The simple answer is, the taxpayers of Wake Forest pay for the Loop Bus with some funding from Raleigh and Raleigh pays for the express bus service to Raleigh.
“The Wake Forest Loop is completely funded from the General Fund,” Jonathan Jacobs, the town’s transportation engineer, wrote on Monday. “Since the route is partially used by Raleigh in Wakefield, they contribute about 23 percent of the annual cost of the service. This number is figured based on the mileage of the route within City of Raleigh. The cost of the current circulator [loop bus] is approximately $350,000 annually with the Town contributing approximately $270,000 and City of Raleigh contributing $80,000. All service is provided by the City of Raleigh using GoRaleigh buses and operators.
“The reverse loop will have the same $350,000 cost, which the Town is paying for 100 percent,” Jacobs continued. “We applied for a grant, called the Community Area Funding Program (CFAP) through CAMPO (Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization) which will provide up to $214,000 toward that service at a 50/50 Town match. In January when we add Saturday service, the additional cost will be about $60,000 annually for both routes.
“With Saturday service and the reverse route in operation, the total annual cost of the route will be approximately $1,110,000 with Town of Wake Forest contributing $840,000 toward that cost from the General Fund.
“The Town does not provide funding toward the Express route. We do work with GoTriangle on the park-n-ride, but they reimburse us for that lease. Right now, the parking lot of the old Suntrust building in downtown is leased for the park-n-ride. We are actively seeking a new location for the park-n-ride.”
There is another no-charge service for Wake Forest residents provided with the bus service, paratransit service. Jacobs said that is budgeted in Wake Forest at $36,000 this fiscal year. “This number is solely based on the trips taken as they are charged per trip” with the money coming from the town.
GoRaleigh provides the paratransit service for disabled people in Raleigh and Wake Forest using vans, but there are eligibility requirements. For one, the application must be partly filled out by the person’s doctor. The following is from the GoRaleigh website. For people who may qualify, go to the website below for more information.
“Paratransit service is available to GoRaleigh Access users who qualify under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA mandates that each public entity operating a fixed route transit system provide complementary paratransit service to individuals whose functional disabilities prevent use of accessible fixed route bus and rail systems. The level of service for these individuals is to be comparable to the level of service provided to individuals without disabilities. The paratransit service is intended to be comparable to the fixed route system in specific listed criteria such as days and hours of service, fares, service area, response time, etc.
“GoRaleigh Access trips are eligible for paratransit service only if the trip begins and ends within 3/4 miles of a GoRaleigh bus stop. Other eligibility requirements may apply.”
https://www.raleighnc.gov/services/content/PWksTransit/Articles/AccessibleRaleighTransportation.html
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One Response
No problem on the funding. The “government” pays, not the local people. How many people ride on the bus system in WF? I bet the number is small, making the cost per rider very high. I wish someone could dig out that information. I want to see how much free “government” money we are able to harvest before some bean counter calls it a boondoggle.