Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutTransportation Board - Minutes - 03/16/20161 MINUTES of the CITY OF FORT COLLINS TRANSPORTATION BOARD March 16, 2016 6:00 p.m. Traffic Operations Conference Room 626 Linden Street Fort Collins, CO, 80521 FOR REFERENCE: Chair: Olga Duvall Vice Chair: Eric Shenk Staff Liaison: Paul Sizemore 970.264-6140 BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: CITY STAFF PRESENT: Olga Duvall, Chair Gary Thomas Tim Sutton Annabelle Berklund York Pat Jordan Eric Shenk ABSENT: Boardmember Cari Brown Councilmember Ross Cunniff Paul Sizemore, FC Moves Program Manager Timothy Wilder, Service Development Manager Aaron Iverson, Senior Transportation Planner Joe Olson, City Traffic Engineer 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Duvall called the meeting to order at 6:02 pm with a quorum. 2. AGENDA REVIEW Sizemore stated there were no changes to the published agenda. 3. PUBLIC COMMENT Alan Braslau stated he has applied to fill a vacancy on the Board. 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES York asked about Thomas’ opposition to removing vehicular turning movements at intersections. Thomas replied the plan as it was laid out was to create “right in right out” turns and stated he thought that there was a better way to deal with those issues than blocking traffic flow of cars. He stated the various modes should share priority. York expressed concern bicycles would be blocked out. Thomas replied bicycles would be allowed to make the turn and his opinion was that both modes should be allowed to make the turn. 2 York asked about the reference to Women’s Month. Sizemore replied that was in the context of the spring bicycle programs and references Women’s Bicycle Month. Jordan made a motion, seconded by Sutton, to accept the February 2016 Board minutes as amended. The minutes were approved unanimously. 5. COUNCIL LIAISON Councilmember Cunniff was unable to attend. 6. BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE REPORT Sizemore stated he would email the Committee report to Boardmembers. 7. DISCUSSION/INFORMATIONAL ITEMS • Transfort Route Improvement Program – Wilder Wilder stated Transfort has had a 25% increase in ridership and a decrease in operating expenses per passenger over the last year. He discussed the approximate subsidy per rider stating there is an average of 15% revenue recovery. He stated that metric is in line with other systems around the country and announced free rides on April 1st. In terms of east-west connector routes serving MAX, Wilder stated those routes have underperformed compared to expectations. He stated areas west of campus are extremely busy however. Additionally, Wilder discussed issues with on-time performance on certain routes stating those issues are often due to intersection traffic at College and Drake and general traffic congestion. Jordan suggested a shuttle from the MAX route to a major shopping area, particularly for seniors. Wilder replied that service is something Transfort is looking into providing. In terms of passenger requests, Wilder stated Sunday service is the top request as well as more frequent service, more Flex service, service on Timberline, and additional stops. Wilder discussed the Transfort Route Improvement Program (TRIP) stating it is a comprehensive operational analysis for the entire system looking for areas to improve. He suggested another visit to the Board in May or June to discuss recommendations and discussed the proposed timeline for potential changes and announced a March 30- 31 workshop. Chair Duvall asked about the details of flexible routes. Wilder replied those details have yet to be worked out; however, usually riders can call or use an app. Boardmembers had a brief discussion regarding self-driving cars and Uber. Jordan opposed the fact Uber is unregulated. • Impacts of Emerging Transportation Technologies - Iverson Iverson stated this presentation is being developed for the Energy Board in response to some questions members raised. He outlined his three main topics: shared mobility, electric and alternative fuel vehicles, and autonomous vehicles. In terms of shared mobility, Iverson discussed car shares, bike shares, and on-demand services such as Uber. He discussed general decreases in vehicle miles travelled and 3 noted parking infrastructure needed for car shares is considerably lower than that for privately-owned vehicles. In terms of bike shares, Iverson discussed the City’s Bike Library and new automated bike fleet program which will open on April 1st. He discussed benefits of the programs including decrease in miles driven and increase in calories burned. Iverson briefly discussed services such as Uber. Iverson stated the trend toward electric vehicles has increased over the past three or four years. He detailed the benefits of electric vehicles in terms the environment and fuel costs. Additionally, Iverson discussed hybrid vehicles. Finally, Iverson discussed autonomous vehicles which range from cruise control type options to limited self-driving models to fully self-driving vehicles. Safety and insurance issues were also discussed as well as the idea of shared autonomous vehicles. Boardmember York asked about ride sharing or carpooling services. Iverson replied those types of services have been around but stated app-based services will aid in increasing their efficiency. Boardmember York recommended Iverson present for the Parking Board as well. Staff and Boardmembers had a brief discussion regarding technology driving mobility patterns. Boardmember Berklund suggested changes to the Transfort app. Wilder replied updates and changes are forthcoming. He noted texting for bus times and the website are currently much more user-friendly. (**Secretary’s Note: The Board took a brief recess at this point in the meeting.) • Traffic Operations Tour and Discussion - Olson Olson provided Boardmembers with a brochure outlining Traffic Operations’ duties. He briefly discussed the closed circuit television system, traffic controllers, and new central signal system. Additionally, he discussed the new flashing yellow arrow left turn signals throughout town and notifications provided by the system which would indicate stuck pedestrian crossing buttons among other issues. Olson went on to discuss the new travel time monitoring system which utilizes the signals of Bluetooth-enabled devices in personal vehicles. Olson provided assurance there is no way to identify specific vehicles utilizing this data. He detailed the ways in which the system can save travel time throughout the city. Sutton asked about vehicle volume increase in the past five years. Olson showed data involving traffic volume trends from 1991-2015 and discussed the trends in vehicle miles travelled, stating that number has again reached the same peak as in 2003 prior to gas prices going up. York asked how the modeling system discussed by Olson works for roundabout intersections. Olson replied the particular system discussed does not work well for roundabouts; however, there are other modeling tools for roundabouts. 4 Olson noted the traffic volumes and delays on Shields between Mulberry and Prospect have increased and hypothesized that change has something to do with changes on campus regarding parking or vehicular movement. Olson discussed the fact that delay exists on Mulberry, Drake and Horsetooth due to the fact that higher traffic volumes exist on north-south routes; therefore, the delays are pushed onto the east-west routes. He stated the City’s signal-timing philosophy involves minimizing delay, which is why it is difficult to drive east-west. Boardmembers and Olson discussed alternatives such as “Michigan lefts” and “diverging diamond intersections” as ways to eliminate arrows for left turns. Olson went on to discuss strategies for non-recurring congestion which involves trains, weather, construction, accidents and other randomly-timed events. 8. ACTION ITEMS • Election of Officers – Duvall/Sizemore Chair Duvall stated Jordan previously recommended Shenk for Chair and Berklund stated she would be willing to fill the Vice Chair position. York made a motion, seconded by Thomas, to nominate Shenk as Chair and Berklund as Vice Chair. Both Shenk and Berklund accepted the nominations and the motion was approved unanimously. 9. REPORTS • Boardmember Reports Thomas reported on the Governor’s Strategic Action Planning Group on Aging regarding senior issues. He stated he is on the committee for transportation and mobility issues. Sutton reported on taking the FLEX to Boulder and commended the experience. York reported on the announcement in City utility bills regarding the Prospect corridor improvements and reported on the new bicycle share program in the city. Additionally, he reported on the Parking Board meeting and asked if the Board could receive information and maps regarding upcoming construction projects. Sizemore replied in the affirmative. • Staff Report Sizemore stated the last Bicycle Advisory Committee meeting involved many of the same topics as the last Transportation Board meeting. He stated the Committee is working on its 2016 work plan which will be presented to the Board when completed. Additionally, the Board will receive a presentation on the upcoming budgeting for outcomes process. Sizemore also reported on the April 1st launch of the bike share program and stated the Board will receive information regarding summer street maintenance and construction projects at an upcoming meeting. 5 10. OTHER BUSINESS None. 11. ADJOURN The meeting adjourned at 8:43 p.m. by unanimous consent.