SamTrans takes long look at service

SamTrans operates 48 bus routes in San Mateo County but just four them handle nearly half of the transit agency’s weekday ridership.

As it develops a long-range service plan for the next five to 15 years, SamTrans is looking at whether it should invest in beefing up the system’s most productive routes along El Camino Real that could cause some lesser-used routes to be either terminated or consolidated.

The agency is also considering whether it should invest in the county’s core market areas of Daly City, South San Francisco, San Mateo, Redwood City and East Palo Alto or to leave the service essentially as it is now.

Yesterday, the agency held a public workshop in South San Francisco to gauge which of the scenarios were most favored. It was attended by about 20 people, including elected officials from South San Francisco, Pacifica and Daly City.

SamTrans has a weekday average ridership of about 45,000 a day but 45 percent of the riders travel on just four routes, the 120, 292, 390 and 391.

Those four routes are the least costly for SamTrans to run while some local routes, such as the 72 in Redwood City, cost the transit agency nearly $15 per rider.

SamTrans only recovers 18 percent of its cost from the farebox and gets most of its support from tax revenue. Adult fares are just $2 but it cost SamTrans much more than that to accommodate the trip.

As it develops a road map for future service, SamTrans is considering enhancing service by having buses come more often along El Camino Real, every 10 minutes, where most of its riders access them.

This will allow for more spontaneous trips, said Marisa Espinosa, SamTrans’ manager of planning and research.

With more frequent service along El Camino Real, riders will not have a need to "plan” their trips, Espinosa said.

But Pacifica Councilwoman Sue Digre hopes those plans do not come at the expense of coastside riders, who already have limited bus service.

Digre is concerned that eliminating the lesser routes will prevent coastsiders from getting to El Camino Real to take the higher volume buses to work or school.

Eliminating coastside service is not acceptable, she said yesterday at the workshop.

The agency’s poorest-performing routes are the 17, 38, 58, 72, 132, 141, 280, 294, 297, 359 and 397.

Bus route 17 serves Pacifica, Half Moon Bay and Pescadero.

Under one scenario SamTrans is considering, route 17 would be combined with route 294, which travels from Pacifica down to Half Moon Bay and then east to San Mateo.

Keeping the service as it is now may necessitate service reductions in the future since many bus routes are currently underperforming. Focusing investment only on El Camino Real would cause the poor-performing routes to be discontinued or restructured, according to workshop materials the agency provided to the public yesterday.

Increasing service along El Camino Real will attract new riders to SamTrans, according to the workshop materials.

SamTrans surveyed the workshop attendees and 100 percent of them said they would prefer buses along El Camino Real, between Daly City and Redwood City, to come every 10 minutes.

But 71 percent of the workshop attendees also said they were concerned about discontinuing or restructuring the poor-performing routes.

The agency is also considering using shuttles, vanpools, dial-a-rides and deviated fixed routes to provide service in areas where the buses currently are underperforming.

Under all the scenarios, however, some of the underperforming routes will likely be lost or consolidated.

SamTrans last took an in-depth look at its service about 10 years ago.

Yesterday’s workshop was the seventh held so far by SamTrans across the county. The surveys collected from the public will be presented to the board next year when it will take public comments into consideration as it forms its long-term plan.

For more information visit www.samtrans.com.

Bill Silverfarb can be reached by email: silverfarb@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 106.