Stakeholder Interviews

Stakeholder Interviews with the GREAT Transit Manager, the Pitt Area Transit System (PATS) Director, the ECU Director of Transit, other GREAT staff and survey takers who rode on the bus, they indicated:

• Regionalization discussions should focus on coordination as opposed to consolidation, i.e. bus transfer locations and synchronized timing.
  
• Reliable taxi service is definitely needed; both as a secondary provider/contract service and as a means to get to the Airport
  
• Pitt Community College is a prime user of the GREAT services. Currently about 5% of the PCC 9,000 credit course students ride GREAT to campus. The college pays about $9,000 per year for the service. The College wants to explore how to fund more hours of service.
  
• GREAT’s annual support from the Federal Transit Administration is about $1.6 million and the State supplies about $285,000 in grants; while the City will need to supply $521, 682 to meet the expected $2.4 million 2014 expenses. The baseline budget is expected to stay relatively flat over the next five year period. There is a $2.5 million grant that is dedicated to the intermodal center project. The NC Legislators called for a 3% reduction in transit funding that may impacts GREAT’s operating funds that come from the State in 2014.
  
• Current loop routing has some redundancy that should be analyzed (i.e. 5TH Street). This should be done with respect to other areas vying for expanded services, i.e. recent changes for new Wal-Mart service.
  
• Bigger pass discounts for multiple rides should be considered.
  
• More bus stops, waiting pads and shelters (both sides Wal-Mart and Hosp. plus Golden Coral, new stops along Greenville Blvd., Willabee Park, Hwy 43).
  
• A couple of ADA infractions were noticed - announcements were not made at all major stops and wheelchair ramps extended beyond the sidewalk where there was no pad for offloading, e.g. wheelchairs ended up maneuvering in the grass.
  
• Safety did not appear to be a big concern.
  
• Drivers were generally observed to be courteous and helpful.