Passenger Transport August 2017 Vol 75 No 15 - 6

Arizona's Mountain Line Exceeds
Two Million Rides in FY 2017
Ridership Grows Tenfold at Agency

F

or the first time
in its history,
Mountain Line
in Flagstaff, AZ, operated by the Northern
Arizona Intergovernmental Public Transportation Authority
(NAIPTA), provided more than two million rides in FY 2017, almost 8 percent
more than the previous record and more
than 10 times the number of rides it provided in its first year of service in 2001.
"A history of consistent ridership
growth, combined with a commitment
to aggressively pursuing grant funding
and finding operational efficiencies,
has defined Mountain Line's 16 years
of service in Flagstaff," said Flagstaff
City Councilmember and NAIPTA Board
Chair Scott Overton.
NAIPTA Chief Executive Officer &
General Manager Jeff Meilbeck said,
"Surpassing the two million rider mark
is a defining moment in Mountain
Line's 16-year history of consistent ridership growth, strong board support, successful grant writing and a dynamic staff
committed to the agency's mission."
When Mountain Line first introduced service, its annual ridership was

just short of 200,000-
roughly one-tenth of the
2.07 million reported
between July 1, 2016,
and June 30, 2017. The
agency hit the one million rider mark in 2009.
The system saw
significant ridership growth in 2012
when it added a bus route connecting the Northern Arizona University
(NAU) campus with downtown Flagstaff.
NAIPTA also coordinates services with
NAU's Campus Shuttle. A contributing
factor to further growth in FY 2017 was
a pilot program with Coconino Community College that allows all students and
staff to ride any Mountain Line route
for free.
With the increased ridership, Mountain Line increased its rider amenities
and access. Through a $516,000 Arizona
DOT grant, the agency evaluated and
prioritized bus stops system-wide for
ADA accessibility, ultimately improving 27 stops, or about 16 percent of the
system. Improvement projects included
developing safe landing areas, fixing
broken asphalt, adding sidewalk connectivity and placing bus shelters where
appropriate.

OCTA's 'Refreshing Parking Experience'
The Orange County (CA) Transportation Authority (OCTA)-led by Chief Executive Officer Darrell
Johnson, far left-recently broke ground for a five-level, 611-space parking structure at the
Orange Transportation Center. OCTA also offered specially labeled bottles of orange soda to
guests at the event. The $33.2 million project, funded by Orange County Measure M and due for
completion in 2018, will provide 500 dedicated spaces for Metrolink commuter rail passengers
and 111 spaces for visitors to Old Towne Orange to support the business district. The facility
structure and surrounding plaza will include brick work and other design elements that reflect
and complement nearby historic structures and feature modern elements including solar panels.

Los Angeles Metro CEO Phillip A. Washington, standing center, and Metro Board Chair and Los Angeles
Mayor Eric Garcetti, seated third from left, join program partners in announcing the "WIN-LA" workforce
development plan.

Metro's 'WIN-LA' Promotes
Workforce Development

L

os Angeles Metro recently
launched Workforce Initiative
Now-LA (WIN-LA), a workforce
development program focused on
helping Los Angeles County residents
find and follow career pathways in the
transportation industry at a time when
a voter-approved measure is expected to
generate 778,000 new jobs over the next
40 years.
"The expansion of our transportation system is going to create hundreds
of thousands of new jobs, and we have
a responsibility to make sure the people
in our own communities have the skills
to fill them," said Los Angeles Mayor
and Metro Board Chair Eric Garcetti.
"Workforce Initiative Now-Los Angeles
will offer training resources to people
across L.A. County and prepare them for
tomorrow's good-paying Metro jobs."
Metro Chief Executive Officer Phillip A. Washington explained, "From
employment training, assessment and
placement to ongoing outreach, WIN-LA
will give people the tools they need to
build better lives and sustainable communities across Metro's service area. The
program's first priority is putting people
to work. To that end, it will provide
potential employees with skills training,
placement assistance and resources to
help them secure industry positions with
competitive wages and career possibilities and to keep those positions through-

out their careers."
WIN-LA is a collaborative partnership
among Metro and local institutions and
organizations to help job seekers, companies and local communities and create
career pathways in the transportation
and construction industries.
Along with covering such careers as
construction, non-construction opportunities in operations/maintenance,
administration and professional services,
WIN-LA will provide support to participants in life skills development, skill set
enhancement and educational attainment services through a collaboration
of program partners. It also will increase
the resources needed for training and
placement of hard-to-fill positions
within Metro and the transportation
industry.
Metro noted that approximately
39 percent of its workforce will be eligible for retirement over the next three
years, with 69 percent of Metro employees currently over the age of 40. Succession planning is crucial to maintaining
a viable agency and Metro needs a workforce capable of delivering its Measure
M program over the next 40 years and
beyond. Measure M, a half-cent sales
tax initiative approved by the voters in
2016, will provide $860 million annually
to build 40 highway and transit projects
throughout L.A. County over the next
40 years.

Sound Transit Link Station
Earns LEED Gold Certification
Transbay Board Approves
Agreement with Salesforce.com
THE TRANSBAY Joint Powers
Authority Board of Directors in San
Francisco has approved a naming and
signage rights agreement with Salesforce.
com, a Bay Area-based software company, to name the new Transbay Transit
Center the "Salesforce Transit Center"
for a 25-year term and more than
$110 million in aggregate escalated fees
over the term.
"This naming rights agreement with
Salesforce is a unique and exciting private public partnership that will provide
the TJPA with a steady revenue stream
and reduce our operations cost," said
TJPA Executive Director Mark Zabaneh.

6 | Passenger Transport

"Our goal is to continue to enhance
the transit center's revenue-generating
opportunities through our robust retail
leasing, advertising and promotional
platform program such that the transit
center can become self-sufficient sometime in the near future. This naming
rights agreement with Salesforce is an
important step in that direction."
Under the agreement, the structure's
5.4-acre rooftop park will be named
"Salesforce Park" and the rooftop park
amphitheater will be the "Salesforce
Amphitheater," with possible future
naming rights for the children's playground and the grand hall.

SOUND TRANSIT'S newest light rail
facility, the Angle Lake Station in SeaTac,
recently earned Leadership Energy and
Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building
Council.
"This is another sign that Sound Transit is fulfilling its basic responsibilities,
not only moving people more efficiently
with light rail but also doing it sustainably," said Dave Somers, Sound Transit
board chair and Snohomish County
executive. "We hope to keep earning gold
as stations are built in Lynnwood, Bellevue, Fife, Redmond, Everett, Issaquah
and across the Puget Sound region."
Sound Transit Chief Executive Officer Peter Rogoff said, "The Angle Lake
Station exemplifies the creative ways in
which transit facilities can function as
sustainable resources in their communities. Achieving LEED Gold status for our

newest Link station is a testament to
Sound Transit's commitment to use taxpayer dollars to design and build facilities that contribute to the health of our
environment here in the Puget Sound
region."
Station contractors incorporated
numerous environmentally sustainable
features, including a 60-panel, 14-kilowatt solar array on the platform canopy
that provides up to 18,000 kilowatthours of power per year, escalators that
reduce speed when not in use, additional solar panels on a walkway canopy
and a garage equipped with four charging stations for electric vehicles. Station
construction incorporated regionally
produced and recycled materials and the
station predominantly uses LED lighting.
The elevated station was the first
design-build project completed by
Sound Transit.



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Passenger Transport August 2017 Vol 75 No 15

Passenger Transport August 2017 Vol 75 No 15 - 1
Passenger Transport August 2017 Vol 75 No 15 - 2
Passenger Transport August 2017 Vol 75 No 15 - 3
Passenger Transport August 2017 Vol 75 No 15 - 4
Passenger Transport August 2017 Vol 75 No 15 - 5
Passenger Transport August 2017 Vol 75 No 15 - 6
Passenger Transport August 2017 Vol 75 No 15 - 7
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