After over a year of conducting research to evaluate possible improvements to the Charlottesville Transit Service, BMI-SG Transportation Planning presented their suggested changes to City Council last night.
Proposed changes for the next year include adding buses to increase reliability but not changing the routes.
"The problem is that the buses are caught in congestion," said Frank Spielberg, P.E. Principal of BMI-SG Transportation Planning. "There is duplication in service, as well."
Spielberg also proposed long-term major changes, including revising route patterns to permit maintaining schedules without adding more buses.
Council Vice Mayor Kevin Lynch said he hoped to move to major changes right away, instead of waiting a year.
According to Spielberg, however, the purpose of making gradual change is to show that the service can be made more effective and increase the confidence citizens have in the bus service.
Spielberg proposed possibly adding bus-only lanes to where there is presently street parking on major streets in order to allow buses to travel around congestion and maintain their schedules.
In addition, Council members brought up the idea of correlating progress in buses with a new plan to synchronize lights on West Main Street.
Lynch said he was in favor of looking into buses running every 15 minutes, as well.
Changes to CTS service should serve to enhance transportation services for University students away from Grounds and around the City, as well, Spielberg said.
"Students going off campus would have better, more reliable service," he said.
Spielberg discussed the possibility of working with UTS to cover the neighborhood near the University and to make sure the two routes do not overlap.
The study Spielberg presented began in 2004 and drew from interviews with bus passengers, as well as discussion with the City, Albemarle County, the University, Barracks Road Shopping Center and Martha Jefferson Hospital to determine what changes would work best.
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