The following items are excerpted from news releases issued by California Transit Association members. If you are a member of the Association and would like to submit an item to be considered for inclusion in the Member News Library, please email your press releases to Managing Editor Stephanie Jordan (sjordan@freelancecomm.com). Photos and cutline information with your news release submissions, when possible, are encouraged.
INDUSTRY NEWS
Grantville Trolley Station 250-Unit Development Aims to Help Housing Crunch in San Diego
The housing market will soon get some much-needed relief as transit and housing officials broke ground this month on a new $106 million 250-unit residential development at the Grantville Trolley Station. The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) and Greystar Real Estate are partnering on the development, which sits between the new SDSU West site and SDSU main campus. A second, neighboring development is in the works for later this year on another portion of the station property reserved for qualified low-income residents.
“When most people think of MTS they think of buses and Trolleys. But MTS is more than that,” said Nathan Fletcher, MTS Board Chair, and Chair, San Diego County Board of Supervisors. “MTS is a community partner. We help our region reduce emissions and meet climate action goals. We help spur economic development. We help create vibrant neighborhoods around our transit lines.”
Greystar Real Estate will oversee the first development, which is being branded Union Grantville and will include five floors of 250 market-rate and affordable units. The development is estimated to cost $106 million to build.
“Greystar is excited to be working in partnership with MTS to continue to provide much-needed housing and much-needed affordable housing to San Diego,” said Alex Leonard, Senior Director, Development, Greystar. “Union Grantville is a perfect example of what transit-oriented development should be. We are enthusiastic to see this community help transform the Grantville area.”
Affirmed Housing is expected to begin construction on the neighboring development, called ShoreLINE, later this year at a cost of approximately $59 million. On-site amenities will include a community room, outdoor gardens, an enclosed tot lot/play area for children, and outdoor seating. These 100 percent affordable residential rental units will be rented to households earning between 30 percent and 80 percent of the Area Median Income.
Metrolink Receives Federal Railroad Administration Grant to Stem Suicides on the Tracks
Metrolink announced this month that it was awarded a $59,000 grant from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to address the issue of suicides along its system through outreach and training with key railroad staff, first responders, and community members. According to Metrolink’s internal safety records, 40 percent of Metrolink pedestrian train strikes between 2017 and 2019 were caused by people wanting to end their lives. The grant funds an outreach campaign to deter suicides through training, public engagement, and awareness at four identified “hot spots” in north Orange County between Anaheim and Santa Ana, south Orange County from San Juan Capistrano through San Clemente, in the San Fernando Valley between Van Nuys and Burbank and in the San Fernando/Sylmar area.
From 2017-2019, there were 93 incidents of train strikes against a person. Of that number, 37 were declared suicide by the local county coroner after investigation. Due to the nature of suicide investigations, the actual number of suicides might be higher. An ongoing crisis of homelessness results in people living alongside railroad rights of way, putting them very near trains passing by, sometimes at speeds of 70 miles per hour. Research indicates that availability of a means of death is a major factor in suicide and in the case of homeless encampments near tracks: the trains become the means.
“Metrolink is eager to work with law enforcement and community groups to help in any way we can to educate individuals and homeless encampments about options available to them,” said Metrolink CEO Stephanie Wiggins. “This grant is a force multiplier for our efforts to keep people safe in the vicinity of our tracks.”
The grant is part of the Suicide Prevention Project funded by the FRA’s Railroad Trespassing Suicide Prevention Grant Program. It will be directed by a steering committee with Metrolink staff working closely with a team of psychologists from the University of Denver Transportation Research Center, skilled in training mental health professionals and working with the transportation industry. The project will last 12 months.
Long Beach Transit Selects Moovit as Its Official Mobility Partner
Long Beach Transit announced this month a partnership with Moovit, an Intel company and creator of the number one urban mobility app, to provide customers with an app to plan trips with real-time arrival information for the smoothest possible journey around the community.
As the community emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, and students, commuters and visitors plan travel, LBT and Moovit want to make the choice easier through a mobility app available for iOS and Android. The free Moovit app combines official information from Long Beach Transit, as well as crowdsourced information to calculate the best route for each journey using urban mobility options such as bus, light rail, bike share, Uber and Lyft.
The Moovit app provides customers with real-time information, so they know exactly when their bus arrives; a Live Directions feature with Get Off Alerts provide step-by-step guidance for the entire journey; as well as Service Alerts so they can avoid disruptions on routes and plan their journey. Moovit also incorporates accessibility features, empowering those with mobility challenges to use public transportation with more assurance. The app is optimized with screen-reading features for low-vision users, including TalkBack/VoiceOver capabilities; identifies wheelchair-accessible routes and stations; as well as calculates step-free routes. Moovit’s app is also designed with optimized menus and buttons for those with hand-motor disabilities.
“The partnership between Long Beach Transit and Moovit will enhance the customer experience and make travel easier,” said Kenneth McDonald, Long Beach Transit’s President and CEO. “The partnership addresses a common complaint from customers that they do not know when their bus will arrive. The Moovit app provides real-time alerts and step-by-step directions to make travel much easier.”
Customers using the Moovit app will also receive service alerts and communication from LBT. Thousands of LBT customers already use the Moovit app and will soon receive alerts from the app already on their phone.
“Public transit is an essential component of any sustainable urban transportation system,” said Yovav Meydad, Moovit’s Chief Growth and Marketing Officer. “Precise trip planning information helps customers avoid delays and lessen waiting times, making it more attractive. The new web trip planner on Long Beach Transit’s website, as well as integrating LBT information in the Moovit app will help make the entire journey experience seamless, more comfortable, and take less time.”
BART Adds the Prohibition of Sexual Harassment to the Customer Code of Conduct
BART Board of Directors voted recently to amend the Customer Code of Conduct to include the prohibition of sexual harassment. BART Board President Mark Foley requested the amendment following the launch of the #NotOneMoreGirl initiative and to send a clear message that sexual harassment has no place on BART.
BART has partnered with Alliance for Girls (AFG), and its members including Betti Ono, Black Girls Brilliance, The Unity Council’s Latinx Mentorship and Achievement Program, among other members to launch the Not One More Girl campaign, which centers girls and gender expansive youth to combat gender-based violence and sexual harassment on transit.
As part of the Not One More Girl initiative, BART added a question to its ongoing on-board rider survey asking riders if they have experienced sexual harassment on BART in the previous six months. The results from the latest reporting period (October-December 2020) showed 10 percent of riders responded “yes”.
The campaign leaders presented BART with recommendations on how to advance this work to make BART safer and more welcoming to women, girls, gender-expansive youth, and people of color, including updating the Customer Code of Conduct.
Not One More Girl Steps Taken to Date:
- Added a new sexual harassment BART Watch reporting category
- Added sexual harassment occurrences to BART’s Passenger Environment Survey
- Launched new resource website www.bart.gov/NotOneMoreGirl outlining the step-by-step process of reporting and offering a variety of support options
- Filmed and released a bystander intervention training video
- Produced a colorable resource zine created by youth artist
- Deployed 300 in train and 50 station posters calling out sexual harassment
- Curated community engagement using narrative, art, digital and cultural strategy to connect with those impacted by GBV and allies, including online events
- Worked with BART Human Resources to give guidance on developing a new program to hire youth panelist to serve on hiring panels of new unarmed safety staff
Elk Grove’s Transit Services Officially Join Sacramento Regional Transit District
Sacramento Regional Transit District (SacRT) and the City of Elk Grove formalized an annexation agreement this month that will officially bring the City of Elk Grove transit services (e-tran) into SacRT as a member entity effective July 1, 2021.
SacRT has been operating e-tran and e-van services under a service contract since July 2019. Under the annexation agreement, SacRT will provide fixed-route local, commuter and paratransit services and maintenance operations for e-tran. By annexing into the SacRT District, Elk Grove will benefit from SacRT’s transit expertise as the largest public transit provider in the region. Mutual goals for annexation include enhanced competitiveness for regional, state, and federal funding to achieve regionally beneficial projects, such as zero emission vehicle replacement, increased transit service frequency and coverage, including express bus and microtransit service, and progression of the Blue Line from Consumnes River College into Elk Grove.
As part of the agreement, SacRT is committed to a seamless transition with no impact to current riders. Service levels will be maintained or improved, and there are no short term plans to make changes to the existing bus service, or fares. Sacramento employees have been employed since the service contract in July 2019 and will continue with the service.
After the annexation, Elk Grove paratransit customers can continue using e-van services for Elk Grove area trips or can contact SacRT GO Paratransit Services for regional trips throughout SacRT’s service area.
SacRT and Elk Grove are at work to develop an integration plan to enable SacRT to assume full operations of Elk Grove’s transit services by July 1. SacRT and Elk Grove will also form a group of current riders and transit stakeholders to assist with providing input on transit service performance matters, addressing customer service complaints and conducting public outreach during the transition.
Monterey-Salinas Transit Announces Time Information Available Through Newly Endorsed Transit App
Monterey-Salinas Transit recently announced Transit as the official mobility app for Monterey County and the surrounding service area. Transit counts millions of active users in more than 200 cities worldwide and is now available for MST riders who can track their bus in real-time with the leading transport app in North America.
Upon launching the app, MST riders see nearby options and departure times in big text and bright colors. Users can easily navigate the region, aided by accurate real-time bus ETAs, trip planning, step-by-step navigation, and crowdsourced real-time information with Transit’s GO feature.
When a rider is using the GO step-by-step navigator and boards the bus, they are prompted to report the current bus crowding level. Updates from riders appear in the app as icons that denote three levels of crowding: “Crowded,” “Some crowding” or “Not crowded.” This provides useful data for other riders making decisions about physical distancing.
MST’s collaboration with Transit began in 2017, providing passengers with a comprehensive, easy-to-use and widely adopted app to improve the customer experience. Along with this new partnership agreement, MST will also receive anonymized usage data and customizations to better serve the public, such as the ability to send important information directly to riders via Transit’s home screen.
By endorsing Transit as its official app, MST joins dozens of other public transit agencies across North America that have partnered with the app, including Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, Boston's Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, Baltimore's Maryland Department of Transportation / Maryland Transit Administration, Metropolitan Saint Louis Transit Agency, and Montreal's Société de transport de Montréal.
Transit is available to download for iPhone and Android.
TRANSIT PEOPLE AND HAPPENINGS
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Stephanie Wiggins Named Next CEO of Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Mayor Eric Garcetti announced earlier this month that the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) Board of Directors voted to appoint Stephanie Wiggins to be the next Metro Chief Executive Officer. Wiggins, currently the CEO of Metrolink, will be the first woman and first Black woman to serve in this role at Metro. She will succeed CEO Phil Washington.
“Metro is in the midst of a generational transformation that will mean more jobs for local workers, more growth for our economy, and more ways for Angelenos to move around our region — and nobody is better prepared to carry the torch of progress than Stephanie Wiggins,” said Metro Board Chair and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. “Stephanie’s career makes her ideally suited to lead this agency at this moment: she’s experienced, determined, committed to equity, and steeped in L.A.’s transportation history, and she is the perfect candidate to carry Metro into its next chapter.”
As Metro’s CEO, Wiggins will manage a budget of nearly $7 billion, oversee up to $20 billion in capital construction projects, and oversee an agency with 11,000 employees that transports more than a half-million boarding passengers daily on a fleet of 2,200 buses and six rail lines.
Wiggins started her tenure as CEO of Metrolink in December 2018, directing an agency that operates a regional passenger rail network that connects riders across a six-county, 538 route-mile system. Prior to taking on that post, Wiggins served as Deputy CEO of Metro, where she assisted the CEO in advancing the agency’s primary objectives, including the implementation of projects made possible by Measure M.
Wiggins has a Master of Business Administration degree from the USC Marshall School of Business. She is the recipient of a wide range of awards, including the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials’ 2018 Women Who Move the Nation Award and League of Railway Women’s 2020 Railway Woman of the Year Award.
“I am honored by the opportunity to return to LA Metro as its CEO and am grateful to Mayor Garcetti and the LA Metro Board for the faith they have placed in me for this important role. I am thankful to my team at Metrolink for all of our successes together – and those that are still to come throughout this transition and as we work together in the future,” said Wiggins. “LA County has great mobility needs that we must develop with goals of achieving better health, opportunity and equity for all of the region’s residents, and I look forward to bringing transformative leadership and collaboration with the region’s transportation authorities to make this vision a reality.”
Wiggins replaces outgoing Metro CEO Phil Washington, who served the agency for six years. She is expected to assume the role in May.
VTA’s Berryessa Transit Center Honored for Commitment to Sustainability
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority's (VTA) Berryessa Transit Center has been awarded the Envision Platinum Award by The Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure’s (ISI) awards program. The Envision Platinum award recognizes the commitment that VTA has made in improving the area’s environmental resiliency, long-term sustainability, and increasing mobility for local residents.
Envision sets the standard for sustainable infrastructure. To achieve a Platinum award, a project must demonstrate that it delivers a heightened range of environmental, social and economic benefits to the project implementor and surrounding communities. The Envision system examines the impact of sustainable infrastructure projects as a whole, through five distinct categories: Quality of Life, Leadership, Resource Allocation, Natural World and Climate, and Resilience. These key areas contribute to the positive social, economic, and environmental impacts on a community.
Projects are evaluated based on a robust set of criteria, including traditional methods, such as recycling materials, reducing emissions, and using renewable energy sources. Construction of the Berryessa Transit Center incorporated aggressive waste diversion goals, potable water reduction, recycled content in concrete, and a project-wide “carbon footprint” analysis was required during construction. Evaluation criteria also includes examining indicators of social and economic sustainability, including the incorporation of community feedback, minimizing construction impacts, providing employment opportunities, and improving mobility options.
Completed as part of the first phase of VTA’s BART Silicon Valley (BSV) Program that will ultimately extend BART service for 16 miles into Santa Clara County, the Berryessa Transit Center currently serves as the southern-most station in the BART system. The second phase of the BSV Program will extend service from the Berryessa Transit Center through Downtown San Jose and terminate in Santa Clara, with early construction anticipated to begin in 2022.
Building on this legacy of sustainability efforts and actions, VTA has issued a Sustainability Charter for the BART to Silicon Valley Phase II Project. The Charter affirms the project's commitment to sustainability and ultimately commits the project to use the Envision sustainable infrastructure rating system and to be an Envision certified project. The design teams will include several sustainability elements in design and contract documents to ensure that VTA's sustainability goals and objectives are achieved.