StarMetro News
StarMetro and Second Harvest Call on You
to Stuff-The-Bus!
Beginning today, StarMetro will hold the seventh annual Stuff-The-Bus food drive. This event challenges citizens to donate canned and non-perishable food items to "stuff-the-bus" for America's Second Harvest of the Big Bend. The Second Harvest Food Bank will then dispense the food donations to needy families in the Big Bend area for the upcoming holiday season.
"This year, more than ever before, we need the support of the community to help Stuff-The-Bus," said Cheryl Phoenix, director of the Second Harvest Food Bank. "The number of people coming to the food pantries in our area has skyrocketed, and we want to make sure everyone has food for the holiday season."
Citizens may drop off food donations at several locations including City Hall, Renaissance Center, Gemini Building, StarMetro, offices, Trousdell Gymnastics Center, Lafayette Park Arts and Crafts Center and participating Winn-Dixie shopping centers. These locations will host donation barrels to collect food during normal business hours on November 17-20. On Friday, November 21, a StarMetro bus will visit each site collecting the donated foods.
Also, on Friday afternoon from 3 to 6 p.m., Cumulus Broadcasting will encourage commuters to donate food on their way home with a live radio remote at the Winn-Dixie shopping center located on Magnolia Street/Park Avenue. The live remote will feature the stuffed bus with all the foods donated throughout the week.
"We strive to support the community in any and every way we possibly can," said Ron Garrison, director of StarMetro. "We hope to take in pounds and pounds of food, more pounds than we've ever collected before."
Partnership Brings Home the Gold
Seminole Express Marketing Receives Recognition - StarMetro and Florida State University received top honors from the Florida Public Transportation Association (FPTA) for joint marketing efforts of the Seminole Express service. The Seminole Express campaign received a first place Award of Excellence, Best of Best Award and Judges Favorite Award.
"I'm extremely proud of our showing at this year's FPTA conference," said Ron Garrison, executive director of StarMetro. "Moreover, these awards are a testament to our collaboration and dedication to working with FSU."
Transit agencies from around the state submitted marketing entries in the categories of: internal/employee communications, electronic media/audio-visual, bus exteriors, bus interior graphics, special events, sustaining campaigns, signage and potpourri. From these categories, the entries were then distinguished into classes based on the transit agencies fleet size. Three FPTA judges scored each entry on creativity, execution and effectiveness.
In addition to receiving first place honors in its class, the Seminole Express took home the Best of the Best Award, which was chosen from all first place winners regardless of class. The FPTA judges also awarded the Seminole Express campaign with their stamp of Judges Favorite.
Bus Stops Get Functional Facelift
StarMetro Installs New Custom Benches and Shelters - Beginning this week, StarMetro will install 70 benches and 32 shelters across the city. These new, custom-built benches and shelters will provide a more comfortable transit experience for StarMetro passengers.
The new benches and shelters will look similar to current StarMetro benches and shelters, but with a few new features. The new benches will utilize recycled wood slats for enhanced passenger comfort and a unique shooting star logo on the side. The shelters will feature a dome roof with perforated metal panels, space equipped for solar-lighting panels and the shooting star logo on the side.
"We always look for innovative ways to enhance our passengers' riding experience," said Ron Garrison, executive director of StarMetro. "We are in the business of providing the best, most efficient and comfortable service that we can."
Daytech Limited, a leading North American manufacturer of transit shelters and street furniture, built StarMetro's new benches and shelters.
For more information, please contact StarMetro at 891-5200.
'Osceola' to Lead Seminole Express Pack
StarMetro adds new route to help serve Florida State University - This week, StarMetro will premiere the newest addition to Florida State University's Seminole Express Service, the Osceola route.
This new route will travel west from campus along West Tennessee Street, follow the loop of Appleyard Drive, Mission Road and White Drive then return to campus. With 20-minute headways, the Osceola route will hit major student-oriented apartment complexes, such as Boardwalk and West-10.
"While StarMetro current serves over half the FSU population, there was still a large chunk of students farther west on Mission Road and Tennessee Street that we were missing," said Sam Scheib, senior planner for StarMetro. "The new route will help us reach an additional 2,800 students, who, if each one road even one day a week, would account for approximately 42,000 trips per semester."
The Osceola route becomes the fifth off-campus route to join the existing Seminole Express Service (PDF), which is comprised of the Garnet, Gold, Heritage and Tomahawk routes. The Renegade route serves as the on-campus circulator.
FSU students, faculty and staff can ride for free on any StarMetro bus, including the Seminole Express service, with a valid FSU ID card.
StarMetro Goes Green with Solar Lighting
Beginning this week, StarMetro will install 88 Camanah i-STOP solar lighting systems. The stand-alone solar-powered lighting systems will provide increased safety and security for evening riders.
The i-STOP (link to i-stop information site) features rider friendly elements such as the i-SIGNAL, security down lighting and illuminated scheduling. The i-SIGNAL, a push activated flashing beacon, will alert coach drivers of waiting riders, while the down lighting will shine on waiting riders and route information. The pole-mounted lighting system integrates the passenger activated bus signal and illuminated route schedule into one compact solution.
"We care about our riders; their safety and security is what matters most to us at StarMetro," said Ralph Wilder, superintendent of maintenance for StarMetro. "That's why putting in solar lighting was a no-brainer to us."
In addition to the i-STOP (PDF map of proposed stops), StarMetro hopes to install solar lighting panels to existing and new shelters next month.
The Carmanah Technologies Corporation, a global provider of renewable and energy-efficient technologies, oversees the design, manufacturing and distribution of a range of energy-efficient products. Free of electrical grid connections, Carmanah solar lighting solutions install easily with the existing infrastructure and provide significant cost-saving benefits.
StarMetro's 80x Express Soars
Last month, StarMetro officially launched the Northern extension of the 80X Express route to Bradfordville, which marked the first route to ever break the barrier of the city limits. Since the launch of the Northern extension, StarMetro's ridership numbers have soared.
Prior to the Northern extension, the 80X route traveled from the SouthWood Town Center to Downtown, which connected three major employment centers - the Capital Circle Office Complex (CCOC), the Koger Center and offices located in Downtown.
"During listening sessions held at the CCOC, I discovered that most employees would comment, 'I live in Killearn. I would use the service, but there is no service out there,'" said Samuel Scheib, StarMetro planner. "So, we constructed a plan to extend the 80X service to the Killearn area to accommodate these employees."
When the pilot program for the 80X Northern extension began in December 2007, StarMetro planners cautiously watched ridership numbers, which nearly doubled due to the extension. During March 2008, one month prior to the official launch of the Northern extension, StarMetro's ridership numbers for the entire 80X Express route averaged 1,267 riders per five-day week. The following month, after the official launch, the route averaged 1,530 riders per week - an increase of 263 riders per week.
"Overall, I'm very pleased to know about the 80X Express bus, have had a great experience so far and will continue to use the bus route," said Michael Neal, new 80X rider.
In order to accommodate the rising number of new 80X riders, StarMetro will now run a 30-passenger shuttle on the 6:40 am route, instead of the previous 23-passenger shuttle.
"I really support mass transit and after riding a subway in Tokyo - StarMetro is a luxury," said Loretta Bowman, existing 80X rider. "I'm telling everyone about it."
For more information, please contact StarMetro at 891-5200. To view all StarMetro routes and schedules, please visit Routes and Schedules.
StarMetro offers Wireless Internet Access to Riders
StarMetro offers Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), a technology that allows for wireless Internet connections, on ten of its coaches. This new technology will allow StarMetro riders to access the Internet via wireless enabled devices, such as laptops and personal digital assistants.
"From local listening sessions, we discovered that riders really wanted and valued WiFi access on transit," said Samuel Scheib, StarMetro Planner.
The WiFi equipped coaches will service routes 1, 6, 21, 22, 25 and 80X. StarMetro riders can look for the WiFi logo, located on the outside of each coach near the double doors, to ensure they can log on to the StarMetro WiFi system once riding.
StarMetro began the process of acquiring WiFi technology for its coaches almost a year ago. Partnering with the Parvus Corporation, StarMetro has diligently worked to add this new feature on part of its fleet. Installation started in early February for RiderNet3 ("RiderNet cubed"), Parvus' third generation WiFi solution for mass transit vehicles, onboard the selected StarMetro coaches.
"We are very pleased to offer this new service to our riders," said Ron Garrison, director of StarMetro. "If our riders enjoy the service, we hope to continue adding WiFi capabilities to the rest of our fleet."