Local Transit

RRTC Co-hosts 3rd Transit Forum
On December 5th, RRTC co-hosted the third of a three part transit forum series with the Common Good Planning Center and the Downtown Community Forum. The intent of the third forum was to start a local discussion on improving transit in the Rochester Region. The panel consisted of:

• Don Riley, R-GRTA CEO
• Jeffrey Carlson, Deputy Mayor of the City of Rochester
• Bob Cook, Staff for Assemblyman David Gantt
• Stephanie Aldersley, Monroe County Legislator

The panel members were asked a series of questions, followed by questions from the audience. The first question was, “Inefficiency, inconvenience and expense in transit system is both cause and effect of decreased ridership. And lower ridership often results in arguments against investments in transit. How can this vicious cycle be broken?” Stephanie Aldersley spoke of the need to provide and fund more than just adequate transit, and to limit sprawl. Bob Cook said that transit service has had to readjust to serve riders. Don Riley agreed, saying that transit service has not followed development outside of the city. R-GRTA's Access to Jobs program is developing new routes which are expected to become permanent. RGRTA is currently focusing on its circulator study.

The second question was, “Is increasing ridership a practical goal?” Jeff Carlson said that the biggest challenge is that people want to park in front of where they are going. Bob Cook stated that reduced travel time can boost ridership. R-GRTA has been playing catch-up to past road patterns, but we need to go onto the next phase and influence future development, which could help increase ridership. Don Riley said that he believes that the number of riders is not the only measure-- that geographic coverage of service is also important. If a new service is introduced, it is important to keep the service going and market it. Stephanie Aldersley talked about how more people are willing to ride rail transit than bus transit. We need to look at rail, and start with a demonstration line.

The third question was, “What role can transit play in making our communities more vibrant and viable.” Bob Cook responded that transit can be a mechanism to guide growth, and that it can be a quality-of-life issue. Don Riley said that he is not opposed to rail, but thinks that it would be a tough sell. Stephanie Aldersley thinks that while stadiums and arts centers are nice public works projects, transit is a basic underpinning of our economy. If we are to have a fast ferry, we would be a connection to it. Jeff Carlson predicted that our investment in new roads will lead to the demise of Monroe County, as new development is encouraged outside of Monroe County.

The fourth question was “How can transit more effectively serve our spread-out population.” Don Riley said that he did not believe that transit leads to sprawl. R-GRTA is willing to work with towns and employers to provide transit access. Stephanie Aldersley said that while transit cannot be a magic bullet, there needs to be greater linkage and synergy between various transportation modes, a thought echoed by Jeff Carlson. Bob Cook responded to Jeff Carlson's earlier comment about the decline of Monroe County by saying that this decline does not have to happen. But major changes in transit will not happen unless we change the way that the MPO (the Genesee Transportation Council-- our region's Metropolitan Planning Organizations).

The fifth question raised a critical issue, “How can more money for transit be generated for this region?” Stephanie Aldersley pointed out that if we think big about transportation projects, we need to seek Federal TEA-21 funding. Major capital investments in transit could result in a reduction in transportation costs to businesses, which according to Aldersley could boost business in our area. Jeff Carlson spoke about how the “Livable Communities” concept in TEA-21 allows us to integrate transit with other community issues. Bob Cook believes that our region has been very aggressive with pursuing transit funding. In order to get a major project such as an LRT line, our community would have to get together to decide what it wants to do. Don Riley pointed out that it is more difficult to get funding for operating costs than it is to get capital funding. Riley believes that our region works well together, and we need a consensus on what transit projects we want to pursue.

The forum then shifted to questions from the audience. Unfortunately, the first portion of the forum went over schedule, reducing the amount of time available for questions and answers. The first person said that bus service here was much less convenient than it was for them in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Don Riley said that R-GRTA will be focusing on overhauling its city bus routes soon, and that the shuttles for the Buffalo Bills training camp is a model of what they would like to do more of.

Neil Jaschik of the Common Good Planning Center spoke from the audience to say that one reason why the GTC is not reallocating dollars for transit is that there is no regional vision for what we want. This sparked a discussion that expanded on earlier comments about the GTC. Jeff Carlson agreed that we need to start thinking about transportation. Carlson believes that since the City of Rochester does not have a transportation department, transportation decisions need to be done on a regional level. Stephanie Aldersley thinks that we need more communication between agencies and municipalities. Aldersley raised a critical question... if the MPO (GTC) is not setting the transportation agenda, then who is? Bob Cook replied that decision making needs to come from elected officials. Don Riley raised the issue that in NY State, local governments have control over land use Riley said that he fought regional land use planning while he was in town government in Greece, but he has a different perspective now that he is in charge of a regional agency.

An RIT student said that his attendance at the forum was his first time in downtown Rochester, due to the transportation choices available. Stephanie Aldersley responded that her son went to RIT, and it took him three hours by bus to get from Irondequoit to RIT. If we had LRT, that commute would be much shorter. Riley pointed out that R-GRTA is the provider for the RIT campus shuttle, which also provides access to Marketplace Mall. Riley believes that bus service patterns are determined by the location of businesses.

Gordon Webster of the Common Good Planning Center asked about the possibility of having the Council of Governments propose a regional transportation vision for Monroe County. Don Riley said that he thinks that the Council of Governments could take on this role. Jeff Carlson added that municipalities have cooperated on transportation issues recently. The City, Brighton the Town of Pittsford and the Village of Pittsford have cooperated together on the development of standards for Monroe Avenue.