News: Local Bus System Predicts 70% Increase in Operating Expenses
WATA boardings decline overall while ADA Paratransit ridership nearly doubles; bids due for $15M operations/maintenance facility; new northern transfer center planned
Over the next decade, the Williamsburg Area Transportation Authority (WATA) predicts total operation expenses will increase by an estimated 71% ($10M in 2025 vs. $17.1M in 2034). Added service represents the bulk of the additional money as system leadership focuses on decreasing the average wait time between buses on major routes and extending route coverage to core business and shopping districts.
According to the Authority’s 87-page FY2024-2034 Transit Strategic Plan (TSP), planned service expansion will require hiring an additional 20 full-time employees while adding almost 30,000 service hours to the regional public transit system each year.
In the document, WATA states that during the pandemic, the system “struggled, like most US transit agencies, to fully staff its bus service.” In response to these challenges, the system says it “made small changes to some of its routes to adjust to new ridership patterns, act on new partnerships, work within the available team of bus drivers.” The new spending, according to the strategic plan, is meant to build upon the system as it exists post-pandemic.
WATA operates on subsidies (and revenue)
The money that funds WATA is a mix of federal, state and local subsidies as well as revenue earned during the operation of the system. The Authority anticipates that most of these funding streams will continue going forward in similar fashion and percentages.
Major subsidized funding sources such as federal and state grants are supplemented by several other forms of operating revenue collected by the system, including fares collected from riders, contracted services and advertising. See the table below for more detail.
Changes to local funding formula
Four local jurisdictions currently contribute to paying operating costs for the transportation system. According to WATA, the previous local funding formula was based on total route miles traveled in each jurisdiction. A new formula now in place is based on revenue services hours in each of the partner locales. Using the new funding formula, the FY2025 budget includes projections for expected local funding amounts each jurisdiction will pay. See the table WATA Local Operating Subsidies FY2025 below for more detail.
Improved wait times, expanded service
In the TSP presentation, the agency details improvements to service frequency and wait times among other goals. In a show of support, Williamsburg City Council recently included bus service upgrades in its new list of goals, objectives and initiatives. The Council focused on 15 minute wait times for Route 12, which runs through the City’s core, as well as improvements to multiple bus shelters.
The improvements WATA plans are categorized in the TSP according to three different phases spanning the next ten years:
Phase 1 improvements are slated for 2026 and will focus on sending “service past the busiest and most transit-oriented places” in an effort to cut wait time to 30 minutes on several major routes serving what the Authority calls “the strongest transit markets in the WATA area.”
Phase 2 will begin in 2028 and seek to “improve the ridership potential of the network by increasing the average resident’s access to jobs and destinations within a reasonable time.” Improvements will include shorter 30 minutes waits on several additional lines and branches to the Marquis Shopping Center (near the intersection of Interstate 64 and Route 199) and Lee Hall.
Phase 3 is planned for 2030 and includes reducing wait time to 15 minutes all day on Route 12, the main line through Williamsburg.
Ridership lags pre-pandemic levels
During the pandemic, the public bus system saw a 20 percent overall decrease in ridership, from 842,482 boardings in 2019 to 670,047 in 2023. That marks a decline of over 470 rides per day on average during the period.
At the same time, more people benefited from ADA Paratransit, which provides complementary service to “people who are unable to use fixed route buses due to disability as trips,” according to WATA. The number of boardings for these customers increased from 11,678 in 2019 to 17,360 in 2023, an increase of nearly 49 percent.
Capital investments include new maintenance facility and fleet expansion
Accomplishing service upgrades will require an array of capital improvements, many of which are already slated for the next decade, according to the strategic plan. For example, general contractors interested in doing the construction to improve the Authority’s maintenance and operations facility are expected to submit final proposals for the work by January 7, 2025.
Renovating and expanding the operations and maintenance facility
The submissions come in response to a request for bids, issued by James City County in November on behalf of the region’s public transportation system. The scope of work described in that document covers both administrative, driver operations and vehicle maintenance space.
The request for proposal states that the facility, built in 2003, originally served as a truck rental and maintenance facility for Penske and was purchased by WATA in 2020. Total costs to design and build the project are expected to be $15.7M, covered mostly by a combination of federal and state funds.
When complete, the effort is expected to transform and expand the existing 15,000 square feet of space, which is currently divided into 5000 square feet of administrative space and 10,000 square feet of maintenance and storage area. Planned upgrades include:
Larger maintenance bays to accommodate bigger buses
New machine shop
Operations spaces for dispatchers and supervisors
Expanded areas for drivers including locker rooms
Multi-purpose rooms for training and public meetings
Building the Northern Transfer Center
WATA says in the strategic plan that land for a new Northern Transfer Center has been purchased and design work has begun. The new transfer center will replace the nearby Walmart transfer location and routes in the area will be realigned around the new station once it becomes active. WATA anticipates the cost to design and build the new station at $2,701,637.
Fleet Expansion includes electric buses and new trolley
In order to serve the increased bus schedule, the system also plans to expand the size of its fleet over the next ten years Total costs to purchase the additional vehicles will be over $14M, and will include:
Ten 35-40 foot buses
Five 30-40 foot electric buses
One Yorktown trolley
As with operating expenses, these and other capital expenditures will come from a mix of federal, state and local funding. Again, federal funding represents a bulk of the money, matching 80% of the targeted funding sources. WATA indicates that the funding for these increases in capacity should be covered through anticipated sources, but that local governments will be on the hook if federal or state funding falls short of predictions.
Technology initiatives include vehicle locations system and mobile ticketing
The Authority is actively implementing new technology, some that customers may not notice but are intended to improve route efficiency. WATA claims a new automatic vehicle location (AVL) system “… will improve the accuracy and availability of real-time information for passengers, while also supporting better supervision and support for service operations.” A mobile ticketing program is “pending contract” according to the strategic plan. Another technology implementations is automated passenger counters on buses to improve data collection and reporting for federal funding.
System results lag behind similar cities in Virginia
Using data from 2022, WATA compared itself to peers in Charlottesville and Harrisonburg, providing a snapshot of how the system compares in terms of key performance indicators.
Investment
The measurement of financial support for a local transit agency is referred to as “investment” by the agency and measures the total number of service hours per capita. In 2022, WATA provided .51 service hours per person in the region, which ranks lower than both Charlottesville (.94) and Harrisonburg (.82).
Relevancy
The system also measures its own “relevancy” which it deems as an indicator of how many rides are taken per capita. In 2022, WATA had an average of 7.5 boardings each year per person in the service area. This was lower than both Charlottesville (11.1) and Harrisonburg (18.1).
Productivity
Transit system productivity - or its ridership versus the cost to serve them - is measured by how many riders board for every hour each bus is running. In 2022, WATA averaged 14.6 boardings per bus revenue hour. This average ranked lower than both Charlottesville (15.5) and Harrisonburg (22).
Cost Efficiency
Whereas productivity incorporates ridership totals, the “cost per hour” figure accounts for fixed operating costs to run each bus for an hour - without factoring in ridership. In 2022, WATA had a cost per hour of $101.25, which was higher than Harrisonburg ($83.49) but lower than Charlottesville ($132.06).
George Arbogust is Founder and Editor of the Williamsburg Independent. You can contribute too! Send stories and ideas to contact@williamsburgindependent.com.