Memorandum

City of Lawrence

Public Transit

TO:	Diane Stoddard, Interim City Manager
FROM:	Robert A. Nugent, Public Transit Administrator
CC:	Casey Toomay, Assistant City Manager Brandon McGuire, Assistant to the City Manager
DATE:	February 2, 2016
RE:	Annual Public Meetings for Proposed Service Changes

Lawrence Transit System invites the public to attend its annual meetings (see footnote) to discuss service changes for the coming year. Meetings are held in an open house format. Proposed service changes include:  

§ Route 1: As proposed, service would be extended to East Hills Business Park. As a result Route 1 would be the primary route serving East Hills. Service to Prairie Park will be discontinued (see Route 15 for service to Prairie Park and Peaslee Center). Service on Barker will also be discontinued.

§ Route 3: Currently Route 3 operates as “flex” service. As proposed Route 3 would no longer operate as a flex service and would operate as a fixed route service. It would be the primary route service LMH (previously provided by Route 6) and would operate on North Iowa to Lakeview to Kasold to Peterson focusing on transportation to employment.

§ Route 5: Under the proposed change Route 5 would no longer serve East Hills Business Park (see Route 1 for service to East Hills). The route would operate as the primary route to LCS and would act as a crosstown connector service.

§ Route 6: the proposed change would extend Route 6 to Rock Chalk Park (previously served by Route 9) thus becoming the primary route service the facility. Service to LMH would be discontinued (see Route 3 for service to LMH).

§ Route 9: As proposed, Route 9 would no longer serve Rock Chalk Park (see Route 6 for service to Rock Chalk Park).

§ Route 15: The change proposed to route 15 would include new service to Prairie Park (previously served by Route 1). In doing so Route 15 would be the primary route serving that area. Service to LCS (see Route 5 for service to LCS) and East Hills (see Route 1 for service to East Hills) would be discontinued. Service along Barker would also be discontinued.

The dates and times for the meetings are as follows. Three meetings will be held at the Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vermont Street, in Meeting Room C on the lower level.

§ Tuesday, Feb. 16: From 5 to 6 p.m.

§ Wednesday, Feb. 17: From noon to 1 p.m.

§ Thursday, Feb. 18: There will be two meetings on this day. The first from noon to 1 p.m. and the second from 5 to 6 p.m.

One meeting will be held at KU in the Governor’s Room at the Kansas Union.

§ Wednesday, Feb. 17: From 4 to 5:30 p.m.

For those who are not able to attend one of the meetings, comments can be sent to info@lawrencetransit.org or submitted by mail at Lawrence Transit System, PO Box 708, Lawrence, KS 66044. Comments will be accepted until March 31.

Note:

Annual meetings are held each year as part of our planning process. Every fall staff evaluates service on all of our routes to determine if changes are necessary in order to provide efficient and effective service. Once this evaluation is performed staff presents proposed changes to the Public Transit Advisory Committee (PTAC) for review and approval to hold public meetings to gain public input into the proposed changes. These meetings usually occur in February of each year. After receiving input from the public staff uses this input makes final determinations in service and develops recommendations for changes. The recommendations are considered by PTAC and once approved is presented to Commission for approval and comment. Service changes occur in August each year.