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Northwest Oregon Connector
- 2. Who We Are Other SSttrraatteeggiicc PPaarrttnneerrss
- 4. Northwest Oregon Connector Alliance REGIONAL TRANSIT PROJECT ORIGINAL PROJECT PURPOSE To reduce greenhouse gasses and fossil fuel dependence through increased transit use by visitors and commuters.
- 5. PROJECT GOALS ďImprove transit connections between communities ďBrand and market transit service in all five counties as a single seamless service ďImprove inter-agency coordination of routes and schedules ďPromote environmentally-conscious travel ďPosition transit as an asset for economic development and promoting tourism
- 6. MAJOR TASKS ďRegional Route and Service Coordination ďBranding and Marketing ďCentralized Website ďStrategic Partnerships ďSustainable Funding ďSuccesses and Lessons Learned All are interconnected !
- 7. ORGANIZATION ⢠Intergovernmental Agreement ⢠Bylaws ⢠Designated Fiscal Agent ⢠Budget ⢠Contract Administrative Support ⢠Monthly Meetings ⢠Mutual Goals and Projects
- 8. REGIONAL ROUTE AND SERVICE COORDINATION
- 9. Connections Across County Lines BEFORE: ⢠Transfer points in remote areas ⢠Not where people wanted to go â˘Often very long wait times
- 10. Initial Successes ⢠Tillamook/Lincoln County â Was: Transfer at Otis â Now: TCTD goes into Lincoln City and agencies share cost of the extended run
- 11. CONNECTIONS
- 13. Branding and Marketing: The Challenge ⢠Five diverse counties ⢠Visitors and commuters â two different audiences ⢠Existing individual agency brands and identities
- 16. The Connector System is Identified at Bus Stops, Shelters and on Buses
- 17. Regional Fares for Visitors Market analysis showed: ⢠the need for a regional commuter pass within the five-county area is low, ⢠but the visitor pass concept works !
- 18. Poster Art Marketing and Advertising includes Incentives to Attract More Riders and New Transit Travel to NW Oregon
- 19. General Web Advertising BikePortland.org
- 21. New home page has regional trip planning info for riders, news, meeting notices, etc.
- 23. Our Strategic Partners ⢠Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) ⢠Salem-Keizer Transit District ⢠Yamhill County Transit Area ⢠Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde ⢠Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians ⢠Amtrak Cascades and Throughway Bus System ⢠Greyhound Bus Lines
- 25. Successes ! ⢠Coast to Valley ridership between Albany/Corvallis and Newport has increased by 300% ⢠Ridership between Lincoln County and Tillamook County increased by 125% ⢠New service to Kelso/Longview, WA by Columbia County Rider ⢠Better connections to the NW Point bus service in Cannon Beach ⢠Ridership between Lincoln City and Salem increases 25 to 30 percent each month
- 27. NW Connector Information Link to our site: nwconnector.net Questions to: info@nwconnector.net
- 28. Lee Lazaro Rural and Special Transportation Coordinator Benton County Transportation Services 541-754-1748 Lee.lazaro@corvallisoregon.gov OR info@nwconnector.net
Editor's Notes
- Greetings ! My name is Lee Lazaro, and Iâm the Rural and Special Transportation Coordinator for Benton County, Oregon. For those of you who may not know Oregon, Benton County is about midway in the beautiful Willamette Valley, and our County seat and primary city is Corvallis, which means âHeart of the Valleyâ. Corvallis is the home of Oregon State University and the Oregon State Beavers football team â who were unfortunately just beaten by the No.2 ranked Ducks of the University of Oregon, and will not be going to a bowl game this year, sadly. First off, I want to thank you all so much for the opportunity to present at the 2014 NADO Rural Transportation Conference! This is a real honor for all of us involved in the Northwest Connector Alliance Project I have spent nearly 40 years working in different areas of city, county, and state government. Although I was involved in fleet management for several decades, my specific experience in public transit goes back five years, when I began working for the State of Oregon Transportation Department in the Public Transit Division, in the State capitol of Salem. This is where I first heard about this new grassroots undertaking by five counties called the Northwest Connector project, and I followed its progress with great interest. This year, I had the opportunity to apply for and accept a position in my home town of Corvallis, administering Benton Countyâs transportation program, and became my countyâs representative for the Northwest Connector Alliance, as we call ourselves. This project has attracted national attention, and we made a presentation at the Salt Lake City conference a couple of years ago, and at the National Intercity and Rural Public Transportation Conference in Monterrey in October, and now we are back to share information with all of you on how the project has been evolving.
- So - what is the Northwest Connector Alliance, and who are we? The five primary rural transit agency partners are: Tillamook County Transportation District, which is also referred to as âThe Waveâ Sunset Transportation Services in Clatsop County Lincoln County Transportation Service District Columbia County Rider Benton County Rural Transit These five agencies are united through an Intergovernmental Agreement. We also have ex-officio partnerships with two Indian Tribes, the Confederated Tribes of Grande Ronde, and the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, as well as with the Oregon Department of Transportation-operated AMTRAK Thruway bus routes in our area of the state, which in Oregon are known as the Cascades Point and Northwest Point bus services.
- For those not familiar with the state of Oregon, Iâve included this slide to illustrate where our project is on the map. Oregon is part of the Pacific Northwest of the United States, and the Connector Alliance agencies are located in the northwest corner of Oregon. This area also includes the northern half of the famous Oregon Coast, considered one of the most scenic corridors in the nation. (USE POINTER TO DISCUSS THE AREA)
- Now to a quick recap of the project: The original concept for this project was developed in fiscal 2007-2008, in response to a US Department of Energy ARRA grant opportunity for reduction of greenhouse gases including through public transit use. Our five-county project was awarded approximately $3.5 million in a one-time grant. The DOE-funded grant project officially began in 2009 and ended in August 2013. However, the Northwest Connector Alliance has continued in operation, using existing and some enhanced funding through federal FTA 5311 Rural General Public Transportation, and other locally-generated funds.
- In Oregon most local transit systems have developed primarily around meeting the local transit needs, and like many rural transit providers across the nation, our agencies evolved to primarily serve elderly and disabled customers, and lower-income residents. All five of our Northwest Connector partner agencies have done a pretty good job meeting local needs, within available resources. However, this project is about taking our transit systems to the next level by focusing on making it possible for riders to travel throughout a region of the state, thus attracting both out of area visitors, as well as resident daily commuters This slide shows our five project goals (DISCUSS) Our overarching goal, however, was to help change the way travel by transit is perceived by the general public, and make the system easy to identify and use, so that it can eventually become a popular transportation option of choice - this project is the first small step
- These are the six major components of the Northwest Connector project: Coordinating existing services so passengers can travel seamlessly throughout the region Developing a regional brand and implementing region-wide marketing campaigns Establishing a regional website designed to provide customers with regional trip planning capabilities Forging new partnerships to establish new services and work towards enhancing existing services and improve facilities Working to establish sustainable funding sources And, last but not least as we move forward a lot of lessons have been learned, and Iâll be sharing some of those with you.
- Once the Department of Energy Grant was implemented in August 2010, the five partners established an Intergovernmental Agreement to link the 5 counties into a single entity. The IGA creates a coordinating committee composed of the transit program general managers in each agency. We meet every month, alternating in-person meetings which rotate around our five counties, with teleconference meetings on alternate months. Bylaws were also established provide rules and general operating principles of how the Committee conducts its business The IGA also provides for a fiscal agent to accept grant funds on behalf of the Alliance. Our current fiscal agent and grant manager is Tillamook County Transportation District. We do have a modest operating budget for administrative support of the Connector, composed of annual contributions by all five members, which allows us to engage a professional contractor, the Columbia-Pacific Economic Development District, to provide support for our meetings and mutual project organization.
- One of the main purposes of creating the NW Connector Alliance was to coordinate our routes and schedules in a more efficient and integrated way. We have made large improvements in this area, but we still have a ways to go. We have learned that regional schedule coordination can be tricky, because one agency making a change to accommodate a local circumstance or condition can have repercussions on schedules of connecting services.
- From the beginning, we started looking at connections between counties. The DOE grant allowed us to hire a consultant team, David Evanâs & Associates, who then prepared a series of existing conditions evaluations that included: a description of current services, routes, and travel sheds, and a profile of visitors to the coast population and employment centers served by our respective agencies - Where were our existing or logical connections across county lines? funding opportunities for the project, as well as establishing a coordinated fare policy to allow regional travel on one ticket. We learned that our initial connection points between counties were at locations that were in very rural areas, near the county line, away from communities with destinations and services that most people want to access
- By improving our inter-county connections, weâve already had some good successes. Hereâs just one example from Tillamook and Lincoln Counties: Tillamook and Lincoln county buses used to drop passengers at the county line in Otis, Oregon. Often there were very long waits between buses, and there are not many services or attractions for riders once they de-board the bus in Otis. Because of this inconvenience, few people were willing to take transit between Tillamook and Lincoln City. Now, however, the Tillamook bus goes all the way into Lincoln City. Lincoln County Transit helps to defray Tillamookâs additional costs for this, because it benefits Lincoln County transit connections as well. Tillamook County ridership increased more than 100% on this particular route. There are many other examples of this â the Coast-to-Valley service between Corvallis and Oregon State University, out to Newport which is home to NOAA and the Hatfield Marine Science Center which is the Universityâs oceanographic research lab, has created a small but stable M-F daily commuter market.
- Over the past several years Connector Alliance has been working together to provide a continues loop of seamless transit throughout the five counties. The services now also connect TriMet bus and light rail services and Amtrak and Greyhound services in Kelso/Longview, WA, Portland, Salem and Albany. (USE POINTER TO ILLUSTRATE CONNECTIONS)
- Next, Iâll talk about marketing and branding. We have learned from the private sector, and from our consultants on the Connector project, how important both branding and marketing are !
- The Connector Alliance consisted of 5 diverse counties with their own already-established individual and unique system names and logos. Each agencyâs customers are familiar with signage, schedules, and fare policies. And, we had other challenges: we were trying to reach two very distinct groups of riders: visitors to the coast, and daily commuters. However, once we focused on the differing needs of visitors and commuters and could identify areas they had in common, we were able to take the necessary steps to agree to a regional identity. Therefore, we kept our local brands, and established a additional regional brand for visitors and commuters.
- Based on the original public input from community forums and design charrets, the âOXOâ logo and tagline was designed and is now being used throughout the five county system (USE POINTER TO EXPLAIN LOGO) Our tag line is âGet on itâ, which we created with our marketing consultant, Maverick Media to represent the call to action phrase we wanted for our marketing program.
- Here is an example of regional marketing through the use of bus graphics, for the Coast-to-Valley leg of the Connector network. (USE POINTER TO EXPLAIN THE PICTURE â BC COURTHOUSE, HIGHWAY 34, YAQUINA BAY)
- The grant also allowed the partners the opportunity to plan and purchase new bus stop furnishings and signage with the OXO logo, to help commuters and out of area visitors to identify the regional routes.
- Next we developed a regional visitor bus pass, which was implemented in March 2013. Market analysis showed the need for a regional commuter pass was not high, but a system-wide visitor pass looked promising. So, we offer 3 day passes for $25 or a 7 day pass for $30 These passes allow out-of-area visitors the opportunity to purchase a roundtrip ride from the Willamette Valley to the Coast. Then, they can ride all 5 of our County systems, up and down the coast, free of charge for the number of days their pass is good for. When they are ready to leave the coast, the pass gives them a ride back to the Valley. Through August the number of passes that weâve sold increased by 40% while the number of visitor pass trips passes has increased 200%
- Over the past three years the Alliance has been pooling resources to fund marketing campaigns The first two years we focused on getting the Connector brand into the Willamette Valley from Portland/Vancouver to Eugene This year we opted to focus our Summer/Fall marketing campaign on bus riders from Portland, Salem, Albany and Corvallis We purchased radio advertising from radio stations that appeal to the demographic groups that are transit-friendly or already transit users. (PLAY 30-SECOND RADIO SPOT HERE !!) We also purchased advertising space at TriMet bus stop shelters at various locations throughout the Portland Metro area Benton County and Lincoln County implemented a joint marketing plan designed to enhance the larger Summer/Fall marketing campaign, that included advertising to students at Oregon State University.
- We also targeted another significant user of transit - riders from the bicycle riding community who also rely heavily on the web for their travel information, and who enjoy biking n the Oregon coast. We purchased advertising on the BikePortland.org website, and included availability of bike racks in our media campaign. We have information from our bus drivers who report an increasing number of both bicyclists and hikers riding Connector buses to the coast, who purchase 3 and 7 day passes.
- Next, the partners established our own Connector website, to establish an online presence and allow easy access to consolidated route, schedule, and system information.
- Websites evolve, and so is ours. After 2 years of gaining experience in working with out of area travelers, and with a savvy marketing agent who was actually quite critical of our existing website, we have recently launched a new, redesigned website that also serves more as a trip planning tool. All our partners have experienced difficulty in being able to plan trips for people throughout the region, so this website was intended to provide a visitor with more precise route and schedule information. This is a screenshot of the connections page of the Connectorâs recently redesigned website. We are very close to going live with the new website.
- This project has been all about partnerships and collaboration !
- Oregon Department of Transportation has been a very supportive partner throughout the duration of this project, both at the Public Transit Division and the regional ODOT planning level In fact the local cities and counties throughout the Connector region have all been great partners, by recognizing the importance of this project, and by their support for funding to continue planning and building transit facilities. For the past 3 years the Connector partners have been working with two additional transit agencies and with two Indian tribes to develop services that extend the Connector network into other neighboring counties and communities. In addition to discussing potential partnerships with Salem-Keizer Transit and Yamhill County Transit programs the Connector Alliance has been discussing how we can integrate with Amtrak and Greyhound services. We currently serve the Amtrak station in Albany, where travelers can board either the Cascades Point throughway bus system or the Greyhound BOLT Bus to Portland. ODOT contracts with Amtrak to provide about 8 trips per day between Portland and Salem. There are also about 4 round trips between Seattle and Portland, so we want to offer a link to the Northwest Pacific corridor. Because a big portion of our marketing campaign is fare integration and the 3 and 7 day visitor passes, we havenât yet figured out how portray these other partners as part of the Connector service â but we do include their schedule information for connection purposes on our website.
- Our eventual goal is a loop of continuous well-synchronized transit throughout the five counties, looping back into the Willamette Valley, key markets for the Coastâs employers and visiting population. The Loop connects buses with Amtrak, light rail and the cruise ships docking in Astoria. The services can connect TriMet bus and light rail services and Amtrak and Greyhound services in Kelso/Longview, WA, Portland, Salem and Albany.
- With the exception of Columbia County Rider, all Connector Alliance transit services year-over-rear ridership increases of at least 15 to 20 percent. Some routes have increased much more. About 1½ years ago the Columbia County Rider (or CC Rider as they are known) had to reduce services due to budget shortfalls, causing that programâs ridership to decline. Additionally, it is on Highway Corridor 30 along the Columbia River, which is very scenic but also takes a long time to traverse to the coast. As a faster alternative, we partnered with ODOT Northwest Point throughway bus service, which takes Highway 26, a faster and more direct route for those wishing to travel directly to coastal communities such as Astoria. Recently, however, CC Rider has expanded Connector connections service across the Lewis and Clark Bridge at Rainier, Oregon, to serve the busy port communities of Kelso and Longview, Washington.
- The Coast-to-Valley Express has hugely increased ridership since 2007-08. It is popular with young college students, middle aged bicycle enthusiast going to the coast, and mature adults and senior-age hikers and outdoor enthusiasts looking for a car-free way to travel to the Coast and back.
- Again, for more information about the Connector, please visit our website at www.nwconnector.net
- Here is my contact informationâŚand, that concludes my presentation. Thanks very much for your time.