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The Source for Public Transportation News and Analysis November 1, 2013
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Public Transit Systems Partner with Military Bases

As the country prepares to honor the military on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, Passenger Transport interviewed some general managers of public transit agencies that provide service to their neighboring military installations. The question and their responses follow.

Many public transit agencies provide transportation services to military bases. How did your agency develop this partnership, and what are its benefits to the agency and to the military?

Carl Sedoryk
General Manager/Chief Executive Officer
Monterey-Salinas Transit (MST)
Monterey, CA


When the commuter benefit program received a funding boost from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to increase from $110 to $230 monthly, MST was able to create a sustainable model to fund partnerships with local military bases and create express routes that serve the Presidio of Monterey, Naval Postgraduate School, and Fort Hunter Liggett. More than 1,000 military personnel signed up to use the bus service in its first month and more than 122,000 passengers boarded the service during its first year.

Since then, the commuter benefit program has increased to $240 per month, and MST now has 13 new routes connecting military personnel and the general public to work, school, and shopping destinations with ridership growing to more than 530,000 annual boardings. In addition to dramatically reducing vehicle miles traveled, carbon emissions, and traffic congestion related to military personnel commutes, this growth helped create and sustain 26 new jobs at MST, with wages adding $2 million to the local economy.

Every year, the continued success of this very popular program is dependent upon Congress continuing the commuter transit benefit at a rate that is comparable to the current parking benefit. To provide certainty to our local military service personnel that this program will continue from one year to the next, MST is actively advocating for legislation that makes the current benefit permanent.

Philip Hale
Chief Executive Officer
Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART)
Tampa, FL


HART has been very fortunate to develop a close working relationship with MacDill Air Force Base as HART staff work closely with MacDill staff, military as well as civilian, to keep the lines of communication open.

MacDill has been a great partner in helping HART arrange “town hall” meetings, e-mail surveys, and other public forums with current and potential patrons to receive feedback on services, both current and requested. MacDill has also been supportive of HART by assisting the agency in the installation of amenities on base such as passenger shelters.

HART cannot grant every request for service, but patrons certainly appreciate our efforts to provide a relevant and quality service to the MacDill community. HART feels that this service is vital to support a major Tampa Bay employer, which falls in line with our mission statement to enhance our community’s quality of life. MacDill reaps a benefit by having a significant portion of its workforce use a dependable transit system versus bringing more cars and parking needs onto the base.

MacDill Air Force Base has been an invaluable key partner to ensure that Routes 24X and 25LX happen—working together with diligence and wonderful cooperation to help HART bring the MacDill routes to this community.

Scott Neeley
Chief Executive Officer
Corpus Christi Regional Transportation Authority (CCRTA)
Corpus Christi, TX


Having folks understand our capabilities has been the key to our partnership with our military base . . . and you never get there without a strong line of communication to the base leadership. For more than two decades, the CCRTA has provided transportation service to the brave men and women at Naval Air Station-Corpus Christi and the Corpus Christi Army Depot via four park-and-ride locations with services tailored around the shift changes.

Our service has a direct and positive impact on parking and security gate traffic. With limited on-site space for parking and the queuing of traffic at base entrance gates creating choke points, the RTA provides a relief valve for employees—encouraged by the base commanders—to take public transit in lieu of driving. Our ability to operate efficiently and reliably is another significant benefit to the military personnel and their contractors who utilize our service.

As for the RTA, we’re seeing several key benefits, including providing a primary mobility solution to a specific transportation issue and, of course, increased patronage.

The bottom line? Communicate with your local stakeholders often. You never know when you will be called to action!

John Clauson
Executive Director
Kitsap Transit
Bremerton, WA


Kitsap Transit and Kitsap County’s military commands, specifically the U.S. Navy, have enjoyed a beneficial partnership for many years. Currently, this program operates 30 routes; 28 travel to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard (PSNS) and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (IMF) and two to Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor.

Our unique program transports thousands of PSNS and IMF employees to and from work each year. One of its central components is worker/driver buses, which are driven by civilian employees of the military commands (“workers”) who are also part-time employees of Kitsap Transit (“drivers”). The buses operate much like a large vanpool. The drivers start their buses near their homes in the morning, pick up coworkers along the way to work, park the bus while they perform their eight hours of work for the Navy, and reverse the process for the commute home.

Because the drivers are federal employees, they are trained to inspect the buses, allowing for reduced delays at security checkpoints at the gate and making it easier for employees to get to work faster. In addition, parking problems within the base and in the surrounding area, specifically the city of Bremerton, are greatly reduced.

Richard Tift, executive director of the PSNS and IMF, said it best: “The Worker/Driver program directly supports the mission of PSNS & IMF by safely and efficiently transporting thousands of our employees to and from work every work day.”

This partnership benefits not only the agency and the U.S. Navy, but the entire county as well by reducing traffic congestion and pollution. Kitsap Transit and the Navy have enjoyed this partnership for the past 30 years and plan to continue the association for many more.

Mark Donaghy
Executive Director
Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority (GDRTA)
Dayton, OH


As the largest single-site employer in Ohio, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) is the economic anchor of the Dayton region, providing tens of thousands of jobs within the base community in support of multiple base missions, including the Air Force Materiel Command, Research Laboratory, Life Cycle Management Center, Institute of Technology, and the National Air and Space Intelligence Center.

GDRTA is continually looking for ways to increase our impact and partnership with WPAFB through support of programs that are meaningful to not only the military personnel but also civilian staff. We provide transportation support for WPAFB’s largest event, the annual U.S. Air Force Marathon, which attracts more than 15,000 spectators and 2,500 runners from around the world to the Dayton region.

We’ve just launched GDRTA’s Welcome Home program at WPAFB through a partnership with the Airman & Family Readiness Center. These centers, located at military bases across the country, provide support to individuals and families. Personnel who are relocating to the Dayton region receive a Welcome Home kit from GDRTA, which includes coupons, a ride guide, GDRTA passes, and a gift.

Our SmartChoice commuter benefit program supports WPAFB internal efforts to provide alternative transportation options to military or civilian personnel. And GDRTA’s long range plan and vision includes supplementing our existing commuter services to the base and surrounding research parks as well creating seamless connections to these venues from post-secondary institutions.

T.J. Ross
Executive Director
Pace Suburban Bus
Arlington Heights, IL


Providing public transit service to and from the Great Lakes Naval Station in North Chicago is a great resource for the base and the community at large. We provide area residents with access to civilian jobs on the base while also providing access for military personnel and family members to shopping, entertainment, and services located off the base. The local economy benefits from the job access for residents and the ability of people stationed at the base to support local businesses.

Our partnership with Great Lakes predates Pace in that our service to the base was initially operated by one of the local bus authorities that was consolidated into the agency in the 1980s. However, our Routes 563 and 569 provide convenient service connecting Great Lakes to Metra commuter rail stations, the downtown area of Waukegan, and other neighboring communities. Connections to other Pace routes in Waukegan provide access to destinations throughout Lake County while the Metra UP-North train line serves numerous dynamic communities between downtown Chicago and Kenosha, WI.

Pace is proud to offer free rides to active duty military personnel as a small token of our thanks. We’re also extremely proud of the numerous Pace employees who have served in the military, including a number of war veterans. We are grateful to them and all military personnel and veterans for their service to our country.

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