Earlier this year, a Proposal Analysis Group reviewed and scored proposals submitted by three firms interested in providing turnkey operation of the BRITE transit services.  On March 15^th, the CSPDC published notice to enter into contract with Virginia Regional Transit as the transit provider for the BRITE system.  The resulting contract for an initial five-year period will be effective July 1, 2017 and will provide transit service in the Staunton, Augusta County and Waynesboro area.  The BRITE transit system includes routes to Blue Ridge Community College, Stuarts Draft, Augusta Health, Wilson Workforce and Rehabilitation Center and throughout the cities of Staunton and Waynesboro.

Craigsville Community Strong Steering Committee

Through the support of the CSPDC’s Community Strong Program, the town of Craigsville is developing an action plan that will set priorities, identify partnerships, strategies, and funding possibilities, and guide the town and its leaders in making community and economic development decisions.

The Community Strong Program is expected to take eight months to complete, and during this time the CSPDC will work closely with the town and a project committee to provide facilitation, staff support, technical assistance, and resources.

The CSPDC’s Community Strong Program is supported by a Rural Community Development Initiative grant through the U.S. Department of Agriculture and provides small towns and rural communities with tools to identify and address community and economic development needs.

To date, Community Strong projects have been completed in Glasgow and Goshen.

Braiding the Way for Outdoor Recreation in the Rockbridge Area is in the process of developing a Master Outdoor Recreation and Trail Plan for the Rockbridge, Buena Vista, Lexington area.  The Steering Committee has chosen a design logo for the project.  The logo, in the shape of Rockbridge County, uses a colorful braided pattern to represent the greenways, blueways, bikeways and walkways of the area.  The logo will be used to market the area as an outdoor recreation destination.

Liza Vick (CSPDC), Dave Hirschman (Hirschman Water & Environment, LLC), and Devin Floyd (Center for Urban Habitats, LLC) recently teamed up to complete an assessment to identify environmentally sensitive areas on the James Madison University campus as part of the  biodiversity component of JMU’s Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS) program. Field work was completed in three specific areas: Edith J. Carrier Arboretum, JMU Farm, and the riparian area near the golf course. The STARS program is a way for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance.

In March, the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Metropolitan Planning Organization updated and adopted its Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP).  The 2040 LRTP outlines the goals, objectives, policies and improvements that are needed to maintain a safe and efficient multimodal transportation system for the movement of people and goods throughout the area.  The LRTP is updated every five years.

A travel demand model was updated with variables for the 2015 base year and then used as a guide to estimate when and where people will travel and to identify potential deficiencies in the transportation network.  Staff will use the travel demand model and other available data to continually evaluate and track the performance of transportation investments for the region.