Presentation on Emergency Response for Butte Regional Transit Ivan Garcia Programming Manager Butte County Association of Governments (BCAG) Cal Act Conference – Fall 2010

Cal Act Conference – Fall 2010 Who is BCAG? BCAG is a joint powers agency of the cities & county – a separate government entity. BCAG is Governed by a 10 member Board of Directors that includes each of the Butte County Supervisors and five city council representatives, one from each incorporated city/town. BCAG is designated as a Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), Regional Transportation Planning Agency (RTPA), and Council of Governments (COG). BCAG is also the owner and operator for Butte Regional Transit or the B-Line. Cal Act Conference – Fall 2010

Organizational Structure BCAG BOARD OF DIRECTORS BCAG STAFF CALTRANS Veolia Transportation Transportation Advisory Committee Federal Highway Administration Social Services Transportation Advisory Council Federal Transit Administration Cal Act Conference – Fall 2010

BCAG’s Responsibilities Prepare federal & state transportation planning & programming documents Allocate transportation funding to cities & county Manage delivery of transportation projects Manage the Butte Regional Transit System – The B-Line Maintain Geographic Information System (GIS) & Census Data Prepare the Regional Housing Needs Plan Cal Act Conference – Fall 2010

Butte Regional Transit B-Line provides fixed route and paratransit service to the cities and county B-Line provides approximately 1.4 million rides per year with a fleet of 72 buses Fixed Route Passenger Fares range from .70 for Seniors to $1.80 Paratransit Fares are $2.50 Cal Act Conference – Fall 2010

Fixed Route Ridership Profile 53% of B-Line passengers are students Over 50% of the B-Line passengers are 25 years-old or older Most riders are low income - make under $20 thousand per year 79% of B-Line Riders use the Chico Routes 20% use the Regional Routes 1% use the Oroville Routes Overall, riders are satisfied with the B-Line system Cal Act Conference – Fall 2010

Cal Act Conference – Fall 2010 Fires of 2008 60,000 acres burned 200 homes lost or heavily damaged One fire related death reported Injuries to fire personnel Three of four major evacuation routes were closed Pentz Rd was only route open…..took 3 hours to get out of region for a distance of about 3 miles Cal Act Conference – Fall 2010

Butte County Humboldt Fire - 2008 4 months of fires Cal Act Conference – Fall 2010

Cal Act Conference – Fall 2010

Cal Act Conference – Fall 2010

Cal Act Conference – Fall 2010

Cal Act Conference – Fall 2010

Cal Act Conference – Fall 2010 B-Line Response Responded to Office of Emergency Services (OES) request to evacuate people….and pets over 4 month period Maintained regular fixed route and paratransit responsibilities and OES requests Operated transit services from CSUC parking lot, due to a new fire near transit facility Cal Act Conference – Fall 2010

Issues / Lessons Learned Dealt with various emergency personnel instead of a single point of contact, need to have transit personnel present at command center Need to have an improved remote operating location or plan for dispatch / command center Difficult to know where exactly fleet was ….issues with communication reception Need improved process for better FTA detailed record keeping during emergency response Cal Act Conference – Fall 2010

How Do You Thank Them – With BBQ! Cal Act Conference – Fall 2010

By Providing Improved Tools Automatic Vehicle Location by Global Positioning Satellite (AVL / GPS) currently being installed - $1 million Working with OES for improved communications (BCAG / Veolia) Identifying backup dispatch location in case facility is evacuated…again (Veolia) Cal Act Conference – Fall 2010

Cal Act Conference – Fall 2010 Questions & Answers Thank you Ivan Garcia BCAG Programming Manager igarcia@bcag.org 530-879-2468 Cal Act Conference – Fall 2010