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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - Mail Packet - 10/14/2025 - Futures Committee Agenda – October 13, 2025 Council Futures Committee Agenda – City of Fort Collins Page 1 of 1 October 13, 2025 AGENDA Futures Committee REMOTE VIA TEAMS, 4:30-6:00PM, Monday, October 13, 2025 Please click the link below to join the meeting: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/join-a-meeting Meeting ID: 284 475 535 410 7 Passcode: Ag6ds3bH For Technical Assistance please call: 970-221-6505 CALL MEETING TO ORDER 4:30pm- 4:35pm Facilitated by Melanie Potyondy ROLL CALL, APPROVAL OF AUGUST 11, 2025 MINUTES 4:35- 4:45pm Facilitated by Caryn Champine Click or tap here to enter text. DISCUSSION ITEM: THE FUTURE OF AI 4:45-5:45pm Facilitated by Melanie Potyondy Kevin Wilkins will invite Council on a people-first journey into what AI could mean for Fort Collins. Imagine simpler services, safer streets, smarter utilities, clearer housing conversations, and recreation that meets people where they are, leveraging existing, and emerging capabilities that will enrich the lives of all members of our community as well as how our City delivers services. He will bring stories, not jargon, with a steady focus on equity, inclusion, accessibility, and trust so every neighborhood benefits. He will also name the hard edges like privacy, bias, and over-automation, and show how we keep people in charge as we learn together, then guide a roundtable on possibilities and priorities. ADDITIONAL COMMITTEE UPDATES 5:45- 6:00pm Facilitated by Caryn Champine COMMITTEE MEMBERS Councilmember Julie Pignataro Councilmember Melanie Potyondy Councilmember Tricia Canonico Councilmember Susan Gutowsky, Alternate Staff Liaison: Caryn Champine, Director Planning, Development and Transportation Staff Support: Melina Dempsey, FCMoves 1 CITY OF FORT COLLINS FUTURES COMMITTEE MEETING Date: August 11, 2025 Location: Zoom Time: 4:30pm-6:00pm Committee Members present: Councilmember Melanie Potyondy Councilmember Julie Pignataro Councilmember Tricia Canonico Additional Council members present: City Staff: Caryn Champine Additional Staff present: Rupa Venkatesh, Assistant City Manager Carrie Daggett, City Attorney Teresa Roche, Human Resources Director Drew Brooks Meeting called to order at 4:31 pm Approval of Minutes: Councilmember Pignataro moved to approve the June 9, 2025 minutes. Councilmember Canonico seconded. Motion passed 3-0. Chairperson Comments: None 2 Ready for a Wild Ride?, Jason Miller, Principal, Shareholder, and National Transit Practice Leader with Fehr & Peers Topic Overview: Jump on the bus, and let’s talk about the future of public transportation! Throughout the nation, public transportation faces significant challenges to funding, cost structures, staffing, ridership, and public perception. However, communities nationally and internationally are implementing solutions now, while exploring long-term ideas to transform how we move people more effectively, efficiently, and sustainably. Near-term Horizon: Happening Now • Transit Ridership Recovery: nationally about 76%, communities under 500,000 about 83%, Transfort about low- to mid- 70% o Examination of other communities performing better showed increased frequencies of at least every 30 minutes for most routes, alignment changes to routes to work best for those who ride the most, parking policies implemented to provide a disincentive to driving and incentive for transit, free or affordable fares, and focusing on corridors that yield the highest ridership • Transit Funding: stable but challenging o No significant broad cuts to transit funding, though that will be a concern for years to come o Highway Trust Fund gas tax has been insolvent since 2008 and needs to be rethought o General fund and sales tax make up the largest portion of funding o Marriage rates and birth rates are going to come into play when it comes to capital projects, making Colorado less competitive o Ongoing federal operating dollars seem to be relatively stable, though the transportation funding bill will be renegotiated next year o State and local funding will need to continue to increase as federal funding is likely to decrease o Costs of doing business as a transit operator have increased approximately 50% across the board in the last five years o Innovations within funding are limited and dependent on taxation mechanisms at the state and local levels primarily • Big Data: aggregating large amounts of data using technology or AI to understand and analyze the data o Cell phone data o Connected vehicle data • On-demand Transit/Microtransit o Can be a tool to serve a coverage area that may have difficult to define routes o Operates dynamically point to point within a zone o Most trip requests are made through an app, though there is a phone option o More expensive per passenger than fixed route service o Well liked by passengers, and as popularity increases, more vehicles need to be added Mid-term Horizon: Possible in the coming 5-20 years • Seamless Integration, Mobility Hubs 3 o All modes are seamlessly integrated o Integrating a sense of place in the mobility hubs with good wayfinding, incorporating other public assets such as parks, leveraging nearby private investments such as food and beverage o Bring as many private and public modes into one space as possible o High level of maintenance and operational consistency • Front Range Passenger Rail o Start of service planned by 2029 o 3 round trips per day between Fort Collins and Denver o Limited impact for Fort Collins • Policies o Parking policies o Effective policies put a high cost on driving o Pricing parking higher typically increases transit ridership by 10-30% Long-term Horizon: Possible in the coming 20-30 years • Autonomous Taxis o Currently operating in some states in trial phases o Primarily targeted toward the upper fiscal end of the market leading to equity issues • Autonomous Shuttles o Shared with others o Personal safety considerations o Limited to campus shuttles at this point o Challenged to operate in any environment with snow • Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) o Drone technology o Passenger vertical take-off and landing for regional trips between 15 and 150 miles is being designed now, limited to about 4 passengers Council Questions Councilmember Pignataro commended the presentation and commented on a presentation provided to the Committee six years ago related to the future of mobility being a personal pod system. Miller stated they operate on above-ground electromagnetic rails. He noted that is one of the modes that have less traction at this point. He commented on gondolas noting there typically is a great deal of opposition due to impacts on viewsheds. Councilmember Pignataro commented on the trolley system in Tampa, Florida and asked what characteristics Miller envisions for the future of Fort Collins. Miller replied the national trend is away from trolley and rail and toward bus rapid transit, which Fort Collins has already started. He stated the bus rapid transit fits well in the community and noted it is a fraction of the cost of any rail project. Councilmember Canonico commented on the Minneapolis to Chicago rail route that opened last summer and exceeded ridership projections immediately. She noted that train is slower than the Front Range rail is planned to be. Miller noted there is momentum for some regional corridor rail service and stated public 4 adoption of rail is higher than bus. He stated the challenge is getting the rail service to a level that has enough service to meet the full demand. Councilmember Canonico asked if there is a minimum city size for congestion pricing to be effective. Miller replied it is being considered by some of the largest cities in the world, which can be more forceful with it because there is so much dynamic economic activity that happens in those communities. He stated congestion pricing can serve as a model for sustainable transportation funding. Councilmember Potyondy stated a resident mentioned to her the possibility of having SPIN bikes and scooters be funded through utility bills rather than paid per ride and asked Miller if he knows of any communities that do that. Miller replied he could not think of any communities doing that now, particularly with the shift to private sector rental companies. Councilmember Canonico commented on a new RTD bike share program funded by RTD to help with first and last mile service. Miller noted there is a precedent for that with Uber and Lyft partnerships. Councilmember Potyondy commented on the fact that America seems to have the need for door-to-door service and noted other countries have more shuttle-based services. Miller stated it is generally easy and quick to get around by car in the United States. Additionally, the investment in transit is lower; therefore, the frequency tends to be lower. He also noted that those services in Central and South America are commonly privatized and there are additional operational and safety regulations and requirements in the United States. Dempsey noted funding was received through the 2050 climate tax to pursue a mobility hubs plan, which was one of the recommendations in the Transit Master Plan. Other Business None. Councilmember Potyondy adjourned the meeting at 5:50 pm.