Proposed changes to four Rock Region Metro bus routes are on hold until the Pulaski County transit agency has more time to study them.
The proposed changes, which have been met with largely good reviews from passengers, grew out of an annual examination of the system's 25 routes to review their effectiveness and find ways to improve service at little or no cost.
The agency's board of directors was scheduled to vote on the proposed changes at Tuesday's monthly board meeting.
But Charles Frazier, who began work as the agency's executive director in late June, said that given how much work the staff is required to do for even minor route changes, he wants to have a better understanding of how the staff developed the proposed changes.
"The plan was originally to bring back some proposals to the board today," Frazier told the board Tuesday. "I have put that process on hold.
"What is important for the board to understand is to make any kind of changes -- routing or schedule wise -- is a very, very big lift for staff. We really have to stop what we're doing, and then of course there is a public outreach piece."
The "annual service enhancements" review was the third on which the agency embarked.
Two routes recently modified under a previous annual review -- Route 11 in Little Rock and Route 18 in North Little Rock -- would have returned to their old alignment with one exception.
Route 11, which serves an area that includes Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, was modified two years ago to serve Philander Smith College on Chester Street, but agency officials said the change resulted in little ridership from the college.
Route 18, which serves an area that includes the community of McAlmont, was modified to improve on-time performance by passing up Ben and 19th streets in a small neighborhood off East Broadway in North Little Rock. But the changes did little to improve performance, so the agency staff recommended putting both streets back into the route.
The agency also proposed extending Route 18 to a Walmart store on East McCain Boulevard.
The other proposed changes include service on Route 4, which serves the Levy and Amboy areas of North Little Rock; and Route 6, which serves the Granite Mountain area in east Little Rock.
Route 4 has two patterns, one called the peak pattern, which reaches the Amboy neighborhood via Donovan Briley Boulevard, and an off-peak pattern limited to Levy. The staff proposed eliminating the off-peak pattern.
The agency's proposed changes to Route 11 included shifting the downtown portion east to the Interstate 30 access roads, which would add service to hotels as well as the Arkansas Arts Center.
The other change involves moving a section of the route to I-30 near Roosevelt Road, which would provide service to Our House. The nearest stop now for the shelter for homeless families is three blocks away.
Metro on 08/22/2018