THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 28, 1996 TAG: 9609280235
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DEBBIE MESSINA, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 153 lines
A young, enterprising London School of Economics graduate student wrote a thesis nearly 20 years ago that advanced innovative concepts for changing the face of public transportation.
In the United States, federal transportation officials found the thesis so fresh and progressive that they circulated the paper among transit leaders for comment.
When the treatise landed on the desk of James C. Echols in Norfolk, Echols recognized some of the concepts in programs he already had put into place at Tidewater Regional Transit.
``Under Jim Echols' leadership, TRT has been known throughout the industry as the most innovative of all transit agencies,'' said the student, Richard L. Oram, who now owns a successful transportation consulting business in Manhattan. ``Jim and all of TRT would never be constrained by the boundaries of conventional thinking. And the public transit industry is not one of the innovators of the American economy.''
Oram reflected on those innovations upon Echols' retirement Friday as executive director of TRT after 22 years.
Echols, now 63, had been a hot-shot transportation planner who developed the nation's first high-occupancy vehicle lanes and express bus lanes on Shirley Highway, outside Washington.
The firm but easy-going Roanoke native was lured to South Hampton Roads in 1974 to become TRT's first - and thus far only - executive director. In fact, he was TRT's first employee, charged with merging four independent bus operators. By 1996, he was managing 550 employees, 150 buses and a $22 million operating budget.
Echols joined the new and developing transit agency because it offered him free reign to experiment.
``That's an attractive inducement for folks who want to try new things,'' Echols said during an interview before his retirement.
He tried a number of new things. Some gained widespread recognition.
And he's labored with little fanfare.
``He's as quiet and laid back as anybody you'll see as an executive director,'' said Clarence ``Clancy'' Holland, the former Democratic state senator from Virginia Beach who helped create TRT.
Under Echols' leadership, TRT became an innovator of van pooling, ride sharing, shuttle services and passenger ferries.
``Jim is one of the leaders in the state and country in demonstrating that transportation operators are more than bus operators,'' said Chip Badger, Virginia's public transportation administrator. ``He was the first in the country to incorporate other modes of transportation - ferry service, van pools and ride-sharing programs. Many years ago, bus operators typically saw these things as competition, but Jim embraced their use and was successful.
``He was a leader in making TRT a transportation company rather than a bus company.''
TRT was sponsor of the National Demonstration Project for van pools in the mid-1970s. TRT had 100 vans leased by private citizens on the road, each transporting between eight and 12 people to and from work. The program was in response to soaring gasoline prices during the energy crisis as well as to congestion.
Van-pool leasing still exists, but on a smaller scale. The impetus for van pooling today is not as great since highways have been expanded, gas prices stabilized and employment centers are more scattered.
TRT is also recognized for its use of trolleys for seasonal service such as at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront and historic tours. It also had extensive shuttle service for large festivals like Norfolk's Harborfest and the Chesapeake Jubilee.
The agency was also one of the first in the nation to offer door-to-door van service, Maxi-Ride, in sprawling areas that are not well served by buses.
TRT also developed the popular pedestrian ferry service on the Elizabeth River between Norfolk and Portsmouth. One of the ferries is the world's first passenger ferry powered solely by compressed natural gas. It was christened the James C. Echols.
The agency also has been innovative with pricing, scheduling and routes. For example, it eliminated bus zones and instituted a flat fare system and developed transfer stations where bus riders can access many routes.
Now, TRT is pushing for yet another alternative to buses - a light-rail system linking the Virginia Beach Oceanfront and downtown Norfolk.
It has not all been an easy ride. Ask TRT service development manager Jeff Becker, who has been alongside Echols since the early, tumultuous days.
``We were doing things people didn't think we should be doing in our businesses,'' Becker said. ``We had to face our peers and be undaunted.''
Some of Echols' actions were met with criticism and controversy. There has been friction with the bus drivers' labor union over issues such as compensation and use of non-union workers for some services.
The handicapped community has also made periodic challenges, some in court, to the adequacy of service for disabled citizens.
And federal budget cuts have resulted in the slashing of bus service and reduced ridership. The five cities of South Hampton Roads that TRT covers have not made up for the funding shortfalls.
``We've cut back on service as far as we can,'' Echols said. In the last 10 years, the fleet of buses has shrunk by one-third.
Instead of the reductions eliminating service to areas, routes were shortened, trips were scaled back and fares were restructured. Some fares went up, some went down and some stayed the same.
``We've boiled it down to the most productive and most efficient pieces,'' Echols said. ``Ridership is responding to the current design and is increasing.''
Echols had to work closely with each of the cities, lobbying for additional money and formulating services.
``He's put tough choices in front of them and has said this is what you should be doing,'' said Dwight L. Farmer, transportation director for the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission. ``He's fought for financial support to cover those programs.
``I'm amazed he's been able to hold onto as much service as he has been able to.''
In light of federal cutbacks, transit's biggest challenge is to develop an adequate funding base, Echols said.
``Transit is now an accepted part of public service. A few years ago, I didn't think that. The current challenge, therefore, is to make funding stable and reliable.''
Echols has found some money from federal, state and other sources - though not enough to significantly offset funding cuts.
``When I was first having to work with him,'' said William C. LaBaugh III, state public transportation project manager, ``I was warned that I should keep a close hand on my wallet because he was the ultimate in grantsmanship.''
Today, LaBaugh's wallet is a little lighter.
``He's done the region proud,'' LaBaugh said.
Finding funding will be increasingly critical as public transportation assumes a greater role in American life, Echols said.
``We're beginning to realize the limitations on highway development. Building wider highways - that day is going to end.
``We've widened roads so much that there's no more land left in the corridor. Double-decking offends one's sense of balance so much.
``Now what are we going to do? How do we plan for the limitation of automobile capacity?''
In Echol's 38-year transportation industry career, he helped set the course for finding some of those answers.
He's worked for the state highway department, the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments as a traffic engineer and transportation planner.
Early in his career, he helped convert the Old Dominion's two- to three-lane highway system of the 1950s into an Interstate system.
Co-workers say Echols never seeks a high profile and ``leads by doing.''
For example, when TRT was shuttling 40,000 people a few years ago to Norfolk's annual Harborfest, Echols was in the trenches collecting fares, directing buses, assisting riders and doing just about everything except driving the buses.
``He shows he really cares about the whole operation,'' said Jayne B. Whitney, TRT's program management director.
Echols even tried to retire three times in the last two years but was convinced to extend his stay at TRT to oversee negotiations to merge operations with the Peninsula transit operator, PENTRAN.
The proposed merger is at least a year off now, and Echols said he could not wait any longer.
``I've enjoyed my time here, . . . but it's time for me to go on.''
He plans to travel and do volunteer work with his wife.
James Echols now has another road to follow. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
James C. Echols, 63, led TRT for
22 years.
KEYWORDS: PROFILE TRT RETIREMENT by CNB