Central Arkansas Transit Authority's governing board Thursday backed a $23.3 million plan to upgrade bus service in Pulaski County that hinges on a sales-tax increase.
At the same time, the resolution the board approved also asks that the cities and county commit to continuing their annual contributions to finance the bus system.
The size of the sales-tax increase isn't specifically mentioned in the resolution, but supporting documents suggest it would be a one-quarter percent increase, which CATA's board had previously discussed. The percentage is the maximum sales tax that state law allows to be dedicated to transit.
The increase would require voter approval.
A timeline on securing partner and voter approval to fund the plan is "to be determined," Jarod Varner, the transit agency's executive director, said after the meeting.
"The point of today's action, the point of today's resolution, is to make it clear that we have a preferred service plan that is exciting and supported by the community," Varner said after the board meeting. "Now, the board's plan is to collaborate with our existing funding partners on implementation."
Varner and the seven of the 11 board members present for the meeting said they believe the plan adopted Thursday is a good start.
"We have a lot of work to do ... but this is a major step to moving central Arkansas forward," Jimmy Moses, who is a Little Rock representative on the board, said after the vote, alluding to Move Central Arkansas, the initiative used to develop the plan.
The centerpiece of the service plan is development of two routes in the Little Rock economic core using Bus Rapid Transit, which is a form of transit equipped with high-capacity buses and, where possible, dedicated lanes -- lanes set aside for particular types of vehicles -- to provide fast and frequent service.
The rapid transit routes would feature level platform boardings in which fares are collected before boarding, much like on high-speed rail lines.
The routes would be centered on downtown, the Capitol, Midtown, the city's hospitals and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. The minimum weekday service frequency for each stop would be 15 minutes during peak hours of operation with a minimum weekday span of service lasting 16 hours.
Such enhanced service tends to attract new passengers, particularly passengers who otherwise have the option of using their own vehicles, according to the Move Central Arkansas improvement plan. The service also can foster economic development on the western edge of downtown much like the RiverRail street car system helped spark economic development in northeast section of downtown, the plan contends.
The service improvement plan, if funded, also would increase weekday service frequency and hours in fixed-route corridors with the highest ridership potential and, using smaller buses, on fixed-route corridors with moderate ridership potential.
It also would introduce new fixed-route service with two crosstown routes in North Little Rock that would reduce the need to transfer in downtown Little Rock and a new express route between west Little Rock and downtown.
The proposed plan also would establish "flex," or on-call service, that would replace fixed-route service near Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field and south of Baseline Road. Additionally, new community shuttles would be introduced to west Little Rock, Maumelle, Sherwood and Jacksonville.
"In five to 10 years, Little Rock will rival any city in its peer group with these enhancements," said Lawrence Finn, who represents North Little Rock on the board.
The resolution is the result of months of public outreach and deliberations of a coordinating committee composed of technical experts from the agency's funding partners and major employers and institutions in the county, a blue-ribbon commission that included elected officials and public and private-sector leaders from across the county as well as a national consulting company.
The process was designed, the resolution said, "to articulate a vision to design and provide a set of services that makes riding transit more efficient, accessible, simple and, therefore, more desirable for a larger segment of the community, and to develop a funding strategy that allows CATA to implement such a vision."
Varner said his agency now has a "single plan to present."
"It's, 'Here is what the plan is, this is what we want the service to look like. Our funding mechanism includes continued [partner] support and dedicated funding so now let's have a collaborative dialogue with our funding partners on their willingness'" to help, Varner said.
CATA now receives about $12.7 million annually in local funding, primarily direct contributions from Little Rock, North Little Rock, Pulaski County, Sherwood, Jacksonville and Maumelle. The agency's total yearly budget is about $17.2 million, with the balance coming from federal and state grants.
Agency officials hope to provide momentum for the initiative next month when they formally roll out CATA's new name, Rock Region Metro, and a new paint scheme for its buses, and a fleet of 15 new buses powered with compressed natural gas, which the agency said is more environmentally friendly than the traditional diesel-powered buses in the existing fleet.
CATA expects to save about $600,000 in diesel fuel purchases, thanks to the natural-gas buses and faılling prices for diesel fuel when its current fuel contract expires Sept. 30.
The rollout is scheduled for Aug. 11.
Also Thursday, some board members informally requested the agency review possible improvements to its streetcar operations.
"It's a matter of how we can make it better," said Moses, who has expressed concern about the public perception of the downtown service.
Noting that other cities are still trying to establish a streetcar service, he said, "We already have a streetcar. It needs to be refined and rethought."
Metro on 07/31/2015