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About Transit Roundtable #1
Over 60 stakeholders (click HERE For a list of attendees) participated in the Regional Transit Coordination Study Transit Roundtable 1, a half-day workshop held at the Harrisburg Area Community College (HACC) December 14. The purpose of the Transit Roundtable 1 was to review the work done to-date on the Regional Transit Coordination Study and present initial findings to a large group of transportation stakeholders in the region. (click HERE to see pictures from the transit roundtable).
The meeting began with a presentation about transportation and demographic trends for the nine county study area. (click HERE to view a 23-minute webinar summarizing the event). Participants were also briefed on the results of stakeholder interviews conducted with major employers, chambers of commerce, visitors’ bureaus, economic development agencies, and others. The presentation concluded with an overview of 10 corridors identified by the consultant team as being potentially suitable for regional transit service coordination. All of these corridors cross county boundaries and involve multiple transit agencies. (Click HERE to see the latest version of the 10 corridor maps).
Participants then broke into five small groups to further refine the 10 preliminary corridors. They were asked to comment on the route, existing and potential park and rides, origins and destinations, developing areas, and how to encourage drivers to get out of their cars and onto the transit system. (click HERE for a complete list of comments generated at the small group discussions). Several structural or systemic issues were raised by all the small groups. These challenges include schedule and fare coordination, marketing and education, and the need for funding to support these services.
At the end of the roundtable, the consultant team was charged with refining the corridors based on the comments, and developing a methodology for prioritizing which corridors should move forward. A second transit roundtable will take place in April 2011.
