CITY COUNCIL: Receive Report & Provide Direction on Alternatives for Maintaining or Modifying Trolley and/or Bus Service Within the City

City Council
Agenda Item Summary

Meeting Date: December 6, 2011
Prepared by: Heidi Burch, Assistant City Administrator

Name: Receive report and provide direction on alternatives for maintaining or modifying trolley and/or bus service within the City.

Description: The Carmel-by the Sea City Trolley has been funded annually through a grant from the Monterey Bay Air Pollution Control District. In response to the District's denial of the City's grant request for 2012, Monterey-Salinas Transit (MST) has proposed three alternatives for Council consideration to maintain or modify Trolley and/or bus service within the City. Options include adding City stops to the Grapevine Express (Line 24),
modifying Line 4 and/or changing vehicles and rate structures.

Overall Cost:
Grant Funds: N/A
City Funds: The fiscal impact ranges from no cost to $14,000-$20,000 and is dependent on Council's decision to charge a fee or to provide the service at no charge.

Staff Recommendation: Staff recommends sending a letter from City Council to MST officially requesting that downtown Carmel-by-the-Sea be added to the Line 24 Carmel Valley Grapevine Express bus route.

Important Considerations: Council is not limited to any one of the proposed options. Council may choose to investigate other possibilities, implement more than one of the suggested options, or create a hybrid.

Decision Record: At its September 9, 2008, meeting, Council directed staff to work with MST to establish a trial period for the Carmel Trolley from July 4th to Labor Day 2009.

Reviewed by:

Jason Stilwell, City Administrator Date

CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA
STAFF REPORT
TO: MAYOR MCCLOUD AND CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS
FROM: HEIDI BURCH, ASSISTANT CITY ADMINISTRATOR
THROUGH: JASON STILWELL, CITY ADMINISTRATOR
DATE: DECEMBER 6, 2011
SUBJECT: RECEIVE REPORT AND PROVIDE DIRECTION ON ALTERNATIVES FOR MAINTAINING OR MODIFYING TROLLEY AND/OR BUS SERVICE WITHIN THE CITY
__________________________________________________
BACKGROUND

The Carmel-by-the-Sea City trolley has been funded annually by a grant from the Monterey Bay Air Pollution Control District. The grant request for 2012 was recently denied. As such, Monterey-Salinas Transit has outlined three alternatives for modifying trolley and/or bus service within the City.

Option 1
Re-route Line 24 – Carmel Valley Grapevine Express to serve downtown Carmel-by-the-
Sea.
In the fall of 2005, Monterey-Salinas Transit (MST) initiated the Carmel Valley
Grapevine Express as a public-private partnership of the local Competitive Clusters: C2
program sponsored by the Monterey County Office of Economic Development and the
Monterey County Business Council. With a new brand identity, logo, tagline (“A new
way to “taste” Carmel Valley”), brochure and publicity efforts, MST transformed an
existing low-ridership transit line (Line 24 Carmel Valley) with limited service hours of
operation and a forced transfer at Carmel Rancho into an extremely popular hourly transit
line with non-stop trips between Monterey and Carmel Valley. Through the Grapevine
Express, MST also provides an alternative transportation mode so that these individuals
do not have to drive their cars on congested, two-lane Carmel Valley Road, thereby
removing potentially alcohol-impaired drivers from the highway. In addition, the
increased frequency and connectivity benefits Carmel Valley residents, who now have
more direct service more times a day to work, school, shopping and recreation in
Monterey without having to transfer as often.
A goal of this highly successful, award-winning project is to expose more visitors and
residents to local Monterey County products and services, including wine, organic fruits
and vegetables, arts and crafts, and restaurants. Far below that of private winery tours,
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the affordable price of the Grapevine Express makes these activities accessible to more
people from a wider range of socio-economic groups, many of whom may not have had
the opportunity to experience all that Carmel Valley has to offer. This service is also
designed to encourage visitors to stay in Monterey County for an additional night to
partake in a day-long wine tasting excursion, thereby contributing more dollars to the
local economy, which in turn provides increased job opportunities and revenues for local
governmental agencies.
During the initial two-month test of the Grapevine Express on Fridays, Saturdays and
Sundays only in the fall of 2005, ridership increased by 245% from the first week of
service to the peak travel weekend. Subsequently, MST implemented Friday through
Sunday Grapevine Express service, with ridership averaging 60% to 80% higher than
before the transformation of Line 24 into the Grapevine Express, with approximately 400
people riding each weekend. On January 27, 2007, MST began operating the Grapevine
Express seven days a week, which has resulted in another doubling of ridership. Since
then, ridership has continued to be strong, with August 2011 data showing that more than
6,000 persons boarded the Grapevine Express during that month.
When MST implemented the Carmel Valley Grapevine Express in 2005, there were no
wine tasting establishments to speak of in downtown Carmel-by-the-Sea. As such, the
routing of the Grapevine Express has bypassed Carmel via Highway One and instead
passes through the shopping areas at the mouth of the Valley (i.e., Crossroads, Barnyard,
Carmel Rancho). More recently, several businesses offering wine tasting have been
established in downtown Carmel, offering visitors and locals the opportunity to sample
one of the leading products produced in this County.
To increase access to these new Carmel-based tasting rooms, MST was approached with
the concept of adding downtown Carmel-by-the-Sea to the Grapevine Express route. In
that regard, MST staff members have researched and developed a proposed new route
(Attachment 1) which would include Carmel on the Grapevine Express bus line between
the hours of approximately 9:00 am to 7:00 pm daily (except Thanksgiving, Christmas
and New Year’s Day). This new routing would provide express access (about 15-minute
travel time) from the hotels and conference center in downtown Monterey as well as the
inns along Munras Avenue to Carmel-by-the-Sea in MST’s 17-passenger mini-buses. An
all-day pass could be purchased for $8 ($4 discount for passengers 65 and older, 18 and
younger, individuals with disabilities, Medicare card holders of any age, and active-duty
military personnel), while an individual cash fare would be $2 ($1 discount). In addition,
MST currently is offering discount fares on all routes on Sundays and most holidays.
In order to offset the increased running time that adding a stop in downtown Carmel-bythe-
Sea would involve, MST proposes to delete from the Grapevine Express the stops it
makes inside the Crossroads Shopping Center and the Barnyard Shopping Center. These
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locations would continue to be served by MST’s Line 4 Carmel-Carmel Rancho 7:00 am
to 8:00 pm, seven days a week.
Option 2
Replace the minibus vehicle used on Line 4 with a Trolley vehicle and:
a) Maintain the same route, schedule and fare structure.
b) Maintain the same route and schedule, but make it free by providing a subsidy
from the City or a third party; or
c) Maintain the same route and schedule, but only offer free rides during the summer
and possibly the holidays.
As a part of a comprehensive fare restructuring undertaken in April 2011, MST has
reduced fares on several short-distance neighborhood routes, while increasing fares on
longer distance trips, thereby making the cost of transit service to customers more
equitable. In that regard, MST lowered the base fare from $2.50 to $1.00 on its Line 4
Carmel-Carmel Rancho route which connects downtown Carmel with the Mission,
Carmel Rancho, the Barnyard and Crossroads shopping centers and other destinations at
the mouth of the Valley. As a result of this fare reduction, ridership has increased 20%
on Line 4, while MST’s systemwide ridership has only increased slightly over last year.
Option 3
Develop a new route that combines portions of the Line 4 route and the current Trolley
route using a single vehicle (Trolley or minibus) and:
a) Charge the $1.00 fare (50 cents for discount-eligible seniors/disabled/children/
active duty military/Medicare-card holders)
b) Provide a subsidy to have a reduced fare (year-round, summer/holidays only, etc.);
or
c) Provide a subsidy to have free fares (year-round, summer/holidays only, etc.)
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FISCAL IMPACT
The fiscal impact to the City ranges from no cost for Option 1 to $14-20,000 for Options
2 or 3 and is dependent upon Council’s wish to charge a fare or provide the service free
of charge.
It should also be noted that MST cannot unilaterally offer free/discounted fares because it
would constitute a gift of public funds. In that regard, if the Line 4 or some sort of new
Line 4/Carmel Trolley hybrid route were to be free/discounted for some part of or all of
the year, a third party or City subsidy would be required. MST would seek to recover
lost fares as a result of any free or discounted program for these Carmel-area lines. The
free fares would not apply to any other bus line that serves Carmel (i.e., Line 5 Carmel-
Monterey, Line 11 Carmel-Sand City, Line 22 Big Sur, and the aforementioned possibly
rerouted Line 24 Carmel Valley Grapevine Express). Should Council wish to explore the
free/reduced fare option further, MST staff would need to conduct more in-depth research
into the cost to develop a final price quote.
IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS
Council is not limited to only one the proposed options and may choose to investigate
other possibilities, implement more than one or a hybrid of the proposals.
MST has also indicated its receptiveness to discuss further the possible enhancement or
modification of Line 4 to Trolley service in the event the city wishes to maintain the
trolley, but is unable to find funds to continue it in its existing format. It is important to
note that adding Carmel to the Grapevine Express route can happen whether any changes
are made to Line 4 and/or the Carmel Trolley. Pending approval of Council, MST is
prepared to make the modifications to the Grapevine Express in time to be implemented
concurrent with the start of the summer 2012 visitor season. In addition, MST would
revise the Carmel Valley Grapevine Express full-color bi-lingual brochure (Attachment
2) to include the revised routing, as well as the new tasting rooms that are now located
within Carmel-by-the-Sea.
STAFF REVIEW
With the recent addition of a number of wine-tasting venues in the City, integrating
Carmel-by-the-Sea stops into the route of the Grapevine Express (Option 1) has the
potential to bring in riders that might not normally come into the City for wine tasting
opportunities. The City would draw from riders boarding at both the Monterey
Convention Center and Carmel Valley Village and expose the City to a significantly
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larger ridership than that utilizing the trolley in its current form. This option can also be
implemented at no cost to the City.
Additionally, should Council also wish to modify Line 4, staff would request direction
regarding a route and fare structure.

RECOMMENDATION

1. Approve sending a letter from the City Council to MST officially requesting the addition of downtown Carmel-by-the-Sea to the Line 24 Carmel Valley Grapevine Express bus route.

2. Direct staff to work with MST staff on implementing and promoting the new routing of the Carmel Valley Grapevine Express.