Title
New Amazon Bus Route and ADA Paratransit Service
Presenter:
Craig Blewitt, Transit Services Division Manager
Brian Vitulli, Transit Services Planning Supervisor
Body
Summary:
During the November 12, 2020 City Council Budget Work Session there were a number of questions about the proposed new bus service to the new Amazon facility and the Colorado Springs (COS) Airport, especially with regard to the potential for Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) paratransit service. There were also questions about the potential to add ADA paratransit service to express routes serving the northern UC Health and Children's Hospitals and the Pikes Peak Community College Rampart (northern) Campus, and the potential to provide paratransit services beyond the minimum federal ADA requirement. Transit Services Division staff will address those questions in our presentation.
Background:
As part of the 2021 City budgeting process, the Transit Services Division requested funding for a new bus route serving the Amazon fulfillment center being constructed in the Airport Business Park and the Colorado Springs (COS) Airport passenger terminal. The Amazon/Airport service as funded in the 2021 City Budget is proposed as a new bus route that makes seven trips per day, running 362 days/year. The Amazon facility, which is expected to employ at least 2,000 workers, is scheduled to open in June 2021. The cost to operate and market the new bus route from mid-June through December 2021 is $131,888. Half of that cost was approved in the 2021 City General Fund Budget and the other half will be paid by the COS Airport. Amazon offered and agreed to pay the cost to construct the bus stop and shelter at its site. The value of that stop and improvements is $40,840.
As planned, the new bus route will only have three stops. On the west end, it will connect to the Mountain Metro Transit (MMT) bus system at the transfer station located at Academy Boulevard and Astrozon Boulev...
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