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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTransportation Board - Minutes - 07/21/2021 TRANSPORTATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR July 21, 2021, 6:00 p.m. Virtual Meeting Via Zoom 7/21/2021 – MINUTES Page 1  FOR REFERENCE: Chair: Nathalie Rachline Vice Chair: Council Liaison: Cari Brown Emily Gorgol Staff Liaison: Aaron Iverson 1. CALL TO ORDER Vice Chair Brown called the meeting to order at 6:03 PM. 2. ROLL CALL BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Cari Brown, Vice Chair Indy Hart York Diego Lopez Kevin Borchert Jerry Gavaldon (arrived late) Rob Owens (arrived late) BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT: Nathalie Rachline, Chair CITY STAFF PRESENT: Drew Brooks PUBLIC PRESENT: 3. AGENDA REVIEW Iverson stated there were no changes to the published agenda. 4. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – JUNE 2021 Brown made a motion, seconded by York, to approve the June 2021 minutes as written. The motion was adopted unanimously. 6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS None. TRANSPORTATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 7/21/2021 – MINUTES Page 2  7. NEW BUSINESS a. Transfort Focused Discussion – Drew Brooks Drew Brooks, Transfort Executive Director, suggested the Board may want to receive a standing quarterly update, particularly given there is no transit-oriented City board or commission. He outlined the two federal funding sources related to the COVID response: the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA) and the American Rescue Plan (ARP). He stated Transfort reduced its service by about 17% and did not need to lay off any employees during the pandemic; therefore, the majority of the dollars for Fort Collins and Transfort will be spent on keeping the system viable into the future. (**Secretary’s Note: Gavaldon and Owens arrived at this point in the meeting.) Brooks outlined the specific items upon which each funding source could be spent and detailed the main focus areas on which the funds would be spent: safety and security improvements, operations and maintenance of existing assets, and position funding for future grant matches for future Master Transit Plan build out projects. He noted Fort Collins was the designated recipient of the funds for the Transportation Management Area and is therefore responsible for apportioning dollars to the North Front Range Planning Organization and to Berthoud Transit. He stated Fort Collins received about $8.9 million after those apportions and noted the grant funds must be executed by the end of the federal fiscal year, September 30th. Brooks outlined various projects planned with the dollars, including a touchless fare system on Dial-a-Ride vehicles. Brown asked for more details on the one-time cost of eliminating transit fares. Brooks replied that is a Council priority and has been considered for quite some time; however, being totally fare free will not likely occur anytime in the near future. He stated the fare technology would be used for tracking rides even if fares are free. Gavaldon expressed concern the $130,000 touchless fare system is an unneeded expenditure if fares will be free in the future. Brooks replied the current free fares are expected to end in September and it is anticipated fares will be collected for the foreseeable future until another funding source is available. He noted the touchless fare system is already in place on fixed route buses and is likely the least expensive system to install on the Dial-a-Ride vehicles. Gavaldon asked if there was a bidding process for the initial purchase of the system. Brooks replied in the affirmative. Gavaldon asked how many people will use the touchless system. Brooks replied about 40% of fares are paid that way currently; however, it was only in place for about six months prior to COVID. He stated some of these funds will be used to promote the system and encourage its use. TRANSPORTATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 7/21/2021 – MINUTES Page 3  Gavaldon asked how many vehicles would be covered by this investment and whether a third-party provider will be contributing toward the cost. Brooks replied he would need to research the exact number of vehicles covered and stated it will be a full City investment as the hardware would remain in the City’s control. Brooks outlined the expenditures that will be covered by the CRRSAA dollars, including salaries, administrative costs, and fuel. He noted 1% is required to be spent on security. He outlined the plans for the formation of a separate fund account to provide local matches for federal grants moving forward. Regarding the plans for ARP funding, Brooks stated there is a large safety project to add a methane detection system that needs to be performed at the transit maintenance facility. A maintenance technician will be funded, preventative maintenance will occur, and some funds should be banked for future projects. Brooks outlined proposed expenditures on the advertising contract which has included bus stop maintenance in the past. He stated no offers were submitted that included bus stop maintenance and staff subsequently found it would be cheaper to do that maintenance in house; therefore, one-time grant funding will be spent on staff and a budget offer will be included in the 2023-2024 budget. He stated the advertising contract will also continue to be bid. Brown asked if the budget offer for bus stop maintenance will be withdrawn as the funds will come from the federal grants. Brooks replied it likely will be withdrawn, though it may remain with the grant identified as the funding source. Brown asked if the expectation to have snow removed within 24 hours after the snow stops would remain with City staff taking it over. Brooks replied staff is hoping to do it sooner. Brooks discussed other proposed items on which the federal dollars would be spent including a new bus shelter facility, expanding MAX service to North College, and electrifying the bus fleet. Borchert noted funding for the West Elizabeth bus rapid transit project includes a partnership with CSU and asked if there is a possibility for funding partnerships with private entities in the future. Brooks replied those types of partnerships are on the radar; however, he was unsure of specific recent conversations with businesses. He discussed the importance of reducing back and forth trips to work in terms of having an impact on the climate crisis. Gavaldon commented on businesses on Harmony covering the initial seed funding of the southeast shuttle many years ago but noted Transfort backed out of the project after about a year and a half. He also discussed examples of businesses providing bus passes to employees. York asked about changing maintenance facility needs with the arrival of the new TRANSPORTATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 7/21/2021 – MINUTES Page 4  electric buses. Brooks replied a fleet electrification master plan is currently underway with a consultant and the resulting report will address forthcoming needs in terms of infrastructure and routes. He stated the City has already received a grant for pre-work on charging systems. He noted that though electric buses are more expensive initially, the long-term maintenance costs are significantly lower. He stated full maintenance of a CNG runs between $2,700 and $3,000 and that same maintenance for an electric bus is about $700. Brooks discussed Council priorities in the transportation and mobility area. Brown noted she had included a link to the Council Resolution regarding its priorities in the meeting chat. Gavaldon asked if the fare study could be done in-house rather than with an outside consultant. Brooks replied to the question around the fare piece will be addressed primarily in-house and the consultant will be asked for an analysis of other cities in that regard. He stated City staff is over-extended without being able to hire additional planners and stated he will not know the cost of the study until it goes to bid. Gavaldon expressed concern the City is hiring too many consultants when it has existing staff that could be doing the work. Brown stated she has heard concerns about the cost of Dial-a-Ride services being just high enough that it is prohibitive. She asked if the Council priorities list still includes an item related to being able to get anywhere in town on transit within an hour. Brooks replied Council felt progress was being made in that space and therefore eliminated that language while including the language around North College and West Elizabeth. Brooks stated evening, Sunday, and holiday Transfort service has yet to be restored since COVID and the only reason at this point is a lack of operators. He stated staff is working on incentive packages as several months have gone by with no applicants. Gavaldon commended the presentation. Hart asked what is required of Transfort operators. Brooks replied the City will train individuals to receive a commercial driver’s license. He stated one of the primary skills being sought is good customer service and noted most individuals are currently hired as part-time employees moving into full-time. He stated the formation of more full-time positions is being considered to help attract and retain operators. Brown asked if the offer to restore full service is likely to be funded. Brooks replied he was unsure at this point; however, he hoped it would be supported by the community and Council. York asked what criteria are being used to determine when fares will be charged again. Brooks replied one of the largest hindrances at this time is the federal mask mandate which gives the impression transit may be less safe than other parts of the community. TRANSPORTATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 7/21/2021 – MINUTES Page 5  He stated the mandate has prevented the reopening of transit centers; therefore, passes cannot be purchased. Additionally, many of the employees hired since the pandemic started were never trained on how to collect fares and much of the fare collection equipment will need to be maintained as it has been sitting idle for a year and a half. He stated the September date has been selected to resume fares as that is currently when the federal mask mandate is set to end. b. Budgeting for Outcomes (BFO) – Continuing Review and Feedback Iverson presented a list of transportation-related budget offers Board members have had the opportunity to review. Brown asked if any member is opposed to supporting budget offers on the top list and suggested the Board should hold off on drafting a letter to Council until the drilling platforms are revealed to allow for more strategic support. Regarding the Fort Collins travel survey, Gavaldon asked if it is a one-time project. Brown replied it is a one-time enhancement. Hart replied it is always a one-time request and if it is funded, it occurs. He noted the Transportation Board has always been very interested in the survey data. Gavaldon stated he would express support for the item. Iverson stated staff would like to have the offer be ongoing in order to collect consistent data. Brown stated the cost of the survey is about $60,000. Brown outlined the offers on which members had questions including the Linden Street Renovation Project and other capital projects. Brown suggested having Dan Woodward, the owner of several of the offers on which members had questions, present before the Board. Hart suggested the presentation may not be worth the time if the offers are supported by members. Gavaldon questioned details of the Arthur’s Ditch offer, but stated he was comfortable leaving it on the list of supported offers, and noted he will not be present at next month’s meeting. Brown commented on the importance of highlighting specific offers for the Board to support. She suggested anyone with questions on Dan Woodward’s specific offers should forward them to Iverson and then the Board can determine whether it would like him to present at a future meeting. Members concurred. Brown noted the Board would need to have a draft letter related to the budget by early October. Gavaldon commented on the support for mountain bike trails expressed at last night’s Council meeting. Iverson noted there is a grassroots group that has expressed support TRANSPORTATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 7/21/2021 – MINUTES Page 6  for constructing new mountain bike trails. Hart noted the Natural Areas and Parks and Recreation Boards would cover those items potentially more than the Transportation Board. York discussed Boulder’s Valmont Bike Park and included a link to the information in the meeting chat. Owens requested a prioritization of offer 11.13, the neighborhood traffic mitigation program expansion. Brown stated she is not necessarily opposed to adding this item to the list of offers the Board is supporting, but she noted it is an enhancement offer. She asked members if they would be willing to invite the offer’s owner, Nicole Hahn, to speak at next month’s meeting. She stated she would likely only not support this offer if many other priority offers were not above the cutoff line. Members and Iverson discussed inviting Hahn and potentially some other offer owners to speak at the next meeting. 8. OTHER BUSINESS a. Board Member Reports York reported on the recent Planning and Zoning Commission work session during which a Ziggi’s drive-through coffee shop north of Mulberry on Timberline was discussed. He noted the shop could result in difficulties similar to those of Raising Cane’s and Starbucks on South College Avenue. He stated the project’s traffic study did not show any difficulties but suggested the Board may want to get some additional information. Brown noted the North Timberline area is already difficult to navigate with existing traffic. Iverson stated he would follow up with additional information. York also noted the Commission was interested in how the back-in diagonal parking pilot on Howes Street worked. Hart reported on an idea he had to allow individuals with bus passes to park free in parking garages, at least as long as bus fares are being charged. Owens reported on some safety concerns with the Mulberry bike lane which devolves from protected to unprotected. He also reported on safety concerns with the bike lane bridge over the culvert on Lemay just north of Vine. Borchert reported on a recent North Front Range Metropolitan Planning Organization meeting during which the Colorado Transportation Commission was discussed and a presentation was heard from the CDOT state government liaison. He stated the group decided to use subcommittees to take deeper dives into issues with topics including long-range planning, outreach and inclusion, active and non-single occupancy vehicles, and short-term planning. He stated the next meeting of the group will be September 9th. TRANSPORTATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 7/21/2021 – MINUTES Page 7  Borchert questioned the future vision of transportation and transit specifically questioning whether individuals who may currently ride bikes partially due to environmental benefits continue to do so if electric autonomous vehicles become the wave of the future. He questioned whether infrastructure and planning could keep up with such changes. Brown noted she placed a link to the Transportation Master Plan and associated Transit Master Plan in the meeting chat. Lopez provided links to Northern Colorado Clean Cities electric bike equity program and on safely navigating Fort Collins on bikes. He also reported Northern Colorado Clean Cities will be doing a number of electric vehicle shows in the near future. b. Bicycle Advisory Committee Report York reported on the recent BAC meeting during which modifying its meeting schedule was discussed, a presentation from Bike Fort Collins was received, and budget offers related to bicycle infrastructure were discussed. Additionally, E-bikes were also discussed. Borchert reported on the upcoming New West Fest and Tour de Fat bike events. Gavaldon noted he is term limited on the BAC and his term ends in November. He encouraged Board members to consider taking on that role. c. City Council 6-Month Calendar Review Iverson stated City Manager Atteberry will be leaving and Council is in the process of recruitment. He noted two August Council meetings have been cancelled and Council will begin discussing the budget at the end of August. He also stated Council will be discussing northeast Fort Collins planning and the Mulberry Corridor planning effort. d. Staff Liaison Report Iverson stated Paul Sizemore was recently selected for the Community Development and Neighborhood Services Director position. Iverson noted the BAC has gone to a hybrid format and stated that while there was support for this Board to remain remote, there is still room for changing that. Members discussed the benefits of virtual meetings and Borchert suggested holding periodic in-person meetings. Iverson noted the technology is available to hold the meetings in a hybrid format should the Board desire. Hart discussed the benefits of hybrid meetings noting it would allow all members the flexibility to participate how they choose. Hart commended Brown on her running of the meeting. TRANSPORTATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 7/21/2021 – MINUTES Page 8  9. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8:10 p.m. by unanimous consent.