WPCNR BUMPER TO BUMPER. By John F. Bailey. June 15, 2007 UPDATED 6/17/07 12:30 A.M. With Color Route Pix :  The new downtown shuttle system put into motion by Council approval of purchase of 3 shuttle buses Thursday evening will lose the city $449, 590 a year with government subsidies. It will cost about $1 Million a year to operate, according to the study delivered to the Common Council Thursday night, reportedly for the first time.

The cost per ride over one year of a projected 128,500 is $6.22 per ride, equivalent to a typical White Plains cab fare into the downtown from the train station. Should the city acquire the projected "public money" subsidies the cost drops to $4.22 a ride

"White Plains Rapid Transit" Recommended Buses. The Council may choose from one of these hybrid fuel bus designs. The buses would carry about 30 persons each and operate on three routes in the White Plains downtown at a cost of about $1 Million a year.

The “Program for Review of Downtown Shuttle Service” prepared by Urbitran Group, recommends three downtown routes  costing  from $741,338 to  $889,605 a year. It recommended the city purchase four vehicles which would be run by a private contractor to execute three downtown routes, and recommends a 50 cent charge per passenger. The estimated annual operating costs do not cover signage or public information efforts on the part of the city.

Get me to the Train on Time.

The 81-page study, proposes “The A Line,” a route using two vehicles between 6 AM and 10 AM, one vehicle leaving the train station, on a 25-minute loop plus 5 minute wait time at the train station. It leaves the station proceeding down Lexington Avenue to East Post Road, continuing on East Post Road to The Westchester Mall via Westchester Avenue, and returning to the train station via Paulding Street to Maple Avenue, continuing West Bound on Maple to Longview Avenue to Quarropas, west to Bank Street and continuing back to the train station, operating every 15 minutes with 5 minute wait time at the train station. 

The A Line: Rush Hour Route: From the Train station to the Westchester and back.

West Side East Side All Around the Downtown

This route would reduce to one vehicle in midday hours between 10 AM and  and 3 PM, then resume with two-shuttle service between 3 PM and 6:30 PM.

The Great Northern Route --THE B LINE

The “B Line”  originates from the train station and runs one shuttle during morning and evening rush hours on a 20-minute loop to the northern side of downtown, Hamilton Avenue Eastview Neighborhood,  pulling out of the station, turning left on Ferris Avenue, righting on Water Street and motoring smartly to the White Plains Mall, righting on Cottage Place to Hamilton Avenue, where it turns left and motors down Hamilton  to North Broadway, crossing North Broadway and continuing in a square loop down Lake Street where it turns right onto Canfield Avenue, rights onto Main Street to serve the Eastview neighborhood. Upon reaching North Broadway the B route rights North on Broadway and continues to Park Avenue, where it makes a left, continues on Park Avenue West and loops back to the train station when it reaches Ferris Avenue.

The B route will operate  from 6 to 10 AM in the morning and 3 PM to 8 PM evenings.

The MiDDAY SPECIAL

The “C Line”  operates two vehicles serving downtown in the midday hours from 10 AM to 3 PM weekdays and 10 AM to 7 PM Saturdays .

“The C”  midday service would assign the two shuttles  handling the A Shuttle during morning rush. The C would run continuously, weekdays to “offer mid-day customers the most convenient service and a short loop connecting downtown travel areas, office and residential, commercial centers, shopping and restaurants. It is hoped office workers would use the  C to travel between businesses and the City’s “commercial core.”

The C begins its run at Main and Bank Streets, proceeds down Main Street in an eliptical loop to South Broadway, turns south to Westchester Avenue to the Westchester Mall, where it takes Paulding Street to Maple (Fortunoff’s), and takes Maple Avenue  West to Mamaroneck Avenue. It then follows Mamaroneck Avenue north to Martine Avenue (through the heart of the Mamaroneck Avenue bar & grill row, lefts on Martine (at City Center), and proceeds down Martine past The Galleria to Bank Street and main where it begins the loop again.  It is estimated that each shuttle would take 20 minutes to complete this loop, so a citizen is never more than 10 minutes away from a convenient C Shuttle.

On Saturdays the C Service would circulate for 9 hours all day, and may be extended to include stops at the train station.

Vehicles and dollars.

The study recommends purchase of 4 hybrid-electri/diesel vehicles seating from 30 to 44 passengers. One is a vintage trolley look. The survey expects 10 to 15 passengers per hour on shuttles such as this in similar shuttle projects nationally.  The survey predicts the service will be more successful in midday hours. Overall, the 4 shuttles in service they would  serve about 13 passengers an hour, over 9,884.54 annual hours of service for total ridership a year of 128,500.

At 50 cents a passenger, that would yield $64,250, meaning the service would lose about $825,355 a year. Should the 4 shuttles be filled to capacity  120 passengers an hour, for 9,885 hours at 50 cents a passenger,  the ridership would be 1,186,200 and at 50 cents a ride would generate revenue of $593,100 still the loss would amount to $296,000 a year.

State Aid Would Subsidize

The study notes that the New York State Transit Operating Assistance  program (STOA) and the federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) program are sources of funding to subsidize the service.

The Town of Huntington and the City of Long Beach, Long Island currently receive such a STOL subsidy for their rapid transit program.

The study reports  that subsidy is 40.5 cents a passenger and 69 cents per vehicle mile. The study notes that at the extimated total passengers to begin the revenue miles would generate a $40,362 subsidy and at 40.5 cents for the 128,500 passengers expected, a subsidy of $52,043  from STOA that would cut the one year loss from $825,355 to $773,312.

The Bottom Line -- a $449,590 Loss

The Study estimates with Operating expenses of $840,183 and fare revenue of $48,188, the city would have a net loss of $791,995 annually.

That would be mitigated by STOL and CMAQ subsidies of  $92,405 from STOA (half of which is provided by local match from the City of White Plains, or a benefactor), plus $250,000 in CMAQ federal funds.

The bottom line would cost the city a $449,590 loss a year to operate the service.

The Numbers:

                          Revenue Hrs   Op Expense    Ridership     Fares       Net Operating Expense

Weekday             9,052.5          $769,463        117,680     $44,130           $725,333

Saturday                  832               $70,720           10,820      $4,058             $66,663

Total                      9,884.5         $840,183          128,500     $48,188          $791,995

City of White Plains Funding Share

Net Operating Expense        STOA Funds         CMAQ Funds           City Share (LOSS)

     $803,116                                 $92,405*                     $250,000**                  $449,590

* Formula based, requires local (City of White Plains Match

**Projection based on similar programs in New York State

$6.22 A ride -- Equivalent to Cab Fare in the city.,

The cost per ride (128,500 riders) to the city, should the above predicted subsidies come through is about $4.22 , for which the study proposes the city charge 50 cents. If you add in the cost of the subsidies the rides cost.

The actual cost per ride is $6.23 a ride when you consider the total cost of $800,000 a year to run it as projected the survey.

The study has already cost $200,000 of "public money," and will expend $242,000 more public money to purchase the three buses..