T r a n s f o r t S t r a t e g i c O p e r a t i n g P l a n • F i n a l R e p o r t

C I T Y O F F O R T C O L L I N S

Page 4-25 • Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates

Route 5

This route provides hourly service between the South Transit Center and the Downtown Transit Center, and serves Foothills Fashion Mall, Poudre Valley Hospital, the main Public Library, and Downtown. This route is one of four routes that do not serve the CSU Transit Center.

Northbound, this route begins at the South Transit Center, and heads north along Stover to Stuart, Lemay, and Elizabeth past Poudre Valley Hospital. The route continues in a northwesterly direction serving the library and Downtown area, and terminates at the DTC. The bus follows the same route in the Southbound direction, with the exception of a Library Loop (serving the western side of the building southbound; eastern side of the building northbound). This route parallels Route 1 for most of its alignment.

Route 5 operates on 60-minute headways Monday through Saturday in both northbound and southbound directions. The first trip begins at 6:24 AM at the STC, and the last trip ends at 7:15 PM at the same location. One way running time is approximately 23 minutes.

Ridership Type Figure 4-18 shows the ridership distribution across fare types. The majority of passengers, two-thirds, are either in the youth or general public categories. The next highest group of riders is disabled at 19%, followed by Senior Citizens at 12%. Not surprisingly, CSU students comprise the lowest percentage of overall ridership for this route, or three percent.

Figure 4-18 Route 5: Ridership Type by Fare Category

Disabled19%

Youth33%

General Public33%

CSU Students3%

Senior Citizens12%

T r a n s f o r t S t r a t e g i c O p e r a t i n g P l a n • F i n a l R e p o r t

C I T Y O F F O R T C O L L I N S

Page 4-26 • Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates

Connections to Other Routes Route 5 connects with Routes 1, 4, 8, 9, and 14 at the Downtown Transit Center. Routes 1, 6, 7, Fox Trot, and the South Side Shuttle connect with Route 5 at the South Transit Center. Frequencies on connecting routes range from 30 to 60 minutes, with the exception of the South Side Shuttle, which runs every 75 minutes during peak commute hours.

Ridership Total ridership in FY 1999 was 69,580. This translates to an average of about 18 passengers per hour, below the system average of 26 passengers per hour. Route 5 is the tenth most productive route in the system.

Boardings by Stop To determine the most active stops along Route 5, data was used from the most recent weekday ridecheck taken on Wednesday, November 10, 1999. Total ridership on this date was 260 passengers, with 115 traveling in the northbound direction, and 145 traveling in the southbound direction. Of the total, 35.7% or 41 passengers boarded at the Square at the South Transit Center on northbound trips, and 41.4% or 60 passengers boarded at the Downtown Transit Center on southbound trips. Figure 4-19 shows key stops in the northbound direction, and Figure 4-20 shows key stops in the southbound direction.

Figure 4-19 Route 5: Key Stops, Northbound

Stop Location Boardings % of Total Boardings

South Transit Center, The Square 41 35.7%

Stover - Drake 9 7.8% Stuart - Stover 8 6.9% Lemay - Poudre Valley Hospital 7 6.1% Elizabeth - Robertson 7 6.1% One Day Total Boardings, All Stops 115 100%

Figure 4-20 Route 5: Key Stops, Southbound

Stop Location Boardings % of Total Boardings

Downtown Transit Center - Laporte - Mason 60 41.4% Lemay - Prospect 14 9.7% Lemay - Poudre Valley Hospital @ Doctors Lane 12 8.3% Elizabeth - Robertson 11 7.6% Remington - Magnolia 9 6.2% One Day Total Boardings, All Stops 145 100%

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Rocky Mountain HS

Webber HS

Boltz JHS

CSU

Library &MuseumCourt

House

City Hall

SeniorCenter

Poudre�Valley Hospital

Lincoln JHS

EPIC

DowntownOld Town

Golden Meadows

Center forAdvanced Technology

T

T

Downtown Transit Center

South Transit Center

EPIC

Horsetooth Rd

Drake Rd

Tim

berli

ne R

d

Lem

ay A

ve

Riverside Av e

Prospect Rd

Raintree Dr

Rem

ingt

on S

tMulberry St Mulberry St

Laurel St

Drake Rd Drake Rd

Mountain Ave

Jefferson St

Horsetooth Rd

Harmony Rd

E Swallow Rd

Shi

eld

StLaporte Ave

Vine Dr

Vine Dr

Shie

lds

St

Howe

s St

Mas

on S

t

Colle

ge A

veCo

llege

Ave

Colle

ge A

ve

Land

ings

Dr

Mas

on S

t

Johnson Dr

Stuart St

Stuart St

Stov

er S

t

Dartmouth Trl

McC

lella

nd D

rNorth Dr

Cent

er A

ve

Whi

tcom

b St

South Dr

Pitkins St

Stov

er S

t

Whe

dbee

St

Elizabeth St

Magnolia St

Olive St

University

Stan

ford

Rd

Maple St

Monroe Dr

Stuart St

City

Par

k Ave

Mat

hews

StM

eldr

um S

t

Peterson St

Plum St

LesherJHS

T

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Boardings in this direction

Boardings in this direction

Total Weekday Boardings

Transit Center

1-5 Boardings6-10 Boardings11-20 Boardings21-50 Boardings

51-100 Boardings

101+ Boardings

LEGEND

105

20 30 60 >60

Route Frequency (min)

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nelson\nygaardc o n s u l t i n g a s s o c i a t e s

0 0.5 1 Mile

Empl

oym

ent

per s

q. m

i.

very low low highmed

very

low

low

high

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Source: 1998 North Front Range Transportation& Air Quality Planning Council (MPO)

Households per sq. mi.

Weekday BoardingsYellow Route

Figure 4-21

#5

TRANSFORT

Ridecheck taken on Wednesday, 11-10-99

T r a n s f o r t S t r a t e g i c O p e r a t i n g P l a n • F i n a l R e p o r t

C I T Y O F F O R T C O L L I N S

Page 4-28 • Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates

On-Time Performance Schedule adherence on Route 5 northbound was achieved on all runs (zero to five minutes late is considered on-time): two runs which were ahead of schedule and two behind schedule. In the southbound direction, six runs (four midday and two peak period runs) were early, and two-peak period runs operated late at key timepoints. Of the 27 total runs that were sampled for that day, 14 runs were not on time.

Driver Comments Transfort drivers participated in group interviews to solicit input and comments on existing bus routes. The following are comments received for Route 5.

l Because of the schedule, it is really difficult to make transfers to Routes 1, 7 and the Foxtrot. The scheduled arrival at the Square allows for a nine-minute layover but it rarely can occur. Times have gotten tighter along the Cowan leg of the trip.

l The route has lots of dead areas: no pickups after Elizabeth.

l The route is not very productive…[discussion]… but it serves the school. The Prospect [school] kids catch Route 10 and ride to Lesher.

l They’re not getting transfers at Oakbrook. South of Drake, they’re not making it. Maybe they could have a checkpoint – a connector route.

l The most problems on this route results for people trying to transfer. It would be great to disengage this route from some of the transfers that are required

l Many requests for service to Horsetooth and Lemay: people walk east from there.

l “Route 5 used to be for the old folks going to the doctor.”