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City updates short-range transit plan; outreach includes surveys and ADA stop review
Summary
City and Unitrans staff told the Davis Senior Commission they are updating the Short Range Transit Plan for 2024–2031, gathering rider and community input through surveys and focus groups and conducting an ADA accessibility review of bus stops.
The City of Davis and Unitrans are updating the Short Range Transit Plan (SRTP) for 2024–2031 and are gathering rider and community input, project manager Jennifer D'Onofrio told the Davis Senior Commission.
“The short range transit plan was last updated in 2015,” D'Onofrio said. She told commissioners the plan covers fixed-route service (Unitrans) and paratransit service (Davis Community Transit, or DCT) and is required by the federal transit agency in order to secure federal funding.
The outreach phase includes three surveys (Unitrans riders, non-riders and DCT riders) available in paper form and online by QR code; focus groups with constituencies including low-income riders, people with disabilities, Chinese-language riders and older adults; and community pop-ups at events such as the Davis Food Co-op and campus outlets. D'Onofrio said the city is working with a consultant, TMD, to evaluate existing conditions and later develop alternatives and recommendations.
D'Onofrio said the city is also conducting an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessibility analysis of bus stops. “We actually added two landings to some of the bus ... stops on 5th Street recently,” she said, and staff are coordinating with Unitrans on a prioritization list for federal funds targeted to bus-stop and ADA improvements.
Commissioners and members of the public raised concerns about seating, shade and the ability of riders with walkers or wheelchairs to board and disembark safely at some stops. D'Onofrio said Unitrans door-hanger flyers and bus-mounted materials include QR codes linking to the survey, and that outreach materials and some marketing are available in English, Spanish and simplified Chinese. She also said the city has conducted travel-training events and continues to explore neighborhood-based training to reach residents who do not use smartphone apps.
D'Onofrio said the outreach will inform a financial plan and service recommendations that the city will bundle for Federal Transit Administration review and city council consideration.
The SRTP outreach materials are available at the Davis Senior Center and the public library; D'Onofrio encouraged seniors and the wider community to complete the survey or provide direct feedback to her office.
