Opinions wanted on transportation issues

In an effort to make the most of future local transit dollars, regional planners want residents to share their thoughts on transportation.

Last year, the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission received a $100,000 grant from the Federal Transit Administration to study transportation issues in the Charlottesville area. The study will look at everything from mass transit to neighborhood sidewalks.

Now they want people, whether they use public transportation or not, to let their voices be heard through an online survey open to residents of the city and the counties of Albemarle, Greene, Nelson, Louisa and Fluvanna.

“[Every person] has an opinion on transportation and we need to know what they are,” said Melissa Barlow, director of transportation programs for the TJPDC.

The TJPDC’s study is part of an ongoing effort to see where expansion in local transit services is needed, Barlow said. Results from the survey will be presented to the Charlottesville-Albemarle Metropolitan Planning Organization, a five-member board made up of two City Council members, two county supervisors and a Virginia Department of Transportation employee.

“We’ll take [the results] back to the decision makers,” Barlow said. “Long-range planning does not make things happen quickly, but it is valuable to have the input.”

Earlier this year, the TJPDC contracted with the Southeastern Institute of Research in Richmond to conduct a telephone survey and oversee the online and paper questionnaire.

“The key is offering citizens a chance to have input in transportation issues,” said Anna MacIntosh, SIR project director.

But not everyone thinks another survey is needed to solve transit problems in the area. Former City Council member Rob Schilling said throwing money at another transportation survey is unnecessary.

“Studies are first looked at then shelved and then five years later they’ll do another survey,” Schilling said. “We’ve wasted a lot of money on surveys and most were just forgotten.”

During Schilling’s tenure on the council, members talked a lot about transportation, but they got little done, he said. He said the city’s bus routes were funded, but almost no money was spent on building roads.

“I wanted to get more roads built and didn’t get that accomplished,” said Schilling. “Now the area has grown and there is just more traffic congestion ... governments just need to get on the same page.”

Along with reaching out to the Facebook and Twitter crowd, SIR pollsters are also taking paper questionnaires into nursing homes and low-income communities. The survey results will also include information gathered from a joint effort by the TJPDC and the Charlottes-ville Transit Service to poll riders on their transportation concerns and needs.

“We want to know where [government] should invest their dollars to get the most out of [those dollars],” Barlow said.

The TJPDC will host a public workshop from 7 to 9 p.m. May 21 to discuss the survey results they’ve gathered and to answer any questions about local transportation issues. The meeting will be held at the Albemarle County Office Building on McIntire Road.

More than 4,000 people have been surveyed thus far, but Barlow says they’re hoping for a larger turnout for their online survey. The online survey will be open through May 31 and can be found at www.transportationtomorrow.com.

“We want to get folks to think about alternate transportation resources,” Barlow said. “We’re sure there will be things that bubble to the surface that we didn’t consider.”

The TJPDC is one of 21 planning district commissions created across the commonwealth to help local governments plan for the future.