Cost and Ridership Impacts. The number of riders impacted by each change will be identified by using comparative Pace ridership samples from other similar demographic and land use areas in the region. Operating and capital costs will be developed for each service alternative. Alternatives will be grouped into the following categories: • Revenue Neutral: This alternative will focus on redistributing operating dollars from underperforming routes and portions of routes to expand service into underserved areas. This alternative will likely only have a short-term component. • Modest Funding Increase: Additional service—including new routes and increased service span and frequency—will be explored. • Funding Decrease: This alternative will be developed in only a short-term iteration. Consolidation, frequency and service span resolution, and route elimination will be the focus of this alternative. The additional shelters, facilities, and rolling stock that will be needed to run the proposed preferred alternative will be determined during this task. In addition, the changes in vehicle hours and vehicle miles due to the proposed services will also be calculated. Any new technology needed in buses and at facilities as a result of this study will be assessed. Cost estimates will be developed for each required capital improvement/ purchase, as well as any future security needs. Cost implementations for service alternatives for the demand response services will be also be identified. Key factor is identifying costs for alternatives will include: • How large should the zone or zones be? • How many checkpoints are desirable or feasible? • How many vehicles are needed to provide the desired level of service?
