ND: Bismarck panel highlights obstacles to accessible public transportation

Bismarck residents on Thursday had the opportunity to hear from a panel of local experts about barriers that may be limiting public transportation in the community and ways those barriers could be addressed.

The Human Relations Committee hosted a conversation on public transportation, covering topics such as accessibility issues to public transit and solutions on how to limit these barriers.

The forum featured a panel of experts, including fixed-route riders Matthew Aricou and Susan Dingle, paratransit rider Trevor Vannett, city Community Integration Coordinator Heather May and Bismarck Public Schools Transitions Coordinator Sherrice Roness.

The discussion comes as public transit in the community has received a recent boost in support. Bismarck voters during last year's November general election approved a half-cent sales tax to fund public transportation and public safety safety, with 60% in favor.

The tax allocates two-tenths of a cent toward to the public transit and paratransit system. That includes Capital Area Transit fixed-route bus services, and the paratransit door-to-door rides made available for seniors and people with disabilities. The remaining three-tenths of a cent goes toward public safety.

A similar measure was approved by 60% of voters in Mandan in last year's June primary election.

"This is a new opportunity ... and we have an opportunity to really enhance our community in a way that I don't think we could have ever imagined before," Mayor Mike Schmitz said.

An online submission form at https://bit.ly/4cPG6lh asks people to detail transportation challenges and potential solutions. The form will be available through Sunday, May 11.

Submissions will be provided to the Human Relations Committee, the Transportation Steering Committee and the City Commission. The Transportation Steering Committee is expected to report funding priorities to the City Commission by the end of June.

What barriers are there to accessing public transit?

Roness, who works as the students in transition coordinator for Bismarck Public Schools, said the biggest barrier she sees in her work is families that either don't have a vehicle or the legal means to drive a vehicle. Many of the students in these families are couch surfing, she said, making consistent transportation a challenge. To help address the issue, the district offers a van service to transport students to school.

Still, for those who prefer to take the CAT bus, public transit can be time-consuming and often requires students to leave home very early, Roness said. Additionally, the service doesn’t operate late enough to accommodate students involved in after-school activities or evening jobs.

"If we could try to figure out a way to close that gap a little bit for our students and our families, I think (that) would be a huge help for the families that I serve," Roness said.

Aricou said he struggles with Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD), and he uses the fixed route bus system to get to his therapy appointments. Without access to public transportation, he said, he wouldn't be able to focus on his healing. While he has started making friends in the community, they can't always give him a ride to the places he needs to go, he said.

"Having transits been very helpful," he said. "I think that it needs to continue for people that need to get to places and get out of where they are."

May, who as the city's Community Integration Coordinator works with immigrants and refugee families, said many of the problems those she works with talks about go beyond just the bus or transit system. She said many of her students identified four major problem categories: pedestrian safety, transportation costs, lack of on-demand ride options and issues with the existing bus service.

The buses don't always stop for students, May said, which she believes is related to a lack of education of the bus system. Another challenge is walking to and standing at a bus stop during the winter, especially since many stops do not have shelters. The length of wait times is another issue, she said.

"The time they're waiting there at the stop and/or the time it just takes to get somewhere, because the buses are on the one-hour or two-hour kind of loop," she said.

Dingle, who frequents the fixed-route service, doubled-down on the issue of pedestrian safety. Often, she said, parked cars block bus drivers' views of waiting riders. At times, she steps into the street to make herself visible — a move she acknowledged is unsafe.

Dingle said pedestrians frequently walk 12 or more blocks to reach a bus stop, and it's rare for all of those roads to have sidewalks or controlled intersections. She added that many drivers in the community fail to stop for pedestrians.

"Cars here seem to look at pedestrians as critters in a video game — something to play chicken with," she said. "And if they injure or hit you, well, you know that's your fault. That is a problem."

Vannett, a paratransit rider, said he hopes the service can be improved, especially for those who use it as their only way to get around. He said the service needs expanded hours and needs to operate on holidays.

"I hear a lot of complaints from people that need to go to the ER and don't have a ride. So that's what I'm here to tell you, is we need expanded rides," he said.

What are potential ideas or solutions?

Roness said the community should work to reduce the stigma around riding the bus. Many of the students she works with have experienced trauma that can make them feel unsafe on public transit. One way to make these buses feel safer to her students would be to have smaller buses operating in the evening, she said.

She added that promoting the safety of the bus system and addressing safety concerns at bus stops would be a positive step for these students.

"I just think really promoting that somehow amongst that specific group that we serve for the students would really work out in the benefit of getting more riders at that age level," she said.

Both Aricou and May suggested that the bus expand its hours of operations and add more existing routes. May said her students suggested smaller buses be added for more direct trips and adding more routes to access more neighborhoods. She also added that shelters should be added to existing stops.

May said her students recommended safety measures, such as expanding the length where its illegal to park before a stop sign. Her students also suggested that employers could offer stipends to employees who take public transportation to work.

Dingle advocated for more rigorous enforcement of pedestrian safety laws and stronger education for drivers about respecting buses. She also expressed concern about negative stigma about public transit, especially the notion that buses are only for the poor, elderly or disabled. The best way to expand the bus, she said, is to promote it as a service that is for everyone.

"The bus is for us all and it should welcome us all — and should, if anything, make us all more visible and more connected," she said.

Vannett emphasized the need for inclusion for people with disabilities. He said that he would like to see a six-month-long pilot program to open paratransit services up to the general public on Sundays. He said the the program would need clear guidelines to ensure it doesn’t negatively impact riders with disabilities, especially those in wheelchairs. A similar proposal was considered in 2017, he said.

"Maybe it's time for a change, and I think it's time to look at it again," he said.

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