The Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors will receive an update Wednesday on recommendations for expanded public transportation service along the Jefferson Davis corridor.
Gib Sloan, chairman of the Chesterfield Planning Commission, will give a presentation focusing on the larger Northern Jefferson Davis Special Area Plan at the 2 p.m. work session. The Special Area Plan comprises a 7-mile stretch of the Jefferson Davis corridor the county is studying for a potential expansion of GRTC bus service.
Chesterfield has owned a stake in GRTC since 1988, and currently holds three of the six seats on its Board of Directors; the remainder are held by representatives from the city of Richmond. However, Chesterfield only has three GRTC bus lines operating in the county: the Route 82 Express, which is the only line paid for by the county; and the other two lines that operate near the city boundary and are subsidized by Richmond.
A study conducted by the county using data from 2015 indicates more than 5 percent of county residents living near the Jefferson Davis corridor have no access to a car, compared to less than 3 percent countywide; along the corridor, nearly 20 percent of residents are considered low-income, compared to 12 percent countywide.
Recommendations by the Northern Jefferson Davis Implementation Steering Committee include nearly $1 million in expenses for fiscal years 2019 and 2020:
- U.S. 1 Transit Study Phase 2 ($100,000 FY19)
- Transit Demonstration Project ($150,000 FY 19; $200,000 FY20)
- U.S. 1 Market Study ($100,000 FY19)
- Demolition Assistance ($75,000 FY19, $75,000 FY20)
- Program coordinator ($50,000 FY19; $75,000 FY20)
- Neighborhood Cleanup ($25,000 FY19; $25,000 FY20)
The Transit Demonstration Project will require 80 percent federal grant money and 20 percent county expenditure to fund its completion. An annual evaluation will include ridership metrics, service gaps and routing; the project will be re-evaluated after five years, according to meeting agenda documents.
According to the GRTC Transit Development Plan for Fiscal Years 2018-2022 — which was approved in July— the system anticipates a new express route to serve Cogbill Road and extension of Route 82 Express to the Career and Technical Center.
In 2016, the Chesterfield Board of Supervisors voted to end the Route 81 Express service, leaving the 82 Express as the only bus line in the county. The 82 Express currently costs $6 per ride, up from $3.50 to $4 in 2014.
The plan notes that high concentrations of low-income populations exist along the Jefferson Davis Highway corridor in Chesterfield, and the areas currently have little access to transit services. The document also states that the Greater RVA Transit Vision Plan introduced recommendations for expanded service in Chesterfield, including along the Jefferson Davis corridor to Chester.
The Greater Washington Partnership Regional Mobility Initiative recently published a report urging local leaders to work collaboratively to address service gaps disproportionately affecting low-income residents across the region. The partnership is a conglomeration of corporate stakeholders from Richmond, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., and is co-chaired by Dominion Energy CEO Tom Farrell.
