Federal guide lines say they only have to service people 3 quarters of a mile from the fixed route system and this new system will certainly reduce the current coverage area. Considering the status of the non sponsored trips situation, this is going to cause a hardship on some people. I really don't think that people are going to walk a mile to catch the bus before they go to work and then walk it again after they get off. The city is going to have to come up with some kind of feeder system to the main routes. I did notice there is still some neighborhood service but it is mainly on the south side of town. Most of the other descriptions were pretty vague so it is still hard to figure out how you would make connections with other routs.
Robert----- Original Message ----- From: "Blackjack" <misterblackjack2@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Friday, September 18, 2009 11:23 AM Subject: [tabi] Re: Nova 2010 Plan
I think dial a ride will still have to pick you up. This is for people with disabilities. So the ADA will kick in. The only problem is reasonable accommodations. If we could get rid of that word reasonable! Or at leastdefine it in plain language what they mean by reasonable. Like I say Dial a Ride I think will have to pick you up as long as it is with in the coverage area they work. For example they would not have to go to Quincy to pick youup but if it was in Tallahassee area that they covered they would have topick you up at your door and drop you off at the building you was going to. This is what Dial A Ride was designed for to get people with disabilities to doctors and work and back. Then came the extras that has been added on. Justmy thought on it. Thanks, Blackjack misterblackjack2@xxxxxxxxx -----Original Message-----From: tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On BehalfOf Chip Orange Sent: Friday, September 18, 2009 11:04 AM To: tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [tabi] Re: Nova 2010 Plan Maybe though Dial-a-ride will still do it (pick us up), even though not required to. we haven't heard anything about that have we? ------------------------------ Chip Orange Database Administrator Florida Public Service Commission Chip.Orange@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (850) 413-6314 (Any opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Florida Public Service Commission.) ________________________________ From: tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Easy Talk Sent: Friday, September 18, 2009 9:15 AM To: tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [tabi] Re: Nova 2010 Plan This new system will pretty much make most of us home bound sincefederal law says Pari Transit only has to go 3 quarters of a mile out of thefixed route system and from what I can tell and is clearly stated in the plan busses will no longer go in to neighbor hoods. You can run buses upand down major roads in Tallahassee all you want but it looks like they willbe empty since people can't get to them. If it rains, the city might as well shut down the buses. Not many people are going to walk a mile or 2 to catch the bus and dial a ride will no longer be required to pick you up. Robert----- Original Message -----From: Chip Orange <mailto:Corange@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Thursday, September 17, 2009 5:53 PM Subject: [tabi] Re: Nova 2010 Plan Hi William and all, thank you for the posting. I'd like you to know I've been speaking with another blind individual, who is neither associated with TABI or TCB, so most of us are unlikely to know what he knows and vice versa. He in turn has been speaking with Sam, and has mentioned tohim that the new routes as planned, do not go directly up to the malls (such as Governor's Square), but only approach a near-by street corner (I believehe said the Parkway and Park Avenue for instance). This would mean quite a walk for someone going to Gov Square, and even worse, part of it would have to be across the parking lot without any landmarks. He has also mentioned that several routes would require transferring by walking across a difficult to cross street such as ThomasVille Road or Capitol Circle, in order to achieve certain routings. In general, he believes Star Metro has made these decisions without considering the difficulty a blind pedestrian would face in following the plan. I don't know if his understanding is correct, and even ifthe current plan is still this way, but I thought I'd point it out for thosewho are interested as an item I would judge to be of importance. hth, Chip ------------------------------ Chip Orange Database Administrator Florida Public Service Commission Chip.Orange@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (850) 413-6314 (Any opinions expressed are solely those of the author anddo not necessarily reflect those of the Florida Public Service Commission.)________________________________ From: tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of blindwilly Sent: Thursday, September 17, 2009 5:40 PM To: tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [tabi] Nova 2010 Plan Greetings, The following is an on going discussion I have been having with Sam Scheiv of Star Metro. In fact here is his first message, back to me. Dear Mr. Benjamin: It was nice speaking to you yesterday. Please find attached the document describing the Nova 2010 project. Below I have written descriptions of each route as they are now. I have not included every turn orsmall street, but enough to understand the general direction. These routesare still in flux. In fact I just made a change this morning. So this isnot final. We are taking suggestions from the public and incorporating theminto the plan. That means we need to know what people DO like as much as what people don't like. I hope you find this interesting and I appreciate you calling. Sincerely, Samuel L. Scheib Senior Planner Nova 2010 Overview For many years transit concentrated in downtown Tallahassee where shoppers, moviegoers, employees, and diners invariably traveled. Over the ensuing decades, the downtown share of the city's employment decreased as shopping centers, restaurants, movie theaters, and even government jobs relocated to the periphery (Tax World, Koger Center, CCOC, etc.). The practice of transit is changing, and a growing number of agencies have found serving multiple destinations has been tremendously successful, starting with West Coast transit properties in Portland, Oregon, and San Diego, California and then spreading to places like Colorado Springs and Madison, Wisconsin, a state capital with a largeuniversity presence like our own. In Florida, Pinellas and Broward Countieshave similarly restructured their systems. Concurrent with the 2005 StarMetro Renaissance Plan,the 2005 Transit Development Plan, the November 2008 City Commission TargetIssue Meeting and the City Manager's 2009 Resolutions, StarMetro has taken preliminary steps to create a decentralized route structure plan for theCity of Tallahassee. Once implemented, the plan, known as Nova 2010, woulddistribute transit services mostly along major roadways in Tallahassee; several routes will not serve downtown at all. By not sending every route to C.K. Steele Plaza, passengers would experience greater frequency of service and a system that more closely resembles contemporary vehicular travel patterns. In developing the draft plan, there were severalassumptions about conditions in Tallahassee. First, the system would, likethe present one, serve the city of Tallahassee with the few exceptionscurrently in place, such as Bradfordville on the 80x. Second, we would workto use, to the best extent possible, existing facilities. We have Steele Plaza and approximately 105 bus shelters, and have adapted a draft plan to use these resources as a starting point on implementation day. Expanding with additional facilities would be added as the plan gains popularity, asneeded and as fiscally feasible. Lastly, we assumed two lanes on TennesseeStreet between Monroe and Ocala would be converted to transit-only use, asis currently recommended in a study by Genesis Group. Beyond that, our goalwas to use similar existing resources-the number of buses and drivers, thefunding level-all would remain as close as possible to current levels. Theabove is based on our cursory draft plan. This draft plan is subject to changes based minimally on a full system analysis, review of alternatives,considerable public involvement, a thorough origin and destination study andCommission approval. We focused our analysis on employment density, as the planning literature consistently points to employment density beingbetter at generating transit trips than population density; although havinghigh densities of both is best. Since employment densities are highest on major roadways, we assigned routes to these roads while trying to approximate a grid network as seen on the attached map. Nova 2010 is intended to accomplish several things: q Reduce Downtown Trips: The most commoncustomer complaint is that all the buses go downtown. At a recent listening session, a customer lamented the only way to get from one section of Orange Avenue to another was to first go to Steele Plaza at the corner of Tennesseeand Adams Streets. In order to mimic contemporary travel patters (i.e. togo to jobs on the periphery) passengers often must make the V-shaped trip ofgoing downtown first and then back out again to the customers final destination. q Reduce Redundancy: The current hub and spokesystem requires all buses to meet at the same time at the central hub. SinceC.K. Steele Plaza is located along a major arterial (W. Tennessee Street,near the intersection with Monroe Street), every bus must travel along thiscorridor at the same time in order for passengers to make their transfers. This results in two or more buses arriving and leaving from the plaza intandem to travel along the same corridor for a significant distance, passingthe same stops. With the concept Nova 2010 plan, the importance of C.K.Steele Plaza is downplayed as buses operate independent of each other. Thisallows for one bus to cover an entire corridor, instead of five buses covering the same corridor, as is the case of W. Tennessee Street. q Increase On-Time Performance: Anothercomplaint staff receives is buses run behind schedule. This is primarily dueto two reasons - buses traveling at lower speeds in neighborhoods, and routes being dependent on each other for transfers (i.e. if one arrives late, the other buses are held for transferring patrons). Under Nova 2010, buses will remain on the major roads allowing for higher travel speeds asapplicable. In addition, the routes operate independent of each other. Thismeans if one arrives late, it does not affect the operation of the otherroutes. Patrons are would be accommodated better with Nova 2010 with higherservice frequency leading to shorter wait times (10 to 30 minutes during peak hours verses up to an hour with the current system). q Increased Ridership/Decreased Carbon Footprint: StarMetro expects Nova 2010 to make transit significantly more attractive to a much broader part of the community, and each single-occupancy-vehicle driver that shifts to transit represents reduced carbon emissions, cleaner air, reduced congestion, less road maintenance, etc. q Reduce travel time for patrons using transit: Instead of going in and out of neighborhoods, the Nova 2010 plan would have more direct service to major employment and shopping/recreation centers. q Increase frequency: Buses will arrive more often giving our customers more options for using transit service with greater convenience. q Increased Opportunities for Regional Travel: With few exceptions (80X, Route 17, and Route 21), there are no opportunities for regional travel in the current system. By decentralizing the system, independent cross-town routes along major corridors create the opportunities for regional expansion. While there are many distinct advantages in addition to the aforementioned ones of the Nova 2010 concept plan, there are a few perceived disadvantages, which have proven to be advantages across the country: q Routes would no longer circulate within neighborhoods. This will, however, allow StarMetro to serve a larger population by providing higher frequency and better service to the most popular destinations. q Related to the above, walking distances toStarStops are anticipated to increase. On the other hand, this will lead to fewer stops, increased mobility, a more pleasurable riding experience and ahealthier community. The benefits, however, would far outweigh the few discrete disadvantages, which are better communicated in a longer visualpresentation. StarMetro would have a more dependable system going where ourpatrons want to go doing so in a timely, efficient fashion. After I got this message, as per Sila requested, I asked for a discription of the routes for the eleven bus routes, and they are as follows.. US 90 (1), 20 minutes: Fallschase, W US 90, S Appleyard, W Pensacola, N Blountstown, E US 90 US 90 (2), 20 minutes: Fallschase, W US 90, N Capital Circle, loop through Commonwealth, S Capital Circle, E US 90 Orange, 15 minutes: Loop through Paul Dirac, W Roberts, S Eisenhower, E Lake Jackson/Orange Ave, S Capital Circle, loop through Capital Circle Office Center East, 15 minutes. Village Square, Capital Circle, Southwood/Capital Circle Office Center Southside, 15 minutes: Ross Road, N Shelfer, N Crawfordville, Gaile Ave, N Monroe Street, Steele Plaza Frenchtown/Bond, 15 minutes: Orange, Saxon, Wahnish/Macomb/Old Bainbridge, Volusia, Alabama to Preston Loop, and back. Pensalachee, 20 minutes: Pensacola, Gaines, Lafayette, Apalachee Parkway Hospitals, 30 minutes: Woodland, Tuscan, Sunnyside, N. Ridge, E Springsax, E Bragg, E Paul Dirac, N Jim Lee, N Magnolia, E Miccosukee, Capital Medical, Bufford, NE Centerville, SE Fleischmann, W Misscosukee West Loop, 30 minutes (both directions): N Monroe, SW Fred George, S Mission, S Appleyard, E Jackson Bluff, N Woodward, E St. Augustine, through downtown to Monroe NE to Innovation: N Pottsdamer, E Iamonia, N Lake Jackson, E Gaines, Gadsden, Thomasville North Mover, 30 minutes: Commonwealth, Hartsfield, Pullen, Allen, Henderson, Meridian, Bradford/Betton CommonWalmart, 30 minutes: Commonwealth, Tharpe, MLK/Duval/Bronough, Park, Gov. Square Blvd, Park Conner Blvd, Walmart. It has been that discriptions brings up more questions than answere, so here it is to work with.\ William benjamin William Benjamin, Piano Tuner Extraordinaire. The tuner alone preserves the tone.Check out the TABI resource web page at http://acorange.home.comcast.net/TABIand please make suggestions for new material.if you'd like to unsubscribe you can do so through the freelists.org web interface, or by sending an email to the address tabi-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject.
Check out the TABI resource web page at http://acorange.home.comcast.net/TABI and please make suggestions for new material. if you'd like to unsubscribe you can do so through the freelists.org web interface, or by sending an email to the address tabi-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject.
