LONGMONT - Longmont local bus riders want buses to run later at night and more frequently. That was one of the conclusions of a survey taken at the second of four meetings of the
Longmont/RTD Citizens Advisory Committee.
Regional Transportation District officials called the series of meetings to find out why Longmont has the lowest ridership on local bus
routes of any area in the district and how citizens want the service improved.
About 11 Longmont citizens and four bus drivers attended Thursday night's meeting.
Most of those at the session said RTD should eliminate routing disconnections that cause riders to wait too long between getting off one bus and getting on another.
They said
routes should serve more local businesses. Speaking on behalf of downtown businesses, Maggie Benton said the need for a lunch loop connecting businesses with downtown restaurants is magnified by
a serious shortage of downtown parking spaces.
Most committee members said they would prefer to see buses follow a grid system that is easier to understand than the ``curly
noodle'' routes they currently take.
The participants favored designing routes that help youth get to recreational destinations, such as Roosevelt Park, Sandstone Ranch,
Clark-Centennial Park and any new recreation center built in the future.
There also was strong support for improving and lighting shelters at bus stops, leaving the Longmont bus
terminal open later each night and making route identifications on buses more clear.
Fay Reynolds and RTD board member Mary Blue argued for extending service to the newly developed
areas of the city. But Shari Malloy said most of the residents of these areas have incomes high enough to drive their own vehicles.
Reynolds argued many new residents are
accustomed to riding better bus systems in areas where they used to live.
Committee members expressed less broad support for replacing fixed bus routes with routes set by recorded
demand.
Proposals for building an additional park-n-Ride in Longmont, trying to anticipate future demand and providing Sunday service and more frequent Saturday runs also received
partial support.
People actually riding local buses Thursday expressed similar desires.
``Just about anything they did would be an improvement,'' said Nancy Vynckier
of Longmont. ``I would rather pay a higher fare for much better service. They shouldn't charge anything the way it is right now.''
She said Longmont has worse bus service than
Denver, Boulder, Greeley or even Summit County, so she often rides a bus to another city for more convenient shopping.
But Vynckier said making connections between regional and
local buses is difficult, especially since local buses do not run after 6 p.m. or on Sundays.
Sandy Madrid of Longmont said local buses should run until 10:30 p.m. six days per
week and until 8 p.m. on Sundays. She said the lack of late bus service prevents her from working night shifts.
Madrid said she often must walk 10 blocks from her bus stop after
arriving from Denver on Sunday nights. She also would like to see buses run every half hour at off-peak times, instead of only once an hour.
Gary Podhajsky of Longmont, who uses
the buses' wheelchair lifts, said he would like to see buses go to Twin Peaks Mall later at night.
``I would like to be able to go to the movies,'' he said.
The RTD
Advisory Board will meet again from 6 to 8 p.m. May 12 and 27 in the conference room of the Longmont Public Library.
