Four public hearings on Williamsburg Area Transit Authority service changes drew out fewer than 20 people with opinions on current and potential future services in the days leading up to WATA’s Board of Director’s meeting.
Due to federal grant expirations, WATA is looking at several service options to change or cancel: fixed route service, trolley service, off-peak versus peak, summer extended hours, Sunday service and the frequency of service. Increased funding was requested from the Historic Triangle localities, but additional funding would be needed to keep services as they are now.
A public hearing at noon Tuesday at the Williamsburg Outlet Mall saw three speakers: a woman who works for Williamsburg-James City County schools but was not speaking for the school system and two men who use the Hampton Roads Transit system and WATA to travel around the area. A 5:30 p.m. public hearing Tuesday at the James River Community Center had two attendees who were mother and daughter.
Stephanie Gallas wants to see bus routes extended to schools.
“I just wanted to advocate the possibility of looking at that as a way to get the parent community to the schools,” she said.
Some parents may not have cars and or drivers licenses and are unable to reach their children’s school; the WATA bus routes currently don’t provide stops near Jamestown High School or Stonehouse Elementary School. Gallas also said the buses could give students whose parents don’t have cars a way to get to school if they miss the bus.
Michael Ragsdale, a Tidewater Community College student who lives in Virginia Beach, and Jamie Battle, an Old Dominion University student who lives in Portsmouth, are two friends who use HRT and WATA to travel around the Hampton Roads area. Fans of riding the bus and exploring Williamsburg, both men frequently leave their homes at or before 6 a.m. to ride a string of buses to Williamsburg.
Ragsdale rode the trolley one time to see where it went because he was unaware of the schedule, but hasn’t used it to travel the area because the fixed-route buses get him where he wants to go.
Battle and Ragsdale attended the public hearing to advocate for a group meeting between HRT and WATA to discuss an HRT route that has three stops: one near the Newport News Shipyard, one at Patrick Henry Mall, and one at the Amtrak station in Williamsburg. The route, they said, is fully funded by Newport News with no help from Williamsburg. In the time they’ve traveled from the south side to the Historic Triangle, the route has been reduced from eight round-trips per day to only two: one in the morning and one in the evening.
Lisa and Janice Kravitz attended the evening public hearing and had several questions about WATA’s services, including where current stops are located and if there are plans to extend service to Settlers Market. Both wanted to see signs posted with schedule information, particularly at Legacy Hall in New Town.
WATA Deputy Executive Director Jamie Jackson said WATA has received between 10 and 20 emails; she was unsure of the exact number. A few comments have been left on WATA’s Facebook page in support of the trolley and some Twitter users posted questions on WATA’s Twitter page.
WATA’s Board of Directors will meet at 10 a.m. today at the Quarterpath Recreation Center to discuss service changes and a new HUB location following the Williamsburg Outlet Mall’s end-of-the-year close. The board will also discuss a policy for disposing of WATA property.
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