I recently joined Valley Regional Transit's Regional Coordination Council, a committee that helps VRT make the most of SAFETEA-LU funding from the federal government and advises VRT on other projects. I was asked to join the RCC as an advocate for transit consumers.
Valley Ride is nearly done installing its fixed bus stops across Ada and Canyon counties, and there is some money available to do improvements at those stops. These might include benches, curb cuts and pads, shelters, and bike racks.
Do you know of any stops that especially need amenities like these? If you have ideas for Valley Ride, you can either put them in the comments below or email them to Mark Carnopis, VRT community relations manager, at mcarnopis at valleyregionaltransit dot org.
Also of note: Valley Ride is taking steps to get rid of the existing benches along its routes that are NOT at the fixed bus stop locations. There's long been confusion among riders who felt a bench automatically signified a bus stop. VRT does hope to have benches at most stops in the future.
4 comments:
As long as we're working on a "wish list", I would recommend that we look at putting garbage cans at the stops, along with the benches and shelters. I'm sure that property owners along the routes are going to get awfully tired of cleaning up after the passengers very soon.
Another nice improvement would be auxiliary lighting at the stops. It would keep the passengers safer, and help the drivers see the passengers in the dark. There are some very nice solar powered lights that do not require anything from Id. Power. They operate only when someone pushes the button, and only stay on for a specific length of time, kind of like the timers in hotel bathrooms.
Lastly, the shelters could have heaters installed in them. I saw this in Poky in the commuters shelter. They operate on a timer also. This would be a nice touch for the passengers. The only problem would be keeping the homeless out of them. I guess we could put some sort of cut-off switch that would only allow a person to push the timer button a certain number of times to get heat. After that you would have to wait a specific amount of time to get heat again. Or, we could put a timer on the timer so that the heat would only be available during business hours. Afterwards, nothing would happen if someone pushed the button.
Knowing the financial constraints of this valley, I think that we're going to be lucky to get the benches where they belong!! But, if you don't ask, you'll never receive.
Improving the image of public transportation is a good way to jump start the industry
When I was in Dubai, I saw buses there using number coding system. A particular bus for example number 5 will only stop at number 5 bus stop.
You're the best
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