Sunday, November 10, 2024

Wave Transit to nab more local funding, improve bus service for thousands

Wave Transit is slated to receive $765,000 from the county and $103,000 from the city to fill its budget deficit of $750,000. (Port City Daily/File)

WILMINGTON — Cape Fear Public Transportation Authority is expected to receive funding from the city and county to fill their budget deficit and implement new routes for better bus service for more customers. 

READ MORE: Wave needs $750K to balance budget, board considers recommended route changes

CFPTA is expected to receive $765,000 from the county and $103,000 from the city to fill its budget deficit of $750,000. The transportation authority’s total budget is just under $14 million for fiscal year 2024-2025.

Brianna D’Itri, Wave Transit mobility manager, told Port City Daily on May 24 that the New Hanover County manager Chris Coudriet, who is also chair of the CFPTA board, recommended the funding to the 2024-2025 county budget. County commissioners and the city council will have to vote approval in June before the Wave board finalizes the budget.

In a Feb. 14 workshop of the Reimagine Wave Transit Plan, conducted by transportation consulting firm Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates, the CFPTA board of directors heard options for changing the system based on three funding models: a 30% increase in funding, a 30% decrease in funding or a cost-neutral option. Though dubbed “cost neutral,” this option requires an increase in local government money to balance the budget; the board voted unanimously to implement it Thursday.

The 30% decrease in funding option would have been the only plan to force Wave Transit to reduce service, namely shutting down the Port City Trolly in downtown Wilmington. 

“We want to provide as much service as we can based on the funding provided,” Eric Credle, NHC chief financial officer, said in response to a question about funding cuts in the February workshop discussion.

County representatives, including Coudriet, and county commissioner Dane Scalise indicated support for the cost-neutral option, as did City of Wilmington manager Tony Caudle and budget director Laura Mortell. This will increase the system’s efficiency, with a launch scheduled for January 2025.

Of the surveyed riders, 47% showed preference for cost-neutral as well, recommended by Nelson\Nygaard. One comment indicated: 

“Wave needs more funding to be able to operate effectively. Riders want increased frequency, fewer transfers, and shorter trips. That can’t happen without proper funding. The Wilmington area deserves functional transit with predictable, sustained, sufficient funding.”

CFPTA is currently relying on reserve and COVID-relief funding, though both are in the last stages of use. Rider fare profits have been decreasing since 2016; had additional funding not been provided, CFPTA would have been in a $2.8 million deficit by 2026, as reported by PCD in February

With the shortfall filled, CFPTA will be able to optimize services and provide less wait times. It will implement Wave’s first 15-minute rotation of rides in corridors between New Hanover Regional Medical Center, downtown and Monkey Junction. Roughly 15,000 people will have 15-minute service on routes using Shipyard Boulevard and 17th Street, a 117% increase from current frequency. 

The study indicates routes are redesigned to be more efficient by using less neighborhood roads. While this may require a farther walking distance for riders to their stops, 62% of survey respondents indicated they would rather walk more of a distance to have shorter commute times. 

“What this data is telling us is that people just want service available, when they need it — they don’t want to have to plan their life around the bus, they want to be able to go out to the bus stop and know ‘I’m not going to have to wait too long for service no matter what hour of the day, what day of the week,’” Nelson\Nygaard senior associate Keaton Wetzel said at the May 23 meeting.

Public outreach feedback for bus route changes was collected from March to May, with 33% of respondents claiming to ride daily and 28% stating to ride the bus several times per week. 

Due to the input, additional bus stops have been added on College Road, Randall Parkway and at the intersection of Fountain Drive. 

Riders also relayed the need for longer operational hours. With the cost-neutral budgeting, buses will run one hour earlier in the morning and at night.

One concern addressed in a workshop with the consultant company — also held with UNCW Seahawk Shuttle riders — included how bus schedules conflicted with UNCW student class times. 

The Seahawk Shuttle is a UNCW bus system contracted with CFPTA that transports students and faculty around campus and surrounding areas, free of cost. 

“Students are telling us that the new shuttle service was totally, perfectly timed to the bell schedule. So the buses [are] getting to campus at the top of the hour, but their class starts at the top of the hour and they said, ‘I need some time,’ so we shifted the schedule 15 minutes earlier to come to class on time,” Wetzel said.

Performance of the short-range Reimagine Wave Transit Plan will be re-evaluated in 2028 after its implementation in January. 


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Shea Carver
Shea Carver
Shea Carver is the editor in chief at Port City Daily. A UNCW alumna, Shea worked in the print media business in Wilmington for 22 years before joining the PCD team in October 2020. She specializes in arts coverage — music, film, literature, theatre — the dining scene, and can often be tapped on where to go, what to do and who to see in Wilmington. When she isn’t hanging with her pup, Shadow Wolf, tending the garden or spinning vinyl, she’s attending concerts and live theater.

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