Report No: Meeting Date:
14-024 January 8, 2014
Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District
STAFF R E P·o R T TO:
Planning Committee AC Transit Board of Directors
FROM:
David J. Armijo, General Manager
SUBJECT:
Major Corridors Study
BRIEFING ITEM RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
Consider receiving report regarding the preparation of a Major Corridors Study EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The Major Corridors Study will prioritize the District's major corridors for capital investment and improvement and enable the District to compete for funding by ensuring that desired projects are included in the Alameda Countywide Transit Plan, Contra Costa Countywide Transportation Plan and the Regional Transportation Plan . Building on the recently completed Comprehensive Operations Analysis and relying on Board involvement and public participation, the study will provide the basis for the District's capital planning for the next ten years. The study will examine the District's major corridors and evaluate them using a number of criteria, including potential ridership gains, cost effectiveness, equity, ability to support Priority Development Areas and community support. The types of improvements that may be considered for these corridors include traffic signal modernization, rapid bus, bus rapid transit or other modes. The study is scheduled to be complete in Spring, 2015. Because the Major Corridors Study will be closely coordinated with other planning efforts, the process and goals will be mentioned in the 2014 update of the Short Range Transit Plan (SRTP). Its full set of recommendations will be included in 2017 SRTP update. The study will conduct corridor evaluations in cooperation with the Alameda County Transportation Commission (ACTC) and the West Contra Costa Transportation Advisory Committee (WCCTAC). The study will be conducted with enough technical detail to allow the District to meet new Federal Transit Administration (FTA) "alternatives analysis" requirements, allowing the District to be in compliance with federal regulations and to be eligible to receive federal funds. BUDGETARY/FISCALIMPACT:
Fund Source
Budget
Federal Transit Administration Section 5307 Funds
$355,200 (80%)
District
$88,800 (20%)
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Report No. 14-024 Page 2 of 6 The funds to conduct this study are included in the 2013-14 budget. To qualify for federal funds, the District is required to provide a 20 percent match. BACKGROUND/RATIONALE:
AC Transit's ridership is concentrated on a small number of corridors; the top 9 bus lines carry 50 percent of the District's total ridership. The Major Corridors Study will update the AC Transit Strategic Vision completed in 2001 for these leading corridors. The study will focus on the District's highest ridership bus lines and recommend investment strategies for each corridor. The Major Corridors Study will also update the Strategic Vision in the context of recent changes in District project implementation and regional planning goals. For example: 1. Integrate District projects already completed or underway such as the 72 Rapid, 1 Rapid, East Bay Bus Rapid Transit and the Line 51 project. 2. Give central consideration to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission's new urban infill strategies pursued through Plan Bay Area and through the creation of Priority Development Areas (PDAs) along transit corridors. 3. Consider service recommendations ofthe Comprehensive Operations Analysis. 4. Assess and consider city-sponsored projects on major corridors, like the Alameda BRT and Complete Streets projects along San Pablo Avenue and MacArthur Boulevard. The Major Corridors Study will identify District projects for inclusion in the county-wide transportation plans and the Regional Transportation Plan. Regional Cooperation and Coordination The corridor evaluations will be conducted in close cooperation with ACTC and the Contra Costa Transportation Authority through WCCTAC. This will allow the District to provide a comprehensive analysis of all major bus lines and propose improvement projects that have a reasonable chance of securing funding and being implemented. The study will meet new FTA "alternatives analysis" requirements to allow AC Transit to be in compliance with federal regulations and to be eligible to receive federal funds. The Federal alternatives analysis process has been eliminated as a formal step in the project development process. However, FTA still requires that enough technical information be provided so that comparisons can be made between alternatives and decisions justified. The Alameda County Transportation Commission (ACTC) is in the process of creating its first Countywide Transit Plan (CTP) to help create an integrated transit network that includes all transit operators in the county. ACTC staff is also considering modifying or eliminating the annual call for projects to encourage early incorporation of viable projects into the Countywide Transit Plan. The Major Corridors Study will identify projects that may be adopted into the transit plan and be recommended for funding. Failure to have projects in the adopted plan will make funding more difficult to secure. Fortunately, a number of the tasks of the Alameda CTP complement or substitute for work that would need to be conducted by the District. For example, ACTC will be collecting and analyzing
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Report No. 14-024 Page 3 of 6 arterial street traffic conditions and preparing transit ridership forecasts. District staff and consultants, by comparison, could complement this effort by developing service plans, defining alternatives for study and prepare operating and capital cost estimates. Work products from both agencies will then be incorporated into the Major Corridors Study and the CTP, reducing the District's costs, providing consistency and encouraging an efficient division of labor. To support the CTP, ACTC will also be developing a detailed public outreach and engagement plan. District staff and consultants would participate in meetings associated with the Countywide Transit Plan with the logistics performed by ACTC. District public outreach could then be allocated to conduct more focused outreach efforts to supplement the work by ACTC. Contra Costa County last updated their Countywide Comprehensive Transportation Plan (CTP) in 2009. To have projects included in future updates of the Contra Costa CTP, it will be necessary for the Major Corridors Study to identify projects and set priorities within the West County area and coordinate through WCCTAC. Near-Term and Long-Term Investments The Major Corridors Study will identify both near-term and long-term projects in order to have project plans ready for various funding opportunities. For example, because of the potential funds available through MTC's Transit Performance Initiative {TPI) to make near-term improvements based on the Urban Trunk Toolkit (e.g. signal priority, bus bulbs and bus stop relocations), the Major Corridors Study will identify corridors that can benefit from TPI-type projects as either a near-term strategy or as a final project. Each individual project identified through the study would require its own planning, community engagement, environmental and design process. Similarly, more complex long-term projects can also be identified. Study Timing The full study will be timed and coordinated with the Alameda Countywide Transit Plan and also timed to provide input into the next update of the Contra Costa Countywide Transportation Plan. Both the Alameda CTP and the Major Corridors Study will be completed by spring, 2015, with the concerns of both agencies reflected in both plans. In addition to technical coordination, the District will coordinate its outreach and engagement activities with those of the Countywide Plan. This will facilitate working with local jurisdictions and conducting the necessary outreach to inform the public and relevant stakeholders. Below is a draft study schedule:
Date
Winter 2014-15
Activities
• • • •
Coordinate tasks between Major Corridors Study and Alameda Countywide Transit Plan Determine data needs Enter to agreement with consulting firm Begin city coordination efforts
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Report No. 14-024 Page 4 of 6
Spring 2014
• •
Finalize consultant scope Board workshop
• •
Purpose and need Summarize COA service recommendations related to the major corridors Document existing transit conditions and service expansion parameters Identify and describe major bus corridors Identify other network enhancements Data collection Develop District's public participation plan Prepare outreach materials and participate in initial CTP public outreach
• • •
• • •
•
• • • •
Analyze traffic, ridership, operational and financial data Identify fatal flaws Describe near- and long-term improvements for each corridor Develop operating plans for each corridor for CTP ridership modeling Prepare operating cost estimates Prepare conceptual engineering plans Prepare capital cost estimates Evaluate alternatives for cost-effectiveness
Fall2014
• •
Complete comparison of alternatives Issue draft report
Winter 2014-15
•
Issue final report Report back to Board of Directors
•
Integrate findings into Alameda Countywide Transit Plan Provide project descriptions for the next update of Contra Costa Countywide Transportation Plan
Summer 2014
• • •
•
Spring 2015
•
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Report No. 14-024 Page 5 of 6 Setting Priorities & Developing Effective Partnerships Outreach to communities, cities and the two counties is crucial to preparing a comprehensive plan that reflects the needs of the District's service area as well as for building support for the proposed projects.
Accordingly, the Major Corridors Study will involve extensive outreach
including District participation in ACTC-sponsored meetings and independent District-sponsored public meetings.
The purpose of the outreach is to help create effective partnerships with
cities to set priorities for projects.
A strong District-city partnership would have the following
hallmarks: •
A willingness of both parties to enter into early cooperative agreements to implement corridor improvements;
•
Agreement to a fair division of operating and maintenance costs; and
•
Strong joint project advocacy
Once the District sets priorities for corridor investments within the context of the CTP and develops partnerships with the local jurisdictions, the District will have the guidance necessary to determine the next set of corridors for investment, including concurrence on potential major investments. As an example, the Major Corridors Study could prioritize MacArthur Boulevard as the next corridor for investment or it could give priority to another corridor, depending on a number of factors including: the willingness of jurisdictions to pursue a project, the amount of project benefit and the technical feasibility to deliver a project. ADVANTAGES/DISADVANTAGES:
Preparing the Major Corridors Study now better positions the District to compete for funding for larger projects and to create a District plan consistent with the Alameda Countywide Transit Plan. In addition, the study will position the District for future calls for projects in the Contra Costa County Comprehensive Transportation Plan and other funding sources. In addition to cost and effort, there is one challenge associated with the development of the Major Corridors Study. To meet its own schedule and budget constraints, the District will require a high degree of cooperation and work coordination with ACTC. Coordinating work and resolving conflicting needs will be an ongoing effort for the study to succeed.
ALTERNATIVES ANALYSIS:
Staff is proposing to prepare the Major Corridors Study using a combination District procured consultant services, District staff time and by incorporating work products prepared as part of the Alameda Countywide Transit Plan, conducted by ACTC. Staff considered two alternatives to the proposed approach.
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Report No. 14-024 Page 6 of 6 The first alternative approach would be to rely exclusively on work products from the Alameda Countywide Transit Plan supplemented with District staff time. This approach would still permit the District to incorporate new projects into the CTP from its initiation and take advantage of the extensive public outreach to be undertaken as part of the Countywide Plan. However, reliance exclusively on the CTP would reduce the District's independence in evaluating and selecting long-range improvements. In addition, many of the detailed tasks such as the alternatives analysis and cost estimates are not included in the CTP consultant scope of work. These tasks will need to be completed to ensure that any projects selected by the District are ready for the project development phase (e.g. environmental and preliminary engineering). Finally, there will be a need to conduct additional public outreach and engagement beyond the level proposed for the CTP. A second alternative would be to rely solely on District procured consultant services and District staff and remain more independent of the CTP effort. This would provide the greatest control over work product. However, the approach would cost more because all work tasks would need to be paid for by the District. In addition, tasks that are more effectively done by ACTC's consultants (e.g. collecting data from local jurisdictions, outreach for the Countywide Plan, ridership forecasts), would need to be performed by a combination ofthe District's consultants and District staff. PRIOR RELEVANT BOARD ACTIONS/POLICIES: SR 13-270: Reprogramming of Capital Grant Funds ATTACHMENTS: No attachments.
Department Head Approval: Reviewed by: Prepared by:
Dennis Butler, Director of Planning and Development lewis Clinton, Chief Financial Officer Robert del Rosario, Director of Service Development Jim Cunradi, Transportation Planning Manager
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