UCAT Maptionnaire Survey Now Open for Feedback
KINGSTON, NY – Ulster County Area Transit (UCAT) and the Ulster County Transportation Council (UCTC) are seeking public input on potential plans to improve UCAT bus service — including its routes, schedules, and services — as they continue to refine the Route Optimization Plan recommendations to better serve the public.
Public input during the year-long process has been vital to the success of this effort, and has helped the project team craft two preliminary scenarios for how transit service could change in Ulster County. Feedback is now needed on these potential plans. The scenarios are available for public review and comment now through December 20, 2024, through an online tool called “Maptionnaire.”
Residents are encouraged to visit the new online survey to learn about and evaluate these preliminary routes at https://app.maptionnaire.com/q/ucat-rop
In addition to information collected through public and stakeholder outreach, the Optimization Plan will continue to analyze a wide variety of data to identify strengths and weaknesses in the existing UCAT network and opportunities for service improvement. Demographic information, travel patterns, market analysis data, and service route performance data were examined, along with information gathered from the most recent public discussion, held on November 13.
Public input gathered through this survey will be used to refine detailed service improvements that can be adopted by UCAT, which will also be presented at a later date prior to implementation.
Additionally, information can be found on the Participate Ulster site at https://participate.ulstercountyny.gov/ucat-route-plan.
“We have gotten great input from residents throughout this process, and we’re now in the final stretch and seeking feedback on these two potential scenarios,” said Ulster County Executive Jen Metzger. “I encourage residents to take a few moments to check out the Maptionnaire Survey for the Optimization Plan and help us make our public transit system the best it can be.”
“This planning effort represents a fantastic opportunity for the public to have their say on how their bus system can be improved so it works better for them,” said Brian Slack, UCTC Principal Transportation Planner. “We had some great conversations at our November 13th meetings, with more than 60 people joining us in person and online. We look forward to assessing everyone’s comments, including riders and non-riders, and coming back with some new and improved route scenarios for the public to review.”
The goal of an Optimization Plan is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of public transportation, identifying the best way to arrange bus routes so that people can get where they need to go faster and with fewer delays. The Plan will also support the County’s continued electrification of its bus system, with the goal of fully electrifying the fleet by 2035.
