Warren Express. How is it doing?

[jay]

Suggestion

If you want to know the intricacies of the Warren Express bus route, buy a Saturday day pass and ride back and forth all day long.

[Towntalk]

If Warren and Trumbull County aren't prepared to help defray the costs of running a bus even on its current schedule, why should the people of Youngstown be expected to foot the total bill. "In kind services" don't cut it for those who are already opposed to WRTA in its current form.

In talking with neighbors the question arises: with regular bus routes to Southern Park Mall and other major plazas, why should they be expected to support a Warren route when Warren won't help defray the costs.

As others have pointed out, the Warren route is well used, so it does benefit Warren to have WRTA running thru their city, so does Warren sees an economic benefit from it and if they did help defray the costs. then WRTA could afford to provide better service.

You have to view the whole question from the perspective of the Youngstown tax payers who foot the bill for WRTA. Our tax base is dwindling, and given all the other needs we have, coming at us for our tax dollars the added expense that WRTA places on us doesn't help, and as soon as the current grant expires WRTA will either have to come to us for more money, or drop the Warren route again.

[mrniles266]

  Have you ever been on the part of the route that goes into a housing development? People who work with all kinds of people, never heard of it before.

[jay]

The grant is Job Access Reverse Commute (JARC).

From the Federal Transportation Administration website

The Job Access and Reverse Commute (JARC) program was established to address the unique transportation challenges faced by welfare recipients and low-income persons seeking to obtain and maintain employment. Many new entry-level jobs are located in suburban areas, and low-income individuals have difficulty accessing these jobs from their inner city, urban, or rural neighborhoods. In addition, many entry level-jobs require working late at night or on weekends when conventional transit services are either reduced or non-existent. Finally, many employment related-trips are complex and involve multiple destinations including reaching childcare facilities or other services.

I recently met a woman in Warren who now takes the Warren Express WRTA bus every weekday from Youngtown to her job in downtown Warren.

[mrniles266]

  I happen to be working at the time. I only rarely see it. People who are out tell me they have never seen the bus. When it's comes every two hours. Even at an hour, you could see people waiting on both sides of 422. Park and Ride lots. Didn't say anything about buying lots. They may be unofficial. When I took the bus, found a good space in a shopping center. They have plenty of extra room. I parked away from any business's. I even told them that I was parking, just to look at the car every so often.  Trumbull county. Hard for commissioners to spend money on transit. They should be working on the grant now before it expires. There is some inkind things the city and county  can do. They have to deal with Trumbull Transit,   WRTA, and Eastgate dealing with transit items.

[Towntalk]

Just asking some questions:

1. Have you personally ridden a round trip or two to get your answers?
2. What do you mean by park and ride lots. WRTA isn't in the business of buying land for parking lots, and since it is taxpayer supported it's unfair to expect them to pay increased taxes for parking lots in Trumbull County that they may never use.
3. Are Trumbull County folks being taxed to pay for the bus service or do they expect the folks in Youngstown to foot the full bill?
4. When the current grant expires. will the Trumbull people step up and pass a transit tax to support the bus route?

Here in the city, bus drivers generally will stop between stops to pick up or let off passangers, especially older folks, and I have seen this with my own eyes in front of my house which is on the bus route so I suspect that so long as it is on the route they would do it for passangers on the Warren route.

[mrniles266]

  Since you have the time and the pass, make the round trip. I still don't know what the extra Warren part to a housing development is. Have you done that? They need to make the trip as fast as possible, from Warren, Niles,Girard, and Youngstown.  They need Official Park and Rides lots along the way.

[jay]

I road one day this week.  People got off at several locations along the way.  Passengers exited in Girard, McKinley Hgts., Eastwood Mall, and along Rt. 422 in Warren.

[mrniles266]

  Has anyone seen or been on the Warren Express? Can anyone give a passenger report? I  saw it yesterday. It was to far away to see if anybody was riding? An hour is to far apart.