Navigating Hurdles: Changes in motion for city’s transit system as it faces eco devo challenges

A local economic development expert says an efficient public transportation system that attracts a large segment of the population – including residents, visitors and students – can provide a significant financial impact in the community. But it comes at a cost and public transportation systems, such as those in Springfield, are challenging to monetize, says Allen Kunkel, associate vice president for economic development at Missouri State University.

“Public transportation is important for our community,” he says. “Transportation continues to be a huge barrier for a percent of our residents that affects all aspects of our community in terms of jobs, access to health care, access to services and access to retail, etc. Currently, the system is not efficient enough to widen the users to the average population.”

City Utilities of Springfield is in the process of acting on several recommendations, such as expanding bus route frequency and lowering costs for riders, noted in ConnectSGF, a transit study completed earlier this year. CU operates a 16-route fleet of 27 buses within city limits, according to Matt Crawford, director of transit for the public utility.

The study includes a market analysis, a review of operations and visioning for the future.

According to a 2020 report from the American Public Transportation Association, investment in transit can yield 49,700 jobs per $1 billion invested and generates approximately $5 in economic returns for every $1 invested.

Transit impact
CU’s transit service generates an annual economic impact of $48.3 million, according to a report released in February by Saint Louis University for the Missouri Public Transit Association and Citizens for Modern Transit. The economic impact figure for CU transit takes multiple factors into account, including capital expenditures by CU and annual consumer spending that’s attributed to their transit rides.

Bus ridership for fiscal 2023 was nearly 1.1 million, Crawford says. For fiscal 2024, which runs through September, the total was around 937,000 at the end of July. That puts it on pace to surpass last year.

The report indicated direct annual spending of those riders is $7.9 million, with another $12.1 million attributable to their indirect spending.

Still, challenges persist for those who regularly use the transit system, says Kunkel. While he applauds CU for its transit work and willingness to improve the system through ConnectSGF, he says ridership for public transportation in Springfield is limited.

Prior CU surveys have indicated 72% of those who ride buses either don’t drive or don’t have access to a car, while 60% of regular bus riders make under $15,000 a year. Crawford says while CU hasn’t conducted recent surveys, he says the study numbers are likely still accurate.

Springfield has a poverty rate of 21.1% with a median household income of $39,991, according to 2021 figures from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.

“The average person cannot afford to spend one to one and a half hours on a one-way trip,” Kunkel says. “They would call an Uber instead or call a friend. Unfortunately, a segment of our population currently has no choice, but it greatly impacts their daily needs. If we want to have a viable system, we have to figure out a way to make it more efficient for users to ride it. And I don’t know what the answers are. Obviously, it’s a very costly operation to do it.”

Most participants in Springfield Business Journal’s 2024 Economic Growth Survey said local public transportation was on par with the prior year. Both in 2023 and 2024, 57% of respondents replied that transportation stayed the same. Less than 1% said it improved, down from 3% in 2023.

The road ahead
Ericka Schmeeckle, interim director of the city’s Department of Workforce Development, says transportation issues are a frequent topic for people who utilize services at the Missouri Job Center.

“We have people coming in daily with challenges either with their own vehicles or with depending on the public transit system,” she says, noting that can impact their ability to get to work or be available for a full shift within hours of when day care facilities are open.

That challenge extends to clients utilizing services at the Job Center office, which is currently at 2900 E. Sunshine St. The Workforce Development Department will be among city agencies moving this fall to North Boonville Avenue near Commercial Street after City Council in July approved a $3.7 million purchase of the former Convoy of Hope property, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting.

“We are regional, so clients come from seven different counties, but specifically those that rely on bus transportation, it’s really typical if you’re coming from zone one or zone two to be a two-hour bus ride just to get over here,” she says of the Sunshine Street office. “So yeah, that was one of the big things considering a move downtown.”

Schmeeckle says a soft opening in its new home is targeted for early October.

“We have a bus stop close to us downtown that won’t require an across town bus ride,” she says. “I’m hoping that we will be located where we need to be for the greatest impact there.”

As for those who have vehicles, the average commute is relatively short. According to a 2022 study by the Ozarks Transportation Organization, the average commute time in Springfield is 18 minutes. Including all cities in the OTO region, which includes Nixa, Ozark and Republic, the average commute time is 22.6 minutes.

The ConnectSGF study listed among its growth priorities for a medium-term plan – defined as a five-to-10-year timeframe – introducing regional bus services to nearby surrounding cities. Crawford says CU doesn’t currently service any other communities beyond Springfield and is uncertain what a regional transit network would look like.

“It could be something that could serve the area well and I think if anybody could do it well, City Utilities could,” he says. “But it’s going to take a greater community conversation on where is it going to be funded, how well it could be served. That’s going to be a big list. There need to be a lot of voices come together at one time to really generate some momentum to make that happen.

“The capital investment on the front side of that would be substantial.”

In regard to upcoming transit changes, the Board of Public Utilities approved last month a reduction to bus fares as part of CU’s 2025 operating budget, which will face final approval at the Sept. 23 Springfield City Council meeting.

CU is proposing a 20% reduction in transit fares for single rides, discounted passes and bulk ticket options for all categories of riders. Those include the single ride rate, which would drop to $1 for adults, while the 60-ride ticket book for senior citizens, individuals with disabilities and Medicare card holders would decrease to $18. Transfers will increase to 25 cents from 10 cents. If approved by City Council, the new fares will go into effect Oct. 1.

“I think we’re affordable. We are providing a very good coverage of the city of Springfield with our system and compared to other agencies, the number of riders we have per trip is high,” Crawford says, adding buses have a trip average of around 15 riders. “We’re strong in that number.”

The oncoming changes are part of CU’s desire to improve its transit system as it expands bus route frequency and lower costs for riders, Crawford says. The fare changes are in addition to route and schedule changes set to go into effect Sept. 29. Those will include increased frequency from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the transit center for all weekday routes, reducing the wait time in half to 30 minutes.

Both the 20% fare reduction and route and schedule changes are among recommendations made in the ConnectSGF transit study conducted by Olsson Inc. The engineering and consulting firm completed the two-year study in January.

“I believe that we have a strong system that meet the needs of our community, and I think we compare well to communities our size in what we’re able to provide to this community,” Crawford says, adding peer cities of similar size to Springfield in service area population noted in the study included Waco, Texas; Columbus, Georgia; and Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Crawford says Springfield’s annual transit budget is around $10 million-$11 million. According to the study, of the similar sized cities, Cedar Rapids had the next largest annual operating budget of $9.5 million.

“The thing that people seem to want the most from us is frequency. They want us to be about every 15 minutes and currently some of our routes are every 60 minutes and some of our routes are every 30 minutes,” he says, adding for buses to run every 15 minutes, the fleet size would need to nearly double. “The community wants us to have more frequency and that takes a lot of effort to get to that kind of level.”