Colchester approves three-year transit pilot project with CCTA

The Town of Colchester Select Board has voted to contract for expanded CCTA public transit services as a three-year pilot project.
Collaboration between CCTA, the Selectboard, and Town staff has resulted in an affordable option for a three-year pilot project without impacting taxpayers. The pilot project will bolster the general public transit service and ADA Paratransit service already established in Colchester.
Significant changes in recent years have necessitated the exploration of such a project.
â ¢ Public transit service options are now available to Colchester at a 50 percent lower cost than in prior years’less than $45,000 annually’as a result of refinements in service and renewed discussions between CCTA, the Town of Milton, and the Town of Colchester.
â ¢ The 2009 approval of the Town’s Designated Growth Center requires public transit.
â ¢ The Chittenden County Regional Plan, the Town of Colchester’s Heritage Project, the Town of Colchester’s Master Plan, and the CCTA Transit Development Plan all recommend and promote public transit in Colchester and regionally.
â ¢ In addition to requests from employers and employees in the areas of Exit 16, Colchester Village, and Severance Corners for such service, three separate CCTA ridership surveys conducted over the last four years identified Colchester as a community in which the majority of respondents desire additional service offerings.
Highlights of the proposed service contract are as follows:
â ¢ With an anticipated start date of July 1, 2014, the contract will provide for transit service along Route 7 in Colchester with stops at Creek Farm, Severance Corners, and Water Tower Hill, with six round trips each weekday.
â ¢ There will be no impact to the tax rate, as the Town will use existing funds.
â ¢ The three-year pilot project will allow the Town to measure the effectiveness and desirability of transit service in Colchester starting with Fiscal Year 2015.
â ¢ The three-year trial period meets state requirements for alternative transportation modes to support the Severance Corners Growth Center.
â ¢ Contracting for service is approximately $6,621 less annually than becoming a member of CCTA.
â ¢ The towns of Colchester and Milton will share the cost of this service, improving the assurance of the availability, cost effectiveness, and viability of Route 7 fixed route service.
Select Board Chair Nadine Scibek expressed her appreciation to CCTA and Town staff for their collaboration in engineering a creative solution to bolster Colchester’s public transportation, noting, ‘This three-year service contract will allow Colchester to test the waters of advancing public transit service as outlined in the Heritage Project without obligating the Town to become a member of CCTA or tie us to future service if the pilot project is not successful. If it does prove to be a success, we will ask the voters for their support in a few years to become a member of CCTA and would look at expanding bus service to other areas of town at that time. We are very excited to engage in this cooperative venture with CCTA and the Town of Milton for the benefit of Colchester residents, employees, employers, and visitors.’
Colchester -’June 26, 2013