Res 2020-192/approving the San Marcos Transit Plan, also referred to as the Five-Year Strategic Plan for Transit Service

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SAN MARCOS TRANSIT PLAN I FINALREPORT City of San Marcos Feedback on Proposed Route Network from MoveSM February 10th, 2019 Re: Proposed Transit System for the City of San Marcos 5 -Year Transit Master Plan To: Lee Hitchcock, Director of General Services and Pete Binion, Transit Manager, City of San Marcos James Gamez and Hazel Scher, Nelson Nygaard, Transit Master Plan Consultant Nancy Nusbaum, Associate Vice President of Planning, Steven Herrera, Director of Transportation Services, Texas State University Cc: San Marcos City Council MoveSM, an informal group of community members committed to supporting and advocating for safe, sustainable forms of transportation, submits this letter as feedback on the proposed system design presented January 28129, 2020 for an integrated city and university bus system. We believe this effort can be a powerful, transformationall opportunity for both the City and University, and we applaud some of the proposals, such as investigating discounted/free fares and the establishment of a downtown station. Unfortunately, overall, we were alarmingly disappointed by the proposal's avoidance of truly merging these disparate bus systems and by the proposed degradation of already poor frequencies to a level that undermines the most basic viability of transit for all non -University destinations. Public transit is a lifeline service for many residents, which should continue to be a priority. But transit is also among the safest, most efficient, and sustainable forms of transportation for modern cities of all sizes, and mode - shift must allso be a priority- For public transportation to be a viable option for more of the community, there must be lines delivering travel times within striking distance of other modes, demonstrating to the public that transit can be a preferred and convenient option in San Marcos. In an effort to help steer this in a more positive direction for the San Marcos community, we respectfully offer the following formal comments and recommendations, as well as an attached example alternative "goal state" bus system map and operating schedulelbudget that achieves what we believe would be a substantially better outcome for the city. We acknowledge that we lack the time, resources, and technical capacity to validate many assumptions, but we believe the conceptual system map provided to be directionally accurate and hope it can be illustratively helpful in visioning what a truly integrated transit system could look like five years from today. 1. E'l'iminate the divide that persists between University Lines and City Lines Coloring, notations, naming and general presentation should reflect the spirit of an integrated system -- even at this early conceptual stage -- to lay a strong foundation for the forthcoming branding effort o The use of "university express" terminology and presentation of those lines in maroon perpetuates the divide, which is harmful to the spirit of this effort and improved outcomes for ridership o In Bleu of dedicated "express" lines bypassing other destinations, create simple, more legible common lines that have augmented resources to boost frequency during hours of peak demand to the University 2. Increased visibility of buses downtown will be positive for transit legibility and system promotion Utilizing a visible downtown transfer location, amongst others, will help increase awareness for bus availability Recommend that all lines that service the south side of the University campus have a stop at the downtown hub to reinforce the system as an integrated one (vs the downtown hub being utilized only for "city" lines) Even in the near-term, we recommend treading at least one frequent (10-15 min max.) and highly visible line that serves central San (Marcos and becomes a face for the system. This line could even receive unique branding to demonstrate its importance Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates, Inc. ( B-53