HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 4/15/2014 - Memorandum From Troy Jones, Chair, And Affordable Housing Board Re: Transfort ChangesSocial Sustainability
321 Maple Street
PO Box 580
Fort Collins, CO 80522
970.221.6758
One of the primary charges of the Affordable Housing Board is to advise Council on issues
pertaining to housing affordability and we appreciate the opportunity to be provided with all
information relevant to housing. To that end, we thought that it may be meaningful for you to
hear from us regarding the importance of the interplay between housing affordability and
transportation choices.
During our March Affordable Housing Board meeting, we received a presentation by Jerediah
Burianek the Service Planner for Transfort regarding the upcoming changes to the Transfort bus
routes scheduled to begin in May, when Max comes online. Our board is quite pleased to see the
extension of the current routes and the addition of new routes which will provide much of the
city with accessible connecting bus service to the Max. We were particularly excited to see that
in many cases connecting bus service will run every 30 minutes, and several key routes with
service running as late as 10:30 p.m.
We support and thank the Council for their leadership in effecting improvements to transit
service which will benefit, not only those with limited incomes but, all of the residents in Fort
Collins. We believe that when people are able to get to work, school, shopping, recreation, and
social outings using this connected transit, they are given the opportunity to become liberated
from the absolute necessity to own, operate, and pay for a personal automobile and the expenses
associated with its ownership. This, in turn, can have a positive influence on those who are
financially squeezed by housing costs in Fort Collins.
For many who live in, or want to live in the City of Fort Collins, the general rule that one-third of
a person’s income is spent on housing no longer applies. The unfortunate reality is that, due to an
undersupply of affordable housing choices in Fort Collins, many people must spend much more
than a third of their monthly income on housing to live here. We believe that the expanded
MEMORANDUM
DATE: April 9, 2014
TO: Mayor and City Councilmembers
CC: Darin Atteberry, City Manager
FROM: Affordable Housing Board
Troy Jones, Chairperson
RE: TRANSFORT CHANGES
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Transfort services will have a beneficial effect on the people in Fort Collins. Although improved
transit service doesn’t result in reducing the price of housing, for those who can take advantage
of the new bus service and stop using their automobile, they may find their budgets will stretch
to alleviate a portion their housing costs.
Our board thinks the new proposed connecting bus routes and extension of hours is a great first
step, and we are excited to see that it will be up and running next month. Not only does higher
frequency evening and weekend transit service provide significant transportation options to all
income levels for shopping, recreation and social outings, but it also provides many citizens who
have lower paying and service jobs a viable way to get to and from work during at times they are
more likely to be scheduled to work. Therefore, we respectfully urge, and will support, the
Council to consider, approve, and implement additional increases in Transfort services which
would accomplish the following: (1) extend the late evening hours of service to more of the
existing routes; (2) expand and add routes to serve outlying areas which are not currently served
and; (3) provide transit service seven days a week.