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Riders still want expanded service!
Actually, if one lives in Trinidad, the service has been diminished, not
expanded by the new schedule. The last bus north of the day is even earlier, and there is
still a 3-plus hour wait in McKinleyville between buses going north
mid-day. If one takes the bus into town there are three hours or more to
kill - doing what? Maybe take in a day movie since one can never get into
town at night? Furthermore, the Airport is a lousy last stop--unless one
wants to use their bathroom before walking to Trinidad (walking time
Airport to Trinidad = 3 hours).
As bus riders continually state, and are continually ignored: We want
more consistent service (1 hour max between buses) and night and weekend
service. Please share these gripes with somebody who can do something
about it.
expanded by the new schedule. The last bus north of the day is even earlier, and there is
still a 3-plus hour wait in McKinleyville between buses going north
mid-day. If one takes the bus into town there are three hours or more to
kill - doing what? Maybe take in a day movie since one can never get into
town at night? Furthermore, the Airport is a lousy last stop--unless one
wants to use their bathroom before walking to Trinidad (walking time
Airport to Trinidad = 3 hours).
As bus riders continually state, and are continually ignored: We want
more consistent service (1 hour max between buses) and night and weekend
service. Please share these gripes with somebody who can do something
about it.
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Inappropriate?Carol:
The August 2007 HCTA report shows that Trinidad's annual TDA (Transportation Development Act) revenue was $10,125. By comparison, Blue Lake's was $36,450, and Eureka's was $813,645. Transportation Development Act money is the revenue that cities and counties use to fund their transit systems. The cities in Humboldt County contribute some of their revenues to fund Redwood Transit System.
By the looks of it, it appears that Trinidad's 6 trips every weekday (see schedule page here) likely cost more than TDA revenues and farebox returns pay for (elsewhere here, Greg Pratt shared that adding one full additional weekday trip adds a cost of $1,500/week).
Most of the residents in the Trinidad/Westhaven area likely live outside city limits in the unincorporated areas (TDA funding for these people comes from the County TDA allocation, a significant amount of which is diverted from transit to road maintenance). Trinidad's distance from major centers, combined with the large parcels which increase the distance from residences to the centralized transit stop present a lot of difficulty for viable, cost-effective transit for Trinidad.
Despite all these challenges, the new schedule update shows an expanded northbound trip that arrives in Trinidad and an extended southbound trip offering new evening service departing from Trinidad.
Also, Redwood Coast Transit operates Route 20 that passes through Trinidad on its way between Crescent City and Arcata a few times daily. I am not sure if it is possible to use this service to travel between Arcata and Crescent City, but if it is, I will look into ways of improving publicity for this opportunity.
Unfortunately, HTA does not have a way of magically making money appear in response to your plea. Lobbying at the local, state, and federal level with the appropriate bodies for more transit funding is what it will take to improve transit service. Additionally, more compact growth patterns will be necessary to make public transportation more viable and cost-effective.
In the meantime, carpooling and vanpooling are two good ways to supplement limited transit service to Trinidad. My friend Rob Diggins put up fliers to create a commuter co-op in the Westhaven/Trinidad area but no one came to the first meeting. -
Inappropriate?The service to Trinidad did not change except that there is one additional bus leaving southbound at 7:51 p.m. This schedule change is a just band-aid anyway, until we can get some more money from somewhere. The City of Trinidad contributes about $3,900 to our $1,000,000+ budget for their bus service. That's $3,900 per year.
We have an awesome schedule waiting in the wings, however, we need an additional $450,000 - $500,000 to implement it. I am more aware than anyone that we need more frequent bus service but I can't do it without funds. I'm working on it. Nel -
Inappropriate?Maybe the County should contract services for a ride share in a joint sharing agreement of some type. Obviously the Trinidad casino bus provides bus services to their Casino. The Casino may be a business but if the Tribes have an established government that provides services for tribe members could it be possible for the Tribe and the County to make an agreement for service to Downtown Trinidad...
It's depressing to hear a complaint answered the way Aaron did. Throwing Government numbers at someone and obscure regulations for funding doesn't empower people trying to make a difference at all.2 Comments
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This answers the question
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I think creating a partnership to use the casino bus for transportation would be a fantastic idea. I don't have any contacts at the casino, but I hope you will contact them to see about making something happen. Get in touch and let us know what happens so we can mobilize some support and help! -
You can take the bus to the Casino. but you can't take backpacks or packages on the bus due to their regulations, which complicates a trip which involves shopping. I have used their bus! It runs on Sunday and the schedule is on their Casino website--I put a few quarters in a one-armed bandit, so I feel I paid my fare.
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Inappropriate?Transit Sense:
I think I should clarify that my activities on this "user-powered customer service" forum do not represent a response from HTA in any way. First and foremost here, I act as an independent citizen, transit advocate, and volunteer for Green Wheels, and so my comments on service schedules and government regulations come from that perspective, not one from within HTA.
However, I do work as an independent contractor to develop and maintain some of Humboldt's online transit information resources, and so sometimes I may respond to comments on the websites in my role as an independent contractor. I am not authorized to speak on behalf of HTA, and nothing I say should be considered representative of the organization's positions.
This message aside, I wish to defend my response to Carol, as well as apologize for specific aspects of its tone.
First, my experience working with Green Wheels, and contributing to some of the changes that have led to an approximately 25% increase in scheduled Redwood Transit System service over the past year, has required that I learn about a lot of "obscure" numbers and government regulations. One of the realities, and challenges, for successful citizen advocacy in the transportation field is that its funding and decision-making is very complicated. Perhaps this can be simplified (I don't know if it can), but until then, successful transit advocates will be forced to understand all of this. Information empowers people to make change in our democracy.
If you look at this forum, there are many, many requests that HTA expand their service. Until people understand that HTA has no authority to increase their own funding on their own, these requests will (sadly) result in little or no change.
My comments on land use in Trinidad stem from the advocacy goals of Green Wheels. It is important that people understand the challenges of providing viable transit service in rural, spread out areas (like much of the Trinidad area), so that we can begin to build in a pattern that results in a fairer, more equitable world where people have access to healthcare, jobs, and food closer to their home, instead of incurring costly travel expenses.
Finally, I apologize for my somewhat snarky final paragraph about carpooling and rideshare. It was not necessary. Carol and I had an interesting and rewarding email conversation off of this forum about these issues. She, I, HTA, Green Wheels, and others are working together to create solutions. I believe we're entering a new age of grassroots citizen-based advocacy. -
Inappropriate?I agree with these concerns, but would like to add my own on a similar note. Why doesn't RTS consider running the northbound #35 bus northward to Trinidad. That way, those of us to quit work at 5 p.m. (in Arcata) and live north could get home earlier than waiting for the current bus available if you get off work at 5 p.m. (#39) which gets me home in north McKinleyville (past the airport stop) at almost 7 p.m. That's a long time to wait for the one bus that will get those of us home who work in Arcata and live northward and are off work at 5 p.m. Likewise a few more southbound runs between Trinidad and beyond in the mornings would be a benefit to not only those who start work at 8 a.m., but for students riding the system, too.
As the previous e-mail suggested - hourly runs at prime time hours beyond the airport would be fantastic.
