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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTransportation Board - Minutes - 08/20/2008MEETING MINUTES of the TRANSPORTATION BOARD August 20, 2008 6:00 p.m. Community Room 215 North Mason Street Fort Collins, CO 80521 FOR REFERENCE: Chair: Gary Thomas 482-7125 Vice Chair: Ed Robert 224-4864 Staff Liaison: Mark Jackson 416-2029 Administrative Support: Polly Bennett 224-6058 BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: CITY STAFF PRESENT: Sara Frazier Jeff Scheick, PDT Director Bill Jenkins Polly Bennett, Executive Administrative Assistant John Lund Diane Jones, Deputy City Manager Shane Miller Marlys Sittner, Transfort General Manager Ed Robert Kurt Ravenschlag, Transfort Assistant General Manager Sid Simonson Judith Lavelle, Marketing Director Garry Steen Kathleen Walker, Fixed Route Operations Supervisor Gary Thomas Craig Dubin, Para -Transit Operations Supervisor Scott VanTatenhove Dean Erickson, IT Systems Specialist Karl Gannon, Financial Coordinator ABSENT: Nicole Hahn, Transit Planner Kip McCauley Joel Michelbrink, Intern Sheryl Brandt, Administrative Support Supervisor Kathleen Bracke, Transportation Planning & Special Projects Director Denise Weston, Senior Transportation Planner OTHERS IN ATTENDANCE: Wade Troxell, Council Liaison Anita Basham, Citizen Tim Johnson, Citizen Fred Kirsch, Citizen 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Chair Thomas at 6:00 P.M. with a quorum present. 2. AGENDA REVIEW The Board approved the Agenda unanimously. 3. PUBLIC COMMENT None. 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES (July 2008) Regular Meeting Minutes August 20, 2008 Page 2 Steen moved to approve the July 2008 Transportation Board meeting minutes. VanTatenhove seconded. The motion carried unanimously. 5. COUNCIL LIAISON REPORT Wade Troxell, Council Liaison The Bike Plan is coming to Council in October. I-25/392 1601 Process and relationship with Windsor is moving ahead. Joint meeting with the Windsor Town Board was positive. Robert: Will the Council begin an effort to get Transportation funding as part of our tax package? Troxell I don't know. There were several meetings with State officials that reinforced what we already knew... there are no federal or state dollars coming soon. We need to be proactive in our communities working toward long-term transportation needs. Thomas there will be an item in tonight's presentation related to Transit. 6. DISCUSSION ITEMS a. Strategic Plan Update — Marlys Sittner, General Manager, Transfort; Kurt Ravenschlag, Assistant General Manager; Denise Weston, Senior Transportation Manager Sittner — I've been General Manager for 2 years, with Transfort for 10 and this is the first Transportation Board held here, so welcome! Kurt Ravenschlag will update you on the Update to the 2002 Strategic Plan. Ravenschlag — This is a partnership with Transportation Planning. Denise Weston, Senior Transportation Planner is my project co -manager. Our problem statement: Update the 2002 plan and look at efficiencies and cost saving measures. We can't be constrained by the boundaries of Fort Collins. We realized, with the proximity of Loveland and the number of busing services in Fort Collins that we are trying to achieve the same thing. We reached out to Loveland and Poudre R-1 to partner with us. We have other partners (CDOT, Thompson School District, Latimer County), and wanted to start a dialogue. Ultimately, we will arrive at a funding strategy. Why now? Improve mobility Enhance economic opportunity Reduce investment required for expansion of streets High price of gasoline Energy conservation Vital ink for the disabled Mobility for aging population Many, many more justifications. Public Outreach July 31 — fast public meeting. Next one is August 27 3:30 — 5:30 at the Loveland Museum. Meeting with other stakeholders, coordination with other plans. Financial advisory committee: develop recommendations on how to implement the Plan. Citizen User Feedback (needs) Easy routes Grid system Increase frequency/hours Access for low-income housing residents Regular Meeting Minutes August 20, 2008 Connection to Longmont Bike parking Page 3 Fort Collins: 18 fixed routes, with 23 peak service buses. Loveland: Three fixed routes, five vehicles in peak service. Poudre R-1: FCHS 3 bus routes; PHS 24 bus routes; FRHS 10 bus routes; RMHS 4 bus routes We are looking at increasing their walk boundaries beyond a 2-mile radius by providing more public transportation routes. With school of choice, parents are obligated to provide transportation. There is a congestion problem with so many parents picking up and dropping off students. Existing conditions Cost neutral Address immediate efficiencies Increase reliability Establish future build out foundation Existing conditions with the addition of the Mason Corridor Remove routes 1 and 15 Establish connections to Mall, CSU, Determine east/west interface Establish South Transit Center Expansion of maintenance facility Direct routes Increased coverage, frequency Connections to neighborhood communities Financial Today: +/-$8 million operating budget Future: +/-$22 million operating budget 2006 Comparison Eugene, OR $29.5 mil Anchorage, AK $22.7mi1 Salem OR $22.5mil An Arbor, MI $22mil Colorado Springs, CO $20mil Santa Barbara, CA $17 Savannah, GA $13.9 Fort Collins, CO $7.8 $40 million full build -out for capital costs. So why an Operating Plan? Build out grid addresses enhanced travel corridors on Harmony, Timberline, Vine Drive, Mason. The 2002 plan did not address Mountain Vista or build -out south of Harmony Road. Regular Meeting Minutes August 20, 2008 Page 4 Coordination with Fort Collins Plans Transportation Master Plan, Master Street Plan, CityPlan — based on fully functioning transit grid network. Next steps Evaluate alternative route scenarios Evaluate funding options Update Strategic Plans for Transfort and COLT Recommendation to Council Simonson: How much of that money comes from CSU student fees? Gannon: $400k Simonson: How much does the average rider pay? Gannon: It amounts to approximately $.40 per ride. Simonson: What is the actual cost per rider? Gannon: $2.40 Thomas: Will we see the final plan in March for a recommendation to Council? Ravenschlag: Yes Miller: Talking about return on investment, is there a way to quantify that for us? Ravenschlag: The American Transit Association generates a lot of that information. They collect that data throughout the country and worldwide. We produced an Economic Generator Report for the Mason Corridor. We wanted to see what the $1 = $6 would be for Fort Collins. It is available on the Mason website. Miller: You had a list of cities and their budgets. Have you seen these systems personally? Which one do you think does the best job of maximizing the benefits for the money spent? Ravenschlag: Champaign, Illinois. What they get for $20 million is a high return on investment. Eugene, Oregon is another one. Most of these are university communities. Robert: What is the stakeholder's financial role? Ravenschlag: Everything generated can be stand-alone, so, for instance, if Loveland doesn't want to adopt part, they don't have to. We will look at it as a whole product, but it isn't dependent upon their participation. Miller: The existing build -out of streets handles automobiles absent the investment in transit result in under -capacity infrastructure. Ravenschlag: It relates to development and density. Miller: Are there physical limitations to widening the roads to handle the load? Ravenschlag: We have a great graphic that depicts the tremendous impact of widening College Avenue. Simonson: Will rates go up soon? Ravenschlag: No plans imminently, but this plan will result in an increase. They last increased in 2004. Johnson: In your analysis with the school district, have you looked at their expenditures? Ravenschlag: We are collecting that data. Regular Meeting Minutes August 20, 2008 Page 5 Miller: How do you compare the total cost per trip of people who use public transportation versus the cost per trip when people use their cars? Is there data on how that might change? Ravenschlag: I don't have it, but AAA has that data. Thomas: Vehicle miles traveled is one number we do know. b. Transfort — Marlys Sittner What do we do? Fixed route & demand response service Twenty-seven fixed route vehicles, 18 routes, 6500 riders per day, and 13 demand response vehicles averaging 160 riders per day. Ninety-five employees at Transfort. We manage four facilities: CSU Transit Center (LEED certified!), South Transit Center (at The Square), Downtown Transit Center, and the Transfort Maintenance Facility which is half way between downtown Fort Collins and downtown Loveland. We ARE the regional transit provider! We will build another one behind Spradley Barr. We added two routes in 2007 and had to buy more buses. Ridership built consistently since 1998 with a small downward blip in 2002 caused when the SOP was implemented. Another small blip in 2004 after the fare increase. 2007 showed 1.6 million riders. Through July 2008, we were at 1,042,532 rides! The Board unanimously supported the changes to Dial -A -Ride. It wasn't sustainable without Council's recommended changes. It is working. The people who could use fixed -route, are. 20% increase in disabled ridership. 17% increase in senior ridership. Financial baseline Federal 23%; General fund 62%; Fares & Passes 5%; Bohemian Foundation 1%; ASCSU 5%; miscellaneous program funding 4% Expenditures Contractual services 30%; Commodities 9%; Personnel 61% Capital Expenditures Vehicles Bus GPS Facility Upgrades Signage Dial -A -Ride: 52,000 trips in 2007 (3/4 of a mile from a fixed -route stop) $1.9 in operating budget in 2009 (part of the $8mi1 total budget) We received a grant for a Travel Trainer Transit Marketing Program of the Year — Judith Lavelle and her team created a more readable bus schedule and won the award! Judith Lavelle, Marketing Riders wanted to know the first and last departure times. Now shown on the new schedule that will be in effect on Monday, August 25. King Soopers have ads; displays at trade shows and events; Transfort Treasure scratch cards — everyone wins! The system -wide map is on the Coloradoan website. You can click on each route and see it in detail with time points. Regular Meeting Minutes August 20, 2008 Page 6 Test Ride Transfort gives the public a chance to try Transfort before committing to buying a pass. Businesses are given coded passes that are good for 7 months. All but one participating company last year transitioned into our PassFort program. There is no external advertising. On Board Survey: over 2000 surveys were completed. Only 10% of respondents reported any level of dissatisfaction. Only hours of operation and frequency of service were rated low. Robert: Do you have software that allows riders to enter their destinations and see routes? Lavelle: Coming soon! Johnson: It would be good to link the Transfort maps with the Bicycle maps. Lavelle: Large posters would be a good way to accomplish that. Sittner: Carol Thomas could not be here tonight. She is our Training & Safety Supervisor. Our Safe Operator Program was implemented in 2000/2001 so we could improve. We hold them to a higher standard than most employees. We go by national standards — preventable collisions. Preventable collisions per 100,000 miles dropped from 2.40 in 2000 to 1.42 in 2008. There was a blip in 2007 resulting in preventable collisions at speeds under eight miles per hour. Those incidents were happening here at the bus maintenance facility pulling in and out. Every driver went through new training. In 2008, the trend is down dramatically. Preventable injuries dropped from 0.42 in 2000 to 0.09 in 2008. Technology: Intelligent Transportation Systems On -board cameras — signs alert riders that there is on -board audio and video. $500,000 grant from CMAQ for global positioning system, mobile video, and "next bus" information at stations. REFLECTIONS: Miller: Why the cameras in a time when the invasion of privacy is such a concern? Sittner: It is a huge concern of mine. We did it for safety reasons because of our enormous responsibility. For instance, we had an incident when a passenger pulled a switchblade on a driver. I would have felt much better had we had on board cameras with warnings to assist in preventing such an incident. Our cameras at the DTC aided in a capital murder case when the accused exited a Greyhound bus at our Transit Center. The FBI is using it to prosecute the case. Safety is #1, protecting the City assets is #2. There are six cameras on fixed route vehicles, five cameras on Dial -A -Ride vehicles. We have not, and will not add staff to monitor the camera tapes. We use it to deter and correct behavior. Miller: I understand your passion for safety, but my concern is not about someone creating a disturbance or having thieves get away. My concern is that the danger comes from the people you give power to. As technology improves, the ability to process an infinite amount of information simultaneously grows. We won't stop with monitoring language or apprehending criminals. Simonson: Thank you for the passes. You do a tremendous job with limited resources. Robert: Somehow we need to get you decent funding as we do Pavement Management. Sittner: Someday we will see a regional system with adequate funding. Johnson: Is the extension of Mason to Trilby planned? Ravenschlag: Currently the Mason Corridor will terminate at the South Transit Center. We want to extend south but a corridor hasn't been selected. Regular Meeting Minutes Page 7 August 20, 2008 7. ACTION ITEMS None 8. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS Lund: None. VanTatenhove: None. Simonson: I really enjoyed tonight and hope we can hold a meeting at the FCILoveland airport. Robert: None. Steen: None. Frazier: Blue gave a Wayfinding presentation at the last UniverCity meeting. Many signs were unreadable because of sight blockages from trees. Jenkins: None. Thomas None. 9. STAFF REPORTS: No report. Mark Jackson was at the APWA Congress in New Orleans. 10. OTHER BUSINESS None. 11. ADJOURN The meeting adjourned at 8:53 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Polly BAmett Executive Administrative Assistant Transportation Group Administration