Needs Assessment

The needs assessment in the TMP summarizes existing and future demands from population, employment, land use growth; needs related to CCATD goals and policies; transit supportive area needs and stakeholder and public needs to inform the service opportunities and recommendation. Following is the summary of the needs assessment:

Population, Employment, And Land Use Growth Needs

• Household growth is forecasted to increase by 1,071 households between 2013 and 2035, an average annual growth rate of 0.3 percent.
• OED forecasts that employment will increase by 3,445 jobs between 2013 and 2035, an average annual growth rate of 1.0 percent. This includes 1,800 employees by 2035 in the area between Isthmus Slough and Catching Slough southeast of downtown Coos Bay

Needs Related to CCATD Goals and Policies

CCATD’s goals are geared towards improving customer-focused services, accessibility and connectivity, coordination, health and sustainability. CCATD’s policies focus on providing reliable public transportation (Policy 1A); improving existing services (Policy 2A); ensuring access to employment, education and health services (Policy 2B); and strengthening coordination with land use planning to support transit system and increase access (Policy 3E). The following high-level needs have been identified:

• Improve service utilization, safety and security and resource utilization.
• Improve connectivity and service levels for frequent destinations and transit-dependent populations.
• Increase ridership with strategies related to communication, connectivity and accessibility.
• Improve route and service efficiency.
• Increase the service span to accommodate more work and school schedules.
• Service improvements specifically focused on serving Title VI populations will need to focus on key destinations rather than particular housing locations.

Transit Supportive Area Needs

Although most existing and future TSAs are located within ¼ mile of fixed-route transit, there are opportunities to expand service to more-distant portions of these areas, either by modifying existing fixed routes or by converting fixed routes to deviated-route service. Transit supportive areas are identified under 2013 and projected 2035 conditions as shown in the exhibit.

Intracounty Needs

• The Timber Express, serving the Highway 42 corridor (Coquille, Myrtle Point), serves shorter-duration trips (e.g., shopping, medical, social), but an additional late-afternoon trip would make transit more feasible for employment- and education-related trips.
• Powers receives once-a-week lifeline service. The community’s size (700 residents) and distance from other communities pose a challenge to increasing the amount of service provided.
• The time between the first and last trips of the day between Bandon and Coos Bay/North Bend is sufficient for shorter-duration trips, but not trips requiring being at the destination for most or all of the day.
• The time between the two Charleston trips between Charleston and North Bend may be longer than desired for shorter-duration trips, but is not long enough to serve employment-related trips.
• Lakeside currently has no transit service, but will receive better service than previously existed when CCATD’s new Coos Bay to Florence route begins service.

Intracity Needs

• Coos County currently has no same-day intercity transit connections to the rest of Oregon, other than to Curry County.
• The new CCATD route to Florence (with an onward connection to Eugene) will restore connectivity (Florence and Roseburg initiated service in July 2020) to Amtrak and destinations in the Willamette Valley, but is only planned to operate four days a week.
• The new CCATD route to Roseburg offers the possibility of northbound and/or southbound connections to Greyhound, depending on how the route is scheduled. It is only planned to operate twice a week.

The figure below identifies the transit supportive areas (TSAs) identified under 2013 and projected 2035 conditions, respectively.

Stakeholder and Public Identified Needs

Needs identified to date by riders, social service providers, partner agencies, and the public at-large include are summarized in the TMP