City, county bus merger proposal inches forward
A draft study was done in November, but there is no resolution to make the plan happen
Kingston, Ulster County bus merger draft study done, but there is no resolution to make it happen.
More than two years ago, the possibility of a bus merger between Kingston and Ulster County systems was broached during sales tax negotiations. In November, a consultant’s draft study results were revealed.
But so far, neither the Ulster County Legislature nor the Kingston Common Council have received any resolution needed in order for a vote to take place on merger plans.
Megan Weiss-Rowe, the city’s director for communications and community engagement, said that the merger idea is expected to move forward. The most recent possibility of a bus merger is not new but past efforts and suggestions have never become reality.
“The conversation between the City and County to finalize details of the integration has been productive,” Weiss-Rowe said in an email.
She added that Ulster County Planner Dennis Doyle expected to attend a council caucus on April 2 to “give an update to the aldermen.”
In November, officials announced that a study, looking at combining the Kingston and Ulster County transit systems, proposed new city routes that would reduce the amount of time a person must spend riding the bus to reach his or her destination.
As part of the study’s presentation, Dan Suraci, a senior consultant with TransPro Consulting, outlined the proposed routes as well as a new “demand-response service” that would be available in certain areas outside the fixed routes.
“We wanted to create a system that provided more frequent and direct service throughout the city of Kingston,” Suraci said at the time.
Suraci said two of the proposed routes on weekdays would operate at a 30-minute service frequency, meaning a one-way trip should take a rider 15 minutes to complete. The third weekday route would have a 45-minute service frequency, he said.
Suraci also said two routes would be offered on Saturdays, integrating the weekday routes and operating at a 45-minute service frequency.
The current Citibus routes operate at 60-minute service frequencies, according to the study.
The proposed new “red route” on weekdays would largely travel between Kingston Plaza and the area of the Golden Hill health care facility and Ulster County Law Enforcement Center, Suraci said. He said the proposed “blue route” on weekdays would travel largely along the Broadway corridor in Kingston, but also would go to the Mary’s Avenue Campus of HealthAlliance Hospital. Those two routes would operate at 30-minute frequencies, Suraci said.
The proposed “yellow route” on weekdays would take riders to the Business Resource Center in the town of Ulster, as well as to the Rondout area of Kingston and to the Esopus hamlet of Port Ewen, Suraci said. He said that route would have a 45-minute service frequency.
The weekday routes would operate from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., while the two Saturday routes would be available from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.