Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutTransportation Board - Minutes - 01/19/2022 TRANSPORTATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR January 19, 2022, 6:00 p.m. Virtual Meeting Via Zoom 1/19/2022 – MINUTES Page 1  FOR REFERENCE: Chair: Nathalie Rachline Vice Chair: Council Liaison: Cari Brown Emily Francis Staff Liaison: Aaron Iverson 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Rachline called the meeting to order at 6:03 PM. 2. ROLL CALL BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Nathalie Rachline, Chair Cari Brown, Vice Chair York Jerry Gavaldon Diego Lopez Stephanie Blochowiak Indy Hart BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT: Kevin Borchert Rob Owens CITY STAFF PRESENT: Cortney Geary Adelle McDaniel PUBLIC PRESENT: Alex Gordon, NFRMPO 3. AGENDA REVIEW Iverson noted he sent out the 2022 Work Plan and stated discussion could occur under Unfinished Business if desired. 4. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION None. 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – NOVEMBER 2021 Gavaldon made a motion, seconded by York, to approve the minutes of the November 2021 meeting as written. The motion was adopted unanimously. TRANSPORTATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 1/19/2022 – MINUTES Page 2  6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Iverson asked if members had any additional comments on the 2022 Work Plan. 7. NEW BUSINESS a. New Board Member Stephanie Blochowiak New Board Member Stephanie Blochowiak introduced herself and discussed her employment and experience. Other Board Members introduced themselves and discussed their interest in transportation. b. City Council Liaison Q&A – Emily Francis Mayor Pro Tem Francis introduced herself and commented on Council priorities related to transportation, including studying combining bussing and Poudre School District resources, and advancing transit initiatives. She stated Council is interested in examining how to make transit the default choice through possible changes to the Land Use Code. Gavaldon asked about CSU paying its share of Transfort and commented on the long wait times for Transfort routes. Mayor Pro Tem Francis replied CSU does pay into the Transfort system. Additionally, she stated there is not enough demand to increase bus service. She stated Council would like to examine how to decrease barriers and increase transit ridership. Chair Rachline commented on the need to develop unique solutions for transit. Mayor Pro Tem Francis replied the Finance Committee is looking at financing options for additional service. York asked how individuals should go about making suggestions for Land Use Code changes. Mayor Pro Tem Francis suggested the Board receive a presentation by the staff who are working on the Land Use Code amendments and members can provide feedback and input in that fashion. She also noted letters could be sent directly to Council. Vice Chair Brown asked about the opportunity for making changes to the Land Use Code given the approved City Plan document. Mayor Pro Tem Francis replied City Plan is the vision and foundation document for Fort Collins for the next 20 years and the Land Use Code helps to achieve the vision. Hart thanked Mayor Pro Tem Francis for attending the meeting and commended the process of working together toward solutions and decisions. Gavaldon discussed metro districts and suggested Council more carefully scrutinize metro district proposals as they can start to take away from affordability, particularly after they are approved. TRANSPORTATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 1/19/2022 – MINUTES Page 3  York suggested there may be a way to work on having Boards and Commission work more synergistically to provide information to Council to help it make decisions. Hart commended the work of the Council in asking questions and encouraging others to ask questions. c. 2050 Regional Transportation Plan – Alex Gordon, NFRMPO Alex Gordon, North Front Range Metropolitan Planning Organization (NFRMPO), stated the role of the NFRMPO is to work with elected officials to set transportation policy and prioritize federal transportation funding. Additionally, it works with planners and transportation agencies to implement projects and help meet regional goals. Hannah Johnson, NFRMPO Mobility Coordinator, commented on the Ride NoCo program. Mr. Gordon discussed transit demand management (TDM) and the benefits it holds for employers and employees, as well as for greenhouse gas reduction. He stated a main goal of TDM is to improve coordination and determine what will be the most effective techniques in reducing single-occupancy vehicle usage. He asked Board members to provide input on how the topic is discussed, what are useful resources, what is the best communication style, what is the interest for people to make commute changes, and what obstacles exist. He stated the NFRMPO is working to figure out its role in TDM. Brown stated having people identify ways they may already be participating in TDM could be helpful, for example, people may tele-commute or walk to lunch. York stated most people tend to start with work when considering transportation options. He also stated people may not think about the money they can save using transit, and trade-offs they can make as a result. He stated it would be helpful to start a conversation by outlining difficulties one is having in making changes. Hart stated it is important to recognize that people are making choices for selfish and convenience reasons. He stated he frequently touts the benefits of his stress-free bicycle and bus commute. Mr. Gordon agreed approaching things from a more conversational manner can be beneficial. Gavaldon stated transit needs to be encouraged with some type of incentive. He commented on the importance of shortening wait times for bus routes. Blochowiak stated the distance between housing and workplaces is an obstacle. She asked about the tie in of the NFRMPO to CDOT and state greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals. Mr. Gordon replied the NFRMPO has an air quality transportation planner who has been very involved in the stated greenhouse gas goals and has highlighted the difference between planning and aspirations. He noted a lot of the greenhouse gas emissions reductions are calculated based on VMT reduction. TRANSPORTATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 1/19/2022 – MINUTES Page 4  York stated it is important to ensure information is available for people who need transportation plans outside the boundaries of the MPO. Brown stated she likes showing people alternatives of what they could be doing with their commute time if they are not in personal cars. She also stated a barrier could be understanding how the transit system works. Mr. Gordon discussed the MPO’s long-range transportation plan, which is updated every four years and includes all travel modes, including transit, freight, bike and pedestrian, roadways, and emerging technologies. He stated the plan is required to have at least a 20-year planning horizon and the projects included in the plan must be fiscally constrained. Mr. Gordon outlined the new items included in the 2050 long-range plan, including the greenhouse gas budgets, the development of an outreach strategy, a chapter devoted to trends, and security and safety issues. He discussed the visioning and scenario planning chapters of the plan and detailed outreach strategies. He asked Board members to discuss how they see the region growing, to weigh in on what can be learned from City Plan, and to provide general feedback on the transportation system. d. 2020 Greenhouse Gas Inventory – Adelle McDaniel Adelle McDaniel, Climate Program Data Analyst, discussed the 2020 Community Greenhouse Gas Inventory, which aims to track how the community is doing on its climate action goals that were set in 2015. She noted the ultimate goal is carbon neutrality by 2050. She stated the community was 24% below the 2005 levels in 2020, which was 4% over the goal for that year. She discussed the implementation of the Roundhouse Renewable Energy Project from Platte River Power Authority, which was the largest driver of the decrease in greenhouse gas emissions between 2019 and 2020. Additionally, there were fewer car trips being taken due to the pandemic. McDaniel stated the estimate for 2021 will be 26% below 2005 levels as the reduction will continue, though not as steeply. She also discussed the strategies that will be utilized for the community to achieve its 2030 goals. York discussed the large gap between the current numbers and the 2030 goals and questioned what projects need to be completed to meet those goals. He stated the goals are aspirational and specific actions need to be identified for individuals. Blochowiak concurred with York and asked if any modeling has been done related to targeted transit goals. McDaniel replied specific modeling has occurred for about 30 of the strategies aimed at greenhouse gas reduction. She outlined the transportation- related items. Iverson noted the transportation goals that are part of Our Climate Future involve a multitude of strategies related to reducing vehicle miles travelled and making mode shifts. He stated the Transit Master Plan includes specific goals to expand the bus service frequencies and noted the rule of thumb is that people need to make TRANSPORTATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 1/19/2022 – MINUTES Page 5  different choices 30% of the time in terms of their modes. Hart commented on Board members providing feedback about the necessary changes. Chair Rachline noted a great deal of the reductions were driven by the pandemic and stated it is likely the greenhouse gas numbers will increase as people begin driving more. 8. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS Lopez reported on the possibility of electrifying CSU’s Mountain Campus. Hart reported on recent unpleasant bus experiences and stated he believes those may make it difficult for Transfort to encourage new riders. He stated Transfort needs to level up the drive to bring back riders. Gavaldon suggested a presentation from Drew Brooks could be helpful. Hart replied he is hesitant to receive that presentation as difficulties are still ongoing for Transfort. Gavaldon commented on the importance of Transfort having a long-range recovery plan. Chair Rachline concurred with Hart that there will be ongoing challenges due to the current situation. York reported on Northern Colorado employment numbers and stated he would be interested in hearing about Transfort’s strategies to help recruit drives. He reported on the upcoming Winter Bike to Work Day and discussed the opening of the Vine and Lemay overpass. He also reported on snow covered protected bike lanes after recent storms. Gavaldon reported on the recent Planning and Zoning Commission meeting during which the East Mulberry Corridor Plan and annexation were discussed. He suggested the Transportation Board may want to weigh in on the roadways in the area. York suggested the Board may want to receive a presentation on the annexation. Gavaldon also suggested the Board receive a Land Use Code update. He reported the grand opening of the Vine and Lemay overpass will occur in the spring once all of the project is complete. He also stated he observed similar snow-covered bike lanes. Chair Rachline noted the February meeting will be combined with the BAC. She also asked if someone would be willing to attend the January BAC meeting. York volunteered to attend. Chair Rachline also commented on the snow-covered bike lanes and stated snow removal needs to be prioritized for safety to help encourage people to use alternative modes. Additionally, she commented on the road lights not being on along Mountain Avenue which decrease safety. She also stated the Raising Cane’s traffic backup issue has not improved and continues to be a safety issue. Gavaldon noted the Horsetooth, and College Chick-fil-A is having similar issues. TRANSPORTATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 1/19/2022 – MINUTES Page 6  9. OTHER BUSINESS a. Bicycle Advisory Committee Report b. City Council 6-Month Calendar Review Iverson reported there will be a work session including Land Use Code updates, advancing transit initiatives, and the Active Modes Plan on February 8th. Additionally, on February 22nd, Council will receive an update on the East Mulberry Plan. c. Staff Liaison Report Iverson provided a link to a City recovery plan survey. 10. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8:22 p.m. by unanimous consent.