2005-06-28 - Laserfiche WebLink

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NOTICE OF SPECIAL MEETING A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CHARLOTTESVILLE CITY COUNCIL WILL BE HELD ON Tuesday, June 28, 2005 AT 5:00 p.m. IN THE Basement Conference Room. THE PROPOSED AGENDA IS AS FOLLOWS: Transit Work Session BY ORDER OF THE MAYOR BY Jeanne Cox BASEMENT CONFERENCE ROOM - June 28, 2005 Council met in special session on this date with the following members present: Dr. Brown, Mr. Caravati, Mr. Lynch. Absent: Ms. Hamilton and Mr. Schilling. Mr. Bill Watterson, Transit Manager, explained that the work session is being held as a follow up to the consultant's report made to Council on April 18th. Mr. Watterson said that Route 7 is proposed to be made 45 minutes one way instead of 30 minutes which will make it a more realistic and reliable schedule. Mr. Lynch said he would like to have 30 minute one-way trip time if traffic could flow better on West Main and Emmet Streets. He asked about where the ITS project is, and Mr. O'Connell said he will keep Council up to date on ITS. Mr. Watterson said he thinks we could get to the point of 30 minutes headways if we have dedicated transit lanes. Mr. Lynch asked about using Millmont rather than through Barracks Road Shopping Center for the Barracks Road route. Mr. Watterson said that would not be recommended unless it saved a lot of time. Dr. Brown expressed concern that if the route only runs on Millmont then people will not learn about buses. Mr. Watterson said that the trolley is similar to Route 7. He said the third trolley is used as a catch up bus but is not part of the schedule. He said putting the trolley in the schedule would be cost neutral because it is already used. Responding to a question from Mr. Caravati, Mr. Watterson said that in Phase II the trolley could serve as a trunk line route to neighborhoods. He said the trolley could run to Emmet and Barracks and back in the future. He said the University of Virginia pays $45,000 toward the cost of the trolley route, but would probably not be interested in paying for a route to Barracks Road. He said the goal is to get buses at their stops when we say they will be there before making other changes. Responding to a question from Mr. Lynch, Mr. Watterson said his experience is that once headways are below 10 minutes people do not worry about schedules. He said we could experiment if we get more service. He said we need to train drivers to drive to the schedule. Mr. O'Connell asked if there is agreement with the Route 7 and trolley changes, effective August 29th. Mr. Lynch said he would like to get a date for follow up with the light synchronization impact because he says 45 minutes is not where we want to be in the long-term, and he would like to see us get back to 30 minutes. Councilors expressed agreement with the Route 7 and trolley changes.