New life for the magic bus

[kstraughn]

The "dead magic bus" topic is getting too long. We just got this in email from Public Safety,


Chatham County and the Town of Pittsboro have agreed to continue funding for Chatham Pittsboro Express (PX) route served by Chapel Hill Transit during the 10-11 year.

UNC will again subsidize an annual pass allowing unlimited trips on the PX route to commuting students (outside the 2-mile radius and living within route boundaries) and permanent UNC University or Hospital staff who join the Commuter Alternative Program and select the PX Chatham route as their primary commute mode.

[oakrunfarm]

Y'all high tech folks is way behind the times.

This story was in the Chatham News last week. 

[beinginferior]

[Beel]

Apparently UNC thinks the bus is helpful to its students and or employees.  What's the problem.  And what does Speaker Pelosi have to do with this, in any way?  Why wouldn't a picture of Palin or Reagan or George Bush or Hitler be exactly as relevant to this simple event--the bus got funded?

[Silk_Hope]

Then UNC and the riders need to foot the bill, not Chatham County.

[Elvis]

UNC subsidized about $20,000 worth of tickets in the past. Assuming they have committed the same level of funding, who is picking up the $175,000 (approx) that the grant will no longer fund? From what I recall, Chatham was only paying about $4,000 per month and Pittsboro was paying something less due to the large federal grant. Does that mean the county will now pay about $220,000 for the next 10 months? Is there another grant?

[Beel]

So you say, Silk Hope.  Perhaps UNC and the BofC talked about it and came up with a formula to split the funding.  Possibly the BofC believes the bus will benefit enough Chatham citizens to deserve some funding.  There are plenty of roads in Chatham county that I never ever drive on.  Why do I have to pay to keep them up?  A whole lot of them, over in the eastern party of the county, get far more use by folks traveling to and from Raleigh, Durham, and the RTP.  I never go to those places.  Why do I have to pay?  

I certainly do understand that the bus has become some sort of symbol for Integrity Ticket.  Fine and dandy.  Perhaps people running against the current BofC will make that a major campaign theme.  Perhaps it'll be a winning issue.  Go for it.  A pattern is developing.   Run music out of Pittsboro.  Stop public transportation.  Perhaps after Obama is out you can get rid of public schools as well.  I don't have any kids who attend public schools these days--why should I pay?  If you have the money then you deserve to send your kid to a private school.  The ones who can't afford to do that prove, by that very fact, that they're incompetent parents and generally losers, just like people who need to ride a bus.  Let's kick the losers out of the county.  They can go live down in Lee or Moore counties.  

I have no problem at all with someone in the BofC revealing the cost to the County, by the way.  Perhaps Mrs. Kost still reads this board and will enlighten us, or Mayor Voller will volunteer the info. 

[integrityticket]

Why do I have to pay to keep them up?  A whole lot of them, over in the eastern party of the county, get far more use by folks traveling to and from Raleigh, Durham, and the RTP.  I never go to those places.  Why do I have to pay?  

Maybe so that public safety people, delivery services, your utilities provider, the trucks that delivery the clothes that you wear and the items in your home can get around.

But hey, what's $360,000 when it comes to transporting 100 individuals from Pittsboro to Chapel Hill?

Or half a million dollars a year for 5 new positions when current county employees get squat for a raise?

Or the $50,000 a year for an obesity director that is supposed to help the children? Did we forget about the school nutritionists who are already supposed to be doing this?

[Greg Stafford]

I see the bus headed to Chapel Hill every morning. Rarely, if ever, is there a rider. I disagree with those who attacked giving it a shot. Perhaps it was a bad idea in this economy. Then again maybe this economy made it a better idea?

The problem now is it is obviously not helping. The amount of fuel spent sending an empty bus back and forth to CH is an outrage. The environmental impact is that of what? 5 or 6 cars?

IMO the bus should die a dignified death and thanks to those who gave it a shot. You took a lot of grief but you stuck to your guns.

[srvfan]

IMO the bus should die a dignified death and thanks to those who gave it a shot. You took a lot of grief but you stuck to your guns.

It's more likely that someone will step out in front of the bus and stop it a la Thing from the fantastic 4 stopping the fire truck in the first movie, than stopping a government funded program, no matter how wasteful.  Especially if said program is either, for the children or environmentally friendly.

[Gene Galin]

From the July 19 minutes -


Month - Days of Service - Ridership   - Avg. Daily Ridership
August   6   102   17
September   22   861   39
October   22   1,914   87
November   19   1,940   102
December   20   1,120   56
January   20   1,830   92
February   20   1,840   92
March   23   3,381   147
April           22   2,529   115
May           21   1,968   94



Average Daily Ridership by Trip
   Time   Ridership
Chatham to UNC   6:08   7.5
Chatham to UNC   7:04   16.33
Chatham to UNC   7:39   11.9
UNC to Chatham   3:45   15.9
UNC to Chatham   4:40   13.2
UNC to Chatham   5:31   9.5

[Greg Stafford]

From the July 19 minutes -


Month - Days of Service - Ridership   - Avg. Daily Ridership
August   6   102   17
September   22   861   39
October   22   1,914   87
November   19   1,940   102
December   20   1,120   56
January   20   1,830   92
February   20   1,840   92
March   23   3,381   147
April           22   2,529   115
May           21   1,968   94



Average Daily Ridership by Trip
   Time   Ridership
Chatham to UNC   6:08   7.5
Chatham to UNC   7:04   16.33
Chatham to UNC   7:39   11.9
UNC to Chatham   3:45   15.9
UNC to Chatham   4:40   13.2
UNC to Chatham   5:31   9.5

The Chatham to UNC number @ 7:39 is a not accurate in my experience. I see it daily. Unless the riders are so small  their heads do not show in the windows then this is wrong.

[integrityticket]

Is that bus heading to Chapel Hill or to Pittsboro?

Sounds like the bus is completely empty for at least half of each round trip. That's really fuel efficient - NOT!

[oakrunfarm]

I have only seen the bus a handful of times because I ride a vanpool into RTP every day. The few times I have seen it, it has been completely empty.

I did a sampling of the ridership of our vanpool. It runs one round trip each day Pittsboro - RTP and back, and we have anywhere from 4-12 riders (the average is somewhere around 6). So that is 8-24 riders each day on a 14 passenger vehicle that costs the county ZERO dollars.

TTA runs 15 passenger vans which would cover the P'bo-CH ridership, and I am sure there are buses or vans available which would be MUCH less expensive than the one currently utilized for the Pittsboro to Chapel Hill route.

I ride the vanpool for many reasons, but one of them is conservation of fuel. It really irks my liver to see that $#@! huge bus running up and down the highway burning up fossil fuels EMPTY or nearly so.

Bureaucratic waste and/or political influence at its worst. 

[integrityticket]

I have only seen the bus a handful of times because I ride a vanpool into RTP every day. The few times I have seen it, it has been completely empty.

I did a sampling of the ridership of our vanpool. It runs one round trip each day Pittsboro - RTP and back, and we have anywhere from 4-12 riders (the average is somewhere around 6). So that is 8-24 riders each day on a 14 passenger vehicle that costs the county ZERO dollars.

TTA runs 15 passenger vans which would cover the P'bo-CH ridership, and I am sure there are buses or vans available which would be MUCH less expensive than the one currently utilized for the Pittsboro to Chapel Hill route.

I ride the vanpool for many reasons, but one of them is conservation of fuel. It really irks my liver to see that $#@! huge bus running up and down the highway burning up fossil fuels EMPTY or nearly so.

Bureaucratic waste and/or political influence at its worst. 

You make some very good points about van pools. However, the mghty Randolph Voller and his Chatham Coalition supporters have pooh-poohed the concept of using van or car pools. The bus is their only solution despite the low ridership.

[Tags:]

Jump to: Please select a destination: ----------------------------- Chatham County Online ----------------------------- => Chatham County Online => Chatham County Schools => Chatham County Food & Drink => Chatham County Music & Arts => Chatham Community Calendar => Free Classifieds & Help Wanted Ads => Noah's Ark - All Creatures Great & Small. => Neighbor to Neighbor => Gardening and Agriculture => Chatham County Real Estate => North Carolina => This, That and Everything Else