Morro Bay wants to take a new look at it public transit system hoping to land a grant to pay for the work.
The City Council approved applying for a Rural Transit Fund grant for some $60,000 out of a pool of $715,000 available in competitive grants distributed by the San Luis Obispo Council of Governments. That grant program was started in 2016.
“The proposed use of the grant funds, if awarded,” reads a City report, “is to hire a consultant to prepare an operational analysis of the City’s transit system. This analysis would result in recommendations to improve services with the view of making local transit a more viable option for City residents and visitors.”
The study would analyze “new travel patterns of City residents and visitors that began prior to the COVID pandemic and to what extent travel patterns evolved during and after the pandemic. The recommendations would look at short, medium, and long-term opportunities to redefine or modify existing transit services to best match services that meet current demands.”
If the City gets the grant, it will be the second transportation-related issue to come before the Council in recent weeks. The Council in February approved a contract for a project to replace the existing bus shelter in City Park on Harbor Street with a new modern-style shelter, increasing the seating and fixing the sidewalks. It also involves removing two mature trees and replacing them with new ones.
G. Sosa Const., of Santa Maria was awarded the $368,000 bid for the so-called, “City Park Transit Hub Project.” With contingencies of 10% or some $36,000, the overall construction budget tops $404,000 with the overall project costing some $509,000 including a feasibility study conducted in 2019.
