SPRINGDALE -- Ozark Regional Transit and the Walton Family Foundation want to know what commuters between Fayetteville and Bentonville want in a public transportation system.
"We are focusing this particular survey on existing commuters," said Joel Gardner, executive director of ORT. "It is our hope to gain a better understanding of the needs of those currently commuting and the challenges they face on a daily basis."
The foundation is paying for a consulting firm, KFH Group, to study and promote the potential for Light-Bus Rapid Transit in Northwest Arkansas.
The scope of the study was recently broadened to consider additional aspects of public transportation as the next step in an overall, more effective transit system.
As part of the ongoing study, a survey has been created to focus on the job-related commuter.
The survey is available here.
The survey also will be posted on ORT's website, www.ozark.org, and all employed residents are encouraged to complete the form, which should take a couple of minutes.
A full-blown bus rapid transit system usually involves dedicated lanes for buses and bus stops designed to reduce traffic delays from passengers getting on and off a bus. Stops are spaced out and the buses get priority through intersections.
The Northwest Arkansas study is looking for a less expensive and less intrusive option for the already crowded U.S. 71B corridor that could be done relatively quickly. The study is considering traffic signal priorities, population densities, park-and-ride lots with bus stations and bus pullouts, among other things.
The idea is a bus rapid transit system in the corridor running at 15-minute intervals that would connect the cities forming a spine for regional public transportation, fed by a system of public transit routes. The transit system offers limited opportunities to go from one city to another without changing buses.
ORT runs a daily commuter bus route round-trip on I-49 from Fayetteville to Bentonville.
NW News on 08/27/2017