
Springville 30 2 2%
Exeter 15 1 1%
Reedley 15 1 1%
Selma 15 1 1%
Figure 10 CalVans Employment Destinations
Employer City Vans Capacity Percent Total Capacity
California State Prison Corcoran 17 223 18%
Kern Valley State Prison Delano 13 192 14%
California State Abuse and Treatment Facility Corcoran 12 173 13%
North Kern State Prison Delano 10 144 11%
Pleasant Valley State Prison Coalinga 7 105 7%
Coalinga State Hospital Wasco 3 45 3%
Avenal State Prison Avenal 3 45 3%
IRS Fresno 4 32 4%
Wawona Packing Cutler 2 30 2%
Mission Ventures Dinuba 2 30 2%
Armona School Armona 2 30 2%
YNT Harvesting Dinuba 1 15 1%
Wasco State Prison Wasco 1 15 1%
WMJ Famrs Dinuba 1 15 1%
Valley Farm Service Dinuba 1 15 1%
Sierra Labor Reedley 1 15 1%
Rivas Dinuba 1 15 1%
Pixley Elementery Pixley 1 15 1%
Monarc Del Valley Dinuba 1 15 1%
Mc Clurry Farms Selma 1 15 1%
Margret Gonzales Orosi 1 15 1%
Naval Air Station Lemoore Lemoore 1 15 1%
Latino Farm Labor Visalia 1 15 1%
Employer City Vans Capacity Percent Total Capacity
JA FarmLabor Orosi 1 15 1%
Family Ranch Avenal 1 15 1%
Cream of the Crop Bakersfield 1 15 1%
AGR Contracting Porterville 1 15 1%
Fresno Fresno 1 15 1%
Theater Aviation Sustainment Maintenance Group Fresno 1 8 1%
CalVet (Veteran Affairs) Fresno 1 8 1%
DMV-Fresno Fresno 1 7 1%
The majority of vanpool trips starting or ending in Tulare County cross the County line. Common origins or destinations outside of the County include Fresno, western Kings County, Corcoran (Kings County), and Delano. There are also numerous shorter trips in northwest Tulare County/south Fresno County.
Figure 11 CalVans Tulare County Destinations
SECTION IV: OUTREACH AND PUBLIC HEARING
Unmet Transit Needs Public OutreachThere was an extensive outreach effort for the 2014/15 Unmet Transit Needs process. TCAG had posters placed on all transit buses, at transit centers and at bus stops where possible. One of the posters had stamped, self-addressed comment cards which any member of the general public could complete and mail in to TCAG with their comment. A copy of the comment card is located in Appendix A. They were also mailed to a number of social service agencies, public libraries, local grocery stores and several other locations. TCAG sent out announcements via social media (Facebook and Twitter).
Community partners were sent a letter soliciting them to spread the word about the unmet transit needs hearing and providing them with a poster to display in their office. In addition they were formally informed of the two public hearings. A copy of the letter that was sent to the community partners is in Appendix A.
Notice of the Public Hearing was placed in a newspaper of general circulation in the cities of Visalia, Dinuba and Porterville. The Visalia Times Delta and the Porterville Recorder have Spanish editions of their paper; in addition TCAG translated and posted public hearing notices in Spanish in these papers as well. A copy of the public notices in English and Spanish are located in Appendix A.
These posters were prepared in English and Spanish and distributed to several social service organizations for posting at their agency.Figure 12
Unmet Transit Needs Posters (English/Spanish)
The poster below was distributed to all the area providers of transit for posting in their fixed route and Dial-A-Ride buses. These posters contained the stamped, self-addressed comment cards and were written in English and Spanish. Several social service organizations received these posters as well.Figure 13UNMET TRANSIT NEEDS POSTER WITH COMMENT CARD (ENGLISH/SPANISH)
OUTREACH TO SOCIAL SERVICE AGENCIES
TCAG maintains a listing of all the social service organizations that have expressed an interest in transit issues or are a member of the SSTAC. A listing of all the agencies that received one or both of the posters is shown below. The agencies are listed by city or unincorporated community.Figure 14
City of Visalia AddressesCurrent as of 2/23/2015
VISALIA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 220 N SANTE FE STREET VISALIA CA 93292
TULARE COUNTY LIBRARY 200 W OAK AVENUE VISALIA CA 93291
ANTHONY COMMUNITY CENTER 345 N JACOB STREET VISALIA CA 93291
VISALIA EMERGENCY AID COUNCIL P.O. Box 651 VISALIA CA 93279
VISALIA CITY HALL- WEST 707 W ACEQUIA VISALIA CA 93291
CENTRAL VALLEY REGIONAL CENTER 5441 W CYPRESS VISALIA CA 93277
COLLEGE OF THE SEQUOIAS-BOOKSTORE 915 S MOONEY BLVD VISALIA CA 93277
VISALIA MEDICAL CLINIC 5400 W HILLSDALE DRIVE VISALIA CA 93291
TULARE COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS 2800 W BURREL VISALIA CA 93291
TULARE COUNTY OFFICE OF EDUCATION P.O. Box 5091 VISALIA CA 93278
VISALIA CONVENTION CENTER 303 E ACEQUIA VISALIA CA 93291
BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB 215 W TULARE AVENUE VISALIA CA 93277
FRESNO PACIFIC UNIVERSITY VISALIA CENTER 245 N PLAZA DRIVE
VISALIA YOUTH SERVICES 711 N COURT ST, SUITE B VISALIA CA 93291
INDEPENDENT LIVING PROGRAM 132 N VALLEY OAKS DRIVE VISALIA CA 93292
R-N MARKET 737 S LOVERS LANE VIALIA CA 93292
ABLE INDUSTRIES 8929 W GOSHEN VISALIA CA 93291
VALLARTA SUPERMARKET 3112 N DINUBA BLVD VISALIA CA 93291
SELF HELP ENTERPRISES 8445 W ELOWIN CT VISALIA CA 93291
TULARE WORKS 1845 N DINUBA BLVD VISALIA CA 93291
VISALIA RESCUE MISSION 500 E RACE AVE VISALAI CA 93292
R & R LIBRARY 7000 W DOE AVENUE SUITE C VISALIA CA 93291
FAMILY HEALTH CARE NETWORK 400 E OAK AVENUE VISALIA CA 93291
PARENTING NETWORK 1900 N NUBA BLVD SUITE C VISALIA CA 93291
TCOE-SEE VISALIA YOUTH 626 N AKERS VISALIA CA 93291
VISALIA SENIOR CENTER 310 N LOCUST VISALIA CA 93291
TULARE COUNTY MENTAL HEALTH 3300 S FAIRWAY VISALIA CA 93277
VISALIA LERANING CENTER 630 S ATWOOD DR VISALIA CA 93277
PROTEUS-VISALIA 224 N 3RD ST VISALIA CA 93291
CSET-VISALIA 312 NW 3RD AVENUE VISALIA CA 93291
FAMILY HEALTH CARE NETWORK 501 N BRIDGE STREET VISALIA CA 93291
FAMILY SERVICES 815 W OAK AVENUE VISALIA CA 93291
EMPLOYMENT CONNECTION 4025 W NOBLE AVENUE SUITE B VISALIA CA 93277
VISALIA ADULT SCHOOL 3110 E HOUSTON AVENUE VISALIA CA 93292
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY COLLEGE 8344 WEST MINERAL KING AVENUE VISALIA CA 93291
SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION 1901 E NOBLE AVENUE VISALIA CA 93292
DEL SOL MARKET 3615 W NOBLE AVENUE VISALIA CA 93292
THE CREATIVE CENTER 606 N BRIDGE STREET VISALIA CA 93291
TULARE COUNTY PERSONNEL DEPARTMENT 2900 W BURREL VISALIA CA 93291
TULARE COUNTY PROBATION OFFICE 100 E CENTER AVENUE VISALIA CA 93291
VISALIA KTAAA 4031 W NOBLE AVENUE VISALIA CA 93277
VISALIA WIC 1819 N DINUBA BLVD VISALIA CA 93211
KAWEAH DELTA MENTAL HEALTH 1100 S AKERS ROAD VISALIA CA 93277
HISPANIC CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 1100 W MAIN VISALIA CA 93292
CASA 1146 N CHINOWTH STREET VISALIA CA 93291
VISALIA GLEANING SENIORS 28600 RD 156 VISALIA CA 93291
PRO-YOUTH HEARTP.O. BOX 387400 N. Church Street VISALIA CA 93291
INDEPENDENT STUDY 1821 W MEADOW LANE VISALIA CA 93277
ALPAUGH KTAAA C/O VISALIA KTAAA 4031 W NOBLE AVENUEVISALIA ADULT INTEGRATED CLINIC (MENTAL HEALTH) 520 E TULARE AVENUE VISALIA CA 93292
CSET-EARLIMART P.O. BOX 1350 VISALIA CA 93279EARLIMART LIBRARY 312 NW 3RD AVENUE VISALIA CA 93291
GOSHEN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 6505 AVENUE 308 VISALIA CA 93291
TURNING POINT OF CENTRAL CALIFORNIA 201 N COURT ST VISALIA CA 93291
FHCN 401 E SCHOOL AVE VISALIA CA 93291
TULARE COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT 11200 AVE 368 VISALIA CA 93291
MANUEL F HERNANDEZ COMMUNITY CENTER 247 W FERGUSON AVE VISALIA CA 93291
WHITENDALE COMMUNITY CENTER 630 W BEECH VISALIA CA 93292
City of Tulare AddressesCurrent as of 2/23/2015
TULARE EMERGENCY AID COUNCIL 299 S L STREET TULARE CA 93274
TULARE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 220 E TULARE AVENUE TULARE CA 93274
TULARE PUBLIC LIBRARY 475 NORTH M STREET TULARE CA 93274
CITY OF TULARE SENIOR COMMUNITY CENTER 201 NORTH F STREET TULARE CA 93274
TULARE ADULT SCHOOL 575 W MAPLE AVENUE TULARE CA 93274
FAMILY RESOURCE CENTER 304 E TULARE AVE TULARE CA 93274
EMPLOYMENT CONNECTION 115 E TULARE AVE TULARE CA 93274
TULARE WIC/TULAREWORKS 458 EAST O'NEAL AVENUE TULARE CA 93274
UNITED WAY 1601 E PROSPERITY AVENUE TULARE CA 93274
TULARE REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER 869 N CHERRY STREET TULARE CA 93274
KINGS VIEW SUBSTANCE ABUSE P.O. BOX 688 TULARE CA 93275
TULARE HILLMAN HEALTH 1062 SOUTH K STREET TULARE CA 93274
TULARE YOUTH SERVICES BUREAU 327 S K STREET TULARE CA 93234
TULARE CITY HALL 411 EAST KERN AVENUE TULARE CA 93274
WAUKENA JOINT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 19113 ROAD 28 TULARE CA 93274
TULARE COMMUNITY HEALTH CLINIC 1101 N CHERRY ST TULARE CA 93274TURNING POINT OF CENTRAL CALIFORNIA 113 S M STREET TULARE CA 93274BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB 948 NORTH H STREET TULARE CA 93274R-N MARKET 1043 E BARDSLEY AVE TULARE CA 93274VALLARTA SUPERMARKET 1111 N CHERRY ST TULARE CA 93274TULARE SEE 3442 E BARDSLEY AVE TULARE CA 93274TULARE CITY HALL 411 EAST KERN AVENUE TULARE CA 93274
City of Porterville AddressesCurrent as of 2/23/2015
PORTERVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY 41 W THURMAN AVENUE PORTERVILLE CA 93257
PORTERVILLE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 93 N MAIN STREET SUITE A PORTERVILLE CA 93257
PORTERVILLE COLLEGE 100 E COLLEGE AVENUE PORTERVILLE CA 93257
CSET-PORTERVILLE 1061 W HENDERSON AVENUE PORTERVILLE CA 93257
TULARE COUNTY EMPLOYMENT CONNECTION 1063 W HENDERSON AVENUE PORTERVILLE CA 93257
PROTEUS INC 54 N MAIN STREET SUITE 10 PORTERVILLE CA 93257
PORTERVILLE SENIOR CENTER 280 N FOURTH ST PORTERVILLE CA 93257
PORTERVILLE ADULT DAY SERVICES 227 E OAK AVENUE PORTERVILLE CA 93257
SIERRA VIEW MEIDCAL CENTER 465 W PUTNAM PORTERVILLE CA 93257
FAMILY HEALTH CARE NETWORK 1107 W POPLAR AVENUE PORTERVILLE CA 93257
BOYS & GIRLS CLUB-PORTERVILLE 344 E MORTON AVENUE PORTERVILLE CA 93257
PORTERVILLE SHELTERED WORKSHOP 194 W POPLAR PORTERVILLE CA 93257
PORTERVILLE DEVELOPMENT CENTER 26501 AVENUE 140 PORTERVILLE CA 93257
VALLEY CARE CENTER 661 W POPLAR PORTERVILLE CA 93257
PORTERVILLE WIC 1055 WEST HENDERSON SUITE 5 PORTERVILLE CA 93257
EMPLOYMENT CONNECTION ONE STOP CENTER 1063 W HENDERSON AVENUE PORTERVILLE CA 93257
TULAREWORKS 1055 W HENDERSON SUITE 3 PORTERVILLE CA 93257
TCOE-SEE PORTERVILLE 1414 W OLIVE AVENUE PORTERVILLE CA 93257
PORTERVILLE TRANSIT CENTER 61 W OAK AVENUE PORTERVILLE CA 93257
PORTERVILLE CITY HALL 291 N MAIN STREET PORTERVILLE CA 93257
PORTERVILLE SEE 525 N MAIN ST PORTERVILLE CA 93257
VALLARTA SUPERMARKET 305 E OLIVE AVE PORTERVILLE CA 93257
KINGSVIEW 409 N MAIN STREET PORTERVILLE CA 93257
TULARE COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT 300 E OLIVE AVE PORTERVILLE CA 93257
City of Dinuba AddressesCurrent as of 2/23/2015
CITY OF DINUBA-RECREATIONAL CENTER 1390 E ELIZABETH WAY DINUBA CA 93618TULARE COUNTY LIBRARY-DINUBA BRANCH 150 SOUTH I STREET DINUBA CA 93618
DINUBA VOCATIONAL CENTER 199 NORTH L STREET DINUBA CA 93618
DINUBA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 210 NORTH L STREET DINUBA CA 93618
DINUBA SENIOR CENTER 437 NORTH EATON AVENUE DINUBA CA 93618
RUIZ FOODS ATTN ANITA CROTTY501 S ALTA AVENUE DINUBA CA 93618
DINUBA RURAL HEALTH MEDICAL CENTER 420 E EL MONTE WAY DINUBA CA 93618
DINUBA WIC 1433 E EL MONTE WAY DINUBA CA 93618
DINUBA CITY HALL 405 E EL MONTE WAY DINUBA CA 93618
DINUBA ADULT SCHOOL 1327 EAST AVENUE 416 DINUBA CA 93618
DINUBA HEALTH CARE CENTER 1451 E EL MONTE WAY DINUBA CA 93618
DINUBA MUNICIPAL COURT 920 SOUTH COLLEGE DINUBA CA 93618
TULARE WORKS 1066 N ALTA AVE DINUBA CA 93618PROTEUS YOUTH SERVICES 400 W TULARE ST DINUBA CA 93618TULARE COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT 640 S ALTA AVE DINUBA CA 93618
City of Exeter Addresses sses
Current as of 2/23/2015 20
EXETER CITY HALL 137 NORTH F STREETEXETER CA 93221
TULARE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY-EXETER BRANCH 230 E CHESTNUT AVENUEEXETER CA 93221
EXETER CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 101 W PINE STREETEXETER CA 93221
EXETER HEALTH CLINIC 1014 SAN JUAN AVENUEEXETER CA 93221
BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF THE SEQUOIAS 1003 SAN JUAN AVEEXETER CA 93221
City of Farmerville AddressesCurrent as of 02/23/2015
FARMERSVILLE CITY HALL 909 W VISALIA ROAD FARMERSVILLE CA 93223
FARMERSVILLE HEALTH CARE CENTER ATTN SOCORRO660 E VISALIA ROAD FARMERSVILLE CA 93223
FARMERSVILLE SENIOR CENTER 444 N GENE AVENUE FARMERSVILLE CA 93223
FARMERSVILLE WIC 175 E FRONT STREET FARMERSVILLE CA 93223
FHCN 730 N FARMERSVILLE BLVD FARMERSVILLE CA 93223
City of Lindsay AddressesCurrent as of 02/23/2015
LINDSAY CITY HALL 251 E HONOLULU STREET LINDSAY CA 93247
LINDSAY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 133 W HONOLULU STREET LINDSAY CA 93247
LINDSAY PUBLIC LIBRARY 157 N MIRAGE AVENUE LINDSAY CA 93247
LINDSAY HEALTH CARE CENTER 845 N SEQUOIA AVENUE LINDSAY CA 93247
LINDSAY SENIOR CENTER ATTN AMY MURPHY911 PARKSIDE AVENUE LINDSAY CA 93247
TULARE WORKS 900 SEQUOIA AVENUE LINDSAY CA 93247
LINDSAY WIC 248 N HWY 65 LINDSAY CA 93247
MCDERMONT FIELD HOUSE 365 N SWEETBRIAR AVENUE LINDSAY CA 93247
Cutler-Orosi, Earlimart, Ivanhoe,Three Rivers, Strathmore, Pixley,
SpringvilleCurrent as of 2/23/2015
OROSI LIBRARY 12646 AVENUE 416 OROSI CA 93647
CSET-OROSI 12384 AVENUE 416 OROSI CA 93647
FAMILY HEALTH CARE NETWORK 12586 AVE 408 OROSI CA 93647
CUTLER/OROSI SENIOR CENTER 12690 AVE 408 OROSI CA 93647
R-N MARKEY 12760 AVENUE 416 OROSI CA 93647
FAMILY EDUCATION CENTER SCHOOL 40802 ROAD 128 CUTLER CA 93615
EARLIMART SENIOR CENTER P.O. BOX 602 EARLIMART CA 93219
EARLIMART WIC 782 E WASHINGTON STREET EARLIMART CA 93219
EARLIMART LIBRARY P.O. BOX12153 EARLIMART CA 93219
FAMILY HEALTH CARE NETWORK 33025 ROAD 159 IVANHOE CA 93235
IVANHOE LIBRARY 15964 HEATHER IVANHOE CA 93235
BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB 15892 AZALEA AVE IVANHOE CA 93235
FAMILY HEALTH CARE NETWORK 41651 SIERRA DRIVE THREE RIVERS CA 93271
THREE RIVERS LIBRARY 42052 EGGERS ROAD THREE RIVERS CA 93271
PIXLEY LIBRARY 300 NORTH SCHOOL PIXLEY CA 93274
STRATHMORE LIBRARY 19646 ROAD 230 STRATHMORE CA 93267SPRINGVILLE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 35627 CALIFORNIA SUITE 190 SPRINGVILLE CA 93265
SPRINGVILLE LIBRARYP.O. BOX 45935800 HWY 190 SPRINGVILLE CA 93265
TRAVER JOINT SCHOOL DISTRICTP.O. BOX 6936736 CANAL DRIVE TRAVER CA 93673
ALPAUGH LIBRARYP.O. BOX 693816 AVENUE 54 ALPAUGH CA 93201
KINGS RIVER UNION SCHOOL DISTRICT 3961 AVENUE 400 KINGSBURG CA 93631
FAMILY HEALTH CARE NETWORK 31180 ROAD 72 VISALIA CA 93291
TERRA BELLA LIBRARY P.O. BOX 442 TERRA BELLA CA 93270FAMILY HEALTH CARE NETWORK 9416 ROAD 238 TERRA BELLA CA 93270
TIPTON LIBRARY 301 E WOODS AVENUE TIPTON CA 93272
City of Woodlake ADDRESSES
Current as of 2/23/15
WOODLAKE LIBRARY 400 W WHITNEY AVE WOODLAKE CA 93286
WOODLAKE SENIOR CENTER 179 N MAGNOLIA STREET WOODLAKE CA 93286
WOODLAKE WIC 250 E ANTELOPE STREET, SUITE F WOODLAKE CA 93286
WOODLAKE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 264 N VALENCIA BLVD WOODLAKE CA 93286
WOODLAKE FAMILY RESOURCE CENTER 168 N VALENCIA WOODLAKE CA 93286
WOODLAKE CITY HALL 350 N VALENCIA BLVD WOODLAKE CA 93286FAMILY HEALTH CARE NETWORK-WOODLAKE 201 E LAKEVIEW AVE WOODLAKE CA 93286
PUBLIC HEARINGSAs required by TDA regulations TCAG is required to conduct at least one public hearing to allow transit riders, social service agencies and the general public an opportunity to submit potential unmet transit needs. TCAG conducted two public hearings on March 16 in Visalia at 1:00 p.m.at the TCAG Board Meeting and the other one in Porterville at 5:30 p.m. in the Porterville Sheltered Workshop meeting room. The two hearings were conducted in English and in Spanish. For those individuals that were unable to attend the public hearings, TCAG staff accepted comments via telephone, fax, e-mail, mail and through the TCAG website up until March 31, 2015. A copy of the Staff Report that was prepared for the Public Hearing is available in Appendix A. Comments were received this year from 89 individuals. There were 110 comments received in total from the public hearings and received via mail, fax, telephone, the TCAG website, and other means. Below are several pictures from the Visalia Public Hearing held at the TCAG Board meeting. A copy of the Unmet Transit Needs opening statement is in Appendix A.
PUBLIC HEARING IN VISALIA
PUBLIC HEARING IN PORTERVILLE
The public hearing held in Porterville took place at the Porterville Sheltered Workshop. In addition to the public hearing a workshop was held to solicit comments from the people attending for use in the Southeast Mobility Plan. This report was focused on addressing gaps in the mobility options available to transit reliant populations including low-income residents, students, the disabled community, and seniors living in Southeast Tulare County. The meeting minutes for the Porterville Public Hearing are included below.
Meeting Minutes Porterville Public Hearing
Meeting Date: Monday, March 16, 2015 (Unmet Needs)Location: Porterville Sheltered Workshop, Porterville, CA 93257
Present: Ted Smalley, Elizabeth Wright, Andrea Apolinario, Lucia Reyes and Alyssa Blythe
I. Information 2014/15 Unmet Transit Needs
Ms. Apolinario: Okay, we are going to go ahead and read the opening statement. This is the time and place scheduled for a public hearing to gather information from the community regarding unmet public transit needs that may exist within Tulare County. The Transportation Development Act of 1972 established a Local Transportation Fund, and created the State Transit Assistance Fund in 1979. The Tulare County Association of Governments, acting as the Regional Transportation Planning Agency for Tulare County, has been designated as the organization responsible for administering these funds. The California Administrative Code requires that a public hearing be held to gather information regarding unmet public transit needs before any monies can be allocated from the Local Transportation Fund for the purpose of streets and roads. Today's hearing is being held to meet that requirement. If you wish to submit testimony before this Board, please come forward and identify yourself and any agency or group you are representing. You should also identify the transit agency to which your comments pertain. If you are identifying a need, or a reasonable means of meeting a need, please be as specific as possible. In the interest of time, if your information is supportive of a previous speaker's testimony but adds no new information, please make your presentation as brief as
possible by referring to any previous statements. Three minutes will be allowed for each comment; time used for translation will not count against time allowed. Prior to leaving the hearing please provide your name, address, and telephone number to the TCAG Clerk, Alyssa, please raise your hand, Alyssa, so we may contact you if there are any questions regarding your unmet needs request.
Elizabeth Wright: Okay, and before we start the hearing, just to let you know we have two things going on tonight. A public hearing to get your comments and that’s what we are asking you to do now and we are also having a little workshop we are doing about this area and some plans and things we are working on to get some input for you if you can stay around after you make your comments we will be doing that as well. If you have a card, you can give it to me, if you don’t have a card you can still can come up and make your comments and you have about three minutes.
II. Public Hearing: 2014/15 Unmet Transit NeedsPublic Comments opened at 5:40 p.m.
Elizabeth Wright: We can start with Brad Higinbotham. You can come up here or you can sit, that’s fine if everyone can see you.
Brad Higinbotham : Hi, my name is Brad and I come from a school in….
Alyssa Blythe: I’m sorry, can you please state your name and address.
Brad Higinbotham : That’s right she did say to say to do that. My name is Brad Higinbotham.
Alyssa Blythe: Okay, your address?
Brad Higinbotham : 36001 Rd. K3 M, Muncos, Colorado 81328.
Elizabeth Wright: It’s also on the form.
Alyssa Blythe: Thank you.
Brad Higinbotham: I am from a school group in Southwestern Colorado and these are some of our students here with us. We have been coming to this area and this is the 5th year we have come and we are always hosted by Quinto Sol and Irma who will we will hear from in a little bit. I am not going to pretend to know the needs of this place because we come for about a week or so every year and we learn a lot from Irma. So the things I am going to say are mainly to reinforce what you’ll hear Irma saying in a few minutes. But the reason why we come is to get involved with the migrant working issues that are taking place in your community. Why did we choose this area? Because we found Irma. And so we started coming here for the last few years. We have a little project that we like to get Irma help us make a presentation that will help us save water which I will tell you at the end when I have about 20 seconds left. But the things we have noticed since coming and that is all what I want to talk to you about the unmet transit needs is when we work with the migrant working communities of Tonyville and Tulyville and Plainview, it feels like there are things the communities have or don’t have maybe that we notice the people have maybe in Visalia or Farmersville and that would be sidewalks and lighting and maybe some of the roads are a little bit bouncy and our school bus can only bounce so many times before it loses a wheel or something so I imagine the people in the communities would be concerned about that. We have also in these years seen a bunch of cool things
happen because we have been to three of these meeting with Irma in Visalia. The first time we came they asked for shelters for sun or for shade to be placed where the buses stop. And the next year we came stuff happened and that was a pretty cool thing to see and we watched Irma get up and in the next year we watched her say thank you and we realized we were in the presence of a someone who could take action and make things happen. That is because of people who were willing to listen. If our message of an outside perspective can be helpful than I just offered that and the last thing I will say in my last twenty seconds, if I still have time that much time left to invite you or maybe just one of you to come and be a part of the presentation in which we do, which is not necessary a transit issue but an issue that certainly concerns this community in a drought and we always bring …you look familiar to me maybe I have said this before to you, but we present the human manure composting system a way to compost excrement that is really cheap just in 5 gallon buckets and it turns it into safe usable soil instead of flushing it that down the with your precious water you can use it without the use water. So we are doing a presentation tomorrow night at Irma’s house at 380 W. Greg Street in Farmersville and around right around 5 o’clock.
Unknown: She said 6.
Brad Higinbotham: Okay, so maybe 5:30 or 6, but if you come early we will have hamburgers for you and then will be happy to share with you the idea which might be very valuable to the community ion the coming days or years or weeks. Sorry if I went over my three minutes. That’s why I am here.
Elizabeth Wright: Irma, ready to come up?
Irma Medellin: Good Afternoon, my name is Irma and I live in 380 W. Farmersville, CA is my new address because before I lived in Lindsay. My organization is El Quinto de sol de America and we work in unincorporated communities Tonyville, Tulyville, El Rancho, Plainville and Lindsay, because in Lindsay we have our office. For more than ten years we have worked in those communities and every year, I don’t remember how many years we have attended these unmet meetings because in unincorporated communities we have a lot of necessities. And especially because you know that I think that the county don’t have enough money to invest for this community but they don’t have the necessities muy grande and a big necessity in the communities. But I write something because sometimes I forget to say. On the Quinto del Sol, we work in unincorporated communities such as Tonyville, Tuleville, El Rancho, Plainville, Lindsay…and now we start another in Farmersville, because that is my new home. I am here today representing the community members that who will not be here today. I want to make sure that you keep these communities and mine when you are making these new grand proposals _. Some of these communities are lacking for safety especially in the wintertime. Also in Plainview on the edge of Row 196 and Ave. 196, we need sidewalks in order to for the children to walk safety. Los otros, we will be submitting a letter with public comments by the communities with a specific churches near. And we would like to work on the necessities of the communities, But we want to be sure you continue include these communities in the future projects. Because I say I work with day every day and I know the necessities, big necessities. And in the past sometimes the workers of the county say we do not know how to communicate with these communities. But let me tell you something, we work with them and try to make a serious engagement so bring the people together and then form _ _ a community and now very activos and they try to let the counties know what the necessities are in the community. So again, I am the director of El Quinto de sol America based in Lindsay and our address in Lindsay is and we
want to continue to work on this and continue to come to the meetings. And I want to say something. It is the first time we came up like this on meetings like this, Always something like this where we sit in front of you. And it feels good because it gives you the confidence to say the things that we have wanted and we hope to continue working with you. Thank you.
Elizabeth Wright: I have a slip from Ernesto Teran
Ernesto Teran: Hello to everyone my name is Erasto Teran my address is` 450 W. Springville Drive., Porterville, CA. I have lived here in Porterville all my life and I have seen the transit has been improving because I use the transit every day, I work in Visalia. But we need to improve it in certain ways that all the community gets everything it needs, for example Route 8 why we do not have a hourly, like the one Route 9 every hour that goes to the casino, for the use of Porterville. We need to improve the service to the East, the East needs to have more infrastructure, sidewalks, roads like you know that they are already approved the well for the water there. Two weeks ago I was in Sacramento testifying about the program we have here in Porterville. But that is not what we are here for now but everything is connected. Because if we have all the services that the community needs, we have a better life. Like I say I been here in Porterville all my life and great, I think Porterville transit is one of the best around. I use personally ride the bus every day to work from Porterville to Visalia. The other thing is Route 40, Route 40 needs to be improved for the buses. Like today, I came from Visalia and the bus was full of people, students from COS and people who worked in the area and some people couldn’t fit and they had to come in the bus. I don’t know if having new buses, I don’t know the budget now but the real thing is we need more and more service. I ride the bus and I can you tell every day how many people ride the bus and how many people use the bus and are waiting for the bus. In Tonyville and Highway 65 and COS, everywhere, Route 40 needs to be improved. In the summer it is very very hot in the bus and in the winter is very very cold. Because sometimes the heater or the air conditioner is not working. So in the future that type of bus to improve the service. That’s what I need to tell you and to continue fixing the city transit. It is great you, you guys changing new busses; it is more comfortable than the old ones. I will keep riding the bus.
Elizabeth Wright: Excuse me, sir can I ask a question? On Route 8, at the beginning, what were you saying for the improvements that are needed?
Ernesto Teran: To have more hours.
Elizabeth Wright: Similar to Route 9?
Ernesto Teran: Yes. And you can see the hours.
Elizabeth Wright: I wanted to make sure I got it.
Alyssa Blythe: May I ask for your Full name and address
Ernesto Teran: Erasto Teran – 450 W. Springville Drive., Porterville, CA.
Alyssa Blythe: Thank you
Ernesto Teran: So if you need questions, how many people ride the bus? You ride the bus right?
How many from the public ride the bus to see every day to see how everyday works? No one right? I invite you all of you one day to get your jeans and hat and go see for yourself and see what I am talking about. Thank you.
II. CLOSING COMMENTS
Elizabeth Wright: Do we have anyone else who would like to come up and make a comment? No? Okay, seeing no more comments we will end the public hearing part of our meeting tonight. You can still submit comments in writing if there is something you did not want to come up and speak to our office and Alyssa has forms you can fill out if you want to submit in writing. We will take comments through March 31 if you know of anyone who wasn’t here.
Public Comments closed at 6:00 p.m.
UNMET TRANSIT NEEDS HEARING IN PORTERVILLE
COMMENTS RECEIVED FOR 2014/15 UNMET TRANSIT NEEDS PROCESS
The following table contains all of the comments received during the 2014/15 Unmet Transit Needs process. The comments are divided by the transit system being referenced. In the case where more than one transit system is responsible both agencies are listed under those comments. There were a total of 110 comments received from 89 individuals this year. Appendix A contains the staff report and an overview of the outreach efforts that were undertaken for this year’s unmet transit needs process..
Tulare County Association of GovernmentsUnmet Transit NeedsFiscal Year 2014/15
UNMET TRANSIT NEEDS COMMENTS RECEIVED BY MARCH 31, 2015
TRANSIT SERVICE REQUESTS BY TRANSIT AGENCYNumber of Requests
Visalia Transit
1. Can there be an express route to Goshen a few times a day? 12. Another bus on Route 3 in Visalia, more frequently than every 45 minutes. 13. We would like a bus that goes down Demaree please! 14. Need a city bus to go down Demaree. I work between Tulare and Walnut, I have to catch the bus 5 or 4 to get close to my job. There are no buses that go down Demaree at all.
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5. Please provide routes from Visalia to Fresno, at least one or two times a week. 1
6. Get an express Route 1 in Visalia to Government Plaza during holidays please. 17. He rides Route 6 from Goshen in the morning and stated that when he arrives at the Transit Center Route 9 has already departed. He also believes that there are two Route 9s.
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8. No smoking near bus or on platform at transit center. Or bus stops. 1
9. Bus schedules posted and replaced when obscured by graffiti. 1
10. On stop #4B Mooney and Tulare near Surf Thru car wash never has posted schedule.
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11. On #4B do not turn on Noble at Court. Continue on Court to Marriott and Convention Center stops (makes more sense, most people disembark at Noble Court stop and walk to the post office and/or Main Street and hospital).
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12. Need crosswalks near stops e.g. #5A & 5B, #9A & #9B, at Mary’s Vineyard. Near COS at 4A to 4B west of Mooney. And 1A & 1B near Taco Bell across from Walmart.
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13. Why does Visalia make you pay twice for one trip in town? It’s not my fault I have to get out and switch a bus to get from one place to another. That’s how they set the buses up but it’s still just one trip. That’s not normal. You usually get a transfer ticket when you have to switch. We should get one.
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14. Bus service needs to become more frequent in order to better serve the needs of riders. Though perhaps not currently economically feasible, every 15 minutes should be a goal the city works toward.
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15. I ride Visalia Route 8. It is very convenient. There are 5 stops near my house I can get to. It takes me to where I need to go, including shopping. I really like it.
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Visalia Transit and TCaT
16. I wish there was a better discount bus pass for disabled for the whole month for TCaT and for Visalia.
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Tulare County Area Transit (TCaT)
17. I live in Traver and use Route 50 up to 3 times a week. The next stop from Traver is in Delft, about two blocks south of Road 400. Kingsburg is about 5 to 6 miles from Traver, but since it is in Fresno County and Traver is in Tulare County, there is no service from Traver to Kingsburg. If Route 50 was to take Road 36 to Road 400 it would be about 2 miles away from Kingsburg, not a great distance. It could stop there and take 400 on the way to Delft. Kingsburg has KCAPS, a charitable organization that helps the poorer people of the area; I am sure people from Delft, London, and even Dinuba would appreciate being able to get there for assistance. Also, being able to get to Kingsburg means people could catch the southeast bus line that travels to Fresno. I believe the most this would add to the route is
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10 to 15 minutes, but would greatly help the people in our area.18. I currently reside in Plainview and have been since January 2010. We would please like to be included in this plan in action. Plainview needs many improvements. Some include: sidewalks, lights throughout the streets, and drainage. A very important one for the children is a community park. I myself have children and that would be great for Plainview. A more often scheduled routed bus so people can use their cars less and ride the bus more would also be very convenient. Thank you for your time.
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19. I would like you to include Strathmore in your transportation plan. I am a senior who needs transportation services because I can’t walk to the bus stop. The bus stop is too far from where I live and my feet get tired really easy.
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20. Parent contacted TCAG on February 25, 2015 requesting a student discounted bus pass for the City of Lindsay. She recommended a student discounted pass for TCaT bus because her daughter, current high school student, rides the bus 5 days a week. Her experience with the punch pass is that it is too expensive. She mentioned that the pass only allows her daughter to ride the bus 6 times during the week and then she has to purchase another punch pass averaging her a cost of $75.00 a month.
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21. She also asked to extend weekend service hours for TCaT buses in the City of Lindsay because she lives on the very outskirts of Lindsay and has to walk on weekends for her grocery shopping.
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22. I work for CWS and a lot of our clients are coming from Terra Bella and Springville. Can we get more buses to Routes 70-90 during business hours? It’s hard for them to make it to their appointments.
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23. TCaT Saturday schedule Route 40 needs more trips on Saturdays. 1
24. I live way out in the country, when I would call and ask questions about TCaT, either they didn’t know or had no idea when it would be by my house. (Porterville)
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25. (Translated) I always ride the bus, and the bus is always late and really expensive. It’s cheaper to go to Visalia than here in Lindsay. To go to Visalia its $1.50 and in Lindsay its $2.25, how is this? Bad service and really expensive, thank you.
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26. Bus service, besides only once at least before 10:00. (Terra Bella) 1
27. We need TCaT to Terra Bella more than 2 times a day, or even maybe on Saturday-Sunday people out here have a hard time with only 2 times a day and it being only Monday through Friday.
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28. I wish they would run or should I say operate in 40 minute cycles. (Orosi) 129. My name is Roger Rojas from Porterville CA and I ride the TCaT Route 40 from Porterville to Visalia round trip Monday through Friday. I like the bus service, my two concerns are that the last TCaT leaves Visalia Government Plaza at 6:45 p.m. I would like the last bus TCaT Route 40 heading to Porterville to leave at 6:55 p.m. if possible.
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30. And second if there was no bus service to COS Tulare Campus after 5:00 p.m. 95% of the time no riders get picked up at this stop.
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31. Is there any way possible to have extended services on Route 10? By late service, I mean bus transportation after 10 or 10:15 p.m. The thing is, if a person is going to be enrolled in evening classes some don't get out until 10 p.m. And if a person wants to get in to the very early morning classes before work hours, they must be at the College of the
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Sequoias before 6 a.m. as that is when classes start. So, my questions are - is it possible to and will you (like this season) provide this service?32. Is there any possible way that Route 10 could have its schedules coinciding? Example, if a passenger needs to go to/from Seville/Yettem on the 7:40 bus is there a way the driver leaving Visalia could time the drive to Orosi/Dinuba with the Seville/Yettem bus? The same goes for the 9:36 bus in Seville. We were stuck having to go all the way to Dinuba then returning on that same route to end up in Visalia after 11 a.m. instead of being able to connect with the bus going straight to Visalia.
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33. Is it possible that the drivers can park behind each other or on the same side of the street so passengers do not have to cross a busy street where they may be hit by oncoming vehicles that choose not to stop. (Seville/Yettem)
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34. Also, to the Seville/Yettem area we don't receive any weekend transportation. Is it possible to include us on the regular weekend service that is provided to the Cutler, Orosi, and Dinuba area? This would make it possible to attend religious services, farmers market, and theatre events at COS and around the area. Thank you for your time and consideration. Look forward to hearing good news and super results.
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35. The bus system is good. (Orosi) 136. (Translated) I would like to see more buses run so that there may be more bus service availability, thank you. (Orosi)
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37. (Translated) I would like for the bus to come to my home for when I have a doctor appointment. I rely heavily on public transportation because I do not own vehicle. (Parlier)
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38. (Translated) I would like for the bus to run every 30 minutes. (Orosi) 139. (Translated) I like the bus service, but I would like to see more buses run throughout the day for more availability. (Cutler)
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40. (Translated) There is a 15-20 minute waiting period on the phone for information regarding the Lindsay bus schedule. Delays her on her appointments. She hopes that her waiting period can be 5 minutes or less. It is not the Greenline, it’s the TCaT/Lindsay line at 800-431-9711. (Lindsay)
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41. Have more service areas and pick up locations for seniors that don’t drive to go to Visalia. (Dinuba)
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42. The bus is so good. Going to the doctor and the ride to see the view is a good ride. (Orange Cove)
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43. I live in Lindsay, California. I am disabled and I cannot get a Medicaid card. I have a Medical card which the Social Security Department has issued me and I have my disabled veteran’s card- neither of which affords me the same privilege as the Medicaid card. Nobody has told me why, as a handicapped individual and especially a veteran, I have to sit and go the long route while others don’t. I am not going to be issued three cards nor do I want to have to carry a card around that identifies me as a disabled person. (Lindsay)
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44. I am a medically retired transportation mechanic from Visalia City Coach. Individuals who ride the bus should take into account the trouble that a mechanic has trying to keep a fleet of buses going in any city with the amount of personnel they have. I only had two assistants on the p.m. shift and we were running over 15 buses and 7 dial-a-ride buses. It’s tough to do; the work gets done but there is lack of appreciation for the service of those buses. Everyone blames the mechanic. It’s a tough job. (Lindsay)
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45. I live in Earlimart and first of all I’d like to thank you. For the last year I have been riding the TCaT system. Obviously I am here in Visalia and that is something I could not have done before the system came into place. I thank you for supplying transit for the disabled. I have
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a few minor complaints. TCaT has a shorter bus and a longer bus. On the short bus we (wheelchair riders) are put on the side and it works fine. On the longer bus there is a bumper seat right next to us and that takes up space. If another chair comes on next to me there is always collision of chairs. I have never seen anyone ride the two-passenger bumper seat the whole year I have been riding the bus. I would like to have those removed so that you can fit two chairs properly in that space. (Earlimart)46. Also, you give a discount of 75 cents from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., when it’s actually 2:30 p.m. sometimes. I would like to see the discount all day long. If I use the punch pass where they mark off 75 cent squares I am sometimes overcharged because the driver thinks it’s 3:00 p.m. but it’s about 2:30 sometimes. (Earlimart)
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47. When I rode the dial-a-ride bus here today I felt that bus hit every bump. The shocks are shot and every time you hit a bump it bounced and so did I. Better maintenance would be nice. (Earlimart)
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48. I am here to address the transit needs for Lemon Cove and Three Rivers. At this time TCaT only comes three times a day for transportation to Visalia. It comes at 6:00 and 10:00 in the morning and comes back at 3:00 p.m. The last bus to take us home is at 6:30 p.m. I have over 70 signatures from residents of Lemon Cove. No one rides the bus anymore because you have to wait 5 hours in between buses. If you have a 9:00 appointment you have to get up at 5:00 to ride the 6:00 bus to make your appointment. Then if you’re not done by 10:00 a.m. you have to wait until 3:00 p.m. to go home. The bus used to run every two hours with the Woodlake run. A lot of people who work ride that bus and they have to sit and wait for hours to go home. The bus is less expensive for the disabled and elderly and a lot of the older women have signed this petition because they would love to go shopping in Three Rivers or Visalia but they don’t because they can’t wait that long for the bus. We are asking that you have the bus run every two hours rather than five. (Lemon Cove)
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49. If you want to go anywhere on the weekend it doesn’t run at all; there is no transportation from Three Rivers or Lemon Cove on the weekends. People who work can’t go shopping on their day off and they have to find a ride; a lot of people can’t afford the gas anymore. We are asking that you consider replacing the weekend route. (Lemon Cove)
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50. Hi there my name is Pedro Carrillo. I live in Yettem and I am emailing you to let you know about the need for a weekend route out there. I ride the TCaT pretty much on a daily basis. On weekends I have to walk from the vinery on Avenue 384 to Yettem, which is about two miles away from my house. It is difficult for me to walk because of my cerebral palsy. In the past TCaT did a deviation, but they are no longer wanting to do them anymore. I really hope there is a route out there soon and I would really appreciate it. (Yettem)
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51. I am from a school group in Southwestern Colorado. This is the fifth year we have been coming to this area and we are always hosted by El Quinto Sol and Irma. We have noticed things since coming here and working with the migrant working communities of Tonyville, Tooleville, and Plainview. We have been to three of these unmet needs hearings with Irma. The first time we came they asked for shelters for shade to be placed where the buses stop. The next year we came we saw that stuff happened and that was a pretty cool thing to see. We watched Irma get up the next year and say thank you and we realized we were in the presence of someone who could make things happen.
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52. My name is Irma and I live in Farmersville, California. My organization is El Quinto del Sol de America and we work in the communities of Tonyville, Tooleville, El Rancho, Plainview, and Lindsay. For more than ten years we have worked in these communities and I don’t remember how many years we’ve attended these unmet needs meetings. In unincorporated communities we have a lot of necessities. I am here today representing the
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community members who cannot be here today. I want to make sure you are keeping these communities in mind when you are making these new proposals. We want to continue to work on this and continue to come to the meetings. And I want to say something; we come up to meetings like this where we sit in front of you. It feels good because it gives you the confidence to say the things that we have wanted. We hope to continue working with you. Thank you.53. Route 40 needs to be improved. Today I came from Visalia and the bus was full of people: students from COS and people who worked in the area. Some people couldn’t fit and they had to come in the bus. We need more and more service. In Tonyville and Highway 65 and COS, everywhere, Route 40 needs to be improved.
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54. It is great of you, changing to new buses; it is more comfortable than the old ones. I will keep riding the bus.
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Dinuba Area Regional Transit (DART)55. I am very proud of the way your bus and transportation services are functioning. Keep doing what you’re doing because it is working. I also would like to comment on the excellent drivers you have on the Dinuba Transit Routes, the Jolly Trolley, and the Dinuba Connection.
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56. I want the bus to run every hour with no lunch breaks. Students always get stuck whenever the bus is on the break.
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57. I have a concern about the cutting off of the transit to the Dinuba High School. There are many Students who go there and since the trip doesn’t go there anymore, some of them need to walk.
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58. Also can we make the Reedley Dinuba connection go every hour? 11:00 A.M.-12:00 P.M. is the time when most students need to go to class.
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59. I believe we should get rid of the stop in Palm Village and take it back to Dinuba High. 160. The library should go back in the Reedley route and palm village should be taken off because more people used to get on from the library and it makes it easy for us students.
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61. I want the high school library bus stop back. It takes 30 minutes to get to the transit center, if it’s the time period then get rid of the palm villages stop. No one even uses it. Also please bring back the 11 o’clock time because we students are stranded for two hours waiting for the bus. In conclusion, please bring back the library stop, it’s unfair to us who live on the east side of Dinuba.
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62. Please change the bus route schedule; we are in desperate need of the library drop off. 163. I think that there should be a stop at Dinuba High School to make it easier for kids that live near the high school so they don’t have to walk or find a ride to nearest bus stop to be able to take the bus to college, DMV, or the hospital.
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64. We need the stop by the library back, because no one ever gets off at Palm Village but only once or twice a month, and more people always seem to get off more at the library and Dinuba High School.
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65. I really want the bus to stop at the high school again because I live like 30 minutes away from the vocational, the high school is just 20 minutes away, and it makes your life so much easier.
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66. I and many other people would love the lunch hour back, the bus needs to run those hours. I have class at 12 and I need to wait an hour and a half for it to start because I need to get the earlier one. I have things to do at home. Please bring those hours back.
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67. Even though I appreciate the Dinuba-Reedley connection and am thankful for such 1
services, having the stop at Dinuba High School would minimize my chances of getting in a pedestrian/vehicle accident. Please reconsider the elimination of the Dinuba High School drop off spot.68. It’s pointless to stop at Palm Village because we never or hardly ever pick up anyone from that stop. I’d rather stop by the high school because there is always someone there, it’s time for a change.
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69. Well I really need the times back 11:30 and 5:30 because I have things to do at home. 170. Jerry wants to take away from palm village and replace the Dinuba high school in Dinuba.
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71. Have more service areas and pick up locations for seniors that don’t drive to go to Visalia.
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72. More stops/pick up places near clinics, and late pickups after 6:00 p.m. 173. Wait for people walking towards bus, drivers take off too fast. 174. It would be useful and helpful if transportation would be provided all the way to Crawford Apartments because some of us have medical conditions that prevent us from walking to the Junior High School to be picked up. Thank you.
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75. Please have more stops. 1
76. Please also wait about 5-10 minutes at pick up areas. 177. (Translated) For me it’s a great service because I always use this type of transportation.
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78. (Translated) I believe we need more transit service in more locations/addresses. 1
Dinuba Area Regional Transit (DART) and TCAT79. For Route 10 to Dinuba on the Saturday runs, please put another bus because we would like to go to Visalia early or to Dinuba early.
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80. Also please put back the route to Walmart in Dinuba because their bus does not run the same time the TCaT runs and it is a hassle to try to make it your bus from their bus. People are not happy with the route that way.
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Porterville Transit81. Need more covered spaces for waiting. 182. I need the 7 to run the same time as other bus lines. Running every 40 minutes. Bus 7 runs with bus 8 but I’m requesting 7 stay as 7 only.83. The buses provide much needed transportation around town, it’s a privilege and it helps out a lot of people in our community and helps provide jobs to better the community.
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84. Need more covered areas at the bus stops for rain and summer. (Follow up: no specific locations, just everywhere in general.)
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85. Too many people on the east side route, possible extra bus? 1
86. Your drivers are all great! If the buses could run later on the weekends that would be a great help.
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87. Need more bus passes at Medical Center. 188. I think more benches at bus stops should be placed. Thank you. 1
89. We need two restrooms at the Porterville Transit. The women’s restrooms have been 1
down for at least two months at the Porterville Transit. We have issues such as fire, broken glass, syringe needles, drugs and several more health and safety issues at the Porterville Transit restrooms and grounds. We need the people in authority of the Porterville Transit to resolve these safety and health issues. We the customers and tax payers of Porterville would like to have a safe and healthy place to come at the Porterville Transit.90. Seats and coverings at all stops. 1
Porterville Transit and TCaT
91. I ride the bus from TCaT to Porterville and Visalia. The TCaT bus coming from Porterville will issue you a transfer so you can continue your bus to Visalia. When you get into Porterville that is not happening; there is no transfer. They will not accept a transfer from TCaT to the Porterville buses.
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92. I have lived here in Porterville all my life and I have seen the transit improving because I use transit every day; I work in Visalia. I think Porterville Transit is one of the best around. But we need to improve it in certain ways. For example, on Route 8 why don’t we have it hourly? Route 9 goes to the casino every hour. We need to improve the service to the East.
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Porterville Transit and Visalia Transit
93. We need bus service to Los Angeles airport or to San Francisco from Porterville or from Visalia. And affordable flights from Visalia to LAX. Back and forth even if only once or twice a week. Orange Belt bus could go to LAX and pick up.
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Tulare Intermodal Express (TIME)
94. Tulare Transit center should post form of payment sign in front of glass window. For example, Visa, MasterCard etc. more visible because it’s hard to see.
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95. David Thorndike has been the manager for approximately two years. When he first arrived he was doing a great job but lately things seem to have pretty much gone back the way they were.
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96. Buses are late: Bus drivers do not have back up and they take their breaks/lunch leaving passengers sitting on the bus waiting and the many passengers waiting in the community.
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97. Buses are not well maintained: they leak oil. Oil spills are not cleaned up in a timely manner. The seats on the buses are dirty. Both plastic and cloth seats need to be cleaned on a regular basis. The heaters work half the time. The air conditioners work half the time. The signs telling the destination of the buses still do not work well.
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98. Trash cans: the trash cans are always full and overflowing. There is a problem with the homeless people hanging out in the park across from the transit centers so the trash cans are always full. The trash cans have no lids. I addressed this issue to the Tulare City Council to no avail. The trash needs to be picked up more often.
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99. Smoking: the law, in Tulare, says that one cannot smoke within 20 feet of an open door or window and this includes the buses. During the summer months the
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people, bus drivers included, smoke and throw their butts on the ground and the grounds look like a big ash tray. The manager, David, was standing by an open bus door smoking his cigarette. When he saw me he walked around the back side of the bus. Some of the bus drivers flagrantly smoke in the areas they are not supposed to because they see the boss doing it. Ash cans need to be provided for people to put their butts in.100. Water fountain: the water fountain is always in some state of leaking or disrepair.
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101. Crowded morning bus: the 8:00 Tulare bus to Visalia is terribly overcrowded. People are packed in the aisle from back to front. I do not know what the limit is on the bus but it is very unsafe for a bus to be packed so full. From verbal hearing comments: There needs to be a secondary bus at 8:00.
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102. I am a retired educator and I ride the bus in Tulare. Buses are late, bus drivers do not have back up as they take their break and lunch, leaving passengers sitting on the bus.
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103. Buses are not well maintained. Trash cans are always full and there’s a problem with the homeless people hanging out in the park across the street. Bus drivers smoke and throw their butts on the ground. The water fountain is always leaking or in some state of disrepair.
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104. The signs telling the destination of the buses still do not all work. 1
105. The other morning I took the 8:00 a.m. Tulare bus to Visalia and it was terribly overcrowded; people all the way through the back of the bus were standing body to body.
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106. Better bust stops to be safer and protected from weather. 1
107. More bus stops from Mission Valley to the transit stations for better access to town.
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108. I have been riding the buses for 2 months. All your staff are quality people, kind, courteous, and helpful. You are lucky to have them all. Thank you very much no complaints here – excellent!
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109. Why have a bus schedule if the buses are going to be early to the scheduled pick up spots?
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TCaT – DART – TIME – and Visalia TransitComment not addressed to any specific transit provider so it was relayed to all transit agencies.110. Some of the bus drivers drive too fast, and some won’t drop the front step for you if you can’t lift your leg high enough. It’s very hard to lift your leg that high. They have two buses that will drop them and the other won’t unless you have a cane or walker.
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SECTION V: ANALYSIS OF UNMET TRANSIT NEEDS COMMENTS RECEIVED
As part of each year’s unmet transit needs assessment process, TCAG staff coordinates with the public transit operators and the social service agencies on the SSTAC to identify and assess any potential unmet transit needs. All the transit providers were provided with the comments that corresponded to their transit system. The transit providers reviewed the comments and provided a response indicating whether the request was an unmet need that was reasonable to meet, an unmet need that was not reasonable to meet and not an unmet need. Some requests received were operational in nature and not considered unmet transit needs. However, the comments were noted and have been provided to the transit providers to address as part of evaluating and maintaining their transit systems’ on-going operation. At the SSTAC meeting all of the comments and transit provider’s responses were reviewed. TCAG staff and the SSTAC members agreed that of the comments received ten requests were considered unmet transit needs that were reasonable to meet. This list of ten requests were then forwarded on to the TCAG Policy Board for review and approval. Below are the minutes to the SSTAC meeting that took place on May 19, 2015.
Meeting Minutes SSTAC Review Unmet Transit Needs Comments
Tulare County Association of GovernmentsSocial Services Transportation Advisory CouncilMarch 19, 2015 – Review Unmet Transit Needs
ATTENDANCE LIST
Others Present: Monty Cox (City of Visalia) , Dan Fox (TCaT), Roy Ramirez (City of Dinuba), Richard Tree (City of Porterville), David Deel (Caltrans), Ellen Moy (City of Tulare and Dinuba), Ross Miller (County of Tulare), Elizabeth
Forte, Jennie Miller, Lucia Reyes, Brideget Moore, Kasia Thompson, Andrea Apolinaro, and Alyssa Blythe (TCAG)
SUMMARY MEETING MINUTES __ ________________________________
A. Welcome & Introductions
One representative of potential transit user who is 60 years of age and over
Ronald Allan
One representative of potential transit users that are Handicapped Vacant
Two representatives of the Local Social Service Providers for Seniors & one representative of a social service transportation
provider
Nalor SeeVacant
Two representatives of local social service providers for the Disabled, including one representative of a social service
transportation provider, if one exists.
David HorsmanSteve Ramsey - Absent
One representative of a local social service provider for persons of limited means.
Ed Jones - Absent
Two representatives from the local consolidated transportation service agency, designated pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section
15975 of the Government Code including one representative from an operator, if one exists.
Teresa OrtegaMichael Miller
One representative of the resources for Independence Central Valley Representative
Mary Wheeler - Absent
One representative of potential transit users from Local Youth Vacant
The Social Services Transportation Advisory Council (SSTAC) was called to order by Ms. Wright at 10:00 a.m. on February 24, 2015.
Ms. Wright opened/closed the Public Comment Period at 10:01 a.m.
Ms. Wright asked council to introduce themselves by stating their name and which agency they represent.
B. Action: Approval of August 26, 2014, November 18, 2014 and February 24, 2015 Meeting MinutesDue to a lack of a quorum, the August 26, 2014, November 18, 2014 and February 24, 2015 meeting minutes were not approved.
C. Unmet NeedsMs. Forte Page 13 in agenda packet, this is a kind of modification of the staff report for TCAG Board. Outlines process and the reason for unmet needs is for state law for transit funding. So go out to public and collect comments from the public and the board decides that are reasonable to meet and that has to be done before you use your funds on other things like streets and roads.
Posters that have pre-paid postcards put up and handed out. Sent out to many businesses, really easy to fill out. Advertise in the media and in the paper, Kiwanis. Using our social media a little more and Lucie working on that. Facebook, Twitter. People call and email us also.
Two public hearings….One in Visalia and Porterville, translated for Spanish. Received almost 90 comments this year.
Page 15, we have our adopted criteria for unmet needs and we have had for a while. Some of the criteria is that we can’t provide a service that will reduce existing service for example. Has to be a response for an existing need not for future need. Service needs to be provided with existing fleet so not always necessary to require agencies to buy more buses. The proposed service will not unduly effect the passenger ratio system. Right now the county has to have 10% of their fares covering the operator cost, be able to meet those fare ratios. Other things under performance if anyone has any questions.
Things like transit plans, if there isn’t a community need for an unmet need.
Ms. Forte stated
Page 16 there are some descriptions, if TCAG board or council declare unmet need for an agency, there are testing periods where you can implement for an unmet need. There are times when you can phase in and discontinue service if not working properly. Ex. At the end of one year services, not successful and will consider the following year after implementation.
Ready to start with unmet needs list:
Reviewed the unmet needs list and
So we have the comments organized by Agency.
Comments, have committee members vote on reasonable ones, no quorum but still vote.
Ms. Forte reviewed the list of unmet needs that are reasonable to meet and the ones unable to meet. The following unmet needs that were reasonable to meet and voted on by committee members:
TCaT
1. Unmet Need: Request for fixed route service to Kingsburg.
TCaT’s Response: TCaT recommends that this is an unmet need, reasonable to meet, with the inclusion of the Tulare County Kingsburg service area into the North County Dial a Ride service area.
Upon motion by Member Allan and seconded by Member Horseman, TCaT’s response was approved.
2. Unmet Need: Include weekend service to the Seville, Yettem area in order to make it possible to attend religious services, farmers market and COS events.
TCaT Response: TCaT finds that Seville/Yettem Saturday/Sunday service could be added to the weekend TCaT Route 10 schedule, there TCaT staff recommends that this request is an unmet need that is reasonable to meet.
Upon a motion by Member Horseman and seconded by Member Miller, TCaT’s response was unanimously approved by the Committee.
3. Unmet Need: I ride the bus from TCaT to Porterville and Visalia. The TCaT bus coming from Porterville and Visalia. The TCaT bus coming from Porterville will issue you a transfer so you can continue your bus to Visalia. When you get to Porterville that is not happening there is no transfer. They will not accept a transfer from TCaT to the Porterville busses.
TCaT Response: TCaT is willing and able to offer reciprocal transfers onto the Porterville fixed route system, with an agreement with Porterville Transit, TCaT would offer January 2, 2016 an reasonable start date, in order to give us time to coordinator with Porterville. Therefore, TCaT staff recommends that this request is an unmet need that is reasonable to meet. TCaT also suggests that a regional T-DAY PASS could be create to supersede the primitive paper transfer system now used on the inter-agency transfers. Thereby eliminating the need for all transfers County wide.
Upon a motion by Member Miller and seconded by Member Allan, TCaT’s response was approved by the Committee.
4. Unmet Need: If you want to go anywhere on the weekend it doesn’t run at all; there is no transportation from Three Rivers or Lemon Cove on the weekends. People who work can’t go shopping on their day off and they have to find a ride; a lot of people can’t afford the gas anymore. We are asking that you consider replacing the weekend route.TCaT Response: TCaT finds that Three Rivers/Lemon Cove Saturday/Sunday service could be added to the weekend TCaT Route 30 schedule. Therefore, TCaT staff recommends that this request is an unmet need that is reasonable to meet.
Upon motion by Member Allan and seconded by Member Miller, TCaT’s response was approved by the Committee.
Dinuba Area Regional Transit (DART)
1. Unmet Need: I want the bus to run every hour with no lunch breaks. Students always get stuck whenever the bus is on the break.
DART’s Response: In response to this comment, it is assumed this refers to the Dinuba Connection bus route. As such, the City of Dinuba believes running the route with no lunch breaks is feasible. This is an unmet need, reasonable to meet.
Upon motion by Member Miller and seconded by Member Allan, DARTs response was approved by the Committee.
Porterville Transit
1. Unmet Need: 2 Requests for a need of more covered spaces for waiting.
TCaT Response: This is an unmet transit need, reasonable to meet. Porterville will be purchasing and installing new bus stop shelters at various locations FY 15/16.
Upon motion by Member Allan and seconded by Member Ortega, Porterville’s response was approved by the Committee.
2. Unmet Need: Too many people on the east side route, possible extra bus?
Porterville Response: This is an unmet transit need, reasonable to meet. Porterville will add extra buses on Route 3 when capacity constraints exist during peak hours of service.
Upon motion by Member Allan and seconded by Member Ortega, Porterville’s response was approved by the Committee.
3. Unmet Need: If the buses could run later on the weekends that would be a great help.
Porterville Response: This is an unmet transit need, reasonable to meet. Porterville will extend Saturday service to 10 p.m. starting July 1, 2015.
Upon a motion by Member Allan and seconded by Member Miller, Porterville’s response was approved by the Committee.
Tulare Intermodal Express (TIME)
1. Unmet Need: Crowded morning bus: The 8:00 Tulare bus to Visalia is terribly overcrowded. People are packed in the aisle from back to front. I do not know what the limit is on the bus but it is very unsafe for a bus to be packed so full. From verbal hearing comments: There needs to be a secondary bus at 8:00.
TIME Response: We have reviewed the need for a secondary (backup) bus when the Tulare Intermodal Express buses to Visalia are overcrowded and will be putting one in service when the need arises. Incidentally, the bus mentioned by Ms. Grisell at 8:00 was a Visalia Transit bus. This is an unmet need that is reasonable to meet.
Upon motion by Member Allan and seconded by Member Ortega, TIME’s response was approved by the Committee.
Ms. Forte stated TCAG staff will be compiling for the TCAG Board to let them know recommendations and they will be potentially voting on them and going on record for Caltrans. Ms. Forte stated those reasonable to meet will be need to be done next fiscal year for agencies to utilize their funds.
D. Information: TCAG & Transit Provider Updates Ms. Forte reported the Regional Long Range Transit Plan to be our 2040 and looking at all the systems in our county and how they are working now, how they would work in the future, etc. Completed the public outreach phase, received couple of 100 surveys, went out to Lindsay Friday night market, Tulare Teen Fest, Orosi Swamp Meet, Farmer’s Markets in Visalia, Dinuba Cinco De Mayo,
Senior Day at Mooney’s Grove, COS, transit centers to address current riders to ask why or not they like the bus. Press releases, social services organizations and different providers. Accumulating input and common theme with riders is that they want more riders. Want bus drivers to give more information but they may be difficult. All information posted on the stops. People want more at their fingertips….looking at apps. Things they can look up the current information. Bus schedule and information. Ms. Forte stated the stakeholders have discussed getting more riders such as younger and older riders and disabled riders and informed members that Wi-Fi and different amenities seem to entice them more.
Member Horseman questioned how long the 2040 Long Range Survey would be available and Ms. Forte responded that the survey was up until this Friday and can be continued if more want to fill out as TCAG is just now starting to accumulate the data
Ms. Forte informed Members that TCAG will accept unmet needs at all times of the year.
Member Allan questioned if the Central Valley Regional Center had received the unmet needs comment cards and Ms. Forte replied she would make sure they are on the mailing list.
Ms. Forte Full summary of what they did and draft recommendations to what they are going to propose move forward with long range transportation plan at the next SSTAC meeting. Will send out draft form so can make comments at next meeting.
Ms. Apolinario reported on the Southeast County Transit Mobility Plan and stated it is a 6 month planning effort focusing on gaps in the mobility options, disadvantaged populations, low income residents, students, seniors and the disability community. Ms. Apolinario stated the current setting provides recommendations for fixed route and fare transit studies in addition to the other mobility strategies and TCAG has just received the final existing condition plan if members would like a copy.
Ms. Apolinario provided that in June, TCAG will meet with providers to discuss concepts and receive feedback from them for the final in August.
Information: Update on Transit PlansMs. Miller reported she and transit staff are working on the final phases of the Counties 5 year Transit Development Plan and are clearing up any final issues. Ms. Miller stated that by the end of this week, a draft document will be printed and sent to Caltrans and to the higher ups in County for review and once finalized will go to the Board of Supervisors.
Ms. Miller also reported the County is recommending increasing rates for the fixed route service as it has not increased in 25 years
Ms. Millers stated some of the recommendations for the Southeast Service are being left open-ended since also working on the Long Range Transit Plan and the Southeast Mobility Plan.
D. Transit Provider Updates
City of Visalia: Mr. Cox reported on the Long Range Transit Plan (LRTP) and stated he they are in phase 3 right now. Phase 2 was the operational scenarios and the advisory committee came up with three scenarios with the first being baseline coverage what we are doing now plus doubling service by 2040;
Scenario B would be tripling service and Scenario C would be quadrupling the service. Mr. Cox stated the reason the scenarios were far into the futures is because one of the goals for the Long Range plan was to address all the future potential needs and right now the study indicated that we are achieving tracking 1.5% of all trips in our service area. All vehicle and transit trips done on a daily basis. About average for transit. Because of the growth and the consolidation that will occur because of general plan, where they will be building more condensed population and doing more in fill. More things that will benefit transit and actually make it more difficult for traffic issues. So we feel for that to occur, Transit actually has to capture a higher percentage of more trips. So Scenario C for us to capture 5% of all trips on a daily basis by 2040. That is why increased growth in Plan C.
Mr. Cox stated the federal funds and current local and state funds that the City is receiving now, will not be sufficient to make that happen, which is why the plan goes into detail in plan talking about financial side of things. Mr. Cox sated that in order to accomplish, local measures transit related for funding like sales tax that will have to pay for that service that is added to that level. Even if we don’t plan for it to happen, it will still happen with all the demands and if we aren’t prepared we won’t have the buses or the funding. Hopefully final will explain in detail what is required and how it will be funded.
Mr. Cox reported the City of Visalia is working with Downtown Visalians to add a 3rd shift of security at the transit center to ensure 24 hour security. Mr. Cox stated it the nighttime shift would be covered by the policy bike patrol and they would circulate the transit every 30 or 60 minutes during the night. Mr. Cox reported they would split the costs with Downtown Visalians and it would alleviate any possible issues that could happen after hours at the Transit Center.
In middle of expanding CMG facility and added slow fill post and speeding up fast fill post.
Mr. Cox reported the Sequoia Shuttle is scheduled to begin in two days and run for 130 days this year as it is the 75th Anniversary of Kings Canyon and 125th Anniversary of Sequoia. Mr. Cox commented that next year will be the 100th of the National Park service which has resulted in a huge increase in publicity and an increase for the number of reservations for the Sequoia Shuttle.
Mr. Cox stated plans for the Fresno Shuttle are about 98% for sure and right now the grand Working on starting the Fresno shuttle and about 98% for sure. Right now, Grant funds in the works that have been allocated and just need to finalize grant agreements than ordering buses. Anticipating starting hopefully end of calendar year or January 2016. Depends on delivery of buses.
The publicity for the marketing for Visalia marketing transit app has launched…soft start to test before major marketing campaign. Can go in app store and download to start using now. On Android and Apple. Link from Visalia webpage? Yes but easiest way to go to app store and look for Visalia transit app. Believes it will be really helpful.
TCaT: Mr. Fox discussed the Transit Operations Maintenance Facility (TOMF) being built on Lover’s Lane and 256 and reported that it is still in design and the funding has been set for $8-10 million and the goal is to have it completed by 2017/2018.
Mr. Fox also reported the Loop Bus now has 5 dedicated vehicle and so far have received over 700 applications for this financial year. Mr. Fox stated they have partnered with the Sequoia shuttle to bring at risk youth groups to a connection at the Sequoia shuttle. Grant opportunity for them to the seq shuttle
than to the mountains. Free, but have never see. Grant from the park service. Paying for 1700 trips for the youth and have 500 scheduled already.
City of Dinuba: Mr. Ramirez reported that the City of Dinuba is also in the CMG expansion phase and ongoing, slow fill for buses. Reported last meeting that received request for section 5339 replacement bus purchase, last week received there more letters for buses so we submitted to hopefully get something positive out of this.
City of Porterville: Mr. Tree reported Porterville is also expanding their CMG fueling facility and adding 20 new slow fill stations totaling 30. Also, designing TOMF brother or sister in Porterville. Currently, out to bid for architectural/engineering design services for our operation facility. However, do not have funding for the construction yet but will use completed design to help cause.
Big integrated security system project out to bid that will cover transit center, maintenance facility center and admin facility. Includes intrusion detection, access control and surveillance cameras.
We just leased admin offices across from Porterville City hall and looking into moving into those in July. All staff under one roof until TOMF built. Than together with the mechanics.
Exciting for our passengers, mobile fare payment and fare collection project just received proposals on.
Will be able to purchase tickets or passes on their smart phones and store on device and present. Also allows for account based smart cards where you can load new passes onto smart card and have accounting of it in case card lost so can track unlike now.
One neat feature asking for the new fare collection, the announcements and messaging are in bilingual and Spanish.
Does not affect the passengers but also received proposals for automatic passenger counters for more detailed ridership information for planning purposes.
2015 lots of projects, we have transit signal priority project, installing devices at 15 intersections along 2 major routes that will improve on time performance. In the future, only will be activated when buses are running late. Stipulations only activated if buses running late. Council was a little wary.
Today a couple of new buses being delivered.
Air district project that received partial funding for to purchase 2 battery electric buses. Partial finding will have to look for some other funding strategies to make it a viable project. 0 emission vehicles coming to area and started soon.Expanding weekday service to 10 p.m. starting at 6 and ending at 10 and expanding sat service also to 10 p.m. Dial a ride hours fixed route hours will also be expanded. Surplus new freedom funding that needs to be spent and used on dial ride hours to expand to 10 p.m. on Sundays and looking at areas as far as Terra Bella Springville and Lindsay areas for dial a ride services only. That funding is available and pays for 100% of the operation. We need to spend in a timely manner according to FDA. Will use southeast study to look at unmet needs after funding is spent.
TIME:
Mr. Miller reported in Ms. Thompson’s absence and stated TIME is working on design contract for maintenance building for transit so buses have easy access to drop off fare boxes.
Member Allan informed Committee Tulare is in process of receiving new buses and they are scheduled to be come in October and be on the road no later than December.
New round of bus shelter installations as indicated in the unmet needs process.
Ms. Forte reported the Grand Jury Commissioners had ridden the Visalia Transit and TCaT buses to test out the systems and TCAG received a very positive report last week. Ms. Forte stated the City of Visalia, TCAG, TCaT and other Agencies will be responding to the report.
Ms. Forte informed Committee there was one recommendation that TCaT should provide more South County Service, which was a little vague for which specific communities they are referring too, and that the only complaint from passengers were the buses were sometimes late.
Mr. Fox explained to the Grand Jury and stated the South County service areas were Allensworth and Alpaugh for the communities. At the time for the presentation, service was very limited there and it was only Dial a Ride 4 hours a day and since than it has expanded. Monitor communities like we do three rivers and know how many people are riding and expanded from 4 hours a day to 10 hours a day. Answer will be straight forward and please them as well.
F. Other Business & DiscussionMs. Wright announced the next SSTAC meeting will be held on August 18, 2015 @ 9:30 a.m. at the Tulare County Association of Governments.
G. Meeting Adjourned at 11:31 a.m.
UNMET TRANSIT NEEDS FINDINGS
There were ten unmet transit needs that were considered reasonable to meet during the 2014/15 Unmet Transit Needs Assessment process. These requests were sent to the TCAG Policy Board for final review and approval on June 15, 2015. The TCAG Board reviewed the ten requests and approved them all. The agenda item and signed resolution can be found in Appendix A.
The ten unmet transit needs requests that were determined to be reasonable to meet are indicated below:
1. Request for TCaT to add fixed route service to Kingsburg
TCaT agreed to include the Kingsburg service area into the North County Dial-A-Ride service area.
TCAG staff and the SSTAC agreed that this was an unmet transit need that was reasonable to meet. The TCAG Board approved this request.
2. Request for TCaT to include weekend service to the Seville, Yettem area in order to make it possible to attend religious services, farmers marked and College of the Sequoias events.
TCaT agreed to add Seville/Yettem in their Saturday/Sunday service to the TCaT Route 10 schedule.
TCAG staff and SSTAC agreed that this was an unmet transit need that was reasonable to meet. The TCAG Board approved this request.
3. Request currently rider is able to receive a transfer from TCaT bus coming from Porterville to continue journey to Visalia. When rider goes to Porterville a transfer from TCaT to Porterville bus is not accepted. Rider would like there to be a transfer from TCaT to the Porterville fixed route system.
TCaT agreed to offer reciprocal transfers onto the Porterville Fixed Route system. They requested a start date of January 2, 2016 to begin this service to allow them time to coordinate a transfer agreement with Porterville.
TCAG staff and SSTAC agreed that this was an unmet transit need that was reasonable to meet. The TCAG Board approved this request.
4. Request for TCaT to implement weekend service to Three Rivers and Lemon Cove.
TCaT agreed to add Three Rivers/Lemon Cove to the Saturday/Sunday weekend TCaT Route 30 schedule.
TCAG staff and SSTAC agreed that this was an unmet transit need that was reasonable to meet. The TCAG Board approved this request.
5. Request for the Dinuba Connection bus to run every hour with no lunch breaks. Students always get stuck whenever the bus is on the break.
City of Dinuba agreed to run the route with no lunch breaks.
TCAG staff and SSTAC agreed that this was an unmet transit need that was reasonable to meet. The TCAG Board approved this request.
6. Two requests for Porterville Transit to install more covered spaces for waiting.
Porterville Transit agreed to purchase and install new bus stop shelters at various locations FY 2015/16.
TCAG staff and SSTAC agreed that this was an unmet transit need that was reasonable to meet. The TCAG Board approved this request.
7. Request for Porterville Transit to add additional bus on the east side route because too many people riding this route.
Porterville Transit agreed to add extra buses on Route 3 when capacity constraints exist during peak hours of service.
TCAG staff and SSTAC agreed that this was an unmet transit need that was reasonable to meet. The TCAG Board approved this request.
8. Request for Porterville Transit to run the buses later on the weekends.
Porterville Transit agreed to extend Saturday service to 10 p.m. starting on July 1, 2015.
TCAG staff and SSTAC agreed that this was an unmet transit need that was reasonable to meet. The TCAG Board approved this request.
9. TCaT responded to this request on item three above, Porterville Transit also needs to respond to request. Request currently rider is able to receive a transfer from TCaT bus coming from Porterville to continue journey to Visalia. When rider goes to Porterville a transfer from TCaT to Porterville bus is not accepted. Rider would like there to be a transfer from TCaT to the Porterville fixed route system.
Porterville Transit agreed to implement a reciprocal transfer with TCaT.
TCAG staff and SSTAC agreed that this was an unmet transit need that was reasonable to meet. The TCAG Board approved this request.
10. Request for Tulare Intermodal Express (TIME) to add a second bus on the 8:00 a.m. Tulare bus to Visalia. Bus is terribly overcrowded and people are packed in the aisle from back to front. Rider feels this situation is unsafe and questioned if there was a limit on the number of people that could ride on a bus.
TIME agreed to add a secondary (backup) bus when the TIME buses to Visalia are overcrowded and will be putting one in service when the need arises on Route 11x.
TCAG staff and SSTAC agreed that this was an unmet transit need that was reasonable to meet. The TCAG Board approved this request.