Here are the headlines Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe read on-air this weekend:
GoZone service fades from central Denton in August
Beginning in mid-August, Denton will see more buses and fewer GoZone rideshare vans downtown and around the universities—and the Denton County Transportation Authority staff said that means riders should get where they need to go a little faster.
DCTA took another step toward a single, year-round bus system this week as the board reviewed options with the highest potential to increase ridership, which is nearing record levels this year. The best option for Denton would run buses every 20 minutes along the current routes and add 18 new stops.
The staff said that those changes should make for easier transfers, less wait times and serve more job centers. The goal is to get more riders where they need to go faster than the GoZone vans can move them, especially when considering wait times for those rideshares.
That means that DCTA has to recruit more bus drivers. And, DCTA could move the GoZone rideshare vans to Denton’s outer areas, such as the Robson Ranch retirement community, the warehouse district and the far east and south sides.
But given the demand for the rideshare vans in Lewisville and Highland Village, board members asked whether they should begin shifting GoZone service now, rather than wait until August.
CEO Paul Cristina said that the staff has been doing more to manage the wait times and cancellations with VIA, the GoZone operator, and he expects performance to improve a bit. He cautioned that jumping the gun on reallocating the vans could instead degrade their service, called Key Performance Indicators.
Paul Cristina: “I would expect that in April you’ll see the gap narrow a little bit further. The board—we could remove that capacity, or begin shifting that capacity more aggressively, in the summertime. The challenge is though, the risk of tripping the KPIs and not meeting the service requirements in Denton.
“One of the things that’s come up in our conversations with VIA is that they don’t have a corollary for this type of action anywhere else on the network. So we don’t understand what the adoption rate is going to be, if people who are taking GoZone are moving to the fixed route, or if they’ll just leave the network altogether.
“I’m not concerned about losing rides, because I believe that when we shift the capacity, or when we increase the frequency, number one, the bus is going to be a very attractive alternative for folks, and so that’s going to be really helpful. And then the capacity that we move for GoZone, if the board makes that choice to move that down to Lewisville [and] Highland Village, I think what we see is that the demand is there to absorb it. So net-net, our overall ridership not going to change.
“I would like to see what happens with our number in April—to see how much more we are able to narrow that gap. Then, if the board provides direction to say that we want to move this faster, then we just need to able to inform you of what the potential impacts are going to be. Ultimately, we want to be able to keep a quality of service across the whole system that meets the expectations that we’ve set.”
The board has another month to consider the options before making any final decisions. More information at ridedcta.net.
Early voting for city, school races ends Tuesday
Early voting for the May 4 local elections continues through Tuesday, running extended hours from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday at 38 polling locations around the county. Denton County voters may cast their ballot at any polling location during early voting.
In Denton, there are two seats on the school board up for election, along with three new seats on the central appraisal district board. In addition, the Denton mayor and two at-large council member seats are on the ballot for city residents. More information at votedenton.gov.
Emergency preparedness help
Get what you need for your go-bags and shelter-in-place plans this weekend. Texas is waiving sales tax on important items families need in an emergency. The full list of tax-exempt items is at comptroller.texas.gov. Emergency preparedness information at ready.gov.
Try a little kindness this weekend
Sunday is International Pay it Forward Day, a chance to join millions of others around the world who try to make a difference by extending a gesture of kindness to others.
Local News currently airs each Wednesday at 10 a.m. on KUZU 92.9 FM-LP in Denton, Texas, with rebroadcasts airing at 3 p.m. Thursday, and 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. Friday. The Weekend Edition of Local News airs each Saturday at 4 p.m., with rebroadcasts at 9 p.m. and midnight; and 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. Sunday.
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On air since 2017, KUZU is Denton’s only volunteer-run, nonprofit community radio station. You can learn more and listen online at kuzu.fm.
Local News and Weekend Edition scripts are published on Substack. Subscribe for free at peggyheinkelwolfe.substack.com and follow live microblogging of Local News on Mastodon @phwolfe940@denton.social. Peggy is an award-winning, veteran journalist and a Denton County resident since 1993.