posted Feb 12, 2012 3:00 PM by Support Georgetown Bus
The
Georgetown Transit Advisory Board (GTAB) voted on Friday, Feb 10th to
recommend that Georgetown City Council enter an agreement with CARTS to
implement a city wide bus system like the 6 route system that was
approved but not funded in 2008. As
a result of 2010 Census data Georgetown will no longer be classified as
rural for transit funding purposes. Because of this reclassification,
the current CARTS paratransit service (door-to-door service for the
elderly and disabled) will be ended because it is currently classified
as a rural type of service. The cost to the city to continue paratransit
service without rural funding would be at least $300,000 per year. As a
small urban transit district we would be eligible for funding that
would allow us to establish a fixed route bus system including
paratransit service for about $250,000 per year.The
alternative is that City Council could elect to not offer any service
at all. This would be catastrophic for the many elderly and disabled
residents who rely on this service to get to doctor’s appointments and
go grocery shopping. Please
contact your city council members and let them know that this is the
time to implement public transit in Georgetown. The price is right and
the need is great. You
can email all City Council Members plus the Mayor by emailing the
following addresses: mayor@georgetown.org, district1@georgetown.org,
district2@georgetown.org, district3@georgetown.org, district4@georgetown.org, district5@georgetown.org, district6@georgetown.org, district7@georgetown.org If you would like to send a more personalized message to the City Council Member representing your district, see http://government.georgetown.org/city-council/ |
posted Dec 16, 2011 6:34 AM by Support Georgetown Bus
On Tuesday December 13th representatives from the Lone Star Rail District (LSTAR) gave a presentation to City Council. You can view the workshop at http://georgetowntx.swagit.com/play/12132011-729 They have done detailed ridership studies, and have conducted a very solid planning process that will ensure that the rail passes through the heart of urban areas to attract the greatest ridership and interconnect with other public transit options (those available now as well as those being planned.) LSTAR's plans also involve redirecting freight traffic that currently causes congestion in some towns such as New Braunfels as well as some smart public/private partnerships with Union Pacific and other companies.
City Council members asked some very good questions. Ms Berryman and Mr Sattler were not present for the presentation. Mr Gonzales is on record in an earlier meeting stating that he is willing to stake his reputation and council seat on opposing our participation in LSTAR because he is afraid it will end up like a commuter rail he is familiar with in Florida that costs the tax payers too much money and according to him has low ridership. His questions for LSTAR focused on figuring out how much of the estimated portion Georgetown would pay of the 10 million dollar annual operating expenses that will be carried by small cities and counties. No definite numbers could be given at this time but it could be a little over a million a year.
There was some discussion of commuter rail not being self sustaining. Only about 40% of operating costs are typically recovered at the fare box. However, by comparison, highways these days don't do much better, they only collect 50% of their costs with tolls, license plate fees, and other user type fees, the rest is incurred as debt that all tax payers pay for whether they use those roads or not.
Georgetown currently spends 4.5 Million annually on building and maintaining roads according to the 2011-2012 City Budget. According to the 2010 Citizen Survey 23% of respondents said they think Passenger Rail to Austin/San Antonio should be the FIRST priority to improve traffic. That was the 2nd most popular choice after Improvements to existing roads (30%.)
Please take time to review the facts and write to your City Council Member. If you are not sure who represents you, feel free to contact me.
--
Lalena Parkhurst
Support the bus in Georgetown
georgetownbus@gmail.com
512-508-1485 |
posted Apr 16, 2011 12:21 PM by Support Georgetown Bus
During
our efforts to bring public transit in Georgetown, Dale Ross (District 6
City Council member) was a key opponent of the bus system as well as
commuter train to Austin. He is now up for re-election. Rachael Jonrowe
is challenging him. She would support reasonable and cost effective
efforts to bring more public transportation to Georgetown.
This
is a major opportunity to bring support for public transit to our city
council. Everyone is welcome to volunteer for her campaign or donate to
it, regardless of what district you live in.
For more information:
Rachael Jonrowe
www.rachaelforgeorgetown.org
512-627-9596 |
posted Apr 10, 2011 12:22 PM by Support Georgetown Bus
[
updated Apr 10, 2011 12:25 PM
]
CARTS is now running a commuter bus with connections to Cap Metro
service in Austin. For schedule and fare information click the link
below. Service runs on weekdays starting at 5:30am and ending at
7:45pm. Click the view or Download link below under Attachments to see the current schedule.
|
posted Jun 30, 2009 5:52 AM by Support Georgetown Bus
[
updated Jun 30, 2009 6:56 AM
]
An executive summary of the plan was presented and comments were heard from the public. Mr Mike Weaver presented the plan and stated very clearly that growth in Williamson County will out pace our ability to build roads. He said "You can't build your way out of congestion" faced with the kind of growth we anticipate (even accounting for the economic downturn). Desipte his warning, there were no current public transit projects described. All current projects presented were road builds and widenings
Comments must be submitted by July 9th! |
posted Jun 22, 2009 11:53 AM by Support Georgetown Bus
Friday, June 26th at noon at the Getsemani Community Center. The Getsemani
Center is at 412 E 19th St. (at Church St.) City Council Member Patty
Eason and Edward G. Polasek from the City Planning and Development
Dept will be attending.
All are welcome, all ideas are needed! |
posted May 15, 2009 6:54 AM by Support Georgetown Bus
[
updated Jun 2, 2009 1:21 PM
]
Patty Eason will be sworn in by Diana Maldonado in City Council chambers, 101 E. 7th Street, at 6pm, Wed, March 20th. It will be good if many, many bus supporters can be there to show that Patty has public support for the bus initiative. |
posted May 15, 2009 6:53 AM by Support Georgetown Bus
[
updated May 15, 2009 7:11 AM
]
Patty Eason won the District 1 Election 119 to 26 votes. We look forward to her help moving forward with getting a bus system! |
posted Mar 26, 2009 12:00 PM by Support Georgetown Bus
The Williamson County Sun reported in the 3/24/09 edition that City Manager Paul Brandenburg listed the proposed bus system as a priority in his recommended budget priorities. City Council will have the final say on what the budget priorities are. |
posted Mar 11, 2009 10:03 AM by Support Georgetown Bus
[
updated Mar 11, 2009 11:01 AM
]
On March 10, 2009 City Council members heard your input and voted unanimously in favor of a measure that will give The Transit/Fixed Route Working Group authority to work with CARTS to seek funding for a bus system in Georgetown. This is just one step in the right direction, but it is an important victory for those of us who would like to see a bus system in Georgetown.
Please take time to write your councilmember and thank them for doing the right thing.
Dear (councilmembers name):
I would like to thank your for voting to approve the Transit/Fixed Route Working Group’s request to seek funding through CARTS for a bus system in Georgetown. We desperately need this service in our community and many people would use it. I understand our budget is tight and you have been concerned about the cost to the city of starting up a bus service. I applaud this effort to investigate bringing bus service to Georgetown at a very low cost to the city.
Sincerely,
(your name)
(your address) |
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