Several recommendations to improve CAT ridership are offered in the draft report of the Bis-Man Transit Development Plan, which was recently turned over to local officials for review.

But the report isn't providing anything that wasn't known before or isn't already being tried, according to transit Director Robin Werre. The report and its recommendations, being undertaken by the URS Corp., is mandated every five years to assure federal funding.

URS Vice President Bill Troe presented the report to the Metropolitan Planning Organization policy board this past week for their review and comments.

Receiving copies were Bismarck Mayor John Warford, Mandan Mayor Ken LaMont, Lincoln Mayor Glenn Christmann, Morton County Commissioner Matt Erhardt and Burleigh County Commissioner Doug Schonert.

"The report contains inventory information, an analysis and recommendations," Troe said.

Bis-Man Transit offers two services, the paratransit, through which eligible riders - the handicapped and elderly - can get a ride from their front door to their destination and back, simply by calling ahead a day and paying a $2 charge. CAT (Capital Area Transit) is the fixed-route bus service for Bismarck and Mandan.

In 2005, paratransit services gave 190,000 rides, as compared to about 90,000 rides on CAT. In a survey of cities the same size as Bismarck, offering similar services, fixed-route services accounted for nearly 90 percent of the rides, as compared to paratransit's 10 percent.

Werre said that paratransit was established a number of years before CAT appeared in 2002 and remains very popular because of its individualized service and inexpensive rates.

The report says that fixed-route service is a much more cost-effective service, since many people can ride for the same cost as one. But since there is such a great disparity in use of the services, it actually costs more per rider on CAT - $8.35 as compared to paratransit's cost of $6.25 per ride.

Many of the riders using paratransit services, particularly senior citizens, could effectively be served by CAT, but have a greater preference for what they're familiar with. One of the report's recommendations is to encourage a switch from paratransit to the fixed-route service. A possible method is to raise paratransit prices for those capable of using CAT.

Werre says this has been discussed with the transit board in the past, but there are some hurdles, including a reappraisal of the 10,000 riders who regularly patronize paratransit service to determine if they can use the CAT and accordingly be charged more for paratransit.

"There is a little concern over raising the rates from $2 to $3 for seniors. Many of our disabled riders are listed as elderly, and we would have to reappraise all the seniors to find who are disabled," Werre said.

Werre also said in 2006 the CAT saw ridership an increase of nearly 14,000, while paratransit dropped about 300 rides.

A fare increase is something the community needs to decide, Troe told the MPO.

The general recommendations made in the report include specific actions. These are the issues identified in the conclusion:

3 Maintain the current customer base by increasing transit "user friendliness" and promoting a "customer-oriented" service.

3 Improve the overall image of the CAT and riding transit.

3 Target the commuter market for increased ridership, with particular emphasis on major employers in the medical industry.

3 Work to partner with colleges to increase student ridership through tailored services and promotions.

3 Consider working with school districts to tailor service toward secondary school students.

There are specific marketing recommendations in the report, which Werre requested be a part of the project. She hopes to use the data to justify hiring a person to handle marketing for Bis-Man Transit. Currently the staff includes Werre, a secretary and two maintenance personnel.

Among the marketing recommendations of URS are annual on-board surveys of passengers along with random-sample public surveys every five years.

The report indicates building partnerships is key element for increasing ridership. It mentions working with the community's colleges and secondary schools. It also sees working with the downtown area which does struggle with parking issues. It encourages those businesses, particularly the major employers - the two hospitals - to have their personnel use the CAT.

"There is a considerable amount of subsidizing of parking by employers in the downtown area," Troe said. "To make transit more attractive you can work with employers to reduce the subsidy."

Werre said the medical employees work shifts and its difficult to program routes getting them both to and from work.

By increasing CAT ridership transit can increase the number of routes and frequency of buses, Troe said. He noted that the total rides offered by Bis-Man Transit favorably compare to other cities of similar size, it's just the ratio of paratransit riders to fixed-route than needs to be changed.

"The key element is to get the ridership of the CAT and paratransit more in line with what we see in other communities," Troe added.

(Reach reporter Gordon Weixel at 250-8255 or gordon.weixel@;bismarcktribune.com.)