To: Honorable Mayor and Members of Town Council
From: Thomas Reiff, Transportation Planner
Title
Update: Castle Rock Transit Feasibility Study
Body
________________________________________________________________________________
Executive Summary
The purpose of this item is to provide an update on the Transit Feasibility Study to Town Council. No formal action is being requested with this update.
The Transit Feasibility Study began in the Fall of 2019, to identify transit needs and assess the feasibility of different transit service models that can best serve the Town. The study is analyzing current transit models being used by various agencies, and emerging new transit trends in the public and private sector. A comprehensive public outreach effort is a major part of the study. It is intended to help the Town identify and better understand transit needs within Town, and people traveling in and out of Town. The primary public engagement effort was completed at the end of January 2020 and is discussed below. A key aspect of the study is managing expectations, as many transit options have shown to be unfeasible as a result of an extremely high cost/benefit ratio. The feasibility of the remaining options are still subject to available funding. Success of the study will be to identify meaningful, scalable, functional, and financially realistic transit options that the Town can consider near term and into the future. As the study progresses potential funding options will be identified, but at this the Town has not identified any funding sources for any future transit option implementation. Upon completion of this study, any option implementation would need to be assessed against other Town priorities.
The study is projected to be completed this fall. Town Council will be the approving authority on this study when finalized.
Notification and Outreach Efforts
The major public engagement period ended earlier this year, but will continue throughout the study. There has been a number of stakeholder meetings, public events, presentations to commissions and a Town wide postcard mailing to solicit public/stakeholder input. The following list shows the various efforts the project used to solicit input to date.
1. Created an interactive project web page on the Town’s website that also allowed people to fill out a questionnaire, map their trip origins and destinations, and write comments and suggestions on the idea wall. The interactive portion of the webpage was closed at the end of January. For a summary report of the stakeholder/public engagement effort see Attachment A.
2. Staff conducted a social media campaign
3. Attended public events, including Starlighting, Douglas County Arts & Craft Show, Senior Center events, and Councilmembers’ open houses
4. Held a public open house at Town Hall
5. Met with the Downtown Development Authority and Downtown Merchants Association
6. Gave a presentation and had a discussion with the Douglas County Transit Solution committee, which includes service providers that give rides to the vulnerable population in Douglas County
7. Held study sessions with the Public Works Commission and Planning Commission
8. Held several Focus Group and Technical Advisory Committee meetings
9. Provided several news releases and articles in Town newsletters
10. Held numerous meetings with individual stakeholders
Outreach efforts will continue throughout the study as findings and recommendations are shared. Outreach and coordination is also being done with other Town departments and other agencies, including CDOT, RTD, and Douglas County.
Discussion
Based on community comments, the Town decided to conduct a transit feasibility study in 2019. The project began in October and is expected to be completed this fall. To assist in this effort, the Town retained the services of Felsburg, Holt, and Ullevig (FHU). Since October and up until January 31, the Town and FHU has been collecting input from the public along with various stakeholders and outside agencies. This information is being used to identify transit needs and opportunities for Castle Rock residents, employees, and businesses. Based on the input gathered thus far, transit needs have been placed into four categories;
1. Serve Vulnerable Populations - this includes older adults, minorities, individuals with disabilities, low income, youths (ages 6-17), limited English proficiency, and zero vehicle households
2. Provide Regional Connectivity - such as access to the Ridgegate RTD station in Lone Tree, regional medical facilities, and access to/from jobs in Castle Rock
3. Enhance Economic Sustainability - by providing regional transit to bring workers into Town, and access to local jobs, social activities and events
4. Support Population Growth - by providing access to/from jobs in Castle Rock and regionally, expanding local labor pool, and providing service within Town
Please reference Attachment B for further information regarding transit needs and opportunities that have been identified, and what was heard as part of the outreach effort.
Based on the transit needs and opportunities, a number of different transit service types were considered and evaluated as part of the initial screening process. Service types evaluated included an extension of RTD’s light rail service, fixed-route regional bus service, fixed-route traditional bus service, a circulator, point-to-point on-demand service, first/last mile service, and microtransit. Carpool and vanpool were also considered, but these services exist today and are managed by DRCOG’s Way-to-Go Program. No changes are proposed for these two services.
As part of the evaluation process each service type was evaluated on how well they could meet the Needs/Opportunities identified. Many pros and cons were identified for each service type. For example, according to RTD the cost to extend the light rail to Castle Rock would cost roughly $100 million per mile, which equates to a total of $1 billion to reach Castle Rock. In addition, RTD has no expansion plans and the Town is outside RTD’s service boundary. Therefore, the study has decided not to carry this option forward. Another example is the cost to purchase new fixed route buses which range between $450,000 to $900,000 per vehicle. Multiple vehicles would be required to serve the Town. There were also other considerations that were used to compare the service types, such as CDOT’s potential Bustang stop in Castle Rock, which can serve as the regional bus service. Also the lack of flexibility for several service types and not having to purchase a fleet of vehicles was also considered during the evaluation. After completing the initial level screening evaluation, three service types are being carried forward for further evaluation with regard to feasibility.
1. Point to Point On-Demand Service - similar to the current taxi voucher service operated by the Town it is intended to serve the vulnerable population
2. First/Last Mile Service - this service could include rides to the Ridgegate RTD station and address most of the transit need categories
3. Microtransit - this service would primarily provide rides within Town and meet three of the four transit needs
Please see Attachment C for a description of each transit service type and the complete evaluation.
Before the study is presented for approval, additional updates to Town Council and other boards and commissions are anticipated, as well as another public open house, more stakeholder meetings, coordination with other agencies, discussions with private service providers, and the general public are expected. A final report will be generated by FHU to document the study, process and results, including the phasing and cost considerations.
Attachments
Attachment A: Stakeholder & Community Engagement Summary
Attachment B: Transit Needs and Opportunities
Attachment C: Service Model Evaluation