Grass Roots Venice Neighborhood Council
To: GRVNC Board and Stakeholders
From: Bonnie Cheeseman, Board Member, District 2 Rep,
Ad Hoc
Parking Committee Chair
Re: DASH Shuttle Service at Venice Beach, Meeting of 2/6/04 Recap
Last
Friday, February 6, 2004, I met with a DASH Supervisor and Planning
Coordinators, Field Deputy Sandy Kievman, and stakeholder, Rick Feibusch regarding
a DASH
Shuttle service route through Venice Beach.
Here is a recap of what we discussed, including the information they
requested that Rick Feibusch and I compiled clocking a potential shuttle route
through Venice.
SHUTTLE
Thumbnail Mileage
Count & Trip Time Estimate
|
Barnard
Way: Santa Monica State Beach Parking Lot Adjacent to Navy St., Venice Beach |
Start:
Mile 0 |
|
Speedway or Pacific to Winward |
.8 |
|
Speedway or Pacific to Washington |
1.1 |
|
Washington and Abbot Kinney Blvd. |
1.5 |
|
Abbot Kinney Blvd. & Venice Blvd. |
3.1 |
|
Abbot Kinney Blvd. & Main St. |
3.9 |
|
Return to
Barnard Way or Navy St. |
4.3 Miles
= 15 minutes |
ROUTE
Our goal is
to move stakeholders and tourists throughout Venice Beach, utilizing the most
efficient, economic, and environmentally-friendly route. There are several trip
scenarios that would achieve this goal however this is the route we think would
be a win-win situation for all, however, we are flexible on the route, keeping
in mind that our goal is get people to use a shuttle and not their cars:
► Begin
at the Santa Monica/Venice border on Pacific Avenue. Travel 1 block west Navy
Street to Speedway, head south on Speedway to S. Venice Blvd. travel east on S.
Venice Blvd. 1 block to Strongs Drive, head south on Strongs Drive to
Washington Blvd.,
head east
on Washington to Abbot Kinney Blvd. traveling north to Main Street and return
to Navy St.
However,
another scenario to be considered, if we could reduce costs by extending the existing
Marina-Venice DASH route which would increase the mileage by 4.3 miles and add
15-20 minutes to the current round-trip. This is another viable option for discussion.
Additionally,
we strongly feel that a “user-friendly” bus is necessary for Venice Beach, it
should, ideally fit-in with the fun and artistic characteristics of Venice that
make it a popular tourist destination. This would make the shuttle more
appealing to riders and far more functional than a conventional bus, we would
hope to be able to use the SF-Style Bus-Trolley that is currently used downtown
during the week. Also, a smaller bus is necessary to travel down the more
narrow streets of Speedway and Strongs Drive that run along the beach.
TRIP TIME
The
approximate time for this trip is 15 minutes without passenger stops and
significant traffic. We estimate that
20 minutes is a scenario with stops and moderate traffic. However, on a busy
weekend, this could increase to 30 minutes.
With these
numbers in mind, that would allow for 3 round-trips in off peak traffic and 2
round-trips during peak traffic.
HOURS OF
OPERATION and COST ESTIMATE
Perfect-World-Scenario:
Using one shuttle: Fridays: 12n to 10pm, Saturdays: 12n to 10pm and
Sundays: 12n to 7pm. Total: 27 hours at
$55. per hour = $1485. per weekend per shuttle bus. Beginning on Memorial Day Weekend running 14 weekends thru Labor
Day in September = $20,790., summer, 2004.
Pilot
Program, Cost Saving Scenario: Using one shuttle:
Saturdays: 12n to 8pm and Sundays 12n to 7pm (accounting for longer day-light
hours during the summer.)
Total: 15
hours at $55. per hour operating cost = $825. per weekend per shuttle bus. Beginning on Memorial Day Weekend running 14
weekends thru Labor Day in September = $11,055., summer, 2004.
Bonnie
Cheeseman
Grass Roots
Venice Neighborhood Council,
Board
Member, District 2 Rep,
Ad Hoc
Parking Committee Chair
310-396-7806
ADDENDUM: This information was sent
to the DASH Shuttle Team on February 9, 2004 and they responded by setting up a
meeting in Venice sometime within the next 2 weeks to do a tour of potential
routes.