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Cookeville TN launching fledgling bus service

 
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Cyberider




Joined: 27 Apr 2007
Posts: 501
Location: Tempe, AZ

PostPosted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 12:20 pm    Post subject: Cookeville TN launching fledgling bus service Reply with quote

This is the lovely town my late wife was from.

http://www.herald-citizen.com/index.cfm?event=news.view&id=673EF248-19B9-E2E2-671F70D47E31F2B1


Cookeville launching fledgling bus service
Liz Engel
Herald-Citizen Staff
Saturday, Aug 29, 2009

Two buses will be purchase through stimulus funds for a fixed-route transit system planned for the city of Cookeville. Another set of funds, just under $178,000, will pay operational costs for one year.

COOKEVILLE -- After discussing the possibility for years, Cookeville has received funding to kick-start a fixed-route transit bus system in the city, and the service could be up and running as soon as January. The funding -- just under $178,000 in stimulus dollars -- includes a year's worth of operational costs for a two-bus system that will hit hot-spots including Tennessee Tech, Cookeville Regional Medical Center and Restaurant Row. The funding will also cover three drivers and allow buses to run six days a week.

The Upper Cumberland Resource Agency, which has spearheaded the project, is also using another $200,000 in stimulus money to purchase the buses, 26-passenger vehicles with handicap accessibility. The projected start day for the transit system is Jan. 1. "This is a fantastic opportunity," Mayor Sam Sallee said. "A university town our size with a fixed-route bus system is going to be huge. We've seen gas go to over $4 a gallon and what it did to people. The fact that you can now live in Cookeville, Tenn., and basically get to and from work and the grocery store and shopping areas and not have to drive your car -- I think it's going to be a really good thing for us."

Although there are still months of work ahead, officials at the Upper Cumberland Human Resource Agency have already ironed out several details. There is already a name for the transit system -- CATS, or Cookeville Area Transit System -- and a proposed route -- although both could change. A logo for the buses, which would incorporate all the partners involved, could be unveiled as soon as next month. Becky Harris, UCHRA transportation director, said buses will run every 30 minutes and will make more than 30 stops at various points in the city. The general 10-mile loop will run from Tech to the hospital, down Willow to Jackson Street past Cane Creek and the Eagles Landing apartment complex, then north on Jefferson Avenue. Every hour, Harris said, trips will also be made to the K-Mart and Walmart area as well as Interstate Drive and Restaurant Row.

UCHRA is predicting a monthly ridership of 2,000 people with annual numbers topping the 113,000 mark. Those figures could be higher factoring in various special events, concerts and festivals held throughout the year. "It's a good starting point for us," said Phyllis Bennett, UCHRA executive director. "We really want to focus on Tech and the hospital. Parking is a problem, so this should alleviate some of that. It's very exciting."

Sallee also sees the transit system as a marketing tool, not only for the city, but for the university as well. Several international students without cars, he said, have approached him after city council meetings requesting some form of public transportation. The need to serve Tech was something Harris echoed as well. A map of the proposed route shows about half of the stops are centered around campus. "About every year at this time it seems like we start getting the e-mails from the parents whose children are going to Tech, and they're coming here without a vehicle. They're looking for bus schedules and things like that," Harris said. "So this is certainly going to fill that gap in need."

Harris said the fixed-route system will serve as a supplement to UCARTS, a door-to-door transportation service in the Upper Cumberland. Last year, UCARTS provided 197,000 trips in Putnam County. "This will not take the place of UCARTS," Harris said. "I think this will pick people up that aren't currently using the door-to-door service but would be more likely to use a fixed-route. I see this as an addition to UCARTS."

In the meantime, the buses have been ordered and should be delivered by December. The transit system is expected to go live come January, and funding will last for 12 months. But there are questions come 2011. Sallee is hoping a partnership between Tennessee Tech, the city and Cookeville Regional Medical Center could provide the operating costs for the second and subsequent years, but nothing has been set in stone. Bob Bell, president at TTU, said they plan on being full partners in the operation. By state law, the university would not be able to buy buses, but there have already been conversations internally as well as between Tech and UCHRA officials about future funding. CRMC officials, meanwhile, say nothing has been brought to its board of trustees thus far, and anything like that would have to meet their approval.

And Cookeville's population come the 2010 census will also be key. Regulations require a city to have 50,000 residents in order to qualify for federal funding to offset operating costs. At last estimate, Cookeville had a population just under 30,000. "It's going to be really important that we get a count of every person we possibly can. Not just the Cookeville city limits, but the Cookeville urban area," Sallee said. "If we can get that to show a population of over 50,000, then we'll be eligible to receive federal funds to really help boost this system. So that's just really critical. "This is just sort of a trial. If it doesn't work, it might not be worth pursuing. But I really believe it's going to have plenty of participation," Sallee said. "Five to 10 years down the road, I think this is going to be something we're going to be proud of."
Copyright © 2009 Herald-Citizen, a division of Cleveland Newspapers, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Mr. Linsky
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



Joined: 16 Apr 2007
Posts: 5071
Location: BRENTWOOD, CA. - WOODMERE, N.Y.

PostPosted: Mon Aug 31, 2009 1:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Next thing you know, we'll have the CRTA (Cookville Regional Transit Authority!).

It's amazing - it's like looking back in time to see the start-up of a new bus company.

Let's wish them much success, and hope that they preserve bus number 1.

Photo used for educational purposes only

Mr. 'L'

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Cyberider




Joined: 27 Apr 2007
Posts: 501
Location: Tempe, AZ

PostPosted: Mon Aug 31, 2009 9:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Mr. L,

That may be awhile but guess they have to start somewhere. Cookeville is a gorgeous little city between Nashville and Knoxville on the Cumberland Plateau. We thought about moving back there at one time. Thanks for using your photo-posting skills to post the picture of the bus!

Dave
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timecruncher



Age: 73
Joined: 23 Dec 2008
Posts: 456
Location: Louisville, Kentucky

PostPosted: Wed Sep 02, 2009 7:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

A couple of years ago a good friend and colleague of mine was tapped to set up and manage a new fixed-route transit operation in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, just down the road a bit from Nashville. Another college town (Middle Tennessee State University), this upscale exburb needed some kind of transportation for students and low-income folks.

He hired me to come down and go over the routes he had "sketched out." I built his first schedule, a simple thing with pulse transfers at their downtown transfer location every 30 minutes, did three or four runcuts and the service started up with nine Ford/Startrans cutaways. It is a neat little operation, quite successful and doing quite well, all said.

http://www.murfreesborotn.gov/default.aspx?ekmenu=134&id=2602

Nifty color scheme and logo, although I don't like full wraps and I really don't like Ford cutaways...

timecruncher
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