Columbia is still taking public comments on transit study short-, long-term concepts

Consultants on a comprehensive transit study for Columbia first received public input on work in November. They're now back with potential service concepts and took more input this week in another public meeting.

For those that missed the public input meeting Tuesday, there still are opportunities online to comment on the presentation via BeHeardCoMo through May 7. Shawn Strate, Olsson Associates senior transportation planner, also is taking comments through that date via email at sstrate@olsson.com.

Strate and his associates were looking at the big "issues, challenges and goals" for Go CoMo, the city's transit system, in November and have come up with some relatively revenue neutral, but short-term concepts, and some long-term growth concepts that will require greater revenue levels to accomplish.

Both short-term and long-term concepts are similar and there are pros and cons to each one, presentation materials note.

High-level ideas based on examples from other municipalities, though including from the November public input, went into the proposed concepts, Strate said. This includes bus route frequency, other route modifications, whether to concentrate routes in high ridership areas and service times.

"Now we have some ideas that are specific to Columbia and the routes we are operating now. So, bringing it from higher-level to something to that is more relatable to people using the system now. Then based on the info we get here, we can drive down into more and more detail on the process.

One concept that is not feasible due to driver schedules and other factors is a mid-day service pause when rider usage is at its lowest.

"The reason it is on here is it illustrates how service could be added on Sunday. If I do that, I have to take service away from somewhere else," Strate said. "It doesn't work with driver shifts because we're asking them to work four hours, take a 2-hour break and then come back for four more hours. ... Sunday service doesn't come into play until you can spend more money on transit."

So, those are long-term concepts.

All the information from the public input meeting and comments online will go into draft recommendations presented to the public at a summer meeting in June or July, with the final report going to the Columbia City Council in September.

Short-term concepts include more frequent services (routes running every 30 minutes), More route coverage (60-minute routes with some new location addition), evening and Sunday (this is where weekday service eliminations could happen) and micro-transit (this is a small vehicle that can move a couple people an hour, rather than the average 10-15 on a fixed route).

Similar long-term concepts again proposes either shorter routes, more route coverage including new stops, expansion of service hours, or a bus rapid transit system focusing on major east-west or north-south corridors. Maps of what routes could look like under the four short-term and four longer-term concepts are included in presentation information. Three of the four long-term concepts includes a route addition along Paris Road that would get city buses out to industrial businesses along Paris Road/Route B.

The public input Tuesday will help hone in on public preference on both the short-term and long-term concepts, their first and second choice.

"I think there is a desire for focusing on the services that are provided now, but running them more often and more hours. We're not hearing rip up the system and start over. We're hearing the routes are fine, but need to run more often and run more hours. Adding one or two new routes in the long-term along Paris Road is the one we're hearing the most about," Strate said.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Columbia transit study consultants release proposed concepts