Agenda Item Wording:
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Short-Range Transit Plan/Reimagine Study presentation - Receive a presentation on the current progress and preliminary recommendations in the development of the Short-Range Transit Plan/Reimagine Study update.
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Agenda Date: 09/21/2026
Prepared by:
Angelina Baker, Transit Manager, Angelina.Baker@visalia.gov, (559)713-4591 Caleb Bowman, Management Analyst, Caleb.Bowman@visalia.gov, (559)713-4594 John Lollis, Assistant City Manager, John.Lollis@visalia.gov, (559)713-4323
Department Recommendation:
Staff recommends that the City Council receive a presentation on the current progress and preliminary recommendations in the development of the Short-Range Transit Plan/Reimagine Study update, and provide input and direction as determined.
Summary:
The City of Visalia has changed significantly in recent years. Where people live and work, how and when they travel, and the types of trips they make have all shifted since the pandemic. At the same time, the cost of providing transit has increased, population growth and new development are creating new demands on the system, and Federal and State transit funding has been generally stagnant. These changes make it important to reconsider whether the existing network is still the best way to use Visalia Transit’s limited resources.
Why Make Changes to the Network?
The last comprehensive redesign of the Visalia Transit network was more than a decade ago. While previous SRTP’s have examined individual routes and service needs, this process provides an opportunity to look at the network holistically and reconsider how the network operates as a whole.
Ridership patterns have also changed since the pandemic. Although Visalia Transit has maintained a relatively stable level of service, ridership has not returned to pre-pandemic levels. The best network for the future may therefore look different from the network developed in the past.
The analysis of the existing system identified s...
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