RICHMOND, Va. – A coalition comprised of local civic leaders and business owners have formed in response to the proposed GRTC Pulse, a rapid bus transit line which will be largely funded with federal grant money. The bus line intends to provide service from Willow Lawn to Rocketts Landing, including 14 stations and 3.2 miles of dedicated travel lanes along the Broad Street corridor.
It would run every 10 minutes during peak hours and every 15 minutes during off-peak hours. According to GRTC, the bus line could carry passengers between those two points in 28-31 minutes. The existing fixed route service would currently take an hour and 15 minutes, according to GRTC. A car ride would take 20-35 minutes.
The RVA Coalition for Smart Transit, along with others critical of the plan, are concerned that GRTC has rushed through the process in order to receive grant funding.
GRTC, along with state and local officials, endorsed a rapid transit study in spring 2014 that won the grant money in fall 2014. The plan, referred to as BRT (bus rapid transit), is estimated to cost almost $54 million, almost half which will be funded through a federal grant. To cover the remaining cost, the state will provide $16.9 million, the city $7.6 million and Henrico County has committed to $400,000.
GRTC has said that the estimated cost of annual operation will be between $2.7 and $3.7 million. Some of the operating costs would be covered by fares and the remainder would be provided annually “from yet to be determined local funding sources,” according to GRTC.
The coalition said that GRTC is moving forward “without the benefit of the results of ancillary studies and community input that could make the plan better for the benefit all the entire Richmond metro region.”
There will need to be established parking at either end of the rapid bus transit corridor.
The group also expressed concern that the proposed mass transit expansion could damage the recent renaissance seen along Broad Street, attributed to a burgeoning dining and cultural scene.
“Transit is a key component of our daily quality of life experience and many of us are fully aware of that mass transit is a ticket to building the city we desire,” said Matthew Stanley, Chair of the Coalition. “But if implementation of mass transit expansion is not done in a smart, engaging, and deliberate manner, the possibility of halting progress for years to come is a real danger.”
The coalition roll call includes the Fan District Association, the Museum District Association, West Grace Street Association, Fan Area Business Alliance and Downtown Neighborhood Association.
“Our civic associations in Richmond haven’t been engaged around mass transit, and it’s exciting to come together to try to advocate for it,” Stanley said.
He added that they have “been underwhelmed by GRTC reform efforts.”
Not everyone in the crowd at a recent public meeting was against the plan, but a majority spoke out against it.
"The concerns detailed by the coalition about this first step have already been extremely helpful to the project team and will continue to be addressed," said GRTC spokesperson Carrie Rose Pace. "The project partners are excited to share the proposed solutions to their concerns at the July Public Meetings."
Right now GRTC said they are 30% into the conceptual design stage. A preliminary design will be presented soon. GRTC said public participation has been offered going back to 2010, but Stanley said there was not pro-active outreach to civic associations to get the needed community input.
The coalition said they are not opposed to the principle of the plan, but rather they oppose the way it is being done.
“We’ve been told this construction timeline is incredibly ambitious,” Stanley said.
"In my conversations with representatives from the coalition, it is clear to me we share the same vision of considerate, inclusive and multi-modal transit in the region," Rose-Pace said. "We are all working together toward that same goal, and I think the Greater Richmond Region is on the verge of tremendous and long-overdue improvements, of which this is merely the first step."
Concerns surrounding the GRTC plan include loss of customer parking spaces, frustration that the corridor only operates east-west without connecting to the airport or Henrico train station, elimination of loading zones will impact business deliveries, safety of pedestrians and bicyclists, and retention of community events.
Stanley emphasized that “parking is something we are concerned about but it is not our overall concern… it is because of a lot of other design elements.”
“One of the simplest things that would make us extremely happy is if they slowed this process down significantly…extended the study for another year,” he said.
Parking however, or loss thereof, is a point of contention for critics of the plan, as discussed at previous public meetings.
As of June 9, GRTC revised options to allow more on-street parking than originally proposed. To accommodate the BRT there will be no on-street parking between 4th Street and 14th Street. Currently, parking is prohibited in this section of the corridor during peak hours.
According to GRTC, there are approximately 1,015 existing on-street parking spaces on the side streets within one block of Broad Street between Thompson Street and 14th Street that should not be affected. In the same section, there are approximately 9,800 off-street parking spaces within one block of Broad Street.
Implementation of BRT will neither change nor affect these off-street parking spaces, according to GRTC.
GRTC Pulse is expected to be operational by late 2017, which is earlier than originally planned. In April 2014the governor's office said the project would “provide a one-time local benefit of $41.5 million, while also creating 406 jobs for the area.”
"I am excited to see the ripple effect of potential future transit improvements throughout the growing populations of Henrico County, Chesterfield County and beyond," Rose-Pace said. "This first step will connect so many to so much, while improving the existing services GRTC riders rely upon.”
The next public BRT meetings will be held at the University of Richmond Downtown location at 626 East Broad Street, Suite 100.
The Monday, July 27 meeting will be from noon - 1:30 p.m. and the second, Tuesday, July 28 from 6 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
There will be a City Council briefing on Monday July 27, from 4 – 6 p.m. at Richmond City Hall.
More info:
GRTC Pulse, leads to FAQ
RVA Coalition for Smart TransitInstitute for Transportation and Development Policy Analysis of 21 North American Transit Corridors
