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(PTBG) funding. In 2012, the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) issued a Notice to Proceed (NTP) to its General Planning Consultants, Stanley Consultants and the Center for Urban Transportation Research(CUTR), to initiate plan development. Then, MPO staff and its consultants proceeded to collect data,initiate public involvement activities,conduct peer assessments,analyze socio-economic data projections, and coordinate with FDOT and a number of public agencies. Prepared by Indian River County MPO staff and its consultants,the draft final report was presented to the MPO Board on September 11, 2013. At that time, the MPO considered the report and approved the report subject to one change. That change involved advancing one of the proposed alternatives(expanded weekday service hours)from year 2015 of the ten-year improvements plan to year 2014. Along with advancing the weekday service hour expansion alternative, the MPO also voted to increase service by three hours per day,instead of the two hours as was originally proposed. With that expansion,the GoLine will operate on weekdays from 6:00 am to 7:00 pm.The change has been incorporated into the attached final report. ANALYSIS Since the inception of Indian River County's fixed-route transit system,the total number of annual passenger trips provided by the system has grown substantially and now exceeds 1,000,000 trips/year. A major reason for the increase in ridership has been the addition of new routes and service improvements identified in the 2005 and 2008 Transit Development Plans.According to the consultant,transit service in Indian River County is provided in an efficient manner when compared to a peer group of similar transit agencies. One of the essential tasks in serving the area's transit dependent population is identifying the location and needs of that population. According to data collected for the 2013 TDP Major Update, ridership on the GoLine is younger, more diverse and more likely to use transit every day than was the case in 2008. Based upon an analysis of potential transit demand, current operating characteristics, and estimates of available future funding, the consultant has proposed a series of transit service improvements to meet the current and future needs of Indian River County. Those improvements appear in Chapter 7 of the draft TDP Major Update. As a result of implementing the initiatives reflected in previous TDP Major Updates, the existing route structure has proven highly successful. Because of that and because of the constraints on local funding in recent years, the consultant has proposed maintaining the existing route structure with only minor changes to existing routes. One proposed change would affect Route 11, the system's lowest ridership route. Under the proposed change, Route 11 would no longer serve the US 1 corridor, but would connect the new Publix on US 1 at 53rd Street to the Indian River Mall hub through the Gifford area, improving transportation offerings for the Gifford community. While the proposed improvements include only a small number of new routes and route changes,the report contains several significant operational improvements. Those include extending weekday operating hours from 6:00 am to 8:00 pm; increasing Saturday hours;and reducing the headways on F-\Community Development\Users\IvfPO\Meetings\BCC\2013\TDP adoption 10-1-13.doc 2 111