From the Director

Another fiscal year has come to a close and the Public Transportation Division is working hard to make sure that Fiscal Year 2014 is off to a great start.

FY 2013 was a great year for public transportation in North Carolina. Systems across the state broke ground on new facilities, opened new offices, began new services and coordinated with other modes of transportation to provide residents of the state with safe, reliable transportation.

In this issue of In Transit, you’ll see just a few examples of the great things our state’s public transportation systems are doing.

Internally, the Public Transportation Division has been growing and changing to better serve our customers. In addition to dividing the state into 10 regions, each with a mobility development specialist, division staff are working on initiatives that will ultimately improve efficiency in public transportation, including prioritization of public transportation projects and regionalization of transit systems.

I am also making sure that staff understand what is going on in public transportation on a local level. Public Transportation Division staff members are continuing to travel across the state to work directly with transit systems in their own regions. Staff even traveled to High Point earlier this year to visit the High Point Furniture Market to see first-hand the difference public transportation dollars are making for the international market and the economy of High Point.

Our division also recognizes the responsibility we have as a part of the N.C. Department of Transportation to educate those outside of the public transportation field on what the Public Transportation Division does and why public transportation is so important to North Carolina's infrastructure. Earlier this spring, Public Transportation Division staff participated in a two-day workshop for new division planning engineers at NCDOT. More than 75 people attended the workshop and left with a better understanding of why public transportation is vital in transportation planning.

The new fiscal year is sure to bring new challenges, along with new opportunities. I applaud our transit systems for the milestones they continue to achieve as they better the lives of those who rely on public transportation in North Carolina.

Sincerely,

Teresa A. Hart, PE, CPM

AppalCART Ribbon Cutting and Open House - Aug. 2, 2013

Former Greenville Area Transit Manager Inducted into North Carolina Transportation Hall of Fame

One of public transportation’s own was part of the latest class of inductees for the 2012 North Carolina Transportation Hall of Fame. On Aug. 27, 2012, former Greenville Area Transit (GREAT) Manager Nancy Harrington joined the elite group of people who have each contributed to the advancement of various modes of transportation in North Carolina.

Harrington, a native of Goldsboro and graduate of the University of Tampa, began her career in public service at Greenville’s Recreation Department from 1977-1979. From there she worked with the Mid-East Commission in Washington, N.C. before returning to Greenville in 1981 to write applications for transportation grants. From 1988 until her retirement in January 2012, Harrington served as transit manager at GREAT. During her time at the system, GREAT doubled ridership and increased service, making Greenville accessible to as many people as possible. In addition to her work at GREAT, Harrington served on the N.C.Public Transportation Association board of directors of two terms. Harrington is a member of the Carolinas Association for Passenger Trains and volunteers for the American Cancer Society, as well as at a local nursing home.

Nancy was introduced by 2008 inductee Wendell Edwards, former executive director of the Choanoke Public Transportation Authority. Other inductees into the 2012 North Carolina Transportation Hall of Fame include RDU International Airport Retired Director John C. Brantley III; Waters Buggy Works Founder Gilbert S. Waters; pilot, master mechanic and flight instructor Edwin Foy Pullen; NCDOT Rail Division Retired Director Patrick B. Simmons; and Tidewater Transit Founder and Retired President Charles W. Smith.

The next North Carolina Transportation Hall of Fame will take place in 2014. Nominations for inductees are being accepted through the end of 2013. If you are interested in nominating a family member, friend or coworker for the 2014 North Carolina Transportation Hall of Fame, contact David Robinson with the N.C. Transportation Hall of Fame at 919-272-0063 for more information.

Public Transportation Helps Feed Residents of Rutherford County

With the assistance of funds through NCDOT, Rutherford County Transit is helping connect those in need with a local food bank through a unique partnership.

In January, after seeing signs along the side of the road numerous times advertising free food at Storehouse Pantry, a local food pantry, Rutherford County Transportation Services Director Kerry Giles decided to learn more about the service and investigate ways that the transit system could help get the food to those who need it the most.

Within a week, Rutherford County Transit began offering free transportation to Storehouse Pantry on Thursdays to residents who don’t have access to transportation.

“This partnership is a perfect marriage of services,” said Giles. “The pantry provides the food and we eliminate the transportation barrier, ensuring that people are able to get to the food that they need – it just made sense.”

Approximately 100 residents use the service a month, and Giles is looking at ways to increase those numbers.

“We use five vans that seat eight people. With food on board, we can only fit four people on each vehicle,” said Giles. “We’re working with local churches to set up a schedule where they use their vehicles to transport the food so we can fill our vans with more people.”

In addition to transporting more people per vehicle, Rutherford County Transit is also looking at expanding hours of the service, which would enable the system to possibly schedule two runs per vehicle. They’re also running some routes on Tuesdays to accommodate residents from areas with a higher need. Giles is also looking to partner with other free food distribution sites in the area to increase the amount of food making its way to those who need it in Rutherford County.

How it Works:
Every Thursday from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m., Rutherford County Transit vans pick up residents of various communities. The current schedule is as follows:

• 1st Thursday – Forest City, Cliffside and Henrietta;
• 2nd Thursday – Spindale, Ruth and Green Hill;
• 3rd Thursday – Sunshine Bostic and Golden Valley;
• 4th Thursday – Ellenboro, Mooresboro and Harris.

The service is offered on a first-come, first-served basis. Due to limited seating, interested riders must call in advance to reserve a seat. Upon arrival, riders must bring a form of identification, as well as proof of residency, such as a utility bill. Storehouse Pantry requires anyone interested in receiving free food to fill out an eligibility form.

Residents can only ride once a month. One person per household, 18-years-old or older, can ride. No coolers can be brought on board and cancellations must be made at least 24 hours in advance.

The Public Transportation Division supports Rutherford County Transit through the Rural Operating Assistance Program.

Kerr-Tar Job Access and Regional Mobility Project

Having reliable transportation to and from work is a necessity. For many people, not having an option for transportation can mean the difference between having a job, or being unemployed. While urban systems continue to expand or maintain services for all riders, in rural areas of the state, public transportation may not be as viable of an option for the general public. Due to limited resources and funding, most service in rural areas is focused on the transportation of the elderly, or Medicaid patients, traveling to and from doctor visits, appointments, etc. Systems that are able to serve the general public may not be able to operate during hours that best fit the needs of those who would use the service for travel to and from work.

To improve access to public transportation for all who wish to use it in Franklin, Granville, Person, Vance and Warren counties, the Kerr-Tar Regional Council of Governments’ Regional Transportation Planning Organization (RPO) and Workforce Development Department, along with local human service, education, planning, transportation and economic development staff, are working on a project to increase the availability of transit options. The project is through the Community Transportation Association of America’s (CTAA) Job Access Mobility Institute and is designed to meet the goal of efficiently connecting individuals with limited vehicle access to employment and other daily needs. 

Through spring of this year, the team has drafted prototypes of concept projects, such as changing the perception of who can use public transportation, modifying fixed-route services and schedules that are already in place, recommending new service, and creating a community connect network – a program that connects people who already travel to certain destinations to those in need of a ride. Research is underway within the community amongst potential users to refine these concepts into final prototypes. CTAA will provide micro grants of up to $3,000 for this part of the process; and the U.S.Department of Agriculture is reviewing a technical grant application to help one regional transportation partner set

As an unforeseen second benefit of this program, the partners discovered during their research that in local high schools, special needs students who were taught the basics of living independently were not being taught how to use public transportation. As a result, the Kerr-Tar Regional Transportation Planning Organization is working with the local school system to develop a curriculum that will teach students how to use public transportation, therefore giving them better access to jobs and increasing their quality of life.

For more information on the project, go to http://www.ktcoordinatedplan.com/

Cape Fear Public Transportation Authority Breaks Ground on New Operations Center (From Wave Transit)

After years of planning, searching for property and securing funding, the Cape Fear Public Transportation Authority (Wave Transit) broke ground for construction of the transit system's new Operations and Maintenance facility on Thursday, May 23, just north of Wilmington. A contract in the amount of $8.9 million for construction of the Operations Center was awarded to Clancy & Theys Construction Co. on April 25. The groundbreaking took place at the future site of the operations center at 1480 Castle Hayne Road.

“Although the process of constructing this important public transportation infrastructure has taken longer than we anticipated, we are confident that the end result will be an environmentally-friendly facility that will take advantage of the current construction market and provide our employees a safe environment for maintaining the investment we have in our fleet of buses and vans,” said Cape Fear Public Transportation Authority Chairman David Scheu. “This project will also create hundreds of jobs in the local community and remove an industrial bus garage from the residential Bottom neighborhood off of Castle Street.”

The facility is primarily funded by the Federal Transit Administration through their State of Good Repair initiative. Additional funding is being secured from NCDOT and local financial support is being provided by utilizing the value of the property as matching funds. In addition to creating a safer and more responsible maintenance and operations center, the facility will include a compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station and the Authority plans to begin introducing CNG buses shortly after the facility is complete.

Public Transportation Aids in Mobility during Bridge Closure in Tyrrell and Dare Counties

A 90-mile detour may sound daunting for a trip that would normally only take a few miles to drive, but when the Alligator River Bridge on U.S. 64 at the Tyrrell and Dare County line was scheduled to be closed in April, a 90-mile detour was the only option available…. or was it?

The Alligator River Bridge was closed from Tuesday, April 2, through Monday, April 15, so crews could replace several mechanical parts under the swing span portion of the bridge that had worn due to years of regular use. By closing the bridge for 13 days to make these repairs, NCDOT hoped to reduce the chance of a future long-term closure of the bridge.

To help people who live on the Tyrrell County side of the bridge, but work on the Dare County side, NCDOT worked closely with Inter-County Public Transportation Authority (ICPTA) and Hyde County Transit to set up daily shuttle services in the mornings and evenings, making the trip easier for those who depend on the bridge to get to and from work.

In order to build routes that would serve the most people, NCDOT worked with the transit systems and Tyrrell County to determine the hours most people who would use the service worked, as well as their places of employment.  Two routes were set up to the outer banks: ICPTA provided service from NCDOT’s maintenance facility in Creswell, and Hyde County Transit provided service from Lake Mattamuskeet in Fairfield.

Funding from the Federal Transit Administration’s Job Access Reverse Commute grant program was used to fund the service, with NCDOT supplying the required 50 percent match.

Around the State Accolades

Mitchell County Transportation

On January 7, the Mitchell County Transportation Authority was the recipient of a plaque and monument from the Disabled American Veterans Chapter 58 in appreciation for the system’s service to the veterans of Mitchell County.

“We are very grateful to our veterans and we are especially glad that we are able to serve our veterans as they have so proudly served us,” said Mitchell County Transportation Director Sheila Blalock.


Mountain Mobility

The Land of Sky Clean Vehicles Coalition in Asheville recognized Mountain Mobility staff for their leadership in promoting the use of alternative fueled vehicles during the Community Transportation Advisory Board meeting on January 15. Mountain Mobility is using compressed natural gas powered shuttles and propane autogas vans in more than half its fleet. A plaque from the U.S. Department of Energy Clean Cities Program was presented to Denise Braine, Lori Hembree and Hope Bleecker for their leadership. Clean Cities is the federal program that promotes the use of alternative fueled and advanced technology vehicles to reduce petroleum use and improve air quality in the U.S..

The Clean Vehicles Coalition was recently designated by DOE as the 85th Clean Cities Coalition in the U.S.. For more information go to www.cleanvehiclescoalition.org.

Around the Division

Retirement

Congratulations to Pat Perry, Mobility Development Specialist, on her retirement in June! Pat served as a Mobility Development Specialist with the Public Transportation Division since 1998 working with public transportation systems serving western North Carolina.

2013 Public Transportation Conference

Mark your calendars! The 2013 Public Transportation Division Annual Conference: Steering Through Change, will be held from Oct. 7 – Oct. 9 at the Hilton North Raleigh/Midtown Hotel in Raleigh! More information soon to come!

Safety and Training Unit

Each year, the Apprenticeship and Internship Program matches current graduate students and recent college graduates with a sponsor public transportation agency, transportation management company or planning organization for a paid 12-month apprenticeship or internship. Beginning July 1, seven apprentices and one intern will begin their year-long apprenticeship or internship in public transportation through this program. Each apprentice and intern will have an opportunity to get first-hand work experience in the public transportation industry and prepare for a career in the future.

Procurement Unit

Conversion van and lift van order forms are currently going out to all grantees that were awarded vans this past year. The contract was awarded June 4 to The Braun Corporation. 

To help improve transit services statewide, the Procurement Unit has requested information from vendors regarding various types of bus equipment including mobile digital video recording systems, electronic vehicle inspection systems, automatic passenger counters for transit vehicles, automatic voice annunciation systems, mobile data computers/automatic vehicle location systems and fareboxes. This information will be used to develop a statewide contract that any public agency will be able to order from.

Financial Management Unit

The Financial Management Unit reconciled projects to close out the fiscal year. The funding for the rideshare program SharetheRideNC, Apprenticeship and Internship Program, and state match projects approved by the Board of Transportation in April and May have been sent out to grantees; however, the 5303, 5310, 5311, 5316 and 5317 grants are still awaiting FTA review and approval before contracts can be released. 

The deadline to close all ARRA projects is Sept. 30, 2013. Out of the 72 funded ARRA projects, 59 have been closed, with 13 still open for invoicing. A total of $31.8 million in ARRA funding was appropriated to the Public Transportation Division, of which $26.6 million has been expended, leaving a balance of $5.3 million obligated on projects, and a balance of $1.2 million not allotted on projects.

The FY 2013 budget appropriation for the Bus and Bus Facility Program totals $3, 072,783, of which $2,631,506 has been allotted to projects. The fund balance on this program is $441,277 to be used on new projects.