CCP 02-28-1994 - Laserfiche WebLink

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. (I'VW . REGIONAL TRANSIT BOARD ~!lt~';Y9~qV Mears Park Centre . 230 East Fifth Street, St. Paul, Minnesota 55101 292-8789 DATE: February 17,1994 TO: Local Government Community Transit Contacts FROM: Mike Kuehn, Community Relations Coordinator ;n r- SUBJECT: Update Report on Transit Issues As we move into the 1994 legislative session, the transit decision-making snucture will be gelling a great deal of allention as the metropolitan governance commission continues to meet to discuss options for restructuring metropolitan government agencies. Of course, no one knows at this time what changes will be made snucturally to the RTB, if any. Putting the governance issue aside, there are many important transit policy issues that need to be brought to your attention because of the possible impact on local government. . Transit was appropriated $8.7 million less for the current biennium than the last. This funding needs to be restored during the upcoming legislative session or all transit programs could face significant cut backs - possibly a 10 percent service reduction could result. The RTB's top legislative initiative is for a supplemental appropriation to restore the monies under-funded for the biennium and meet the . increased cost of services. The total amount needed to maintain current services is $11.3 5 million. ^' During this year's legislative session, the RTB will once again be making the case . for new dollars to begin implementing the RTB's "Vision for Transit" plan. We are asking for $5.6 million for the rest of this biennium. While all types of transit services would be improved should new dollars become available, a great amount of emphasis would be placed on improving the suburb-to-suburb trips. To emphasize the impact of new funds for transit, this money could allow for 1.72 million miles of new service to regular route services and one million miles for community based services and with increased ridership of 4.4 million passengers per year. . Metro Mobility service changes implemented last year will realize some dollar savings on the cost per trip, but as our population continues to age, more and more people will become eligible for this service. As a result. the Metro Mobility service will continue to demand additional funds, while at the same time the efficiencies in service delivery will need to be periodically evaluated. . Methods to reduce traffic congestion, known as travel demand management strategies (TDM), will be given increased emphasis in 1994. Efforts to increase car pooling, expanding the involvement of employers to work on traffic mitigation's to their work sites and other innovative strategies will increasingly be discussed. The area of TDM could perhaps require local government participation to assist with several of these efforts in the future. . -over-