DATE: February 2, 2016
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Director of Public Works
SUBJECT
Title
Transit Connector (Shuttle) Feasibility Study - Progress Update
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RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
That Council reviews and comments on the preliminary analysis for proposed shuttle routes.
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BACKGROUND
The City of Hayward is served by transit in the form of two BART stations, an Amtrak station and AC Transit bus service. These services are mostly focused within a north-south corridor generally bounded by Hesperian Boulevard on the west and Mission Boulevard on the east. Most are concentrated around the downtown area. Areas outside of these corridors are less adequately served by existing transit, making it difficult to take advantage of the regional connectivity offered by BART, Amtrak and AC Transit Transbay bus services.
In the past few years, during Neighborhood Partnership Program meetings and other community events, staff has received input regarding the need for a shuttle service to connect residents to BART stations from several neighborhood areas including the Cannery, the Foothills areas, Upper B Street, and Fairway Park. Also, through ongoing, regular contact with existing employers and businesses considering locating in Hayward’s industrial areas, Economic Development staff has learned that providing better transit access to BART and Amtrak for employees is desired to help existing businesses and attract new ones. In response, Council directed staff to develop a plan of action to respond to this community input.
Staff determined that a feasibility study was warranted, and therefore applied for and was successful in receiving two grants to fully fund the study. Based on the input from the residential and business communities, and the limitations of existing transit service levels, staff set out to determine if shuttle service could be used to improve connectivity in areas that are outside of walking distance to BART and Amtrak, and where existing bus service is less frequent.
DISCUSSION
As authorized by Council on March 17, 2015, Fehr & Peers was hired to assess the feasibility of implementing shuttle services that would provide direct transit connectivity between passenger rail stations (BART and Amtrak) and areas that are currently underserved by transit within Hayward. Staff, with assistance from the consultant, identified the general areas within the City that appeared to be most in need of shuttle service connections. These areas were selected based on input the City received from residents and large employers in Hayward over the past few years, analysis of existing AC Transit routes and their frequency, and travel demand model runs that identified areas with high transit likelihood index and transit utility index (calculated based on population, jobs and existing transit services in a given vicinity).
Study areas that were identified based on the above mentioned criteria were selected for further evaluation, and are shown in Attachment I. The study areas are generally defined as the North Study Area (neighborhoods around Cannery Park, Upper B Street and Downtown), South Study Area (neighborhoods around Fairway Park, businesses along Industrial Pkwy and Huntwood Road) and West Industrial Area (covering the Industrial area West of I-880 between Winton and Industrial Blvd).
To better understand current travel patterns, markets and consumer attitudes, gaps in existing transit services, and the features of shuttle service that would be appealing to potential users, a broad existing conditions analysis and public outreach process was completed over the summer and fall of 2015. This included employee and resident open houses, employer interviews, and separate surveys targeted at employees and residents. Approximately 130 residents/employees attended the open house events and over 500 survey responses were received.
Among the employees surveyed, demand for shuttle use tended to be concentrated in the peak commute periods (6-9 AM and 4-7 PM) and would be used for regular commute travel, typically five days per week. This option would be especially attractive for those who live within some reasonable distance of a BART station but outside of walkable distance; and for whom BART could be a time-competitive alternative to driving due to traffic congestion.
Projected demand among North Study Area residents to make a shuttle connection to the Downtown Hayward BART Station has potential to support frequent shuttle service. These residents stated that they travel to Downtown Hayward and the Downtown Hayward BART Station frequently and would consider using a shuttle option. Likely travel times were spread throughout the day. By contrast, South Study Area residents stated that they would only take a shuttle to Downtown Hayward occasionally (1-5 times per month). Based on these responses, a shuttle service could encourage some to shop in Downtown Hayward, but shuttle ridership would be expected to be low as it appears that there would be no critical mass of riders during any particular time period.
Based on the results of the community outreach, employee and resident surveys, and existing transit services, six shuttle route concepts have been identified that could potentially serve study areas for improved transit service. These routes have been evaluated using a set of performance measures and benchmarks from peer shuttle services already in operation around California. Based on this evaluation, staff seeks Council recommendation to advance four of the six routes into the final phase of the Feasibility Study. In these next steps, financial and implementation planning activities will determine the costs, potential funding sources, partnerships, and institutional arrangements needed to implement service.
A brief description of each route is shown in Table 1 below in the order of priority established by staff by evaluating a number of performance measures. Visual representation of these routes is provided in Attachment II.
Table 1: Performance Measures for Route Selection
1. Tennyson Loop
This route would connect the southern portion of the West Industrial Area to South Hayward BART, and would include a stop at Life Chiropractic College. It is the best performing route based on a number of measures identified in Table 1.
2. Winton Loop
This route would connect the northern portion of the West Industrial Area to the Hayward BART Station, and would include stops at Chabot College and Southland Mall. It is one of the best performing routes. It is assumed to run in a couplet with the Tennyson Loop described above to provide complete coverage of the West Industrial Area.
3. South Industrial Loop
This route would connect the South Industrial Area with the South Hayward BART Station.
4. A Street / D Street Cannery Loop
This route would connect residential areas adjacent to Downtown Hayward including the Cannery neighborhood to the Hayward BART Station.
5. Cal State East Bay/Hills Loop
This route would connect Cal State East Bay and the Stonebrae neighborhood to the Hayward BART Station.
6. Fairway Park to Downtown
This route would connect the Fairway Park residential neighborhood to Downtown Hayward with an intermediate stop at the South Hayward BART Station.
PUBLIC CONTACT
As noted above, staff led extensive outreach activities to local businesses, employees, and residents during the summer of 2015. This included an online survey (presented in Attachment III) that received over 500 responses, four open houses, and five employer interviews. Results of the outreach were incorporated in the evaluation of the draft concept routes.
In addition to public outreach, the City formed a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) made up of agency partners such as AC Transit, BART, CSU-East Bay, Caltrans and representatives from industrial district businesses to provide input on the study process and technical results. The first TAC meeting was held in July and the group provided input on developing a public outreach plan and the second TAC meeting was held in December and provided feedback on the results of the public outreach effort, existing conditions analysis and draft route concepts.
FISCAL IMPACT
Staff successfully applied for and received two separate grants to evaluate transit connector services (shuttle service) for the Industrial Area and for the selected residential areas in the City. The two grant applications requested $350,000 that included $309,855 of federal funding and $40,145 of required local match.
Fiscal impacts of implementing a shuttle service will be addressed when the Hayward Transit Connector Study Draft Report is brought before Council for review and adoption, currently scheduled for summer of 2016.
NEXT STEPS
Prepared by: Abhishek Parikh, Senior Transportation Engineer
Staff contact
Recommended by: Morad Fakhrai, Director of Public Works
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Approved by:
Fran David, City Manager
Attachments:
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Attachment I - |
Study Area Maps |
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Attachment II - |
Shuttle Route Concepts |
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Attachment III - |
Employee and Resident Surveys |