This project has several major components, which are summarized here and discussed in more detail below:

• Review of Existing Transportation Services: Analyze information about existing transportation services in the Longview-Kelso area
• Assessment of Transportation Needs: Compare residents’ transportation needs (where and when they need to go places) with the ability of existing services to meet those needs
• Coordination Strategies: Develop strategies for improving coordination between all the services currently available
• Transit Service Alternatives: Recommend options for improving transit service over the next ten years
• Capital and Operations Financial Plan: Outline the costs for making changes and how they can be funded
• Marketing Plan: review how CUBS can improve public awareness of its services

Input from the community is extremely valuable and will be solicited throughout this project in a number of ways. First, the project team will interview key “stakeholders” to find out about the community’s transportation needs, the quality of existing service, and the community’s expectations from its transit system. The project team will then conduct a “visioning” exercise with the Cowlitz Transit Authority (CTA) Board to visualize future service enhancements. Later in the project, a community workshop will be conducted to determine whether the community’s needs have accurately been identified, and to receive feedback from members of the public on potential strategies and service enhancements.

A community advisory committee (CAC) has also been established to assist in the planning effort. This group consists of local business representatives as well as staff from Cowlitz area cities, Lower Columbia College, local transit agencies and other local organizations that have a stake in transportation issues. The CAC will convene for four meetings and serve in an advisory role to the CTA Board for planning and policy direction.
Finally, this website has also been established to provide information about the project and to solicit additional feedback from the community. Please visit the Get Involved page to provide direct feedback about this project. You can also view the Events page to see upcoming meetings or public presentations related to this project.

The following sections provide additional detail about each major component of the project:

Review of Existing Transportation Services
As a first step, the consultant team will complete a comprehensive review of transit system performance, and identify transit system needs and gaps in service for the communities served by CUBS. This phase of the project includes the following elements:

• Performance review of existing transit services (CUBS)
• Review of current and on-going plans and policies that might affect transit service in the future
• Inventory of existing transportation services that operate in Cowlitz County
• Survey of passengers on CUBS fixed route and paratransit services

Assessment of Transportation Needs
Based on our evaluation of existing transportation services and feedback received from the public and the advisory committee (CAC), we will develop an assessment of transportation needs that compares when and where residents need to travel with their ability to do so using existing transit service. The identified transportation needs will be verified with the CAC and the public during the community workshop.

Coordination Strategies
An important step in this planning project is to develop strategies to better coordinate transportation services within the Kelso-Longview area. This assessment will provide recommendations to improve connections between regional transit providers such as CUBS, The Cowlitz Tribe, Lower Columbia Community Action Council, Columbia County Rider, and Wahkiakum on the Move.

Transit Service Alternatives
Once the range of transportation needs has been identified, we will develop a series of transit service alternatives (or options) that address the needs. The transit service alternatives will focus on potential improvements and changes to transit service over the next ten years. The project team will also develop a set of service and productivity standards for CUBS. Service standards are guidelines for bus stop amenities, passenger comfort and safety (such as route maps, bus shelters and lighting). Productivity standards are tools for CUBS staff to ensure that the system operates as efficiently as possible.

Capital and Operations Financial Plan
Based on proposed changes to transit service, we will develop a ten-year capital and operational financial plan that will identify the costs of the proposed transit system improvements relative to the operating and capital funding resources expected to be available. As the project develops, the project team will refine the financial plan in order to maintain an accurate picture of how much the long-range transit vision will cost.

Marketing Plan
The team will review CUBS’ existing marketing strategies and assess how well these they inform the public about transit service. After reviewing the current marketing tools and obtaining feedback from transit staff and residents who do not ride transit, the project team will develop a set of recommendations for promoting CUBS to the public.

To get involved with developing the Transit Enhancement Plan (TEP) you can:

• Submit a comment
• Attend an event
• Send us an email

Thank you for your interest!