City of Claremont

Agenda Report

TO JEFFREY C PARKER CITY MANAGER

FROM SCOTT CARROLL COMMUNITY SERVICES DIRECTOR

DATE APRIL 14 2009

SUBJECT VILLAGE TROLLEY UPDATE

SUMMARY

On January 22 2008 the City Council approved a pilot program for an off track trolley
and trolley service commenced October 30 2008 running every fifteen minutes on a
fixed route through the Village

Data from the first five months of service has recently been analyzed although industry
standards indicate service should be in place for a minimum of one year to generate
reliable feedback Information on the ridership survey staff conducted in January 2009
as well as other performance measurement indicators is included in this report Based
on this preliminary feedback the council may consider options for the future of the
program

Staff Recommendation

That the City Council choose Option A to continue the trolley service and the Mayor
appoint a council adhoc committee to evaluate possible system changes

ANALYSIS

B ackground

On February 27 2007 the City Council directed staff to pursue the concept of a
trackless trolley program with input from a citizen s committee The sixteen person
committee committed to the goal of indentify ing the feasibility and desirability of a
trackless trolley shuttle operating within the Village as a means of promoting economic

development for the City and subsequently analyzed various aspects of such a
program

The committee returned to theCity Council on January 22 2008 and offered multiple
recommendations The council approved the committee s recommendation to
implement a pilot program for a trackless trolley system and appropriated the
necessary funds for the program

FOR CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM 9

City Council
April 14 2009
Page 2 of 7

The Claremont Village trolley began service on October 30 2008 The trolley continues
to run Thursday through Saturday from 11 a m to 11 p m on a fixed route with stops at
the following locations

First Street at the Depot

Metrolink Parking Lot
Bonita Avenue at Yale Avenue

Oberlin Avenue

Performance Measures to Date

Staff has been working towards the performance measurement goals set forth by the
Trolley Committee as part of the program approved by the City Council The committee
established three performance measures for evaluation of the program

1 Passengers per service hour

2 Community Satisfaction

3 Village Awareness

1 The committee s benchmark for success is 15 passengers per service hour

which is double the reasonable standard for this type of service according to the
report published in 2007 by AMMA the consultant who performed a feasibility
study for the Trolley Committee

Ridership counts are described in Table 1 Special events in November and

December such Friday Nights
as Live and the Holiday Promenade drew large
crowds to the Village and contributed to the increased number of riders during
these months It is also important to note that there are seasonal factors at work
insofar as the weather shorter daylight hours and absence of events in the

Village which have reduced the numbers of potential riders

Table 1

November 08 1 773 12 3
December 411
1 10 7
Janua 09 1 188 7 1
Februa 958 6 7
March 977 6 8
City Council
April 14 2009
Page 3 of 7

2 Evaluation of Community Satisfaction was based on three groups Merchants

Riders and Non riders The committee decided that success with the program
would be determined by 80 of each group agreeing to certain standards To
date staff has conducted
only a survey of trolley riders The remaining two

groups Merchants and Non riders will be surveyed in the coming months

During the weekends of January 8 2009 and January 15 2009 staff conducted
a survey of trolley riders to gather information on who is using the trolley and how
the service could be improved Various questions were asked of riders ranging
from basic demographic information to the convenience of the route days times
and trolley stops General comments were also sought A total of 107 surveys
were received however some
respondents did not answer every question on the
survey The results described below are basedthe number of responses to
on

each question not the total number of surveys received

Approximately sixty percent of respondents were first time riders signifying the
relative newness of the trolley program The ages of the surveyed riders were
distributed fairly evenly indicating there is no one single ridership group the
trolley is servicing

Nearly two thirds of survey respondents were Claremont residents The

remaining riders were mostly from immediate surrounding areas such as

Pomona Montclair Upland and Rancho Cucamonga Most riders became

aware of the trolley
program by seeing the trolley in the Village or through print
advertisements Seventy percent of respondents took a car to the Village
utilizing available street or lot parking Only twenty five percent of survey
respondents who drove a car to the Village utilized the parking structure

Two of the most common comments requests for route to

were a expansion or

add entertainment elements to the trolley experience such as music or

Claremont and trivia to entertain riders Most who

Village history respondents
mentioned a route expansion specifically requested the route include the
Claremont Colleges and Foothill corridor

3 Benchmarks for the final performance Village Awareness have been

measure

met halfway Over fifty percent of businesses have had Trolley posters on
display since the inception of the program me eting the first benchmark The
second benchmark however has now become immeasurable due to the current
economic downturn the community is experiencing Business owners are no

longer in position to offer discounts to have

a
patrons who ridden the trolley
City Council
April 14 2009
Page 4 of 7

Future of the Trolley Program

The committee originally identified several possible user groups but decided to focus on
non resident visitors and parking structure patrons two groups they thought best met
the goal of promoting economic development in the City However due to the
nationwide recession Village merchants have experienced a reduction in customer
traffic and a slowdown in sales The declining trolley ridership figures are likely
correlated with this reduction in customer traffic in the Village

As a result of the preliminary analysis of information obtained by staff regarding the

trolley service the council must consider the future of the trolley program Three
options are available to council that address the concerns with the program and are

further described below

Option A To maintain the committee s goal of promoting economic development

within the City staff recommends the council continue the program and the Mayor
appoint a Council adhoc committee to evaluate system changes to the trolley service to
better meet the needs of the Claremont community Options to consider might include
schedule changes or route alterations to include the Claremont Colleges Claremont
High School Doubletree Hotel or Foothill Corridor This committee will need to meet
and bring recommendations back to the May 12 2009 City Council meeting

Option B If the council determines that

continuing the trolley program is not viable
during this economic downturn and based on the availability and obligation of funds
the program could be concluded at the end of this fiscal year In order for the City to
terminate the program for fiscal reasons the council would need to take formal action
on May 12 2009 to notify the leasing company prior to the beginning of FY 2009 10

Option C Continue operations of the trolley as thesystem is currently running While

the winter months have been slow some of this can be explained due to the weather

and reduced activity in the Village in addition to the economic situation Staff
anticipates that with the extended hours of daylight warmer weather and Friday Nights
Live starting up again that ridership should increase due to more people being in the
Village

FINANCIAL REVIEW

The updated budget below reflects the operating budget for the 3 day service compared
to actual expenditures projections for the first nine months of service
 City Council
April 14 2009
Page 5 of 7

1st Year 2nd Year 3rd Year TOTAL

ANNUAL OPERA TING BUDGET

Trolley Lease 53 129 53 129 53 129 159 387

Operation Costs 169 000 176 000 183 000 528 000
Bus Stops 65 000 303 318 65 621
Marketing 10 000 10 000 10 000 30 000

Consulting 5 000 5 000 5 000 15 000

Contingency 10 24 900 19 130 19 832 63 862
Vehicle Replacement 0 0 25 000 25 000

GRAND TOTAL 327 029 263 562 296 279 886 870

REVENUE BUDGET
Prop A Fund Balance 1 421
689 1 571 909 462
1 146
Prop A Yr End Ba 76 801 50 799 60 000

Prop C 100 000 103 000 106 090

P op 1 B 32 716
MTA FAP Operating 33 000
1 898 938 1 725 708 1 661 236

Revenue 1 898 938 1 708

725 1 661 236

Operations 327 029 263 562 296 279

Net Prop A Fund
Balance 1 571 909 1 462 146 1 364 957

2008 09 2009 10 2010 11 TOTAL

ACTUAL OPERA TING COSTS

Trolley Lease 40 095 0 0 40 095

Operation Costs 83 690 0 0 83 690

Bus Stops 56 667 0 0 56 667

Marketing 18 259 0 0 18 259

Consulting 0 0 0 0

Contingency 10 13 000 0 0 13 000

Vehicle Replacement 0 0 0 0

GRAND TOTAL 211 711 0 0 211 711

REVENUE BUDGET

Prop A Fund Balance 1 421

689 N A N A

Prop A Yr End Ba 76 801 N A N A

Prop C 100 000 N A N A

Prop 1B 30 722

MTA FAP Operating N A

1 896 944 0 0
City Council
April 14 2009
Page 6 of 7

Revenue 1 896 944 0 0

Operations 211 711 0 0

Net Prop A Fund
Balance 1 685 233 0 0

Projected actuals based on 9 months of service November thru June 30

Trolley program operational costs are funded from Proposition A transportation funds
generated by a 0 005 sales tax county wide These funds must be used for
transportation purposes The City currently uses Prop A to fund the Dial A Ride and Get
About programs in addition to the trolley As the budget above shows with the addition
of the operations of the trolley program the City s annual expenditures exceed its
annual allocation This requires funds to be taken from the fund balance to be used to
fund the program While use of some fund balance was anticipated the increase in
costs for the Dial A Ride program and reduction of state funding requires use of fund
balance for annual operations of the other transit services the City of Claremont
provides Fund balance could be used to fund the trolley program however the
depletion of fund balance may limit the ability to fund Dial A Ride and Get About in the
future

Should the council want to look at the options available for the Prop A fund balance

including plans for rising costs additional programs and services or selling Prop A
funds to offset the General Fund additional analysis would need to be completed and
brought forward to the City Council Staff would therefore recommend creating a City
Council adhoc subcommittee to look at all of the transit funding options

LEGAL REVIEW

The City Attorney has reviewed this report

CEQA REVIEW

The Community Development Director has determined that this matter is covered by the
general rule that the California Environmental Quality Act applies only to projects that
have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment in accordance with
Section 15061 b 3 of the Guidelines This update item will not have a significant
effect on the environment because the receipt of information regarding the trolley usage
will not result in or lead to a physical change in Claremont Therefore no additional
environmental review is needed at this time

PUBLIC NOTICE PROCESS

This item has been notified through the regular agenda notification process Copies are
available at the
City Hall public counter the Youth Activity Center the Alexander Hughes
Community Center the City website and the Claremont Public Library
City Council
April 14 2009
Page 7 of 7

ALTERNATIVES TO STAFF RECOMMENDATION

In addition to the staff recommendation there are the following alternatives

1 Refer the matter back to staff

Submitted by Prepared by

ott a roll
Director of Community Services Anna Sanchez
Senior Management Analyst

Prepared by

W
Elizabeth Bretthauer
Administrative Intern

Reviewed By

yp
Adam Pirrie
Finance Manager
v CTudor Council Agenda ReportslTrolley Report 4 14 09 doc