Gjr2018-2019 Responses

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The Yuba-Sutter Transit Authority Board needs to add an additional stop that is closer to the schools’ location. BACKGROUND Yuba-Sutter Transit has provided scheduled fixed route service (Route 3) to the Johnson Park neighborhood since the current system was established in January 1993. Route 3 operates from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. each weekday and from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. each Saturday. No service is provided on Sundays or major holidays. This route requires the use of two buses to provide continuous half hour service frequencies on a scheduled 50 minute loop from Yuba College to Johnson Park and back to Yuba College. Measured in passenger boardings per service hour, Route 3 has long been one of the most productive routes in Yuba-Sutter Transit’s system of six routes. In response to tremendous systemwide ridership growth and steadily worsening traffic congestion over the years, several initiatives to speed passenger boarding were implemented in an effort to maintain on-time performance. Route 3 has specifically been shortened and streamlined over the years which included the elimination/consolidation of a number of bus stops. In the Johnson Park neighborhood alone, which originally had bus stops at Larson & McGowan, Lever & Larson (Johnson Park School) and at Evelyn & McGowan, the Johnson Park School stop was dropped in 2003 and the remaining two stops were consolidated into the existing Evelyn and Martel stop in August 2013. Since the consolidation, this stop has consistently been among the top ten most active bus stops in the Yuba-Sutter Transit system. Despite these efforts, Route 3 still regularly runs behind schedule especially in peak hours during the school year resulting in significantly degraded service quality from late trips and missed transfers by our passengers. As a result, any extension of the route or even the addition of a new stop would need to be carefully assessed to avoid further worsening the route’s already struggling performance especially if such an extension or stop is not likely to improve ridership or safety considerations enough to justify the requisite decrease of service quality or the increase in operating and/or capital cost necessary to mitigate such an impact. ANALYSIS The Yuba County Grand Jury recommendation to extend Route 3 to add another bus stopina currently unimproved area on the southwest corner of Olive Avenue and Martel Drive is problematic on several levels. First, this new stop would add approximately 9/10ths of a mile to the existing Route 3. At an average speed of 15 miles per hour, this extension would add at least another four minutes to an already impacted schedule. Before and after school, this extension would be expected to take much longer due to traffic conditions on Olive especially near the intersections of both Martel and McGowan Parkway requiring an increase of 10 percent or more in the scheduled 50 minute loop (which now more typically operates as a 55 minute loop). This would require off-sets elsewhere to either shorten what is already a very productive and direct route or to add another vehicle to the schedule to maintain the service frequency. , To determine if the resulting impact of some combination of lost passenger trips from eliminated service/stops and increased operating cost from the operation of an additional vehicle is justified, an assessment of the potential for an increase in passenger activity and/or bus stop safety of such a change must be conducted. According to the Grand Jury report, the proposed new bus stop would: 1. Reduce the walking distance between the stop and both of the two target schools; and, 2. improve the safety of the students using the new stop. First, the Grand Jury report states that students must now walk nearly a mile from the existing bus stop to the two campuses which apparently presume that all students travel on Martel to Olive from the existing bus stop on Evelyn. In fact, the most direct path from the existing 2 Johnson Park bus stop is to continue north on Evelyn Drive to the rear access gate which Yuba- Sutter Transit staff has confirmed is open before and after school each attendance day. This gate is approximately 1,300’ (about % mile) from the existing bus stop and the LHS buildings are just beyond that gate. The SLHS campus is approximately 1,100’ (about 2/10ths mile) north of this same gate or a total of 2,400’ from the existing bus stop. Assuming use of the proposed new stop at Olive and Martel, the distance to LHS would be reduced by about 200’ (to less than 1,100’) while the distance to SLHS would be reduced by less than 500’ (to slightly over 1,900’). While the proposed stop would result in shorter walks to both campuses, such small improvements are not likely to significant impact a student’s decision to ride the bus or not since transit planners generally consider ideal walking access to be within % mile of a stop (1,320’), decent access to be within % mile of a stop (2,640’) and the outer limit of reasonable access to be within % mile of a stop (3,960’). Second, the Grand Jury report states that 479 service calls were received by the Yuba County Sheriff Department for addresses within the greater Johnson Park area over the one year period of February 2018 through January 2019. Staff reviewed the same report that was provided to the Grand Jury by the Sheriff's Crime Analysis Unit and confirmed that a call for service does not necessarily correlate to criminal activity as this report also includes welfare checks, civil service, traffic stops, animal complaints, noise complaints, follow-ups, etc. In addition, without allowing for non-attendance days, 53 percent of the 479 reported service calls occurred outside the normal weekday school hours of 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. While there is some level of risk to waiting at a bus stop or walking down the street during the day in any residential area, a detailed countywide analysis would be required to determine if this risk is significantly higher in the Johnson Park neighborhood than any other area of Yuba County. CONCLUSION While appreciating the Grand Jury’s concern with the operation and overall safety of the local fixed route system, the Yuba-Sutter Transit Board of Directors respectfully disagrees with their recommendations having determined that the slight decrease in walking distance and any presumed incremental increase in overall passenger safety that may result from extending Route 3 and adding a new bus stop is not currently justified. However, Yuba-Sutter Transit does regularly evaluate service and policy options to improve passenger access and safety and will continue to do so in the future especially as conditions change. At a minimum, the issues raised by the Grand Jury will again be addressed in the next update of the Yuba-Sutter Short Range Transit Plan which is now expected to begin Approved by the Yuba-Sutter Transit Authority Board of Directors at their regularly scheduled meeting on Thursday, August 15, 2019 915 8" Street, Ste. 109 \ Marysville, California 95901 (530) 749-7510 (530) 749-7353 FAX The County of Yuba OFFICE OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS August 27, 2019 The Honorable Stephen Berrier Supervising Judge of the Grand Jury Superior Court of the State of California County of Yuba 215 Fifth Street Marysville, CA 95901 Re: RESPONSE TO 2018-19 GRAND JURY -— “Transit Bus Stop Safety for High School Students” Dear Judge Berrier, Provided pursuant to Penal Code Section 933(c) are the comments from the Board of Supervisors related to the

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=OPUD continues to offer customers multiple methods to make payments. The recommendation appears to have been implemented based on the Grand Jury’s review of OPUD’s operation and encourages OPUD to continue to offer multiple payment methods. Sincerely, ——/ / ‘ “4 / N/\ | ‘ LIAM YY oe ee) Mike Leahy, Chaitm Yuba County Board 1 Supervisors SUPERVISORS Andy Vasquez — District | © Mike Leahy — District 2 © Doug Lofton — District 3 © Gary Bradford — District 4 © Randy Fletcher — District 5 915 8'" Street, Ste. Marysville, California 95901 (530) 749-7510 (530) 749-7353 FAX The County of Yuba OFFICE OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS August 27, 2019 The Honorable Stephen Berrier Supervising Judge of the Grand Jury Superior Court of the State of California County of Yuba 215 Fifth Street Marysville, CA 95901 Re: RESPONSE TO 2018-19 GRAND JURY — “Yuba County Jail Report” Dear Judge Berrier, Provided pursuant to Penal Code Section 933(c) are the comments from the Board of Supervisors related to the