San Luis Obispo - Caltrans - State of California

SAN LUIS OBISPO REGION
COORDINATED HUMAN SERVICES-PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION PLAN
coordination, as its role will vary with the nature of the strategy, plan or activity to be
accomplished. This role will include but is not limited to, serving in a number of capacities as
partner, broker and/or coordinator of projects, plans and programs. The Regional Mobility
Manager with its multiplicity of roles must also serve as the “translator” and liaison between the
two sectors toward the goal of improved mobility for the target populations.
For the San Luis Obispo region, a single Regional Mobility Manager will provide leadership and
promote dialog between the public transit operators and the human services agencies, as well
as among the public operators themselves. Bridging the communication gap between the two
systems is important and complicated as each speaks different languages and, to some degree,
has different values. Further dialog among public transit operators is important as the plan
speaks to the critical need for continued coordination among public transit services, as has been
the direction of activities already undertaken. Coordinating public transit will go far in meeting
some trip needs identified by this plan – for example, around transfer locations and timing of
connections, common core service hours and standardized fare policy and fare collection
mechanisms.
Given the complexities of this leadership role, the plan recommends that the Regional Mobility
Manager be strongly affiliated with SLOCOG as the metropolitan planning organization.
SLOCOG’s authority as the funding conduit for the public operators and its regional planning
responsibility will help to support and realize the coordination opportunities this plan envisions.
8.3.2 Ensuring a Strong Coordination Framework: Coordination Between Public Transit
Providers
Coordination also means coordination within systems, particularly within and between public
transit systems. This introspective on coordination is equally important, especially for public
transit whose sole business is to operate transportation services that should be seamless and
transparent to the general public customers. Several recent initiatives, which have led to service
improvements for the general public, have demonstrated potential for coordination between
transit providers. Examples are;
• Merging of two local fixed routes in North County for more direct connections between
two cities (North County Shuttle, Aug. 06);
• Shift of transit operations, dispatch and maintenance for several County Dial-A-ride
systems under the RTA umbrella (South Bay and Nipomo DAR’s) with recent use of
Mobile Data Terminals (2007); and
• Coordinated planning and implementation of regional and local bus service
improvements (South County Area Transit timed transfer with regional buses since
August 2007).
Although, there are and have been coordination initiatives undertaken by the San Luis Obispo
region’s public transit operators, there remain opportunities to strengthen the public transit
network and better serve consumers.
For example, establishing core service operating hours across the region would benefit the
transit dependent low-income rider who may need to travel long distances from home to work
and back again, and must be certain that a return trip can be made. Other examples of potential
areas of coordination could include standardization of age eligibility requirements between
systems, more uniform fare media and coordinated scheduling and dispatching.
117
OCTOBER 2007