NEW STRATEGY FOR TRANSIT
TWENTY years ago, local newspaper editors celebrated negotiations to merge two public transportation agencies — Pentran and Tidewater Regional Transit.
The new agency — Hampton Roads Transit — had 925 employees and 300 conventional buses in 1999. The numbers aren’t much different today. HRT operates bus, ferry, light rail and paratransit service, with a workforce of 946. It has an active fleet of 279 buses. In recent years, agency leaders have stabilized HRT in several key areas. Bus operating costs are 20% less than peer agencies. Budget increases have been kept in the low single digits. Last year, the agency reduced its budget 3%, passing savings back to six member cities. In total, there are 56 local bus routes across the service area in Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach.
All these cities have experienced significant growth during the past two decades. Development has led to new and improved destinations. New technologies and options have come online, such as shared rides, bike share and electric scooters. The region is also upgrading roads, bridges and tunnels.
Meanwhile, the HRT bus system has had roughly the same patchwork of routes and service levels for many years.
Hampton Roads has a bright future. To support a thriving region, where access to jobs and other opportunities is widely available, it’s important for our core public bus system to evolve.
In a welcome turn of events, the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation requiring certain transit agencies — HRT included — to adopt new strategic plans. HRT’s Transit Transformation Project will satisfy this requirement.
This project is an opportunity for our region to create and implement a new blueprint for the future. The ultimate goal is simple: a regional bus system that is more relevant and responsive. Better connections, better reliability and better results for citizens and for local and regional economies.
To begin exploring potential changes, the project team has taken a “blank slate” approach to develop several initial scenarios for discussion.
With the same vigor and sense of determination that our predecessors had twenty years ago, city managers and city councils will also need to foster new approaches to pay for public transportation in a sustainable way.
Today, they rely exclusively on local general funds from the six cities that make up
HRT.
Change is usually difficult. But “business as usual” is simply not okay. Let’s be open to the tough conversations and decisions that change requires; we’ll be better off for it.
We must start by determining what a better regional bus system should look like. This is a conversation that matters across the entire region. Meeting local transit service needs will always be a priority. What’s essential is to ensure the HRT system can meet those needs in the most regionally effective way.
The future of the HRT bus system is a topic of great importance for communities across our region. Later this summer, relying on the very best data available and public input, the project team will release a draft blueprint.
Please get involved. Participate in the process. Let the project team know what you want to see.