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Signs to add clarity to bus line stops, encourage use

Photo by Janelle Patterson Fourth Ward Councilman Geoff Schenkel flags down the Community Action Bus Line on Franklin Street at its intersection with Putnam Avenue to catch a ride to Big Lots Monday.

Flag signs are to be ordered to appear below CABL route signs in Marietta.

They’ll be additions along the Community Action Bus Line route, signaling residents to wave at the white buses between relative times when the bus would otherwise be passing by, for pick-up.

“That was fun,” said Fourth Ward Councilman Geoff Schenkel Monday, after completing his second test of the bus route, this time by flagging the public transport at the southeast corner of Franklin and Putnam in front of the Resolve Studios gardens.

Schenkel spent some time in translation last week between the federal Community Development Block Grant sub-recipient (Washington-Morgan Community Action) and the city signs and streets employees further clarifying a Community Development Block Grant request that has stalled in completion for more than two years.

The initial request: bus stops with times clearly sharing when a rider may get on at different locations along the three city routes.

The hiccups:

1. More than a year’s delay in instructions for the signage to leave the city development office after the citizen-driven requests for times and location signage were made and reached Community Action.

2. Some, but not all the locations initially requested saw route signs pointing the direction that the buses travel.

3. Times for when, along those routes, a rider could step onto the bus still not posted.

Washington-Morgan Community Action Director David Brightbill said two weeks ago in an interview with the Times, that posting bus route times is problematic if the routes or locations were to ever change in the future.

The amended request: trial and error with four locations along Franklin Street, an already established route of the Super C bus, between its stops at Win Beri Apartments and the Armory.

Schenkel and Streets Foreman Todd Stockel explained Monday that with the added discussions brokered by Schenkel last week, an extra time sign will appear below the CABL signs already posted on Franklin, and that two more CABL signs will appear at the corners of Virginia and Franking and Putnam and Franklin.

Monday’s test, performed by Schenkel, included waving down the bus as it passed by on its afternoon route past Putnam and Franklin.

“He said it was easy to see me when I was standing to flag him down,” shared Schenkel of his interactions with the bus driver after getting off at Big Lots on the eastern side of the Muskingum River. “And he said it left him plenty of room to pull in to get me.”

Schenkel owns the Resolve Gardens at that corner and said he hopes to work with volunteer members of the neighborhood group Main Street West, to add to the garden’s established bench and compliment the coming bus route and flag signs from the city.

The councilman also praised the transportation manager for Community Action, Kenny Vigneron, after the test ride, saying he could see multiple uses for the bus for residents whether they own a vehicle or not.

Vigneron, in a response email to Schenkel after the brokerage last week emphasized this point.

“One of the greatest needs I’ve seen evidenced for public transit is the need for folks to understand what it is and how it works; that it is for everyone,” said Vigneron.

Stockel said the flag signs will have slots and small lettering giving approximate times when a resident would be able to wave down the passing bus. He said Monday that the work is to be completed by Franklin Signs, since the detail work is better done by vinyl decal.

Janelle Patterson may be reached at jpatterson@mariettatimes.com.

What’s next:

– An order has been placed by the Marietta streets department with Franklin Signs to produce 9-inch by 12-inch signs with approximate times when the Community Action Bus Line could be flagged down.

– The “Flag Stops” are not official stops of the bus, but are areas where a resident could wave for the bus to stop along its route through Marietta’s west side.

– Four “Flag Stops” are to be tested by the city and CABL at the following intersections:

– Virginia and Franklin.

– Market and Franklin.

– Maple and Franklin.

– Putnam and Franklin.

– The general public fare one-way is 80 cents, all children under 6 years old ride for free, seniors 65 years old and older, and those with disabilities ride for 40 cents per way.

– For a map and the most updated brochure of the bus routes visit: https://bit.ly/CABLroutes

Source: Times research.

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