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202 203 percent fare box recovery.We operate close to a 25 percent fare box recovery, so we are slightly better than the national average. “The system is still under construction, right now, and the contractors are working to finish as soon as possible.We are conservatively estimat- ing a ridership of 3,500 a day. The Pulse system is like the spine of a body.We’re going to let Pulse be that heartbeat of the region, making the body stand firm while supporting the rest of it. BVM: We understand that, in addition to Pulse, GRTC has redesigned the rest of its route network. Why? Pace: “The routes in the City of Richmond were developed, essentially, off of the streetcar trol- ley routes that ran up until 1949, and bus routes really have not changed much in years, because they were modeled after the old trolley routes. So there has not been much change in the way that we move people around the city in a long time, but the city, itself, has changed drastically over time. So, it’s time for an overhaul.We brought in THE GREATER RICHMOND TRANSIT COMPANY consultants, area stakeholders, and GRTC staff to help us go through a year-long process of re- designing the network. It will go into effect the exact same date that the Pulse launches, this year. “Every route changes, every route gets a new name, a new number; we switch to a clock-face frequency, meaning that buses come, consistent- ly, every 15, 30, or 60 minutes. That’s consistent weekdays and weekends, so there’ll be more Saturday service. Sunday is still a lower ridership day, relative to the others, so that day, we don’t have as many routes, running. Additionally, Hen- rico County also decided to look at their routes, because they are a partner on the Pulse, to see how they can take advantage of the power of the Pulse and make some of their east-end and west- end routes better connect to Pulse itself, or across the county, in general. So, we will be implement- ing those tweaks to their routes, as well, the same day that Pulse opens.” BVM: How have you prepared the population for all these changes? Pace: “Change is hard, and this is a major change. So, we are absolutely going above and