GRTC may ask U.S. for funding

The GRTC Transit System is preparing to seek federal funds to implement a $68.3 million plan for faster, more reliable bus service along 7.6 miles of Broad and Main streets in Richmond and Henrico County.

If the city is supportive, an application would be made this fall to the Federal Transit Administration to cover capital costs of a "bus rapid transit" system between the Willow Lawn area of Henrico and the Rocketts Landing area along the James River, GRTC officials told City Council members Monday.

The city and state would each need to contribute $17.1 million, or 25 percent, if the federal Small Starts program covers 50 percent of the project's capital costs, according to GRTC. A mix of local and state funds, plus rider fares, would be expected to cover the system's $4.7 million in annual operating and maintenance costs. Fares would match those of GRTC's local routes, currently $1.50 a trip.

Bus rapid transit service, which has been planned for several years, would build on existing bus service and provide an interim step toward light-rail service. Bus rapid transit would use high-capacity vehicles, dedicated travel lanes and signal prioritization technology to provide an alternative for "choice riders" who might otherwise get around by car, said Larry Hagin, GRTC's director of planning.

Someone traveling by bus currently needs 30 to 40 minutes to get from the Willow Lawn area to downtown. With bus rapid transit service, the roughly 5-mile trip would take 10 to 15 minutes, he said.

"This puts us in competition with the car, I believe," Hagin said.

Riders across the GRTC system would see an estimated 9 percent reduction in travel times, officials said.

GRTC's plan, which is being finalized, calls for 14 stations along the Broad and Main street corridors, which would be linked at 14th Street. As planned, the buses would travel with existing traffic in the areas west of Interstate 195 and east of 14th Street and would use either a dedicated median or dedicated travel lanes in the higher-traffic areas in between, near Virginia Commonwealth University and through downtown.

About 600 on-street parking spaces would be eliminated to provide the dedicated travel lanes, Hagin said.

Mayor Dwight C. Jones told City Council members that he supports the initiative, but officials have not begun to identify a potential funding source. City officials plan to seek an economic-impact analysis of the service.

Another step in redistricting

The City Council moved closer to finalizing a redistricting proposal to present to residents for input this summer.

After receiving recommendations of the mayor's redistricting commission, the council met with attorney J. Gerald Hebert to consider further changes to a redistricting plan that he developed and the council amended. Hebert suggested consideration of further changes based on some of the commission's ideas for the 3rd District.

The initial proposal called for moving the Sherwood Park and Gilpin Court areas from the 2nd District to the 3rd District as a way to adjust district boundaries to accommodate population shifts from last year's census.

Hebert said moving both areas to the 3rd could be viewed as hurting the majority-voting strength of blacks in the district under the Voting Rights Act because the largely white area of Sherwood Park has a much greater record of voting than the largely black area of Gilpin Court.

The council planned to continue working on the redistricting proposal but gave no indication that it would look closely at the Plan A and Plan B options recommended by the mayor's commission. The commission's plans were designed to break up concentrations of poverty among the city's nine voter districts.

An analysis by Hebert showed that the commission's options would split more precincts between districts and would move thousands more voters than the proposals being considered by the council. He noted that the council's criteria for redistricting included the convenience of voters and the effective administration of elections.

David M. Hicks, who coordinated the commission's work as the mayor's policy adviser, said he wasn't discouraged by the council's limited focus. He said redistricting is only one way the city is trying to reduce its 22 percent poverty rate.

"It's an epidemic. You don't address epidemics with aspirin," he said.

Interim named

In other business, the council introduced a resolution to appoint City Clerk Lou B. Ali as the council's interim chief of staff.

Ali will serve in a dual capacity until the council finds a long-term successor to retiring Chief of Staff Daisy E. Weaver, Council President Kathy C. Graziano said. Weaver has served the council since the city's switch to an elected mayor in 2005.

Also, discussion on a proposal to provide pension benefits for council members was continued.