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FastTrans Revisions

About ten years ago, I moved from the Community Services Department to the Planning Department. I had just finished my Masters in Planning and Community Development, and was actually looking for a planning job. It was one of my lucky moments, that I finished my degree, was looking for a job, and there was an opening, albeit temporary on the surface of it, within the City.

So, with the agreement that I'd have a job for 2002, but need to find a new job by July 2003 (when the funding for my position ended), I moved over to Planning on tax day 2002. So, one of the first projects that I was immersed in was the creation of a downtown transportation loop. The project was one the City had applied for Congestion Mitigation/Air Quality monies from the Federal Government for. The goal of the project was to offer fast, and economical transportation options in and out of the downtown area, to encourage people to not drive into downtown.

The City's goal in designing these routes was to bring dense residential areas, remote parking lots, and transportation centers, with the core downtown area.We knew that COAST was going to be a partner with the City on this project, after all who else would you work with, outside of a bus operator, on developing a intra city bus line? I am sure most of the readers know, COAST is the regional mass transit provider. COAST operates bus service throughout the seacoast, and has been located in Dover for most, if not all of the last ten years.

Dover FastTrans provides regular, hourly bus service from downtown to homes, businesses, and remote parking in the city. Currently, there are three FastTrans routes, numbered 33, 34, and 35, which run every hour, from about 7AM until 7PM, Monday through Friday. Also as part of the FastTrans project, service on COAST Route 1, which serves downtown as well as the Dover Housing Authority, has been increased to hourly frequency.

There are two phases I remember about the project setup. First, working with residents and stakeholders to identify the design and layout of the routes, and the phasing in of the routes. We knew we couldn't have all the routes online at once, so route 33 can online first, in December of 2008. From there we expanded the options to include connections to Durham Road and Knox Marsh Road, as well as Shaws and the Union Street senior housing.

The second phase was the roll out. We had a VIP ride/tour of Route 33, where elected officials, staff and other stakeholders road the trip from the Transportation Center trough the Sixth Street destinations. It was fun hearing people exclaim that they didn't realize buses can be clean and welcoming. This expression has continued throughout the life of the project. We have seen a continual increase in ridership that the project realized year in and year out. It is a very rewarding project to have worked on.

Flash forward to 2011. As we noted in the fall/winter, due to budget concerns, the City and COAST had to look at revising the project. We treated it like a business would treat a service. We looked at where efficiencies can be made, where cuts are required and where we need to change out focus. These changes come in two bursts. The first was January 9, 2012, and the second will come this summer.

Beginning January 9, the hours for the service were trimmed and the schedule was adjusted. You can see the slightly modified schedule, and review the full adjustments by reading the flyer COAST put out prior to January 9th, 2012.

Basically, though the changes are being made to the after-6PM timeframe when ridership is extremely low on each route.

• Route 33: service will end at 6:22pm. There will be no 6:36pm or 7:26pm runs. Also the schedule between 4pm and 6:22pm has been adjusted significantly.
• Route 34: the 6:30pm run will become outbound only. The 7:30pm outbound run will continue.
• Route 35: service will end at 6:38pm. There will be no 6:45pm run.

Why did we cut something that is successful? I think there are two answers, the first, is to that FastTrans was started with CMAQ grant-funding. We knew it was funded for 3 years, and hoped that there would be monies to continue the grant funding, but that is not the case. The grant will be running out in Spring of 2012, and in order to stretch it as far as possible, we have to adjust the services now to ensure we can run as long as possible on the grant funding.

The second reason we cut something that was successful, is that you have to make tough decisions to continue success. We all know the adage what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, well this is a similar situation. We stepped back and looked at the areas of the program that were not thriving and looked to reduce the impact they might have on dragging back the rest of the service. In this light we see that people are not using the service as much after 6 pm, as they are at 4 pm. Also, we see that routes 34 and 35 are not as heavily traveled as 33 is. We are choosing to put our focus on route 33 and help it thrive.

I've said the program is successful. How so, you might ask. Well, below is a chart from September of 2011, analyzing the Dover COAST routes. It compares August 2010 and 2011.

You can see that there has been an increase among most of the routes in double digits. The Community Routes are a bus route that focuses on the high school, so we won't focus on that. But overall mass transit is a popular service in Dover. That said, we know there is a cost.

The cost for the three routes is close to $600,000 a year. The City pays approximately $140,000 of that cost, as part of the matching requirements for the grant.We raise $10 - 15,0000 in fare box revenue and some committed stakeholders, such as Strafford County, pay a portion to help ensure service. Finally, as you might have guessed, we receive the bulk of the funding from the CMAQ grant. When 80% of your funding is removed, no matter what the total cost is, you have to review the options for the program. In this case, we could not justify asking the City to increase funding tri-fold.

So what happens in July? Well, presuming that the Federal government doesn't reverse itself and continues to cut transportation dollars, we will have to dig deeper and adjust the program further. Most likely we will look at eliminating route 35 and 34 if we have to so that a modified route 33 can survive. We will be looking for ways to increase stakeholder investment as well, sot that the City funds can be leveraged further.

So, why do you care? I hope you care, because like me you see the value in developing the community in a thoughtful and sustainable way. We hope you  understand that mass transit isn't for the poor, that it is smart and sensible for all ranges of income. It is an alternative that has value when you consider 4 dollar gas and when you consider the environment and when you consider the long term health benefits.

This is a topic I want to return to more in 2012, so get ready to read about the joys and value of mass transit, in Dover and the world (insert evil laugh).

FastTrans Service Changes

Do you use the FastTrans service here in Dover? This service  is a downtown transit loop project. The intention of the project is to encourage the use of public transit for trips that take place between two Dover locations, such as home to work or home to shopping or personal service appointments.

The City of Dover applied for and received CMAQ (Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality) funding to assist with the development of the program. CMAQ funding has been instituted by the Federal government to create surface transportation options that  contribute to air quality improvements and reduce congestion. This funding will be phased out by 2013.

The air quality would be improved by encouraging  people to use the service instead of driving individual automobiles while in Dover. 

There are three flexible on demand routes that run the inner core of Dover.

• The initial route was along Sixth Street and Portland Avenue.
• The second loop focused on the Broadway and Silver Street corridors.
• The third route augments the existing public transit network and will follow 108 and Locust Street.

We are now coming to an end of the CMAQ funding period, and while the City will be continuing the service, there will be some changes made to the delivery of this valuable service. The public is invited to an informational session on proposed long- and short-term changes to the FastTrans service. The session will be held on Thursday, Dec. 29, at 5:30 p.m., at the Dover Transportation Center.

During the Dec. 29 session, COAST and City of Dover officials will discuss the history of the service, and look to the future, including funding. The public is encouraged to share comments and questions.

For more information, contact COAST at 743-5777.

Tracking Success

As we celebrate ten years of revived passenger rail service in Dover, here's what I remember the day the Downeaster came to town. I remember that on December 15, 2001, I had lunch at the pizza place next door to the transportation center, and watched the festivities from there, as opposed to being part of the mob, with a fellow employee of the Community Services Department.

I remember that I felt bad for Bruce. Bruce was the planner (who recently retired) who had championed the City's efforts to secure the train stopping in Dover. I felt bad because Bruce was in the Air National Guard and he had been called up as part of the massive call up post 9/11. So as people were celebrating the arrival of something he had worked so hard to help secure, Bruce was in the Middle East defending the rest of us.

Beyond that specific day, what I think about the Downeaster falls into two categories. The first is emotional and the second is rational. The emotional is the connection the Downeaster has to parental memories. My son was 3 in 2001. He and I would drive downtown, get a coffee and a pastry, run to the post office for the mail (we had a PO Box), and then head to the transportation center to watch the train come through every Saturday. We rode it for the first time together in December of 2002, when we went to Exeter and back.

My son's reaction to seeing the train, and (in my experience) general every child's reaction is that of elation. Kids love to see the train come into town, and they love to ride trains when they can. This feeling I think is second only to planners love of the idea of a train, or mass transit for that matter. Not sure where the emotional connection comes from (that's why its emotional, right?), but it is a visceral response. Eyes light up, we start swaying to a fro, get nervous; the whole nine yards. You'd think the prom was coming up and we are taking a model.

This flows into the rational connection I have with the Downeaster. We are very lucky as a community to have not only the Downeaster stop through Dover, but to have our station downtown. The ability for travelers to step off the train, cross the street (admittedly not the safest crossing), and shop, eat, stroll, etc, is a true bonus for us. I won't go into ridership numbers or the statistical info, but will say they are excellent and continue to grow each year.

The Downeaster was Amtrak's fastest-growing service in fiscal years 2006 and 2008, and continues to be a route that brings in necessary revenue for the Amtrak system. Are there things that could be improved upon? Sure, there are in every aspect of life. That said, on a birthday, let's focus on the great thing it is to be located on this line, to be able to experience that feeling of giddy joy riding the train and celebrate ten years of success.

The 2011 Commute Green New Hampshire Challenge

Beginning today, May 16, the City of Dover is taking part in the 2011 Commute Green New Hampshire Challenge. This challenge looks to push us to walk, bike, carpool, take transit (bus, train, FasTrans), basically do whatever we can not to commute in a single occupancy vehicle.

The City has formed a team, and has invited volunteers and staff to participate in our team, as we look to lower our carbon footprint, and encourage multi-modal transit in the City. As part of the challenge we are encouraging participants to come to the Dover Transportation Center on Friday, May 20th, to partake in free coffee and breakfast. The coffee has been donated by NH Coffee Roasters and the breakfast by Holy Rosary Credit Union.

C & J Bus lines is participating at both their Dover and Portsmouth locations. They will have coffee and donuts for commuters every day this week to celebrate and encourage commuting.

That's great that we are doing all this, but what is Commute Green New Hampshire?

Commute Green New Hampshire is the annual promotion which encourages commuters to choose healthier and more environmentally-friendly transportation options. It doesn't matter if you are commuting to work, school, shopping or run of the mill trips. If you make the trip, make it green.

According to Commute Green's web site:
· U.S. families spend about $9,000 a year on transportation costs.
· More than 22 percent of all motor vehicle trips Americans take are less than one mile in length, and 50 percent of the working population commutes five miles or less to work.
· One car emits about 20 pounds of carbon dioxide per gallon of gasoline it uses, but each New Hampshire resident can reduce the equivalent of about taking two cars a year off the road just by carpooling, bicycling, walking or using public transportation three days a week.

That is all impressive, but what is more impressive is how simple it is to make an effort to be more green and to commute with someone else, or using a healthier mode of transportation. It just takes a bit of pre-planning. I know not everyone can walk to work. I know some of you have a longer commute than my one mile (it is uphill both ways), and might not live near your co-workers, but maybe you can make a pact to meet at a park n ride in the middle with a coworker, and figure out a way to commute green part of the trip.

All I ask, and all that the project asks, is that you give it a try this week. Figure out a small way to be part of the challenge and we all will be better off for it.

Sustainability

Last week was an inspired week for me. It was long and well enjoyed on many levels. On Thursday I attended the first day of the Northern New England Chapter of the American Planning Association's annual conference. The conference rotates between the three member states (Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont). This year the conference was in Portsmouth, NH and the main theme was sustainability.

Not only did I attend the conference, but I presented a session of Dover's Form Based Code. Just prior to the session, the City was awarded the NNECAPA's Planning Project for 2010 award. This award was very much appreciated, and I am proud of the work that the volunteers and staff did to formulate and evolve our form based code for downtown Dover, along with the emmense assistance from our consultant, Jeffrey Taylor and Associates.

As I said, the overall theme of the conference was sustainability. There were interesting speakers from across the state, region and country in attendance. My session was collected with another on the Form Based Code, and how reuse of older structures is a method of being sustainable. The session was a good primer on the code, as well as a review of the path Dover took from a zoning district created over 25 years before and modernized through public participation.

Friday was also a sustainable day for me. No, I missed day two of the conference. Instead I took my recently turned 12 year old to New York City for the day. He wanted to attend the New York Comic Book Convention, and I volunteered to take him. To make this trip, we decided to be sustainable. We took the bus to and from Dover to Boston, and then the Amtrak from Boston to New York.

What an experience. I am not talking about the comic book convention, that is a whole blog post unto itself. No, the transit for the day was both long and rewarding we left our beds at 3 am to be in NYC at 10:15 (slight delay on the train ended up getting us there at 10:45). We left NYC at 7:30 pm and arrived at the Dover bus stop at 2:45 am.

In between we saw the sights and sounds of NYC and didn't enjoy the air (very still and stale). It was my first time in the CITY in 20 years, and my sons first as well. It was a great experience and the best part was we never missed our car. Now, I am not going to move there, but it really was interesting to see what you can do on foot and with mass transit.

It is inspiring especially coupled with the conference where I learned about the many green initiatives that NYC has undertaken. You would be amazed to think about how little things we do and little actions we take can amount to very big and powerful changes.

I am looking forward to bringing these thoughts to my work and home life combined. I think there is a lot to learn out there about being more sustainable and how we can do it without the drastic consequences we all assume happen (plus you know what happens when you assume...).`

Dover's FastTrans

One of the project that the Planning Department has championed is the high frequency inner city bus service, known as the FastTrans. This project is providing regular, hourly bus service from downtown to homes, businesses, and remote parking in the city. There are three FastTrans routes, numbered 33, 34, and 35, which run every hour, from about 7AM until 7PM, Monday through Friday. Also as part of the FastTrans project, service on COAST Route 1, which serves downtown as well as the Dover Housing Authority, has been increased to hourly frequency.

This project was begun at the direction of the City of Dover to provide fast and affordable transportation throughout the greater downtown area. The project is funded through a "CMAQ" (Congestion Mitigation Air Quality) grant submitted by the Planning Department and approved (a federal grant for projects that will improve air quality and reduce traffic congestion) by the state and Federal Highway Administration. Funding for the local match of 20% come from the City of Dover out of registration fees and from Strafford County.

The goal in designing these routes for the City was to connect dense residential areas, remote parking lots, and transportation centers, with the core downtown area. These routes were each designed to make a full round-trip every hour. Users can get where they need to go in town as fast as they would in a car, and they can get back within an hour. Besides the high frequency of service, we've set the fare for these routes at just 50 cents. Whether you're a visitor coming in on the train or C&J, a resident with a car, or an employee of a Dover business, there's no better way to get around town.

The success of this project has been very rewarding. Dover has continuously worked towards reducing congestion downtown through offering transportation alternatives, but at the same time we do not want to totally discourage those that want the independence of driving. The Planners in Dover recognize that while we need to address our automobile dependencies we also need to be realistic about transportation limitations.

FastTrans is just one more way we can work to reflect the public's needs and desires. This project was developed as part of the City's Transportation Improvement Program, which is contained within the Capital Improvements Plan. This plan is about to come up for review again, and contains continuations of the FastTrans project as well as other new and exciting opportunities.

Community Trail

Dover was settled in 1623. Since that time there have been many advances in transportation and leisure. In the 1800s the railroad was king. By the mid twentieth century things were changing. In 1954 the Spaulding Turnpike was constructed and opened for use.

Dover remains a multi-modal community. You can use the Downeaster to visit or commute, we have intra and inner city bus service (COAST, WildCAT, FastTrans and C&J). We certainly have the automobile, but recently you might have used the Community Trail to move from place to place. The Community Trail is a project that can be viewed as either transportation or leisure. Never heard of the CT? Well, read on....

History
The Community Trail project began about 10 years ago. The City applied for federal funds to create a trail through the community to offer an alternative for those who need to traverse the City. This trail was envisioned to reach from Durham to Rochester. Bit by bit that plan is unfolding. The grant was approved, and the City began the planning process. This process involved creating a trail group, in the early 2000s. The focus of this group was to plan and layout a trail that the citizens would use. Staff acted as facilitators, and liaisons to the engineer retained to design the trail.

Location
So where does the trail go?

Basically the trail has four components. The southern urban component will run from the Dover Middle School along Route 108/Durham Road and terminate at Fisher Street. The urban portion continues from Fisher Street through the Silver Street underpass, crossed Washington Street and passes over the railroad tressle between Washington Street and the Transportation Center. This portion of the trail follows the rail bed of a long defunct rail spur that ran between Dover and Portsmouth.

The northern phase of the urban portion runs from the Transportation Center, north along Chestnut Street and Fourth Street, where it reconnects with the Cochecho River at Downeast Energy. The plan, for this unfinished portion, is for a stairway to be constructed to bring travelers down to the riverside where the trail will connect with an existing rural portion that runs along the Cochecho from Beckwith Park to Whittier Street.

Once across Whittier Street, the trail will cross under the Spaulding Turnpike and follow the river parallel to Sixth Street behind the Liberty Mutual and Measured Progress complexes. A trail head exists on Watson Road, where a parking lot is designed. The final portion of the trail would connect from Watson Road to the Rochester City line. A full map of the trail is available.

Next Steps
In May of this year a ground breaking ceremony was held at the campus of Measured Progress as we look towards the construction of the parking lot area off Watson Road. In July the Rotary Club of Dover agreed to sponsor a trail head at the Transportation Center. This trail head will be a welcoming site for travelers on the trail and is an integral part of the evolution of the trail.

Participation
Sounds great, doesn't it? Well a lot of work has been invested in the process. The Open Lands Committee, Conservation Commission, Dover Main Street and the Planning Board have all assisted the Community Trail committee with work and support over the past ten years. This project has had fits and spurts, and keeps on chugging as we move towards completion of the urban sections.

If you are interested in being involved, please check out the trail's Facebook page. The group will be meeting soon and agendas are posted on the page, as well as the City's web site.