The METRO Board approved a plan today that will set the groundwork for the agency’s 5-year draft transit system plan under its Transit System Reimagining project.

Service allocation balancing ridership and coverage goals will be set at an 80/20 split – that’s 80 percent of the resources being devoted to maximizing ridership and 20 percent of the resources being dedicated to maximize coverage.   

Under these draft service allocation goals, METRO estimates system ridership would increase by 20 percent after a two-year period. The project aims to give more customers access to more frequent service to more destinations. This allocation would also be expected to greatly expand weekend service.

The METRO Board’s approval of this planning approach with the stated service allocation percentages is simply an initial step – not a final decision - to gauge how a 5-year plan would look under these goals.

The plan’s direction was crafted, in part, on input from stakeholder task force workshops, an in-depth online survey, customer outreach and community meetings.

METRO’s Transit System Reimagining aims to make the system easier to use and understand. The board is expected to receive a draft transit plan including a map and analysis on impacts and benefits in February 2014. Click here to view the project schedule.  Following the board’s review, the draft plan will be released for further public comment.