Welcome to the Virtual Open House for the
Mendocino Transit Study
The Draft Plan is set to be released for public review in March 2024. To learn more about the study and the proposed changes to Mendocino Transit's service, scroll down to begin viewing the Virtual Open House stations.
Station 1: Study Overview
Mendocino Transit Authority (MTA) is updating its Short-Range Transit Development Plan (SRTDP). This plan assesses current public transportation offerings in Mendocino County, takes into account public feedback gathered during the planning phase, and outlines service and operational recommendations for MTA to implement over the next five years.
Recognizing the crucial role that public transit plays in meeting the transportation needs of local residents, it is essential for the SRTDP to not only present valuable suggestions for potential service enhancements but also accurately represent the preferences of Mendocino County residents. In the end, the study will provide a “business plan,” based on public input, which can
MTA Driver
guide the regional transit program to best meet mobility needs utilizing the available resources. Since spring 2023, the MTA team has undertaken an on-board survey, conducted a stakeholder survey, organized community workshops, examined existing conditions, and analyzed current services and routes to identify potential enhancements. With the data collected and community feedback received, the team has now formulated a preliminary plan, which will be presented to the public for review and comments in early 2024.
The study aims to identify MTA's most efficient allocation of resources to address the diverse needs of both existing and potential transit users in Mendocino County.
Station 2: Existing Conditions
In June 2023, MTA and its consultant team prepared a memo describing the existing conditions of MTA transit and the current transit needs of Mendocino County residents.
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Some of the key findings from this report include:
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Mendocino County’s population size is expected to stay rather stagnant during upcoming years, however, the number of senior adults over the age of 65 will increase significantly.
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Mendocino County has a greater proportion of potentially transit-dependent residents compared to the State of California. These residents are concentrated in Ukiah, Fort Bragg, and Willits.
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Most Mendocino County residents commute within the county. The top out-of-county destinations that people commute to or from are in Sonoma and Lake Counties.
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Some of the most regular transit riders are those who rely on the bus for commuting to and from work.
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A large proportion of transit trips, if not to work, are to other
Current Mendocino Transit Network
major activity centers such as hospitals, grocery stores, social service agencies, tribal headquarters, and schools.
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MTA ridership recovery post-pandemic has been consistent, but slow; ridership in FY 2022-23 is expected to be almost double the systemwide low seen in FY 2020-21 but will still represent a 50% decrease from FY 2018-19.
Station 3: Previous Outreach
To ensure that MTA's planning effort aligned with the values and needs of the community, a public outreach campaign was implemented during the study. This includes:
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Passenger Surveys (May 2023)
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Stakeholder Survey (August 2023)
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Two Sets of Workshops (July 27th, 2023 and January 2024).
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Here are the findings from the Passenger Surveys:
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272 passengers participated in the survey. 44% of respondents were employed, followed by 26% who were students. Of those students, half identified that they attended Mendocino College.
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Most fixed route respondents ride the bus to:
Go to Work (28%)
Do Personnel Errands (26%)
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Respondents were most interested in expanded transit service to Sonoma County/East Bay Area.
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63% of respondents rated MTA service as excellent.
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Over 80% of respondents rated the friendliness of drivers as excellent.
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The lowest-ranked aspect of MTA service was hours of operations.
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Participants most often requested improvements for later weekday service (58%), followed by later Saturday service (46%).
July 2023 Community Workshop
Community Workshop Feedback
Station 4: Proposed Alternatives
The Draft Routing Plan will outline alternatives for the MTA fixed route system and a plan for potential replacement of the fixed route service with microtransit services (see video below). Each section that follows outlines the proposed redesign for Ukiah, Willits, Rural Inland, and Coastal service. No changes to existing Paratransit service are proposed as part of this plan. The Technical Memo #3 is available for download below, and includes an overview of the proposed changes to MTA's service.
What Is Microtransit?
Over the last several years, the concept of microtransit has seen increasingly widespread application nationwide. Microtransit service aims to provide coverage over an area not served efficiently by fixed-route service with a short response time, typically within 15 minutes of the request, through app-based technology. To learn more, watch the video on the right.
Ukiah Service Alternatives
Ukiah is a 2-mile-wide city that runs north/south. MTA operations and Mendocino College bookend it while Walmart and the Pear Tree Center also generate transit. The Pear Tree Center is a transfer hub for MTA and Lake Transit Authority services. In the future, the Redwood Coast Express from Eureka will stop there, too.
Currently, Ukiah is served by two local fixed routes, Routes 7 and 9, which interline with Route 20 (Willits to Ukiah) for efficiency purposes. A maximum of four vehicles are in service at one time in Ukiah for Routes 7, 9, and 20. Within Ukiah, Route 7 (Jitney) is more direct and serves fewer stops, while Route 9 provides local service, stopping at commercial, residential, and social service activity centers. With the current route configuration, half-hourly service is provided to most Ukiah stops during most weekdays, and hourly service is provided on Saturdays. Some stops are only served by Routes 7/9 once a day, including the Plowshares food distribution site. Routes 7/9 have the greatest ridership of all MTA fixed routes and carry around 5.2 one-way passenger trips per hour. Route 7 makes four roundtrips per day while Route 9 makes 20.
Ukiah Route Map
Ukiah has two fixed routes - Routes 7 and 9, which intersect with Route 20 for efficiency. Route 7 is more direct, while Route 9 provides more local service. Both routes have the highest ridership of all MTA fixed routes.
Challenges and Considerations
Although Routes 7/9 serve most commercial and residential transit activity centers in Ukiah, the current routing structure results in transit travel times being longer compared to taking a private vehicle. For example, it takes a bus passenger 41 minutes to travel from the Montclair Apartments in the southern portion of Ukiah to Mendocino College, but the same trip takes less than 15 minutes by car. A benefit of the current routing structure, however, is the combined Routes 7/9 provide consistent half-hourly headways to most stops. Any Ukiah service alternatives that would increase headways will hurt Routes 7/9 ridership.
As Route 7 (Jitney) provides more direct service compared to Route 9, Route 7 does not serve as many activity centers. For instance, Walmart is a significant transit trip generator with 28 average daily boardings, however, it is not served by Route 7. Additionally, Route 7 only serves the Pear Tree Center once a day in each direction out of four daily roundtrips, minimizing opportunities for transfers.
There are several service alternatives considered for Ukiah, including routing changes, span of service changes, and the introduction of new service types. All the Ukiah alternatives presented assume that routes will continue to serve the existing Pear Tree Center transfer point. Once a site is chosen for the future Ukiah Transit Center and development is underway, minor changes to the MTA fixed routes will be required to serve the new facility.
Service Alternatives for Ukiah Include:
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Make Plowshares, River Oak School, and Ukiah High School On-Demand Stops
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Serve Walmart and the Pear Tree Center with Route 7 (Jitney)
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Local Circulator Routes
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Ukiah Microtransit Service
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Microtransit Service and No Changes to Fixed Routes
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Ukiah Microtransit Service and Reduced Route 9 Service
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Ukiah Microtransit Service and 90-Minute Loop Route Structure
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Deviated State Street Express
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Evening Service
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Route 9 – 6:00 PM –11:00 PM
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Route 20 – 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM
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Ukiah Microtransit Service – 6:00 PM – 11:00 PM
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Expanded Saturday Service
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Route 20 – 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
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Ukiah Saturday Microtransit Service – 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Willits Service Alternatives
Willits/Brooktrails Microtransit Service
In an effort to serve more homes in Willits and Brooktrails (currently unserved), the MTA could operate a combined Willits/Brooktrails microtransit service with the following characteristics:
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The Willits zone would serve nearly all residential and commercial developments within the city, including the Sherwood Rancheria. The Brooktrails zone would include most of the Brooktrails population.
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Service hours would be weekdays from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM.
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Like the Ukiah microtransit service, it is assumed the public fare would be $4.00. The discounted fare for senior adults ages 62 and older and passengers with disabilities would be $2.00.
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To request rides, passengers would either submit their request through a phone app, or they would call dispatch.
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Based on demand, only one vehicle would be used.
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Given the dispersed nature of Brooktrails and the potentially long travel times necessary to serve homes in the community, service to Brooktrails would be limited to the first 15 minutes of the hour. This policy would require the app to restrict ride requests either starting or ending in Brooktrails to the eligible service windows. While this policy would result in Brooktrails passengers having longer wait times, it would benefit overall service productivity.
Various alternatives for implementing microtransit in Willits/Brooktrails include:
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Willits/Brooktrails Microtransit Service and No Changes to Fixed Routes
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Replace Route 1 with Willits/Brooktrails Microtransit Service
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Evening Service Options
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Operate Route 1 From 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM
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Serve Sherwood Valley Casino On-Demand
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Saturday Service Options
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Willits/Brooktrails Microtransit Service
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Missing one
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Potential Ukiah and Brooktrails Microtransit Service
Rural Inland Communities Service Alternatives
In 2022, MCOG and Caltrans commissioned the development of the Mendocino County Rural Inland Communities Mobility Solutions (Mobility Solutions) study to analyze innovative ways to improve transit service to the communities of Brooktrails, Covelo, Hopland, Laytonville, and Potter Valley. These communities are collectively home to nearly 7,500 residents and are located primarily along the US 101 corridor.
After extensive analysis and outreach, the Mobility Solutions study proposed a “mix of vehicle-based service and other programs to supplement rural residents’ transportation choices.” This section analyzes the estimated impacts on costs and ridership of the various transit-focused solutions recommended in the Mobility Solutions study including:
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Brooktrails
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Deviated Fixed Route Service
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Brooktrails Extension Service
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Covelo
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Deviated Fixed Route Service to Willits
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Hopland
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Increase Route 65 Frequency
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Laytonville
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Deviated Fixed Route Service to Willits
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Potter Valley
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Deviated Fixed Route Service to Ukiah
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Community Van Service
Mendocino County Rural Inland Communities
Coastal Service Alternatives
Service alternatives focused on improving transit access and service efficiencies along the Mendocino County coast are discussed here.
Fort Bragg
Revise Route 65 Schedule to Reduce Travel Times between Willits and Fort Bragg Route 65 vehicles are stored at the MTA facility in Fort Bragg, therefore service starts and ends in Fort Bragg. On weekdays, the first Route 65 southbound run serves Fort Bragg, then heads south to stop in the north coast communities of Caspar, Mendocino, and Caspar Beach, then heads back north to Highway 20, then east to Willits. Data shows that few Route 65 passengers board in the Caspar and Mendocino area. The more common trip pattern is between Fort Bragg and Willits. Fort Bragg residents could, however, board Route 65 at Boatyard before the bus heads to Willits after it has been to Mendocino. However, Route 5 does not connect with Route 65 for the early and later runs. Therefore, passengers without a vehicle would need to take the side trip to Mendocino.
To improve travel times for Route 65 passengers traveling between inland destinations and Fort Bragg, the Route 65 schedule could be modified to instead serve the north coast first (before Fort Bragg) on southbound runs and second (after Fort Bragg) on northbound runs. This would require Route 65 to deadhead to Mendocino in the morning and from Mendocino back to the yard in the evening.
These schedule changes would benefit people traveling between Willits/Ukiah and Fort Bragg but would negatively impact people traveling to or from the north coast. However, Route 60 provides four roundtrips per day between north coast destinations and Fort Bragg.
Ridership would be expected to increase slightly on both northbound and southbound runs, resulting in Route 65 ridership increasing by 200 annual passenger trips. However, the new schedule would result in increased deadhead time, increasing annual service levels by 240 vehicle service hours and 3,800 vehicle service miles. This increase in service levels would increase operating costs by $27,500, however after considering the additional fare revenue from the increased ridership the MTA’s annual operating subsidy would only increase by $26,500.
For Bragg Alternatives Include:
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Saturday Route 5 Service – 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
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Sunday Route 5 Service – 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
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Add On-demand Technology to Fort Bragg Dial-A-Ride
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Route 60
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Route 75
Inter-Regional Service Alternatives
The MTA operates two important inter-regional services: Route 65 and Route 95. Both routes serve Mendocino County communities, as well as provide service to Santa Rosa in Sonoma County. Alternatives impacting these routes are discussed briefly in this section.
Route 65
Revise the Route 65 Schedule to Facilitate Transfers with the Redwood Coast Express
The Humboldt Transit Authority (HTA) will begin operating a new regional transit service to Mendocino County beginning in January 2024. HTA was awarded a Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP) grant to purchase a hydrogen fuel-cell bus with the intent of providing this new service, known as the Redwood Coast Express (RCX). The RCX bus will operate between Eureka (in Humboldt County) and Ukiah where passengers will be able to transfer to Route 65 and onward to Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) trains in Cloverdale or Santa Rosa. SMART trains currently only travel as far north as the Santa Rosa Airport, with the extension to Cloverdale pending funding. Redwood Coast Transit (RCT) in Del Norte County also recently received a TIRCP grant to eventually extend the RCX from Eureka northwards to Crescent City. The RCX will continue to evolve as transit services to both the south and the north expand and is designed to improve the intercity transit network. MTA Route 65 schedules should align with the RCX schedule so that a trip from Del Norte County to San Francisco would be possible in one day.
Route 95
Route 95 serves the south coastal region of Mendocino County, completing one round-trip per day seven days per week from Point Arena to Santa Rosa and back. Other communities served along the route include Anchor Bay, Sea Ranch, Fort Ross, Bodega Bay, and Sebastopol, among others. While FY 2022-23 ridership was not very high, Route 95 continues to provide an important, interregional service for residents along the south coast of Mendocino County as well as residents in northern Sonoma County. At this time, no changes are recommended to Route 95.
Station 5: Additional Suggestions
Capital Needs
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Analysis of vehicle size requirements
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Fleet replacement schedule – Status quo service levels
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Zero-emissions buses (ZEB) charging infrastructure
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Facility upgrades/modernization
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Renovate administrative offices
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Ukiah Transit Center (currently no transit center)
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Bus stop improvements / Bus Passenger Facilities Plan
Fare Alternatives
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MTA fares are comparable to five other California systems and no fare increases are recommended
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Contactless payment technology and fare caps
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Consider Token Transit app for payment
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One fare for all routes
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Simplify the existing fare zone structure
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Three fare categories
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Local ($1.50)
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Intercommunity (Ukiah to Willits $2.50)
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Inter-regional (Santa Rosa $15)
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Marketing Recommendations
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Physical Marketing
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āBus stop signage, bus branding, and displays, public presentations
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Website Improvements
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āDial-A-Ride (DAR) page clarifications, add info on senior center, modify bottom menu, and add community name on route schedules
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Print Materials
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Update printed schedule/info, develop Rider’s Guide (not currently available)
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Travel Training Program
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Further advertise the Travel Training Program
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Social Media Presence
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Increase presence, remove reference to Twitter, and increase social media campaigns
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Phone Information
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Continue to provide information over the phone to be sure it is accessible to everyone. Spanish is also available
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Special Events and Promotions and Partnerships
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Free fare days, discounted seasonal passes, promote new projects/technologies and testimonial advertising. Continue partnerships like one with Mendocino college
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Student Specific Marketing
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Campus visits/ presentations, student-specific materials, partner with schools to share services info, partner with student clubs
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Active Management
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Continue regional collaboration
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Station 6: Next Steps
Below is a timeline showing next steps for the Short-Range Transit Development Plan.
Technical Memo #3
December 31, 2023
In-person Workshop
January 9, 2024
Virtual Workshop
January 11, 2024
Draft SRTDP available for review
January 31, 2024
Final SRTDP available for review
February 29, 2024