JCT Releases Revised Proposal for Cuts – Save The JO
Posted by Transit Action Network on August 28, 2012
Johnson County Transit (JCT) has released a Revised JCT Service Reductions Aug 14,2012 report for eliminations and reductions to its transit system.
Summary of the revised proposal:
Eliminate five routes (instead of nine) Reduce/combine service on the four other routes that were proposed for elimination Make additional schedule modifications on four other routes based on comments and service efficiencies.Here are the original 9 routes slated for eliminations with some of our comments. Review the JCT report for additional information. Keep in mind that JCT is still reviewing the routes and could make more changes.
|
Routes Originally Proposed for Elimination |
|
| Three Routes Eliminated Totally | |
| Route 676-P – Paola/Spring Hill/Olathe | Eliminating this route and Route 816 will leave these communities and seniors without any transit. The Special Edition does not operate in Spring Hill and Paola. |
| Route 810 – DeSoto FlexRide | This change will leave this community and seniors without any transit. The Special Edition does not operate in DeSoto. |
| Route 816 – Spring Hill Shuttle | Eliminating this route and Route 676 will leave this community and seniors without any transit. The Special Edition does not operate in Spring Hill. |
| Eliminate 667-R and 669-I and combine with 546-D into one new route | |
| Route 546-D – Johnson/Quivira, Route 677-R – Downtown/Olathe, Route 669-I – KCK/Lenexa/Olathe | Eliminate current routes I, R and D but combine them into a new Route 546-D. The new Route 546-D would have only 9 trips instead of the current 16. The northern end would be in KCK. The southern end is usually at 116th and Renner. See the proposed map. One trip extends south to 127th & Mur-Len (Villa St. Francis) to serve 7:00-3:30 workday (currently served by Route 669/I) One trip extends to Ridgeview to serve 8:00-5:00 workday (currently served by Route 677/R |
| Keep routes instead of eliminating them; make significant service reductions. | |
| Route 66-E – Nall/Downtown – Reduce from 4 to 2 trips | This reduces service between Johnson County and Wyandotte counties. This is the only JO service that goes to KU Med. Routes with only one morning and one evening trip are bound to fail. The national transit-consulting firm Nelson Nygaard recommends at least 6 trips (3 each way) to make a successful commuter route. If they must reduce service, JCT needs to consider other options in order to keep the four trips. |
| Route 672-M – JoCo/Downtown Midday – Keep but eliminate Metcalf portion of route | The route would travel from Mission to OPM on Shawnee Mission Parkway, I-35, and US-69, instead of using Metcalf and 95th. This re-routing should save 10-15 minutes per trip. Transfers to Metcalf destinations can be made via 856 in Mission. South of Oak Park Mall, the route would remain unchanged. Downtown employees who want additional midday flexibility could take MAX to the Plaza and transfer to 856, or to Waldo and transfer to 875. |
| Route 812 JO Flex– Reduce from 3 days to 2 days | This change is better than eliminating the route. |
Transit Action Network knows that JCT is trying to combine routes and provide as much transit as possible for its current riders given the budgetary restrictions and instructions from the County Commissioners. We are also aware that unless the County makes significant budget changes, all of these routes and more may be eliminated in 2014.
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Below is the Commission’s transit priority list that JCT is directed to implement over the next two years as a result of a reduction in federal and state funds.
The Board of County Commissioners Transit priorities (in order of importance):
- Protect the most vulnerable county residents by maintaining Special Edition and SWIFT services.
- Support TIGER investments by maintaining service on the Metcalf and Shawnee Mission Parkway corridor
- Maintain I-35 Xpress (Bus on Shoulder Routes)
- Maintain K-10 Connector
- Continue Local Services and Local Links
Our concern is the county’s lack of commitment to developing a full service transit system. In terms of transit, Johnson County thinks like a small city instead of a big wealthy county. Blue Springs, Missouri has a population of slightly over 50,000 people. For transit it normally considers an OATS bus for seniors and the disabled and a few commuter express buses as sufficient, although Blue Springs is working very hard to get commuter rail. Johnson County, with a population of 544,000, has stated a position that supports a similar low level of bus transit, with one exception. They want to keep the new Metcalf/Shawnee Mission Parkway and 75th Street/Quivira CONNEX routes. So do we, but these routes need to be paid for with new county funds instead of transferring funds from the current transit system. Johnson County accepted a $10.7 million TIGER grant from the federal government for improvements along the M/SMP corridor, and they would have to return the money if they cancelled these routes. Yet the county refuses to add new money to the transit budget to replace the three-year start up money the federal government gave them for operating expenses on these routes.
Board of Commissioners Chairman Ed Eilert complains about the cost per rider and farebox recovery ratio on some of these routes, yet he knows that the main CONNEX service has far worse performance numbers than nearly all of the regular routes they are proposing to eliminate, such as Routes 669-I, 667-E, 672-M and the JO Flex.
| Routes originally proposed for elimination | Example: Farebox recovery ratio |
| 672-M | 17% |
| 669-I | 15% |
| 667-E | 14% |
| JO Flex | 11% |
| Major CONNEX Route – protected | |
| 556 Metcalf/Plaza | 9% |
| 856 Metcalf/Plaza Flex | 7% |
The disingenuous nature of the Commission’s priorities is very concerning. Providing transit for seniors is at the top of their list, yet eliminating the local service in Spring Hill, Paola and DeSoto will leave their elderly populations stranded once again, since the Special Edition bus doesn’t service those areas.
The county won’t eliminate all of the proposed routes at this point in time or they might be in violation of Title VI of the Federal Civil Rights Act. The Act says if you receive federal funds, you can’t eliminate service to minority and low-income populations in a discriminatory manner. Of the original proposed eliminations, routes 546-D – Johnson/Quivira, 667-E – Nall/ Downtown, and 669-I – KCK/Lenexa/Olathe have significant service to areas with higher percentages of minority and low-income populations. These routes would be eliminated based on the Commission’s directions to JCT.
You still have time to comment to the Commission on the changes being proposed. Final BoCC action is planned for October 18.
Contact Johnson County Board of County Commissioners
- Phone: 913-715-0430
- Email contact form: http://bocc.jocogov.org/webform/contact-us
- Chairman: Ed Eilert (913) 715-0500
- District 1: Ed Peterson (913) 715-0431
- District 2: Jim Allen (913) 715-0432
- District 3: David Lindstrom (913) 715-0433
- District 4: Jason Osterhaus (913) 715-0434
- District 5: Michael Ashcraft (913) 715-0435
- District 6: Calvin Hayden (913) 715-0436
JCT Tentative Timeline –
• Joint JCTC/BoCC meeting on August 30, 2012, 11 am, Board of County Commission’s hearing room on the third floor of the County Administration Building in Olathe • Present final recommendations at JCTC meeting on September 18, 2012 • Submit JCT/JCTC recommendations to BoCC on October 4, 2012. • Agenda Review: October 11 • Final BoCC Action: October 18• Final changes posted the week of October 22, 2012 • Changes will begin operation on January 2, 2013
The Johnson County Transportation Council (JCTC) meeting on September 18 will be held at 5:30 pm at Sylvester Powell: 6200 Martway, Mission, KS so that more people can be present to hear the presentation of the final recommendations and hear the discussion.
Transit Action Network (TAN) 
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