NY: Ulster County proposes route modifications, enhancements to UCAT bus system

Ulster County Area Transit (UCAT) presented a Route Optimization Plan Wednesday that officials say would offer improved and expanded service on the county-owned bus system.

Ulster County Transportation Planner Brian Slack said the proposal would increase “revenue hours,” translated into how much time buses are out on the road by 25%, with funding coming from sources including a portion of the county’s increased lodging tax set aside to fund enhanced transit service.

Jarred Toups, who works with the Washington, D.C. office of Foursquare ITP, a public transit consultant, said the goals of the route changes are to increase public transit’s market share, recommend routes adaptable to the agency’s electric fleet transition and possibly embrace new mobility options, including microtransit to better connect areas where a traditional fixed-route bus route might not work and tech upgrades at the agency.

Toups presented two options for route optimization at the meeting held at the Ulster County Restorative Justice Center: Plan A and Plan B.

He said a previous engagement period that drew between 500-600 comments showed that more frequent service was the top priority for current riders and the second priority for current non-riders, while more coverage was the first priority for current non-riders with more frequent service being the second priority.

Other key priorities in the comments included direct service to key employment center areas, service that runs earlier and later in the day, more weekend service, improved on-time performance and making an easy-to-understand transit system.

The proposed scenario A would maintain a consistent frequency throughout the day, while scenario B would see more frequent service at rush hour periods at the expense of less frequency at other times or shorter operating hours, he said.

Slack cautioned that resources are limited and each change would come with tradeoffs. He added that the process is currently in the public engagement portion of phase two with feedback incorporated into the proposed final network.

The proposal calls for changing several routes and switching to a number-based route system.

Notable changes include the current Z route that departs from Kingston Plaza and serves Woodstock on the way to Phoenicia and Belleayre, being split into the new Route 7: Phoenicia to Kingston Plaza Route with branches of select departures running west to Belleayre and down to Port Ewen and the Birches.

A new Route 6 for Woodstock would present a mixed bag, offering hourly service on an expanded route extending to the town of Ulster shopping district on weekdays from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., but at the expense of the current Saturday service, with weekend service no longer available.

A new Kingston route, Route 2, would snake around the city, crossing Broadway at several points starting at the Stony Run Apartments on Hurley Avenue and stopping at points including Lucas Avenue and Washington Avenue, Kingston Plaza, Foxhall and Flatbush Avenues, HealthAlliance Hospital, East Chester St and Broadway South, Rondout Gardens, Wurts and Abeel Street and ending at Kingston Point.

As for a direct bus running straight up and down Broadway, Toups said many routes would come together on Broadway providing higher frequencies. He added the headways between buses can be made consistent with properly coordinated schedules

Tanya Garment, of Kingston, called on officials to provide 20-minute headways throughout the day on the segment from Lower Broadway to Uptown. Slack and Toup cautioned it’s still too early to say what final frequencies on combined routes on Broadway will look like

Under Plan A, this route would operate every hour from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. and every two hours on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. with no Sunday service. Under Plan B it would operate the same hours with 30-minute services at peak times and every two hours in the off-peak with two-hourly service on Saturdays, also from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.

A New Route 9 would connect SUNY Ulster, Rosendale, SUNY New Paltz and Highland to the Poughkeepsie Train Station. The frequency would be every three hours on weekdays only.

The current Kingston- Saugerties route, now Route 4, would take a jog down Foxhall Avenue to Broadway to serve more of Kingston under the proposed route changes while keeping the same Saugerties terminus at the Price Chopper Supermarket. Under scenario A, service would run every 90 minutes from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. on weekdays and every 90 minutes from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays.

Under Plan B it would run from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., every 60 minutes during peak periods, every two hours off-peak on weekdays and every two hours on Saturdays. Neither plan calls for Sunday service.

Other routes like The Kingston Poughkeepsie Link, now known as Route 10 would see little changes to routing. The Kingston-Poughkeepsie Route would run every two hours seven days a week.

Toups said both the A and B scenarios would cost the county the same amount of money.

Toups said the study showed Kingston and New Paltz have the highest density and therefore the highest potential in the county to support fixed-route services. He noted the study placed a special priority on serving lower-income residents and families who may have no or only one car.

He said travel data from all modes collected from cell phone data and credit card transcations showed Kingston as a key destination for many people in the county. Poughkeepsie was also a key destination for people closer to New Paltz and Lloyd with Orange County being the same for people at the southern end of the county.

Toups said another key challenge in expanding bus service is a driver shortage that is affecting transit agencies nationwide.

UCAT Director Toni Roser said the county is working to recruit more drivers, including a program where the county will pay for potential drivers to get the required commercial driver license training and road test in Kingston. Pay for full-time drivers starts at $23.86 with full benefits, she added.

Several atendees on Zoom questioned if at least limited bus service could extend west to Fleischmans and Margaretville to allow people farther west in Shadaken to access grocery shopping and medical appointments.

Slack cautioned that UCAT presently lacks “operating authority” in Delaware County, but encouraged participants to submit their comments.

As for on-demand microtransit service using smaller vehicles, Toup said it could connect more portions of Ellenville and New Paltz to fixed route buses certain days of the week with microtransit possibly operating in the west of the county on other days.

When asked about seeking additional state and federal monies to expand service, Slack said the agency is always working to secure such funding.

Toup said after this round of public engagement, the route optimization plan will move into its third phase with more changes for public engagement before the final network is decided.

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