DRAFT MINUTES Special Planning Committee Meeting Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District 2nd Floor Board Room 1600 Franklin Street Oakland, California 94612 Wednesday, January 20, 2010 12:30 p.m. Planning Committee Members: Director H. E. Christian Peeples, Chair Director Joe Wallace Director Greg Harper
The meeting was called to order at 12:35 p.m. with Chairman Peeples presiding. Committee Members Present: Director Wallace, Director Harper and Director Peeples, Committee Chair. Committee Members Absent: None. Also Present: Interim General Manager Mary King, General Counsel Ken Scheidig, Deputy General Manager for Service Development Nancy Skowbo and District Secretary Linda Nemeroff. Public Comment Richard Neveln, West Oakland Community Advisory Group (WOCAG), commented on the March service reductions to senior centers in West Oakland and to the Oakland Army Base. He further requested that Director Harper attend the WOCAG meeting scheduled for January 28th from 6-8 p.m. at the West Oakland Senior Center. INFORMATION ITEM(S) (Consent Calendar) [Items listed under the Consent Calendar are considered to be routine and may be enacted by one motion/one vote. If discussion is desired, an item may be removed from the Consent Calendar and will be considered individually.] 1. Consider approving Planning Committee minutes of November 18, 2009. MOTION: HARPER/WALLACE to approve the minutes and forward to the Board of Directors recommending receipt (3).
BRIEFING/ACTION ITEM(S) 2. Consider receiving quarterly report on the Transbay Transit Center Project (GM Memo No. 10-014). Senior Transportation Planner Robert del Rosario presented the staff report. AC Transit District Planning Committee
January 20, 2010
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Discussion ensued concerning security at the site of the temporary terminal, the use of fare inspectors and whether inspectors should be provided by the District or the Transbay Joint Powers Authority, and what would be most advantageous for the District. There was also discussion of pending legislation which would enable AC Transit to issue civil citations that could be collected by the District. Chairman Peeples inquired about the shovel readiness of the Train Box with regard to the use of American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) funds for the project. Mr. del Rosario advised that the project was shovel ready despite comments to the contrary by the High Speed Rail Authority. Chairman Peeples inquired about the status of the bus ramp design. Mr. del Rosario advised that upon receipt of the updated drawings, a review would be conducted to determine if another simulation would be necessary. MOTION: WALLACE/HARPER to forward to the Board of Directors recommending receipt (3).
3. Consider receiving quarterly report on the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Project (GM Memo No. 10-013). Manager of Special Projects Jim Cunradi presented the staff report. Director Harper commented on the misunderstanding that the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) fund swap had put the project on hold. Mr. Cunradi advised of staff’s efforts to keep city officials and the public informed on the status of the project. Director Harper added that it would be helpful to place a message about the project’s status on the web. Interim General Manager Mary King advised that staff was looking for creative ways to save money on the project in order to keep it viable, which sends the message that the District is committed to the project. Deputy General Manager Nancy Skowbo commented that the final costs of the project were still unknown and that staff was looking for ways to creatively finance the project. Transportation Planner Robert del Rosario provided a report on the community meetings at the Fruitvale Senior Center and Eastside Arts Alliance. MOTION: WALLACE/HARPER to forward to the Board of Directors recommending receipt (3).
4. Consider receiving quarterly update on the development of the Line 51 Service and Operations Reliability Report (GM Memo No. 10-012). Service and Operations Planning Manager Cory LaVigne presented the staff report. AC Transit District Planning Committee
January 20, 2010
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Discussion ensued regarding the District’s authority to remove bus stops. General Counsel Ken Scheidig advised that bus stops were controlled by the public entity, noting that it was easier to remove a stop than to put one in. Deputy General Manager Nancy Skowbo advised that staff had also committed to having the bus stop removal process involve stakeholder groups. Director Harper inquired if it would make sense to mandate Translink (Clipper) use on a particular route. Staff advised that the Title VI implications of this would have to be researched at as part of the fare study. MOTION: WALLACE/HARPER to forward to the Board of Directors recommending receipt (3).
5. Consider receiving update on the Draft Final Report on the Line 1R Service and Reliability Study (Retained in Committee – 11/18/09) (GM Memo No. 09-249a). Service and Operations Planning Manager Cory LaVigne presented the staff report. Discussion ensued regarding the improvements in data collection, the current operation of the Line 1R versus the line when it coverts to a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Line, and increased SATCOM capability. Mr. LaVigne explained that some of the systemic issues identified in the report would only be corrected by BRT enhancements. Director Harper commented on the need for Transit Signal Priority (TSP) and to have a consistent line throughout the entire route and not just in those areas red running times. Chairman Peeples advised that he would review the document and provide his comments at a later date. MOTION: WALLACE/PEEPLES to forward to the Board of Directors recommending receipt (3).
6. Consider recommending adoption of Resolution No. 10-002 authorizing the Interim General Manager to negotiate and execute an agreement for AC Transit to operate the Oakland Broadway Shuttle (GM Memo No. 10-032). Service and Operations Planning Manager Cory LaVigne presented the staff report. Discussion ensued concerning the routing of the shuttle and the use of Grand Avenue as a turnaround. Mr. LaVigne reported on the possibility that the route may change on the evening and weekends as a result from requests by business owners which would incorporate Telegraph Avenue. Director Wallace commented in support for the shuttle noting that he would like to see something similar in his ward. AC Transit District Planning Committee
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MOTION: WALLACE/HARPER to forward to the Board of Directors recommending adoption as presented (3).
7. Consider recommending approval of the Draft Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) (Requested by Director Harper – 9/5/07) (GM Memo No. 10-024). Manager of Capital Development, Legislation and Grants Kate Miller presented the staff report. Director Harper inquired about the absence of Automatic Passenger Counters from the plan. Ms. Miller reported that while the District had enough APC’s to develop a statistically valid ridership sample, any new APC’s could be funded under the ITS and Communications category. Chairman Peeples commented on the need to develop a new strategic vision. MOTION: WALLACE/HARPER to forward to the Board of Directors recommending approval (3).
Agenda Planning There were no new items added to Agenda Planning. 1-3 Months (January - March) Report on the District’s policy concerning time connections between buses and what the capability and attitude is to recognize these connections (Requested by Director Harper – 7/29/09). To be included in the next report regarding Hastus. Report on the use of cameras on street sweepers in Oakland as a means of catching people parked in bus zones [Proposed by Councilmember Kaplan as a joint project with the City of Oakland] (Requested by Director Peeples – 11/18/09). Update to the Fleet Composition Plan (Requested by Director Davis – 11/12/2008) February Follow-up report regarding staff’s investigation of alternative Traffic Signal Priority (TSP) Systems (Requested by Director Harper – 9/30/09). March 3-6 Months (March - August) Amendments to Board Policy 550 – Service Standards and Design (Requested by the Board – 12/17/08). Report on planning efforts in Special District 2 (Requested by Director Davis – 12/6/08). Review Board Policy 163 specifically with respect to environmental issues (Board Policy 512) [Staff will draft a work plan to deal with policies and metrics] [Will be done over several meetings] (Requested by Director Peeples). Update on the status of the customer satisfaction survey (Requested by Director Peeples – 5/28/08) [Retained in committee on July 9, 2008 pending receipt of proposed survey. On 9/30/09 Vice President Peeples requested the report include staff’s analysis of surveys conducted in Europe (specifically surveys conducted in Helsinki Finland) to determine how we can do surveys cheaper, better and more often]. AC Transit District Planning Committee
January 20, 2010
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Report on General Purpose Demand Rapid Transit (Requested by Director Davis – 1/28/09). Report on the development of a policy to officially require regular ridership surveys every four or five years (Requested by Director Peeples – 6/24/09).
Parked Items Report on Oak to 9th Street project [Report to detail what commitments have been made by and to Signature Properties]. (Requested by Director Peeples – 3/25/06). Update on the use of freeway shoulders as bus lanes [Staff to monitor the San Diego study and identify potential areas for use locally] (Requested by Committee – 7/25/07). Report on the feasibly of the District to advocate on behalf of the cities for stimulus money to improve bus stops throughout the District [Note: small projects with minimum bonding] (Requested by Director Peeples – 6/24/09). Report on the implications of the RTPs Proposed Transit Performance Initiative and Transit Productivity Reports would be on AC Transit (Requested by Director Peeples – 1/28/09). Quarterly Reports (Nov, Feb, May, August)
Policy Review Schedule*
Bus Rapid Transit Line 51 Task Force Transbay Transit Center Project
Board Policy 163: Public Hearing Process for Board of Directors Board Policy 512: Environmental Evaluations of Transit Projects Board Policy 530: Private Enterprise Participation Board Policy 540: Service Adjustments Board Policy 550: Service Effectiveness Standards Board Policy 551: Title VI Service Review & Compliance Board Policy 560: Standards for Operations of Supplementary Service
Semi-Annual Reports Update on CARB
* Alignment of Policies with national standards expressed in the Transit Capacity and Quality of Service Manual
Board/Staff Comments (Government Code Section 54954.2) Adjournment There being no further business to come before the committee, the meeting was adjourned at 2:02 p.m. The next meeting of the Planning Committee is scheduled for Wednesday, February 24, 2010. Respectfully submitted, Linda A. Nemeroff District Secretary
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January 20, 2010
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