scta.ca.gov
SONOMA COUNTY
INTEGRATED TRANSIT
SERVICE PLAN
Presentation to Santa Rosa City Council
Tim Payne, Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates
Dana Turrey, Sonoma County Transportation Authority
Rachel Ede, City of Santa Rosa Transit Division
July 23, 2024
scta.ca.gov
AGENDA
2 Review recent and ongoing transit integration efforts Project Overview
What are transit riders saying?
How do the MTC efforts fit into this?
What should be tackled first?
Next steps for this project
BBackground
How we got here
2012 - MTC Transit
Sustainability Project
2019 - Transit Integration
Efficiency Study
2020 - 2021 - MTC Blue
Ribbon Transit Task Force
• Recommendation for
Sonoma operators to pursue
functional and institutional
consolidation where it is
supported by local planning
and input.
• Improve the rider experience
in Sonoma County.
• Increase the efficiency of
delivering high quality public
transit services.
• Reduce operating and capital
costs to enable improved
service.
• Recognize critical recovery
challenges facing public
transit agencies.
• Advance equity.
• Identify actions to implement
network Management &
Governance reforms
• Advance current transit
initiatives and integrate with
reforms
3 BBackground
MTC Bay Area Transit
Transformation Action Plan
• 27 agencies in Bay Area, each with its own
unique policies.
• Procedures and operating practices
best suited for their immediate service
areas and local priorities
• Not organized to support customer-
friendly, interagency travel
Problem Statement
Fares and Payment
Simpler, consistent, and equitable fare and payment
options attract more riders.
Customer Information
Integrated mapping, signage and real-time schedule
information makes transit easier to navigate and more
convenient for both new and existing riders.
Transit Network
Bay Area transit services are equitably planned and
integrally managed as a unified, efficient, and
reliable network.
Accessibility
Transit services for older adults, people with
disabilities, and those with lower incomes are
coordinated efficiently.
Funding
The Bay Area’s transit system uses its existing
resources more efficiently and secures new,
dedicated revenue to meet its capital and operating
needs. 4
BBackground
MTC Bay Area Transit
Regional Network Management (RNM)
• RNM Committee
• RNM Customer Advisory Group
• RNM Council
Advisory Bodies
Fare Integration Policy
• Clipper 2.0
• Clipper Bay Pass Pilot Programs
• Transfer Policy Pilot
Mapping and Wayfinding
• Regional design standards and compliance
requirements, centralized procurement
• Prototypes, including Santa Rosa - Fall 2024
• Pilots, including Sonoma County - 2026
Bus Transit Priority
• Identify BTP Policy
• Define BTP corridors and needs
• Centralized coordination
Accessibility
• Standardize paratransit eligibility practices
• One-seat ride pilots
Transit Operator Coordination
• Dozens of recurring regional transit
coordination meetings attended by
transit staff
• Coordination on staffing meetings
among Sonoma and Marin operators
RNM Efforts Underway
5 BBackground
Work completed and underway
• Paratransit “One Seat Ride”
• Synchronized schedule change
dates
• Integrated Transit Service Plan
• Marin Sonoma Coordinated
Transit Service Analysis
• New customer service number
connects to all three transit
agencies
• Cross training on system
information for all agencies
• Common fare free days
• Joint funding award for Fare
Free Youth program starting
summer 2023
• Clipper START participation
• Uniform base fares
• Joint fare reinstatement
• Phase I of website integration
with new CityBus site
• Transit App Royal subscription
• Joint marketing of fare programs
6 BBackground
Marin-Sonoma Coordinated Transit Service Analysis
“MASCOTS”
Impetus
Structure
Plan Goals
• Changed regional travel
demand and service levels
• Identified need to
comprehensively study
regional service along Hwy
101 corridor
• Agencies agreed on
principles of coordination
• Monthly GM meetings
• Subcommittees:
• Planning
• Marketing
• Finance
• Inform future service
planning activities at the
respective operators
• Maximize rider benefit with
the combined resources of all
services
• Final plan by December 2024
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INTEGRATED TRANSIT
SERVICE PLAN
scta.ca.gov
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Overarching vision: Improve mobility for riders in
Sonoma County
Goal: Identify opportunities for reducing
duplication of service to allow for reallocation of
resources to improve service
Agencies involved: Sonoma County Transit, Santa
Rosa CityBus, Petaluma Transit, Golden
Gate Transit, SMART
Started work in February 2023
This study builds off the 2019 Sonoma County
Transit Integration and Efficiency Study
10 scta.ca.gov
WHY IS TRANSIT INTEGRATION
IN SONOMA COUNTY
IMPORTANT?
11 90% of all travel in Sonoma County starts and ends in Sonoma County
Many lower income people depend on transit to move
around the county, including the less populated parts
Integration efforts need to advance to address major
mobility issues for transit riders and attract new riders Some urban areas are over-served, but many, especially in the more rural areas, are underserved. Reduce over- service to improve distribution.
SMART Origin-Destination Flows
See Chapter 5 in Report
Did you know? 87% of trips on SMART have at
least one leg of the trip in Sonoma County
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SYSTEM CONTEXT – TRANSIT IS GROWING IN SONOMA
COUNTY
12 SMART ridership is for the entire line in Marin
and Sonoma Counties. Golden Gate Transit
data is only for specific routes with ridership
to, from, or within Sonoma County
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WHAT ARE TRANSIT RIDERS
SAYING?
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HOW DID THE PROJECT REACH TRANSIT RIDERS?
14 Community events - eight staffed by NN and partner agencies in April and May 2023
Pop-up events - eight at transit stations/stops and colleges staffed by NN in May 2023
Administered public survey
– Open from mid-April to mid-May 2023
– 774 responses received (34 in Spanish)
o 574 riders, 200 non-riders
– NN rode buses and trains in May 2023 to pass out fliers to take survey
– Survey advertised and administered at the 16 community and pop-up events
– Survey also promoted on agency social media platforms and email lists
scta.ca.gov
SATISFACTION WITH TRANSIT
15 0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
Very Satisfied Satisfied Neutral Dissat isfied Very Dissatisfied Do not know Percent of Respondents
How satisfied are you with transit service in Sonoma County overall?
Approximately 51% of riders reported they were satisfied or very satisfied Net satisfaction score is 31% (computed as the difference between the satisfied and dissatisfied responses)
– Indicates a positive sentiment by the public overall, but one that is held by a small majority scta.ca.gov
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
16 Transit is a lifeline for many riders
Many riders do not have any other transportation options 45% of riders who only use CityBus, Petaluma Transit, and/or SCT do not have regular access to a vehicle
– 60% of lower income riders (defined as individuals that had a household income of $60,000 or less per year), responded they do not have regular access to a vehicle.
Reducing duplication of service and providing a more seamless trip can help address many of the top issues being faced by riders scta.ca.gov
TOP 5 ISSUES FOR RIDERS
17 Buses do not run early enough and late enough on weekends (-20% net satisfaction)
Buses do not operate enough on weekends (-14% net satisfaction) Buses do not run late enough on weekdays (-11% net satisfaction) Buses do not operate often enough (-11% net satisfaction) Waiting time when transferring between buses is unreasonable (-2% net satisfaction)
scta.ca.gov
TRANSFERS IN SONOMA COUNTY
18 Based on the rider survey - half of transit trips taken in Sonoma County require transfers some, or all, of the time
Based on the survey, 70% of riders said coordinating schedules to reduce waits would help These findings underscore the need to conduct transit origin-destination study to better understand travel patterns
scta.ca.gov
WHY DO RIDERS NOT USE TRANSIT
MORE OFTEN?
Service not running when it is needed (50%)
Service not running where it is needed (42%)
Travel time taking too long (38%)
19 scta.ca.gov
DIRECT QUOTES FROM RIDERS
20 More information can be found in the report including:
– Details on the outreach that was conducted
– Results of many other survey questions such as route
numbering, transfer patterns, passes, and more
– Direct feedback from riders
“Better integration between the transit
systems is overdue. ”
“Need to get more buses running on weekend
and holiday. People do still work that need to
take buses. ”
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HOW DO THE MTC EFFORTS FIT
IN?
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MTC EFFORTS UNDERWAY
Clipper 2.0
Fare Integration Task Force
Regional Mapping and Wayfinding Project
Network Manager Work Plan
Waiting for MTC to guide new directions may be viable for some issues, such as Clipper 2.0 Better network connectivity and improved travel times are high on MTC’s priority list, but on a longer timeframe work plan, so getting started on those two items are less likely to be duplicative and highly beneficial for local transit riders
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WHAT SHOULD BE TACKLED
FIRST?
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OVERVIEW OF RECOMMENDATIONS
24 Report has 26 recommendations, plus corridor and microtransit recommendations Cover many topic areas, including:
– Data – Recommendations to improve data collection/information management – Overlapping fixed-route corridors – Alternatives to reduce duplication of service on various corridors – Fixed-route recommendations – Other fixed-route recommendations such as fare coordination, rider information, and organizational issues
– Paratransit –Recommendations to improve integration of paratransit services – Microtransit – Potential zones that should be examined further
scta.ca.gov
A HIGH PRIORITY – THE 101
CORRIDOR, WHY?
It has the most overlapping service - SMART,
Golden Gate Transit, CityBus, SCT, and
Petaluma Transit all provide service along
some portion of the corridor
It serves the largest concentration of
population and employment in the county
Has the greatest potential to improve
mobility for the most riders
Opportunity to reallocate transit resources
to improve service on the corridor
25 Travel Time Analysis of U.S. 101 Corridor
See Chapter 11 in Report
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U.S. 101 CORRIDOR PLANNING TASKS
Collect data - Stop level ridership and origin-destination data – This data was not available as part of this study
Do detailed planning
– Review and analyze data to understand what is happening along U.S. 101 – Refine initial concepts based on new data
Conduct public outreach
– Confirm public support and allow for modifications before changes are implemented ¾ The MASCOTS Study to examine the U.S. Highway 101 Corridor in Marin County and Sonoma County can build off this work.
26 scta.ca.gov
Sonoma County
can build off this work.
26 scta.ca.gov
WHAT ARE OTHER HIGH PRIORITIES?
Recommendations to improve data
availability and uniformity
– Not just a challenge for U.S. 101 Corridor,
but throughout the county
– One recommendation is that SCTA create
a resource bank to assist agencies with
data collection and management issues
27 More information can be found in the
report, including:
– Details on each recommendation,
including benefits and examples where
recommendations are working
scta.ca.gov
NEXT STEPS FOR THIS PROJECT
Report to be posted at: https://scta.ca.gov/planning/transit-integration/ Make presentations to Boards/Councils in June and July Request each Board/Council to sign onto an initiative to improve transit integration in Sonoma County (via MOU)
Continue coordination with MTC and MASCOTS transit integration efforts What questions do you have?
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