Transportation System Plan 2018-2038

• Changing to seven day per week operations – the RTP preferred options would expand service to include weekends (including Sunday s) with service ty pically beginning at 6:30 a.m . and operating until 10:00 p.m . In addition, the RTP identifies other strategies that could be im plem ented to support and encourage the use of public transit within the Rogue Valley area. These strategies include: • Adding new routes – according to the RTP, existing routes m eet only basic transportation needs for people to travel between cities throughout the Rogue Valley area. To improve transit ridership within cities, new routes need to be established between residential areas and employment and shopping areas. All new routes would attem pt to provide greater than the minimum level of service described in the sections on headway s, service hours, and service day s. Options for additional rout e coverage could include: o Expand service to Rogue Valley International Airport o Add transit trunk route between Rogue Valle y Medical Center and South Gateway to expand service to SE Medford o Add service route from Medford Central Business District (CBD) to Roxy Anne/Brookdale neighborhoods via Spring Street o Add service route from Rogue Valley Mall to Cedar Links/Lone Pine neighborhoods o Add service route from Medford CBD to Sage Road Industrial Area o Add service route from South Gateway to Colum bus and Garfield neighborhoods o Add transit trunk route from Rogue Valley Mall to South Gateway to serve Medford’s Civic and Business Centers • o Add service route from Medford CBD to Hillcrest area via Jackson Street/Hillcrest o Add service route that travels between Garfield and Jackson Streets via Colum bus Avenue to serve West Medford o Add service route that travels from Rogue Valley Mall to White City via Table Rock Road to include North Medford and East Central Point o Express com muter service between Ashland and Medford, Medford and Central Point, and Medford and White City Encouraging m ajor em ployers to offer tr ansit fare subsidies and other program s • Incorporating design features into roadway projects to benefit transit – features that m ight be incorporated into roadway projects could include thicker pavem ent at transit stops; transit-only right-of-way at congested intersections; construc tion of bus turnouts; construction of transit passenger shelters; wider sidewalks at transit stops ; bicy cle facilities near transit stops; and bike racks at transit stations. The RTP recom mends th at consideration of transit infrastructure and capital needs be incorporated early in street project planning to elim inate redundancy and reduce future expenditures. Transit-Oriented Design Studies The Transit Oriented Design (TOD) and Transit Corridor Strategies study (May 1999) conclude that for the TOD land use strategy to be successful in increasing th e use of alternative travel m odes, it will need to include an intensive increase in bus service that is “integrated into the community and highly visible as part of the civic infrastructure”14. This service would be focused on developing a “prim ary transit corridor network” where buses would operate at 15-m inute frequencies for 14 hours every day and on 30- minute frequencies in the evening, seven day s a week. These prim ary transit corridors would be 14 “Transi t Recom mendations”, R VMPO – Transit Oriented Design and Transit Corridor Development Strategies , McKeever/ Morris and Nel son/Nygaard, M ay 28, 1999, page 2. Medford Transportatio n System Plan 7-6 Public Transit Plan