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THANK YOU FOR JOINING US THIS MORNING FOR THE AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING.
I WILL CALL THIS MEETING TO ORDER TODAY'S WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16TH, AND THE TIME IS 10:41 AM.
AS A REMINDER, THE AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP PROVIDES BOTH AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE AND OTHER INTERPRETER SERVICES.
PLEASE GIVE US 24 HOUR NOTICE SO WE CAN MAKE ACCOMMODATIONS THROUGH OUR BOARD LIAISON, CHLOE MAXWELL AND HER INFORMATION IS IN EACH AGENDA POSTING.
[1. Official Seating of New Board Member]
GONNA START TODAY WITH A VERY DELIGHTFUL, UM, WELCOME OF OUR NEW BOARD MEMBER, MR. JUAN GARZA, AND ACKNOWLEDGING ALL OF THE WORK THAT OUR PARTNERS AT THE CITY OF AUSTIN HAVE DONE, ALONG WITH OUR PARTNERS AT CAPITAL METRO IN SELECTING OUR NEW BOARD MEMBER.SO, MR. JUAN GARZA, ON BEHALF OF THE ATP BOARD, I WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE ALL OF THE TIME COMMITMENT FOR THIS APPOINTMENT PROCESS, FOR YOUR APPLICATION, FOR YOUR INTEREST, FOR WANTING TO JOIN US IN THIS EFFORT.
AND I WANT TO GIVE A SPECIAL THANKS TO MAYOR PROTE, ALLISON AL, COUNCIL MEMBER PAIGE ELLIS, CAPITAL METRO BOARD MEMBER WADE COOPER, AND BOARD MEMBER ERIC STRATTON.
AND I ALSO WANT TO THANK THE STAFF FROM THE JOINT PARTNERSHIP WHO WORKED TOGETHER ON THE OVERALL APPLICATION AND APPOINTMENT PROCESS.
I KNOW THIS WAS A LONG PROCESS, BUT, UM, WE'RE HONORED TO HAVE YOU JOIN.
BARNETT'S POSITION, WHICH I'M SURE SHE'LL BE DELIGHTED TO MEET YOU IF YOU HAVE NOT MET HER BEFORE.
BUT, UM, WE'RE DEEPLY THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE.
WE WANT TO WELCOME YOU TO THIS BOARD.
AND ALSO, UM, ALL OF THE NUMERAL ROLES THAT YOU HAVE DONE OVER YOUR CAREER IS REALLY IMPRESSIVE.
SO WE ARE REALLY GRATEFUL TO HAVE YOUR WISDOM AND YOUR ENERGY WITH US TO DELIVER THIS IMPORTANT PROGRAM.
UM, SO WITH THAT, I'D LIKE TO GIVE YOU AN OPPORTUNITY FOR ANY WORDS, AND I DIDN'T PREPARE ANYTHING.
IT'S OKAY,
UM, SO ANYHOW, UH, I'M DELIGHTED TO BE HERE.
THIS IS AN HONOR, UH, TO BE, UH, NAMED TO THIS BOARD.
UH, IT'LL BE A WONDERFUL LEARNING EXPERIENCE TO ME.
AT MY AGE, I BE LEARNING NEW THINGS.
UH, I, UH, LOOK, LOOK FORWARD TO IT.
I, UM, UM, WANNA BE INVOLVED IN, IN CREATING AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE PEOPLE FEEL SAFE AT EXPRESSING THEIR OPINION.
UM, AND SO I WANT TO TELL ALL THE STAFF, UM, DON'T SPARE MY FEELINGS.
DEFEND YOUR POSITION STRONGLY.
UM, AND, UH, LET'S GET THEM GOOD WORK DONE.
AND WELCOME TO THE BOARD BOARD.
SO, SO, RIGHT WHEN WE RECESS FOR LUNCH, WE'RE GONNA TAKE AN OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE A GROUP PHOTO WITH THE, WITH ALL OF THE BOARD TOGETHER.
SO WE WILL BE DOING THAT THEN, UM,
SO WITH THE, OUR FIRST ITEM TODAY IS
[2.1. Briefing on Status of Updated Light Rail Implementation Plan]
A BRIEF, UH, THE BRIEFING AND DISCUSSION OF THE UPDATED LIGHT RAIL IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.MR. CANALI HAS INVITED US VARIOUS GUESTS TO JOIN, SO WE'LL LET HIM KICK OFF THE DISCUSSION AND INTRODUCE OUR PRESENTERS HERE TODAY.
UM, THANK YOU, UH, BOARD CHAIR.
UM, APPRECIATE EVERYONE FOR BEING US TODAY.
WELCOME, UM, MR. GARZA TO OUR BOARD.
WE'RE LUCKY TO HAVE YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH US, UH, ON OUR PATHWAY.
UM, I JUST WANT TO KIND OF ROOT US WHERE WE ARE TODAY AND, AND GO, GO BACK A FEW MONTHS TO WHERE WE WERE IN JULY WHEN WE SAT HERE IN A SIMILAR SETTING, UM, TO HAVE A KIND OF A DEEP CONVERSATION ABOUT WHERE THE STATUS OF PROJECT CONNECT WAS IN GENERAL, BUT SPECIFICALLY ON LIGHT RAIL.
UM, AS YOU KNOW, UM, WE TRANSPARENTLY ADDRESSED THE ISSUE WHERE WE WERE ON THE COST OF LIGHT RAIL.
AND WHAT WE DID IN JULY WAS LAY OUT A VERY PURPOSEFUL AND METHODICAL PROCESS TO, UM, DEVELOP A NEW IMPLEMENTATION PLAN AND UPDATED IMPLEMENTATION PLAN THAT WILL BE BASED ON PHASING.
UM, AND WE WERE VERY THOUGHTFUL, UH, AND INTENTFUL ABOUT BEING TRANSPARENT ABOUT THE WORK WE'RE DOING AND HOW WE'RE DOING IT.
UM, AND ALSO THAT IT WAS MULTIDIMENSIONAL.
UM, IT WASN'T JUST THE ENGINEERING WORK, NOT JUST THE FINANCE WORK, BUT A LOT OF PLANNING WORK.
UM, AND WE WANT TO FOCUS THIS MORNING ON, ON SEVERAL OF THOSE EFFORTS AND KIND OF IN A DEEPER WAY AND DO WHAT WE'VE BEEN DOING, IS HAVING A CONVERSATION WITH THE BOARD AND WITH THE COMMUNITY ABOUT WHERE WE STAND AS WE CONTINUE TO PROGRESS THIS WORK.
UM, THIS IS PART OF A DAY WHERE WE HAVE A LOT GOING ON.
WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT WHERE WE ARE, SHOW YOU SOME
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OF THE WORK.AND ALSO AT THE END OF THE DAY, WE'RE ALSO HAVING SOME ACTION ITEMS IN FRONT OF YOU THAT ARE GONNA BE ADVANCING THE WORK AS WELL, SO THAT THIS IS NOT ONLY GETTING THROUGH THIS WORK, BUT ABOUT BEING READY, UM, TO CONTINUE TO IMPLEMENT, UH, THE LIGHT RAIL AND OVERALL PROJECT CONNECT.
SO THIS MORNING WE'RE GONNA START WITH CHLOE AND MAKE SURE WE HAVE THE RIGHT ITEM UP.
WE'RE GONNA START WITH THE MARKET SOUNDING UPDATE.
UM, UH, TOM RUCKUS WITH EY INFRASTRUCTURE IS HERE TO TALK US THROUGH, UM, REALLY THIS, A REALLY IMPORTANT ELEMENT OF, OF OUR WORK PLAN.
UM, WE'VE TALKED ABOUT IT A LITTLE BIT, BUT WE WANT TO, WE THINK IT WAS A GOOD OPPORTUNITY RIGHT NOW TO GO A LITTLE DEEPER ON WHERE WE ARE.
UM, JUST FOR THE BOARD, JUST AS A REMINDER, UM, EY WAS BROUGHT IN AS OUR INFRASTRUCTURE ADVISOR TO DO THIS EXACT THING.
AND IN ADDITION TO HELP US KIND OF UNDERSTAND OUR FINANCING, UM, WITH, UH, WITH PUBLIC FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, BUT ALSO TO HELP US, UM, INTERSECT AND INTERACT WITH THE MARKET, CUZ WE KNOW IT'S SO IMPORTANT.
IT WAS REALLY PART OF THEIR SCOPE.
SO TOM'S JOINING US, BUT I WANNA RECOGNIZE HIS FULL TEAM, NICOLE AND TRISHA AND STEVE AND RICH AND, UH, AND EVERYONE THAT'S BEEN HELPING TO GET US TO THIS POINT.
UM, AND WE'RE JUST HELP HELPFUL FOR A GOOD DIALOGUE THIS MORNING ON THIS, UH, A LITTLE BIT OF LEARNING, BUT A LITTLE BIT OF ADVANCING WHERE WE ARE AS WELL.
UM, AND WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE, UH, TALKING ABOUT OUR PROGRAM THIS MORNING.
THE QUESTION IS, QUESTION IS, DOES, DOES THIS WORK THAT CAN ACTUALLY ADVANCE THIS MYSELF? IT SHOULD.
UM, CHIEF ARCHITECTS SOLVE OUR CLICKER PROBLEM.
UH, GOOD MORNING BOARD AND, UM, AND THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO PRESENT TODAY.
SO, UM, WHY ARE WE TALKING ABOUT, UM, MARKET SOUNDING AND WHY IS ATP PERFORMING MARKET SOUNDINGS? AND I THINK THERE ARE FOUR MAIN POINTS I THINK, THAT ARE IMPORTANT TO, UH, TAKE INTO ACCOUNT.
ONE, ATP ULTIMATELY WANTS TO ATTRACT THE BEST CONTRACTORS TO THE PROJECT.
SECONDLY, THROUGH ENGAGING IN MARKET SOUNDING PROCESS, YOU WANNA LEVERAGE THEIR EXPERIENCE AND EXPERTISE OF, OF THESE VARIOUS CONTRACTORS, PEOPLE INVOLVED IN THE MARKET AND THE TRANSIT INDUSTRY, AND THOSE THAT HAVE SEEN PROJECTS GO WELL OR NOT WELL, BOTH NATIONALLY AS WELL AS GLOBALLY.
BECAUSE THOSE LESSONS LEARNED HOPEFULLY, WILL INFORM HOW ATP SHOULD ULTIMATELY PROCURE THAT PROJECT.
AND NOT ONLY WHAT METHODS THEY SHOULD USE TO PROCURE THAT PROJECT, BUT WHAT ARE THE STEPS THAT ATP NEEDS TO DO TO PREPARE FOR THAT EVENTUAL PROCUREMENT AROUND THE PROJECT.
SO THIS IS A, THIS IS A PROCESS THAT IS PART OF THE OVERALL EFFORTS GOING ON AND GOING ON IN, IN, UM, IN COORDINATION AND IN PARALLEL TRACKS WITH ALL THE OTHER EFFORTS AS WE LOOK TO REFINE THE OVERALL PROJECT AND PROJECT APPROACH HERE.
AND THE MARKET SOUNDING IS A VERY IMPORTANT ONE.
THERE WAS, AS YOU RECALL, EARLIER IN THIS YEAR, A INDUSTRY DAY, UM, THAT SORT OF KICKED OFF IN A LOT OF REGARDS, UH, MARKET MARKET ENGAGEMENT, UM, THE PAST MONTH OR SO, UM, ATP AND, AND WE'LL FOCUS ON THAT IN THIS PARTICULAR, UH, PRESENTATION AND RECENT APTA ANNUAL MEETING HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO MEET WITH, I WANT TO SAY GREG, WHAT MAYBE WE HAD 10, 10 PLUS CONTRACTORS OR, UH, PEOPLE IN THE INDUSTRY AND GET AN UNDERSTANDING FROM THEM AS TO WHAT THEY'RE SEEING.
WE'LL GO THROUGH SOME OF THE RESULTS OF THAT TODAY.
BUT THERE'S ALSO AN ONGOING DIALOGUE WITH CONTRACTORS, INFORMAL AND FORMAL THAT I THINK ATP HOPES IS NOT JUST HAPPENING NOW, BUT WILL CONTINUE TO HAPPEN THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS IN ORDER, UH, FOR ATP TO HAVE ITS EAR TO THE GROUND AND UNDERSTAND WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE MARKET AND ULTIMATELY SET ITSELF ITSELF UP FOR SUCCESS.
AND TO HAVE A PROJECT THAT IS A, A SMOOTH PROCUREMENT THAT ATTRACTS THE BEST, UH, CONTRACTORS, BUT ONE THAT MINIMIZES THE RISK OF CLAIM DOWN THE LINE AND NOT, YOU KNOW, AND, AND, AND ULTIMATELY GETS EXECUTED AS SMOOTHLY AS POSSIBLE.
SO THIS WILL BE A CONTINUING DIALOGUE, BUT WE THOUGHT ATP FELT LIKE THIS WAS A GOOD TIME TO REPORT OUT AS TO SOME OF THE FINDINGS THAT WE, THAT, UH, THAT WE'VE LEARNED TO DATE.
SO WHO ARE THE TYPES OF PARTICIPANTS? UM, YOU KNOW, IN GENERAL, WE LOOKED AT DESIGN AND ENGINEERING FIRMS, CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTORS, AS WELL AS SYSTEMS AND VEHICLE PROVIDERS, ALL BEING THE VARIOUS TYPES OF FOLKS IN THE INDUSTRY, THE MARKET PARTICIPANTS IN THE INDUSTRY THAT ARE INVOLVED AROUND ALL THESE VARIOUS PROJECTS AND HAVE THEIR OWN UNIQUE PERSPECTIVES.
THE TYPES OF DISCUSSIONS THAT WE HAD WITH, UM, THAT WE HAD WITH, UH, INDUSTRY WERE AROUND LESSONS LEARNED FROM OTHER TRANSIT PROJECTS, KEY RISKS THAT ARE ENCOUNTERED ON TRANSIT PROJECTS AND THEIR APPROACHES TO MITIGATE THOSE RISKS.
UM, THEIR PERSPECTIVES AND CONSIDERATIONS FOR USE OF VARIOUS CONTRACTING STRATEGIES.
WE'LL TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT WHAT THAT MEANS,
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UM, AND AS WELL AS SUCCESSFUL ORGANIZATIONAL MODELS FOR COMPLEX PROJECT DELIVERIES.BUT NOT ONLY DOES IT WHAT WORKS FOR THEM, BUT WHAT DO THEY SEE THAT WORKS FOR AGENCIES THAT SUCCESSFULLY DELIVER PROJECTS.
WELL, WE THOUGHT IT WOULD BE HELPFUL TODAY TO ALSO JUST TALK THROUGH WHEN WE TALK ABOUT CONTRACTING STRATEGIES, WHAT WE MEAN, AND I'LL HAVE TO SAY THERE'S A COMPLETE ALPHABET SOUP OF VARIOUS CONTRACTING APPROACHES.
UM, AND SO WE'RE NOT GONNA GO INTO DEPTH AROUND THAT TODAY, BUT WE, WHAT WE DO WANT TO DO IS JUST GIVE YOU A LITTLE BIT OF A PRIMER AROUND SOME OF THESE CONCEPTS.
AND, AND AS ATP DEVELOPS ITS PROGRAM OR FINDS ITS PROGRAM OVER TIME, MORE OF THOSE CONCEPTS AND MAYBE MORE REFINED VERSIONS OF THESE CONCEPTS WILL, WILL BE PRESENTED OVER TIME.
BUT, YOU KNOW, THERE, THERE'S A SPECTRUM OF CONTRACTING APPROACHES FOR THESE LARGE INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS.
EVERYTHING FROM THE FAR LEFT SIDE HERE, DESIGN, BID, BUILD, UM, TO, UM, TO AT LEAST ON THIS, UM, ON, ON THIS, UH, SPECTRUM DESIGN BUILD, UH, DESIGN, BID BUILD IS THE CONCEPT BEING THAT AN OWNER, WHEN WE SAY OWNER, WE MEAN REALLY THE AGENCY, UM, DESIGN'S A PROJECT TO A HUNDRED PERCENT.
IT THEN ISSUES, CONTRACTS, UH, FOR CONTRACTORS DELIVER UNDER THOSE PARTICULAR DESIGNS.
VERY TRADITIONAL METHODS BEEN USED, YOU KNOW, DEPENDING ON THE TYPES OF PROJECTS FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS.
THE TYPES OF ISSUES THAT DESIGN, BUILD, DESIGN BUILD BRINGS TO THE TABLE, HOWEVER, IS THAT BY OWNING THE DESIGN, THE AGENCY IS ALSO TAKING THE RISKS IF THAT DESIGN ISN'T ACTUALLY IMPLEMENTABLE, RIGHT? SO IT INTRODUCES, UM, IT INTRODUCES, UM, UH, UH, THE, THE, THE RISK OF CLAIMS DOWN THE ROAD.
IF YOU LOOK AT DESIGN BUILD AS BEING ANOTHER, UH, PART OF THE SPECTRUM FOR, FOR, FOR INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS AND THE UPFRONT DELIVERY OF INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS, THAT'S A SITUATION WHERE THE CONTRACTOR, THE DESIGN BUILDER IN THIS CASE IS ACTUALLY FINISHING THE DESIGN OF THE PROJECT AND HENCE OWNS THE DESIGN OF THE PROJECT.
UM, AND SO IT IS A, IT IS AN APPROACH THAT IS MEANT TO MITIGATE AGAINST SOME OF THAT, UM, RISK THAT THE DESIGN IS NOT IMPLEMENTABLE.
UM, AS A RESULT, THAT'S A SITUATION WHERE THE OWNER, THE, THE AGENCY WILL NEED TO MAYBE BE A LITTLE MORE HANDS OFF ON THE FINAL DESIGN OF A PROJECT AND PROVIDE THE, THE, THE CONTRACTORS WITH THE ABILITY TO REFINE THAT DESIGN AND DESIGN SOMETHING THAT, THAT ULTIMATELY THEY CAN DELIVER, UM, AT A PRICE THAT THAT WORKS FROM A PROCUREMENT STANDPOINT.
NOW, THERE'S A WHOLE SPECTRUM OF, WELL, I WOULD CALL EARLY CONTRACTOR INVOLVEMENT SITUATIONS, UM, UM, AND APPROACHES THAT'S ALSO USED IN THIS MARKET.
AND WHAT WE HAVE IN THE MIDDLE HERE IS CONSTRUCTION MANAGER, GENERAL CONTRACTOR.
AND THIS IS THE IDEA THAT INSTEAD OF, YOU KNOW, HANDING OFF AN AWARDING, UH, A DESIGN, UM, AWARDING A CONTRACTOR DESIGN BUILDER TO FINISH THAT DESIGN AND DELIVER THE PROJECT, CAN YOU BRING A, A CONTRACTOR ON BOARD EARLY OR IN ORDER TO INFORM THE DESIGN, MAKE SURE IT IS, UH, ENSURE THAT IS CONSTRUCTABLE AT THE END OF THE DAY, UM, AND THEN BE ABLE TO PUT A PRICE ON THAT CONTRACT.
AND SO, AND, AND WHAT THAT'S MEANT TO DO IS TO REDUCE THE RISK THEN TO THE CONTRACTOR THAT THERE'S NOT SOMETHING NOT UNFORESEEN THAT THEY COULDN'T HANDLE, UM, UNDER DESIGN, BUILD CONTRACT, UH, AND THEN, AND THEN, YOU KNOW, END UP IN A POTENTIAL CLAIM SITUATION OR A LOSS SITUATION.
SO THESE ARE ALL WITHIN A SPECTRUM OF CONTRACTING APPROACHES.
HOW MUCH RISK DOES THE AGENCY HOLD ONTO? HOW MUCH IS IT ABLE TO SHIFT OFF TO CONTRACTORS? AND ARE THERE WAYS FOR CONTRACTORS AND AGENCIES TO WORK TOGETHER, UM, IN ORDER TO, UM, IN ORDER TO ADDRESS RISK EARLY AND AVOID THE RISKS OF CLAIMS DOWN THE LINE.
THE OTHER, YEAH, SLOW GO BACK.
SO, SO I UNDERSTAND THE CONTINUUM THAT COMMUNICATE.
SO I UNDERSTAND THE CONTINUUM AND, AND THAT COMMUNICATION IS NECESSARY AT EVERY LEVEL, WHETHER IT IS ORGANIC OR FORCED.
BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, UM, HOW DO WE MAKE SURE THAT THERE IS ENOUGH OF AN ALIGNMENT SO THAT THOSE WHO ARE DES UH, DESIGNING UNDERSTAND, ABSOLUTELY UNDERSTAND THE NEEDS OF THOSE WHO WILL BE OPERATING WHAT THEY DESIGN, RIGHT? AND WHAT GIVES YOU THE, WHAT, WHAT GIVES YOU THE GREATEST CAPACITY TO ACHIEVE THAT? I MEAN, BASED
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ON, I MEAN, MAYBE ALL OF THEM WILL, BUT MAYBE ONE DOES BETTER CONSISTENTLY THAN THE OTHER.HOW DO WE KNOW THAT IN A TRANSIT CITY, THAT'S, THAT'S SPOT ON.
AND YOU BRING IN THE OPERATOR, RIGHT? YOU KNOW, SO THE CONTRACTOR EXACTLY.
WHATEVER'S BEING CONTRACTED, THE ONE, THE CONTRACTOR HAS TO UNDERSTAND WHAT'S BEING DESIGNED.
THE DESIGNER HAS TO UNDERSTAND WHAT'S CONSTRUCTABLE, AND ULTIMATELY THE OPERATOR NEEDS TO, UH, BE AN INTEGRAL PART OF THAT BECAUSE THE SYSTEM NEEDS TO COME TOGETHER, WHICH ACTUALLY IS A GOOD LEAD INTO THE NEXT SECTION, WHICH IS THE OTHER AREA OF CONVERSATIONS WITH INDUSTRIES AROUND BUNDLING.
THERE ARE VARIOUS ELEMENTS TO A TRANSIT SYSTEM FROM YOUR CIVIL WORKS, TO THE RAIL, TO THE STATIONS, VEHICLES, SYSTEMS. THESE, YOU COULD THINK ABOUT THESE AS INDIVIDUAL, AND YOU COULD THINK ABOUT THEM AS AS, AS POTENTIALLY BUNDLING SOME OF THESE INTO SINGLE CONTRACTS WHERE CONTRACTORS HAVE THE ABILITY AND THE EXPERTISE TO BE ABLE TO PULL IT ALL TOGETHER AND TO BE ABLE TO GUARANTEE A PRICE AROUND ALL THESE VARIOUS ELEMENTS.
AND IT, THE CONCEPT OF BUNDLING IS VERY IMPORTANT IN PARTICULAR AROUND, WHEN YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT OPERATIONS AND YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT HAVING A SYSTEM THAT ACTUALLY COMES TOGETHER AND WORKS.
AT THE END OF THE DAY, TRANSIT SYSTEMS ARE FAIRLY COMPLEX FROM AN INFRASTRUCTURE PERSPECTIVE, AND YOU COULD HAVE ALL THE RAIL IN THE GROUND AND POWER SYSTEMS THERE.
AT THE END OF THE DAY, IF IT DOESN'T WORK,
SO THAT'S ANOTHER AREA THAT WE'VE HAD SOUNDINGS WITH THE, WITH THE MARKET AROUND HOW MUCH ARE THEY WILLING TO BUNDLE THESE VARIOUS ELEMENTS.
UM, AND, AND, AND, AND SOME OF THE PROS AND CONS AROUND DOING THAT.
SO THERE WAS SOME FAIRLY, YOU KNOW, CONSISTENT THEMES.
WE'RE GONNA TALK A LITTLE BIT AROUND WHAT SOME OF THE HIGH LEVEL LEARNINGS WERE FROM THIS EXERCISE.
AND THERE WERE SOME FAIRLY CONSISTENT THEMES FROM INDUSTRY, THOUGH, OF COURSE, EVERY PART OF THE INDUSTRY HAS A SORT OF PERSPECTIVE, RIGHT? UM, BUT, YOU KNOW, AND WE LAY OUT ON TOP HERE SOME OF THE MAIN TOPICS THAT WERE DISCUSSED AND BROUGHT UP BY INDUSTRY.
UM, FIRST BEING COST CERTAINTY.
SO COST CERTAINTY, THERE'S A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT ELEMENTS HERE, RIGHT? THERE'S COST CERTAINTY RELATED TO THE COMPLEXITY OF A PROJECT AND WHETHER OR NOT INDUSTRY IS WILLING TO, TO PUT A PRICE ON SOMETHING IN AN EARLY DESIGN PHASE WHEN THEY ARE FACED WITH ELEMENTS SUCH AS TIGHT LABOR MARKETS, INFLATION ON MATERIALS, BUT ALSO UNCERTAINTIES AROUND THE, THE ABILITY TO EXECUTE ON TIME AND ON BUDGET.
AND THAT RELATES TO SOME OF THE OTHER ELEMENTS WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT IN A SECOND.
UM, SOME OF THOSE ELEMENTS BEING RIGHT AWAY, ACQUISITION, THIRD PARTY AGREEMENTS, PERMITTING AND UTILITY RELOCATION.
THE, THESE ARE ALL AREAS WE'VE SEEN THIS PROF NOT IN, IN, IN, IN THE PROCESS THAT WE'VE SEEN AROUND THE COUNTRY AND GLOBALLY, UM, THAT PARTICULARLY PLAGUE TRANSIT PROJECTS.
UM, IT IS, AND IT, AND IT'S REALLY AROUND, YOU KNOW, AND IT REALLY SPEAKS TO SOME OF THE WORK THAT ATP NEEDS TO DO AS A GOOD OWNER OF A PROJECT, WHICH IS, DO YOU HAVE ACTUALLY ACCESS TO THE LAND THAT YOU'RE GONNA BE USED TO BUILD THIS PROJECT IN TERMS OF RIGHT AWAY? OR DO YOU HAVE REASONABLE CERTAINTY THAT THAT LAND WILL BE AVAILABLE? WHAT ARE THE, WHAT ARE, WHAT'S THE STATUS OF YOUR AGREEMENTS WITH ALL THE THIRD PARTIES? IF YOU THINK ABOUT A TRANSIT PROJECT LIKE AUSTIN'S, IT'S NOT HAPPENING IN A BUBBLE.
THERE'S GONNA BE INTERACTIONS WITH THE CITY, AND THIS IS WITH ANY URBAN TYPE OF PROJECT, WITH THE CITY, WITH WATER AGENCIES, WITH POWER UTILITIES, WITH TELECOMMUNICATION UTILITIES.
SO, YOU KNOW, IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES CREATE RAILROADS.
SO WHAT ARE THE, SO WHAT ARE THE, WHAT IS THE STATUS OF AGREEMENTS AND WHAT DO THEY SAY AND WHAT ARE THOSE, WHAT CERTAINTY DO THOSE AGREEMENTS HAVE THAT WITH THOSE DIFFERENT ENTITIES IN ORDER TO ENSURE THAT A CONTRACTOR CAN DO THE WORK IT NEEDS TO DO IN ORDER TO DELIVER PROJECT BASED UPON THE, THEIR, THEIR, THE PRICE AND THE TIMING THAT, THAT THEY AGREED TO.
UM, THAT'S RELATED NOTICE PERMITTING, RIGHT? WHAT IS GONNA BE THE PUBLIC PERMITTING PROCESS IN ORDER TO MOVE A PROJECT FORWARD ON TIME AND ON BUDGET? AND IS IT GONNA BE HAPPENING IN A TIMELY MANNER? UTILITY RELOCATIONS, WHAT ARE GONNA BE THE REQUIREMENTS? WHAT'S THE STATUS OF THE CURRENT UTILITIES? WHAT'S UNDER THE GROUNDS? WHERE DOES IT NEED TO GO IN ORDER FOR THE, FOR THE PROJECT TO OPERATE, UH, AND TO BE BUILT? AND LASTLY, AND THIS IS SOMETHING IN PARTICULAR AND WE TOUCHED ON UPON A SECOND AGO.
IT'S THIS CONCEPT OF INTERFACE RISK, WHICH IS HOW DO ALL THESE ELEMENTS COME TOGETHER,
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UM, AND FROM THE SYSTEMS TO THE CIVIL TO THE OPERATIONS, AND ARE THERE STRATEGIES AROUND BEING ABLE TO ADDRESS SOME OF THIS INTERFACE RISK, UH, SO THAT ULTIMATELY AT THE END OF THE DAY, YOU HAVE SOMETHING THAT'S COMMISSIONED AND SUCCESSFUL AND, AND ACTUALLY WORKS ACCORDING TO PLANS.THESE WERE VERY COMMON THEMES.
AND WHAT THAT'S ALSO INTERESTING IS THESE WERE VERY COMMON THEMES REGARDLESS OF THE CONTRACTING APPROACH.
WE, WE DISCUSSED TWO PAGES PRIOR TO THAT.
THESE ARE THEMES THAT ATPS OWNERS, FROM WHAT WE'VE HEARD, NEEDS TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR AND REALLY FOCUS ON IN ORDER TO TAKE, TO MAKE THE STEPS NECESSARY TO MITIGATE ALL THE RISKS THAT ARE HIGHLIGHTED HERE.
UM, AND, AND WITH EITHER DOING THAT IN CONJUNCTION WITH CONTRACTORS ALONG THE WAY IN SOME SORT OF EARLY CONTRACTOR INVOLVEMENT APPROACH OR ON THEIR OWN, OR SOME COMBINATION OF BOTH, UM, THESE ARE ELEMENTS THAT, UM, THAT, UH, THAT, YOU KNOW, THAT, THAT SPAN ANY TYPE OF INFRASTRUCTURE AND IN AN URBAN ENVIRONMENT LIKE THIS.
AND THEN WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT, YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT GOES TO WHAT WE HEAR FROM INDUSTRY AROUND WHAT THEY WANT FROM THEIR OWNERS.
THEY WANT THEIR OWNERS TO BE ENGAGED.
YOU KNOW, IT'S NOT LIKE SIGNING A CONTRACT AND GO AT IT.
UM, ATP WILL NEED BE AN ORGANIZATION THAT CAN, THAT CAN WORK WITH THE CONTRACT TO ULTIMATELY THE WORK THROUGH PROBLEMS, WORK THROUGH ISSUES, AND ALL THE ISSUES, YOU KNOW, UP THERE THAT WE TALKED ABOUT ARE GOING TO BE RELEVANT HERE.
UM, AND, AND, AND, AND AN AGENCY THAT ADDRESSES ISSUES EARLY, UM, AND, AND, AND DOESN'T PUSH ISSUES DOWN THE LINE.
UM, AND THEN THE RIGHT SIZE ORGANIZATION.
AND DO YOU HAVE THE REPRESENTATIVES IN, WITHIN ATP, UM, THAT ARE KNOWLEDGEABLE AND COULD MAKE DECISIONS AROUND ALL THE VARIOUS ELEMENTS OF A TRANSIT PROJECT FROM THE CIVIL TO THE SYSTEMS AND THE LIKE.
I MEAN, I THINK IT'S A LOT TO TAKE ON.
AND, AND IN SOME RESPECTS, A LOT OF IT'S OBVIOUS.
AND IF YOU LOOK AT IT, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, YOU CAN IMAGINE SORT OF THE COMPLEXITIES HERE, BUT, YOU KNOW, I THINK THE, THE, THE MESSAGE THAT WE GOT FROM INDUSTRY IS THAT NOT ADDRESSING THESE ISSUES WILL ULTIMATELY COST ATP DOLLARS AND TIME.
DOES ANYBODY HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? YES.
OR MEMBER GARZA? JUST THAT COMMENT.
UM, I, I UNDERSTAND THESE ARE ALL EMERGING THEME FROM THE INDUSTRY, AND, UH, IT MAKES PERFECT SENSE.
I MEAN, BUT I WOULD LIKE FOR US TO SET OUR OWN THEME AS WELL.
UM, AND THAT IS A FOCUS ON SAFETY AND HOW IMPORTANT THAT IS.
UH, AND I THINK YOU SHOULD PREFACE EVERYTHING THAT WE DO, BECAUSE TO ME, ESTABLISHING A SAFETY CULTURE STARTS FROM US THROUGH THE CEO AND ONTO THE, ONTO THE RANK.
BECAUSE IN, IN, YOU DON'T WANT INSTANCES TO HAPPEN.
YOU'RE GONNA BE DELIVERING A PROJECT IN A DENSE, URBAN ENVIRONMENT.
UM, AND YOU KNOW, THIS DOESN'T HAPPENED IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, RIGHT? AND SO, YOU KNOW, I MEAN, THERE'S, THERE'S, THERE'S, THERE'S SO MANY IMPLICATIONS FOR NOT TAKING THAT APPROACH AND, AND, AND ENSURING THAT'S, THAT'S, THAT, THAT, YOU KNOW, DOESN'T HOLD UP THE PROJECT AS WELL.
I'M, I'M REALLY PLEASED TO SEE THAT, UH, WE'RE STARTING THIS MARKET SOUNDING PROCESS.
AS I THINK I MENTIONED IN ONE OF THE PRIOR MEETINGS, IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE THINK OF THE CONCEPT OF STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT AS A BROAD UMBRELLA, WHICH ENCOMPASSES COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, CONTRACTOR ENGAGEMENT, WHICH IS WHAT YOU'VE ADDRESSED, FEDERAL ENGAGEMENT WITH OUR FEDERAL PARTNERS, AND THEN BROADLY THE FINANCING COMMUNITY.
AND THERE MAY BE OTHER, BUT, BUT WE JUST NEED TO THINK IN THAT KIND OF BROAD UMBRELLA.
UM, I, I'M GLAD YOU BROUGHT UP THE CONCEPT OF INTEGRATION RISK.
CAUSE I THINK THAT'S A KEY RISK THAT, THAT WE AS ATP NEED TO UNDERSTAND AND MULTIPLE DIFFERENT PACKAGES.
THE MORE PACKAGES WE DO, IT PROVIDES GREATER INTEGRATION RISK IN HOW THESE THINGS COME TOGETHER.
SO THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE WANT TO KEEP FRONT AND CENTER.
I'M, I'M CURIOUS, IN THE DISCUSSIONS WITH THE CONTRACTORS, THERE IS A MOVE TOWARDS, AS YOU KNOW, TOM, COLLABORATIVE MODELS, RIGHT? THAT WOULD BE PROGRESSIVE DESIGN, BUILD, PRE-DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENTS, THAT TYPE, AND THAT'S MANY, MANY PROJECTS, AS YOU ALL KNOW, SEPULVEDA, UM, UH, HIGH FREQUENCY RAIL IN CANADA, 30 BILLION, UH, SANTA CLARA VTA, MOST MAJOR PROJECTS RIGHT NOW IN THE UNITED STATES THAT ARE OVER A BILLION ARE GOING COLLABORATIVE DELIVERY.
NOW THAT MAY CHANGE IN A COUPLE OF YEARS, RIGHT? DID THAT COME UP AND, AND WHAT WERE, WHAT WERE THE REACTIONS FROM THE CONTRACT? NO, UM, NO, ABSOLUTELY.
AND I THOUGHT, I, I ALLUDED TO THAT TO A DEGREE, RIGHT? YEAH.
YOU KNOW, THIS, THIS, THIS EARLY CONTRACTOR INVOLVEMENT OR COLLABORATIVE CONTRACTING APPROACHES AND, AND, AND, AND AS, AS,
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AS TONY ELKINS, YOU KNOW, IDENTIFIED SOME OF THE OTHER, YOU KNOW, APPROACHES THERE.UM, THERE, IT, THERE ARE A LOT OF REASONS IN THIS CURRENT ENVIRONMENT WHERE THAT THOSE APPROACHES MAKE A LOT OF SENSE, RIGHT? THERE ARE, YOU KNOW, THERE HAVE BEEN PROJECTS OUT THERE THAT END UP IN TOO MANY CLAIMS. THERE ARE PROJECTS THAT HAVE BEEN DIFFICULT TO DELIVER, AND THE CONTRACTING COMMUNITY AND, AND, AND SAY A LOT OF OUR, YOU KNOW, PUBLIC SECTOR CLIENTS ARE MORE AND MORE OPEN TO THIS COLLABORATIVE CONTRACTING APPROACH.
UM, AND, AND HAVING CONTRACTORS COME IN EARLY, HAVING THEM WORK TOGETHER WITH THE AGENCY TO IDENTIFY RISKS, MITIGATE RISKS, AND, AND BE ABLE TO GET TO A POINT WHERE THEY ARE COMFORTABLE, UM, WHERE THEY'RE COMFORTABLE PUTTING A PRICE ON SOMETHING.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, SO I THINK ABSOLUTELY.
I THINK IT'S ALSO, IF YOU THINK ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THE, THE BILLIONS TRILLIONS OF INFRASTRUCTURE DOLLARS GONNA BE FLOWING TO THE US AND FLOWING INTO THE ACTUAL PROJECTS OVER THE NEXT 5, 6, 10 YEARS, YOU KNOW, THERE'S GOING TO BE, YOU KNOW, THERE'S, THERE'S GONNA BE A LOT OF COMPETITION FOR CONTRACTORS OUT THERE.
UM, AND HAVING AN APPROACH THAT, YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S A BUYER'S MARKET
AS A FOLLOW UP TO THAT, TOM, UH, WE'VE TALKED A LITTLE BIT ABOUT COST ESCALATION RISK.
THAT'S A CRITICAL RISK TO THIS PROGRAM.
UM, WHEN YOU'VE GOT COSTS RUNNING AT A PROBABLY 12 TO 15% ESCALATION IN THE CONSTRUCTION ENVIRONMENT, HIGHER FOR LIGHT RAIL, HIGHER FOR TEXAS, GIVEN ALL OF THE DEVELOPMENT THAT'S GOING ON NOW, THAT MAY CHANGE, BUT THAT'S KIND OF WHERE WE ARE.
WHAT WAS THE FEEDBACK FROM CONTRACTORS ON COSTCO ESCALATION FOR THESE TYPES OF PROJECTS? NO, I, I THINK IT, I THINK IT GOES TO YOUR EARLIER QUESTION AROUND, YOU KNOW, THE COLLABORATIVE CONTRACTING, WHICH IS, YOU KNOW, I THINK THE MORE THEY CAN IDENTIFY WHAT THE RISKS ARE EARLY ON AND BE COMFORTABLE THAT THE RISKS HAVE BEEN ADDRESSED, THE MORE WILLING THEY ARE TO PUT A PRICE ON SOMETHING.
BUT WE'RE ALSO FINDING IN OTHER PROJECTS, UM, THE CONVERSATIONS AROUND AND SOME APPROACHES AROUND BEING ABLE TO SHARE SOME OF THE COMMODITY TYPE OF RISKS.
AND IF YOU HAVE A CONSTRUCTION PERIOD THAT'S, YOU'LL SAY FIVE, SIX YEARS LONG, YOU KNOW, IT COULD MAKE SENSE TO PROTECT THE CONTRACTOR OR WORK WITH THE CONTRACTOR AROUND SHARING AND SOME OF THE RISKS IN, IN MATERIAL PRICE COSTS, COST INCREASES, SO STEEL, CONCRETE, ASPHALT, THINGS ALONG THOSE LINES ARE, THOSE CONVERSATIONS ARE DEFINITELY HAPPENING.
AND ULTIMATELY, I THINK FOR ATP, IT'S GONNA BE THE APPROACH THAT WORKS FOR ATP AND ITS OWN RISK TOLERANCE AND ITS ABILITY TO ABSORB RISK.
UM, AND, YOU KNOW, AND HOW DOES THAT ME TO THE OVERALL, YOU KNOW, ALL THE WORK THAT POTENTIALLY GETS DONE TO ADDRESS AS MANY RISKS AS POSSIBLE, AND WHETHER, AND HOW FAR ARE YOU WILLING TO GO IN THAT REGARD? TOM, JUST A QUICK INTERRUPTION.
CAN YOU ALMOST, YOUR MIC'S A LITTLE CLOSER.
PEOPLE ONLINE ARE HAVING A HARD TIME HEARING.
UM, TOM, JUST A QUICK QUESTION ABOUT WHERE YOU'D PLACE WORKFORCE ISSUES AND ARE YOU SEEING ANY REGIONAL THEMES EMERGE? I CAN'T SPEAK TO REGIONAL THEMES IN PARTICULAR, BUT MY ANSWER'S YES.
I MEAN, WORKFORCE IS, IS AN ISSUE.
IT'S GONNA CONTINUE TO BE AN ISSUE.
AND SO WE TALKED JUST A SECOND ABOUT COMMODITY PRICES, BUT WORKFORCE IN PARTICULAR, YOU KNOW, I THINK, AS I MENTIONED, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE ARE SEEING, PEOPLE ARE, INDUSTRY IS SEEING A REAL, EXPECTING A REAL SPIKE AND A REAL GROWTH IN INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS AS A LOT OF THE, UM, INFRASTRUCTURE BILL GETS DEPLOYED OVER THE NEXT 5, 6, 7 YEARS.
UM, AND THAT'S GOING TO IMPACT, YOU KNOW, I THINK, AND YOU SPEAK PROBABLY ANY OF THE ENGINEERS, THEY'RE PROBABLY AT A, THEY'RE PROBABLY SHORT RIGHT NOW, UH, IN TERMS OF, UH, IN TERMS OF WORKFORCE AND THEN THE CONTRACTORS, AND THEN SPECIALTY CONTRACTORS AS WELL, UM, UH, ACROSS THE BOARD, I THINK THERE'S EXPECTED TO BE, UH, REAL TIGHTNESS IN THE LABOR MARKETS.
UM, AND THEN, YOU KNOW, AND THEN I THINK FROM A REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE, IN MY EXPERIENCE, WHAT THING TO KEEP AN EYE ON IS THE, IS IS WHAT'S ALSO GOING ON IN YOUR LOCAL MARK FROM A COMMERCIAL PERSPECTIVE AND COMMERCIAL CONTRACTING, AND, YOU KNOW, AND, AND ARE YOU COMPETING AGAINST ALL THE BUILDING THAT'S GOING ON IN A PARTICULAR AREA? AND THEN HOW THAT IMPACTS YOU FROM AN INFRASTRUCTURE PERSPECTIVE AND A LABOR PERSPECTIVE.
I THINK THAT'S ALL, ALL THE THINGS THAT WE'RE GONNA NEED TO, AND ATP'S GONNA NEED TO KEEP AN EYE ON OVER TIME.
[00:30:01]
NO, NO.QUICK ANSWER,
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS TRYING TO DEPLOY MONEY FOR WORKFORCE TRAINING PROGRAMS, IN PARTICULAR AROUND INFRASTRUCTURE.
I THINK IDENTIFYING THIS AS A REAL NEED.
ANY OTHER
SO THIS IS OUR, OUR LAST SLIDE HERE, WHICH IS, YOU KNOW, I THINK AS, AS YOU UNDERSTAND, AS, AS, AS GREG ARTICULATED, THIS IS A, THIS IS A, A CRITICAL ELEMENT IN THE OVERALL PLAN.
UM, AND THE WORK THAT'S GOING ON AROUND WE'RE ATP'S GONNA CONTINUE TO ENGAGE WITH THE MARKET.
UM, IT'S GONNA BE REFINING ITS CONTRACTING APPROACH BASED UPON ITS OWN NEEDS, BUT ALSO WHAT HEARS FROM THE MARKET.
AND THEN ULTIMATELY THAT'S GOING TO INFORM A SOLICITATION PLAN AND A TIMELINE FOR HOW DO YOU BUILD OUT, HOW DO YOU, YOU KNOW, WHAT ARE THE TYPES OF SKILLS ATP IS GONNA NEED DIRECTLY, WHAT ARE TYPES OF ARRANGEMENTS HE WANTS TO HAVE WITH CONTRACTING ENTITIES, AND WHAT'S HIS PLAN FOR DOING THAT AND UNDER WHAT TIMEFRAME? SO MORE TO COME ON THAT APPROACH.
I KNOW WE TALKED A LOT ABOUT, I'M DOING THE SAME THING, YOU KNOW, THE NATIONAL ENGAGEMENT, BUT, UM, THIS THE LOCAL AS WELL, RIGHT? SO WE HAVE OUTREACH LOCALLY THAT WE'RE WORKING ON FROM A WORKFORCE PERSPECTIVE, WORKFORCE SOLUTIONS, YOU KNOW, CAT METRO HAS JUST SIGNED A, UM, INTER LOCAL AGREEMENT WITH WORKFORCE SOLUTIONS.
THE CITY HAS ONE AS WE WORK ON LIGHT RAIL, ENGAGING WITH THEM FROM WORKFORCE, BUT ALSO FROM A LOCAL BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE, UM, ENGAGING WITH, UM, GENERAL CONTRACTORS, UM, THE CHAMBERS, THE MINORITY CHAMBERS AS WELL.
MAKE SURE THAT THIS IS AN ONGOING, THAT CONTINUUM THAT TOM TALKED ABOUT IS ALSO A LOCAL CONTINUUM AS WELL.
WE KNOW OUR LABOR FORCE IS GONNA BE HERE, UM, AND WE WANT TO START THAT WORK AS WELL.
SO YOU'RE GONNA HEAR MORE ABOUT THAT.
UM, COURTNEY'S WORKING ON THAT WITH, UH, A WIDE TEAM, UH, IN THIS UPCOMING MONTH AS OUR, OUR JOINT RESPONSIBILITIES ACROSS THE AGENCIES ON, ON WORKFORCE AND LOCAL, UH, WORKFORCE TRAINING, UH, WORKFORCE SAFETY BOARD MEMBER GUARDS, AS YOU SAID.
UM, SO, UH, THIS WILL BE AN ONGOING CONVERSATION THAT WE WANT TO CONTINUE HAVING WITH YOU AND THE COMMUNITY.
IS THIS THE WHOLE UPDATE OR WHAT? NO, NOW WE GET TO THE NEXT ONE.
WE HAVE MORE, MORE POWER POINTING SO THAT I THINK THE NEXT TEAM'S GONNA COME UP AND I CAN GET US STARTED.
SO JUST TO CONTINUE OUR MORNING OF, UH, YOU KNOW, KIND OF TAKE US AGAIN, TAKE US QUICKLY BACK ON JULY 20TH AND WHEN WE SAT TOM AND, AND SOME OF HIS COLLEAGUES, NATIONAL COLLEAGUES EXPERTISE, UM, REALLY LAID OUT OUR PLAN TO SAY, THIS WAS THE MOMENT TO DO THE WORK, TO GET THE WORK DONE, TO BE THOUGHTFUL ABOUT THE WORK, TO NOT GET TOO FAR DONE, BUT CONTINUE TO PROGRESS THE WORK AS WELL AS YOU, AS WE'VE SAID, WE'RE ON A, A PATHWAY TO PROVIDE AN UPDATED, UH, IMPLEMENTATION PLAN AND A PHASE PLAN BY THE SPRING.
AND ALL OF THAT WORK WAS ROOTED IN EXPERTISE.
AND, BUT ALSO WE WANNA START TALKING ABOUT WHERE WE'RE GOING AND HOW WE'RE GONNA GET TO THAT ANSWER, UM, BEFORE WE JUST SHOW YOU THE ANSWER AND SAY, HERE'S WHAT IT IS.
WE THINK IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT TO HAVE A DIALOGUE, A STOPPING POINT HERE TODAY.
UM, THE LAST, UH, SINCE JULY, EVERY BOARD MEETING, WE'VE BEEN BACK TO GIVE YOU AN UPDATE ON HOW WE ARE PROGRESSING ON OUR, UH, UPDATING THE IMPLEMENTATION PLAN FOR LIGHT RAIL.
WE THOUGHT THIS WAS A GOOD MOMENT TO SPEND A FEW MORE MINUTES ON THAT UPDATE VERSUS, UH, A QUICK 10 MINUTE, BUT HAVE A DIALOGUE.
AND SO WE'VE PROVIDED SOME INFORMATION AND MATERIAL AROUND THAT.
UM, AND AGAIN, I THINK THE IDEA IS TO SHOW YOU, TO DEMONSTRATE SOME OF THE WORK THAT WE'VE DONE, SHOW YOU THE WORK NOW WHILE WE'RE WORKING ON IT, AND SHOW YOU HOW WE'RE GONNA COLLECT THIS WORK, UM, AND DO IT THROUGH SOME, UH, FILTERS ABOUT DECISION MAKING.
CAUSE ULTIMATELY WE HAVE DECISION MAKING.
SO, UM, BACK AGAIN, I'LL JUST, I'LL INTRODUCE THIS AS WE HAVE A SERIES OF, OF, OF, UM, WORK EFFORTS IN OUR WORK PLAN THAT ARE ALL INTEGRATED.
UM, THEY'RE INTEGRATED NOT ONLY ACROSS FUNCTIONS OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND PLANNING, BUT THEY'RE CROSS ORGANIZATIONAL AS WELL.
CAPITAL METRO, UH, CITY OF AUSTIN, WE'RE GONNA HEAR MORE ABOUT THAT THIS AFTERNOON, ARE ALL WORKING TOGETHER ON THIS WORK PLAN.
UM, AND IT ULTIMATELY IS ABOUT GETTING OUR TECHNICAL SOLUTIONS THAT ARE ALIGNED WITH OUR FUNDING CAPACITY.
AGAIN, WE ARE WORKING IN A, IN A BUDGET.
UH, WE HAVE A BUDGET, UH, THAT THE VOTERS APPROVED, AND WE ARE, BECAUSE OF THE COSTS THAT HAVE RISEN AROUND LIGHT RAIL, WE ARE IN A WORLD, WE ARE IN
[00:35:01]
A WORLD THAT WE'VE TALKED ABOUT SINCE JULY, WHERE WE'LL BE DETERMINING A, A NEW SCOPING AND PHASING OF LIGHT RAIL.WE WILL BE BUILDING ALL OF THAT AS A COMMUNITY OVER THE YEARS, BUT, UH, WHAT ARE WE GONNA PHASE FIRST? SO WE HAVE TO MAKE A DETERMINATION ABOUT THAT, AND WE WANT TO TALK ABOUT HOW WE'RE GONNA GO THROUGH THAT DETERMINATION PROCESS, UM, UH, OPEN THAT UP, MAKING SURE THAT WE HAVE THAT RIGHT.
UH, SO WE WANNA SPEND SOME TIME TODAY WITH THE BOARD TALKING ABOUT THAT AND, AND GETTING YOUR FEEDBACK.
ARE, ARE WE IN THE RIGHT SPOT? ARE WE MISSING SOME THINGS, UM, AS WE TAKE THIS OUT MORE WITH THE COMMUNITY? UM, SO WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT THIS CONVERSATION.
SO, UH, COURTNEY AND PETER AND JEN AND AND BRIAN ARE GONNA WALK US THROUGH SOME, BOTH WHERE WE ARE TECHNICALLY, AND THEN A LITTLE HEAVIER CONVERSATION AROUND, UH, CRITERIA, HOW WE'RE GONNA WEAVE THIS THROUGH A CRITERIA DISCUSSION SO THAT WE CAN STAY ON SCHEDULE TO DELIVER A PLAN FOR NOT ONLY THIS BOARD, BUT THE CITY COUNCIL AND THE CAP METRO BOARD IN THE SPRING TO GET A VOTE TO MOVE FORWARD.
SO WITH THAT, I'LL TURN IT OVER TO, TO OUR STEAM PANEL HERE.
UH, GOOD MORNING BOARD MEMBERS.
UM, A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE PROGRAM, AS, AS GREG MENTIONED, YOU KNOW, WE WORKING REALLY HARD TO ALIGN OUR PROGRAM WITH THE BUDGET AND TO COME WITH TO THE DECISION MAKERS IN THE SPRINGTIME WITH A IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.
SO HOW ARE WE GOING TO MOVE FORWARD, UM, THROUGH THAT PROCESS? YOU'LL SEE A LITTLE BIT OF THAT TODAY, UM, AS WE MOVE FORWARD.
UM, BUT JUST A REMINDER, YOU KNOW, TOM, USE THE GRAPHIC UP ABOVE YOU SEE THERE, BUT BLOWING THAT UP A LITTLE BIT ON WHAT WE'RE, THE PROCESS WE'RE IN RIGHT NOW.
UM, WE'VE BEEN LOOKING AT TECHNICAL DATA, LOOKING AT ALL OF OUR INFORMATION THAT WE HAVE DONE TO DATE AND, AND ANALYZING IT, MAYBE PUTTING SOME DIFFERENT LENSES ON IT, UM, THAT WERE NOT PUT ON IT DURING, DURING THE FIRST PHASE OF THE PROGRAM.
AND WORKING OUR WAY THROUGH AND, AND HEADING TOWARDS OUR CRITERIA AND HOW WE ANALYZE THESE OPPORTUNITIES MOVING FORWARD TO COME OF THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR WITH SOME SCENARIOS AND SOME CONCEPTS THAT WE CAN THEN TAKE OUT AND, AND HAVE SOME CONVERSATIONS WITH THE COMMUNITY ABOUT AND GET A, GET, UH, FEEDBACK WITH THE CONTINU CONTINUOUS COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, AND THEN ULTIMATELY A RECOMMENDATION AND APPROVAL ON HOW WE MOVE FORWARD, AND THEN COMPLETING A DEEPER PROCESS AFTER THAT.
SO THAT'S KIND OF OUR ROADMAP FOR THE, FOR THE NEXT THREE TO FOUR MONTHS, IS TO GET TO THAT RECOMMENDATION AND APPROVAL, UM, HERE IN THE SPRING.
AND, UH, WITH THAT, I'M GONNA HAVE, UH, PETER, TAKE YOU THROUGH A LITTLE BIT OF THE TECHNICAL WORK WE'VE DONE TO DATE DOWNTOWN AND THE REST OF THE PANEL AS WE MOVE FORWARD.
BUT WE'LL, HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS AS WE MOVE FORWARD.
MAYBE DO YOU WANNA TAKE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT JUST THE PROCESS BEFORE WE MOVE ON? IF AT ANY BOARD MEMBERS HAVE THEM? YEAH, IF THERE'S ANY WHILE WE HAVE THE SLIDE UP, THIS, WHAT MAKES SENSE? GREAT.
OKAY, SO, UM, JUST A COUPLE OF MINUTES TO BE SPENT ON, ON LOOKING AT DOWNTOWN.
WE, WE HAVE BEEN SPENDING INTERNALLY A LOT OF TIME LOOKING AT DOWNTOWN AND OPTIONS FOR THE ALIGNMENT, UH, THROUGH DOWNTOWN.
SO WHY IS THAT? SO NUMBER ONE IS, YOU KNOW, IT'S THE CORE OF THE SYSTEM.
UM, OBVIOUSLY IT'S WHERE THERE'S A HUGE CONCENTRATION OF RIDERSHIP.
UM, YOU KNOW, IT'S WHERE THE TWO LINES COME TOGETHER, RIGHT? SO THAT'S AN IMPORTANT MOMENT.
WHERE DO THEY COME TOGETHER? UM, HOW THEY COME TOGETHER, CUZ THAT INTERLINING IS, IS REALLY, IS A, ONE OF THE, THE REALLY CRITICAL ASPECTS OF THE OPERATION OF THE SYSTEM.
UM, IT'S ALSO WHERE WE HAVE BEEN HISTORICALLY SPENDING, DEDICATING A LOT OF RESOURCES, RIGHT? THE UNDERGROUND SYSTEM, UM, IS, YOU KNOW, A LOT MORE EXPENSIVE THAN THE A GRADE PORTIONS OF THE SYSTEM.
AND SO WE KNEW THAT IF WE WERE GONNA OPTIMIZE THE PROGRAM, WE HAD TO LOOK AT OPTIONS FOR THAT SECTION OF THE SYSTEM, RIGHT? UM, SO WE'RE LOOKING AT, YOU KNOW, BOTH HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL ALIGNMENT OPTIONS OF A GRADE, UM, POTENTIALLY SOME, UH, ELEVATED PORTIONS OF THE, THIS SECTION.
UM, AND THEN, YOU KNOW, A SIMPLIFIED VERSION OF THE UNDERGROUND SYSTEM, RIGHT? SO THAT WE COULD SEE, YOU KNOW, WHAT, HOW DO WE ACTUALLY REDUCE COSTS IN THIS AREA.
UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT, UH, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE, WE, WE KNOW A LOT ABOUT THE UNDERGROUND SYSTEM.
WE KNOW LESS ABOUT SOME OF THE OTHER ALTERNATIVES.
SO WE'VE BEEN SPENDING DISPROPORTION, I THINK, A LOT OF TIME LOOKING AT TRYING TO GATHER SOME NEW DATA ABOUT WHAT IT WOULD MEAN TO HAVE AN ACCURATE SYSTEM DOWNTOWN, OR WHAT WOULD IT MEAN TO HAVE, UM, ELEVATED PORTIONS OF THE ALIGNMENT DOWNTOWN, BECAUSE FRANKLY, WE JUST KNOW LESS ABOUT THAT, RIGHT? SO IF YOU SEE ME TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE PROPORTIONALLY ABOUT THAT, IT'S JUST BECAUSE WE'RE TRYING TO GATHER MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THAT.
UM, AND THEN EVENTUALLY WHAT WE END UP DOING DOWN HERE, SORRY, AT DOWNTOWN, UM, WE'LL OBVIOUSLY IMPACT WHAT HAPPENS BEYOND IT.
LIKE HOW WE, HOW MU FRANKLY HOW MANY WHAT ARE RESOURCES ARE LEFT TO BASICALLY IMPLEMENT THE LEGS NORTH, SOUTH, OR EAST.
[00:40:01]
WHY WE REALLY NEED TO SOLVE THIS AND GET SORT OF CONSENSUS ABOUT HOW TO APPROACH THIS, UM, IN THE MOST SORT OF OPTIMAL WAY.UM, SO JUST WANNA TAKE YOU THROUGH SOME OF THE KIND OF CRITICAL INPUTS AROUND THE DOWNTOWN ALIGNMENT THAT WE'VE BEEN STUDYING.
AND I THINK WHICH WILL WANT TO, AGAIN, ONCE WE'VE GOT IT SORT OF ORGANIZED AND SORT OF MORE INFORMATION WE'LL WANNA REVIEW WITH THE COMMUNITY.
UM, AND YOU, UM, SO NUMBER ONE IS THE LAKE CROSSING.
SO RIGHT NOW WE HAVE IN THE, IN THE PREVIOUS ITERATION WE HAD TWO LAKE CROSSINGS, ONE AT TRINITY, ONE AT SOUTH.
FIRST, WE ARE LOOKING AT THE POSSIBILITY OF A SINGLE LAKE CROSSING BECAUSE THOSE LAKE ARE EXPENSIVE, RIGHT? AND SO THIS IS ONE WAY IN WHICH WE COULD, YOU KNOW, REDUCE COSTS AND, AND WITH I THINK, UM, MINIMAL SERVICE CHANGE RIGHT? TO THE SYSTEM.
SO WE ARE LOOKING AT BOTH OPTIONS, EITHER SOUTH FIRST OR TRINITY STREET.
UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK DEPENDING ON WHICH, AND THERE ARE LOTS OF FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH EACH, UM, AND OBVIOUSLY THEY HAVE AN IMPACT ON WHERE STATIONS WILL BE LOCATED, YOU KNOW, DEPENDING ON WHERE WE CROSS THE RIVER.
SO, UM, BUT THERE ARE LOTS OF OTHER FACTORS IN TERMS OF TRAFFIC IMPACTS, ET CETERA, ET CETERA.
SO WE'RE TRYING TO LOOK AT THAT THOROUGHLY AND METHODICALLY SO THAT WE CAN PRESENT PROS AND CONS WITH BOTH, RIGHT? UM, YOU KNOW, AND THEY'RE, AND THEY'RE DIFFERENT, I'LL BE HONEST.
UM, THE SECOND ONE IS, IS, UH, PLATFORM AND BLOCK LENGTH.
SO THIS REALLY APPLIES MOST SPECIFICALLY TO THE A GRADE OPTION.
UM, AND ONE OF THE REASONS WHY WE HAD BEEN PREVIOUSLY LOOKING AT, UM, UNDERGROUND OPTIONS THROUGH DOWNTOWN IS THAT, UM, WE WERE TRYING TO PREPARE FOR LONG TERM TO HAVE THE CAPACITY FOR 400 FOOT LONG PLATFORMS, RIGHT? OUR BLOCK LIGHTS DOWNTOWN ARE 2 76 BY 2 76, UM, WITH ONE EXCEPTION, ACTUALLY, I DIDN'T KNOW THIS, BUT THE BLOCKS EAST TO WEST OF COLORADO ARE ACTUALLY LONGER.
SO DETAILS THAT WE NEVER FOCUSED ON, WHICH NOW WE DO NOW, NOW WE'RE, THEY'RE FRONT OF TOP OF MIND.
BUT ANYWAY, SO THAT DIS THAT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE BLOCK LENGTH AND WHAT OUR FUTURE GOAL FOR FUTURE CAPACITY FOR PLATFORM LENGTHS, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO MANAGE THAT.
IT MEANS WE PROBABLY HAVE SHORTER PLATFORMS DOWNTOWN AND IT PROBABLY MEANS THAT WE HAVE TO PLAN FOR DIFFERENT OPERATIONAL, UM, PROCESSES AND SERVICE PLANS TO BE ABLE TO ACCOMMODATE FUTURE GROWTH IN RIDERSHIP OVER TIME.
UM, AGAIN, THAT'S MORE OF LIKE A LONG TERM QUESTION THAN A SHORT TERM BONE, BUT ONE THAT WE HAVE TO, UH, PLAN FOR, UM, STATION LOCATION.
WE TALKED ABOUT THIS A LITTLE BIT BEFORE, BUT, YOU KNOW, DEPENDING ON WHERE WE ARE IN TERMS OF UNDERGROUND ELEVATED, UH, SIMPLIFIED UNDERGROUND, ELEVATED ORAC GRADE, UM, THAT COULD AFFECT WHERE THE STATIONS ARE LOCATED IN THIS SECTION AND, YOU KNOW, HOW WE SERVE OUR USERS AND OUR RIDER GOING FORWARD.
UM, SO DOWNTOWN TOPO TOPOGRAPHY, THIS IS REALLY SPECIFIC BUT NOT INCONSEQUENTIAL, IS THAT, YOU KNOW, BETWEEN FIFTH AND EIGHTH STREETS, UM, ON THE WEST SIDE OF DOWNTOWN WHERE THE ALIGNMENT IS LOCATED, THERE IS A REALLY STEEP HILL, OKAY? THAT THE SLOPE OF THAT HILL BETWEEN THOSE BLOCKS BETWEEN FIFTH AND EIGHTH EXCEEDS THE STANDARD CAPACITY OF A STANDARD LIGHT RAIL VEHICLE, WHICH IS TYPICALLY OUR DESIGN CRITERIA IS TO KEEP THAT TO 6% OR LOWER, RIGHT? AND THAT'S, THAT'S ACTUALLY THE STEEPER.
SO IT JUST MEANS THAT WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO MAKE SOME MODIFICATIONS TO THE STREET SCAPE, RIGHT? AND POTENTIALLY CLOSING OFF SOME CROSS STREETS THROUGH THAT SECTION TO BE ABLE TO KIND OF EVEN OUT THE SLOPE FOR THE LIGHT RAIL GUIDEWAY, UM, AND MANAGE THAT IN RELATIONSHIP TO THE STREET GRADE.
UM, UH, AND THEN THE LAST BIG ONE IS TRAFFIC AND ACCESS.
OBVIOUSLY IF, AND THEN AGAIN, THIS LARGELY APPLIES TO ACT GRADE, BUT, UM, IF WE'RE, IF WE'RE AT RAID, THEN IT, IT MEANS THAT WE'RE TAKING UP SPACE IN THE RIGHT OF WAY, UH, WHICH IS GONNA REQUIRE THAT WE AMEND SOME OF THE TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT, YOU KNOW, STRATEGIES DOWNTOWN.
UM, IT ALSO AFFECTS NOT JUST THE, THE STREETS THAT THE ALIGNMENT IS ON, BUT PROBABLY THE ADJACENT STREETS AS WELL, CUZ THEY WOULD HAVE TO PICK UP SOME OF THE, THE CAPACITY OF THE STREETS WHERE THE LIGHT RAIL IS RUNNING.
UM, SO THIS IS AGAIN, PERFECT EXAMPLE OF WHERE WE'RE LOOKING REALLY CLOSE, WORKING REALLY CLOSELY WITH ATV, UM, ABOUT HOW THAT, WHAT THAT WOULD LOOK LIKE, WHAT'S THE OPTIMAL WAY TO SOLVE FOR THAT.
UM, AGAIN, JUST TO FIGURE OUT SO THAT WE CAN FIGURE OUT HOW DO WE ACTUALLY MAKE THIS WORK AND THEN WE CAN MEASURE ALL OPTIONS AND ALTERNATIVES AND CHOICES.
UM, I THINK, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE GOOD THINGS IS THAT ATD IS CURRENTLY LOOKING AT ALL OF DOWNTOWN FROM A TRAFFIC STANDPOINT, PARTLY BECAUSE OF US, PARTLY BECAUSE OF I 35.
UM, BECAUSE TO LOOK AT ARE WE, ARE THE, ARE THE STREETS IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION IN THE RIGHT PLACES, AND HOW DOES THAT GET AMENDED OVER TIME? SO, UM, WE'RE KIND OF, ACTUALLY THE TIMING IS PERFECT CUZ THAT WORK IS ALL DOVETAILED TOGETHER SO WE COULD HAVE A REALLY COORDINATED SOLUTION.
UM, THE OTHER OTHER POINT IS OBVIOUSLY, DEPENDING ON WHERE THE ALIGNMENT IS, IF WE'RE AT GRADE, IT DOES AFFECT, YOU KNOW, WHERE THE BUS ROUTES TRAVEL.
AND SO WE'RE, WE'RE ACTIVELY WORKING WITH CATME TO MAKE SURE THAT THOSE CONNECTIONS AND THAT INTERMOD MODALITY, CUZ AGAIN, DOWNTOWN IS WHERE IT'S PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT, UM, THAT WE HAVE SOLUTIONS FOR THAT, RIGHT? AND THAT ALL WORKS.
[00:45:01]
UM, THAT'S JUST A KIND OF A REALLY, MAYBE NOT THAT BROAD, BUT SOME, AN IDEA ABOUT THE KINDS OF THINGS THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT.UM, AND, YOU KNOW, OUR GOAL IS TO BE ABLE TO COME BACK WITH OPTIONS, RIGHT? NOT DECISIONS, BUT OPTIONS.
LIKE, YOU COULD DO IT THIS WAY, YOU COULD DO IT THAT WAY.
HERE ARE THE IMPACTS, HERE ARE THE BENEFITS, HERE ARE THE PROS AND CONS, UM, COSTS, TRAFFIC, SERVICE PLAN, MOBILITY, ET CETERA.
OTHERWISE, AND THAT'S KIND OF A SEGUE TO CRITERIA DEVELOPMENT THAT WE CAN THEN USE TO MEASURE THOSE OPTIONS.
ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT ANY OF THIS BEFORE WE MOVE ON? I DO HAVE A QUICK QUESTION WITH THE TRAFFIC ANALYSIS.
I KNOW THE CITY OF AUSTIN HAS A DOWNTOWN MASTER PLAN FOR STREET CONVERSIONS FROM ONE WAY TO TWO WAY, AND, AND SYSTEMATICALLY THEY'VE BEEN DOING THAT CONVERSION.
SO IF I UNDERSTAND CORRECTLY, WHAT YOU SAID WITH THE TRAFFIC AND ACCESS, UM, IS THERE, ARE THEY RETHINKING THAT MASTER PLAN OF CONVERSION? YES.
SO, AND AGAIN, PART OF THIS IS REALLY INSPIRED BY CHANGES, UM, TO ACCESS FROM I 35 OKAY.
BASED ON THE NEW PROPOSED PLAN, RIGHT? SO THERE'S CERTAIN STREETS WHERE YOU NEED, DID IT HAVE TO BE USED TO GET ON AND OFF 35, WHICH REALLY REQUIRES RETHINKING SOME OF THE DIRECTIONALITY OF THOSE EAST, WEST STREETS MM-HMM.
SO THAT I THINK WAS THE IMPETUS.
SO THE, THE SORT OF GOING THROUGH THAT REALLY SYSTEMATICALLY, THERE WAS A BIG COMMUNITY SURVEY EARLIER, UM, THIS FALL I GOTTA GET PRIORITIES.
UM, I THINK THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT WE'RE ALL REALLY ALIGNED IN WHAT THE PRIORITIES ARE, RIGHT? AND THAT THIS IS A HUMAN-CENTRIC, LIKE PEDESTRIAN FIRST, OBVIOUSLY TRAFFIC'S GONNA WORK, BUT IT'S GOTTA WORK FOR HUMANS.
UM, MR. GARZA, IF, UH, YOU COULD JUST POINT ME TO SOMETHING I CAN READ, I CAN GET LIKE AN OVERALL PICTURE OF, UH, THE PROBLEM WE'RE TRYING TO SOLVE OR THE DIFFERENT ISSUES WE'RE TRYING TO SOLVE, IT'LL GIMME A, A EASIER WAY TO HANG STUFF ON.
UM, SO DIRECT ME THERE AND I'LL, I'LL DO MY OWN READING AND I'LL TAKE UP YOUR TIME, BUT, UH, I'D APPRECIATE THAT OF COURSE.
YEAH, I THINK BOARD MEMBER WILL, AS, AS WE, UM, CONTINUE YOUR ONBOARDING, TAKE YOU BACK TO WHERE WE WERE IN JULY, WE'LL GIVE YOU THE, THE SPEED COURSE ON THAT.
UM, BUT DEEP AS YOU NEED, THANK YOU, YOU, WELL, LOTS OF MATERIAL, BUT LOTS OF OPPORTUNITY FOR STAFF AND ALL OF OUR STAFF TO WORK AND SHOW YOU SOME OF THE STRUGGLES AND CHALLENGES THAT WE HAVE.
BUT AGAIN, WE BELIEVE IT'S OPPORTUNITY TO EVENTS.
DO WE HAVE, UM, A BOARD MEMBER ONBOARDING DOCUMENT, SOMETHING, UH, THAT KIND OF PUTS EVERYTHING IN ONE PLACE SO THAT WE CAN WALK THROUGH? YOU KNOW, WHEN I JOINED CAP METRO, THEY HAD A, A, AN ONBOARDING PROCESS THAT GAVE ME A LOT OF THE DECISION POINTS OVER, OVER A PERIOD OF YEARS MM-HMM.
AND, AND I KNOW YOU WANT TO GO FROM, FROM THE BEGINNING AND, AND FORM YOUR OWN OPINIONS AND CONCLUSIONS AND ASK QUESTIONS AT THAT POINT, BUT THAT'S A REALLY A, A REALLY GOOD BRIEFING DOCUMENT FOR, FOR ANY ALL BOARD MEMBERS CERTAINLY.
AND IT, IT'S A BIT OF AN OVERVIEW, SO, BUT YES, UM, WE PROVIDED HOPEFULLY EVERYBODY ON THE BOARD HAS A COPY OF THAT AND WE'VE UPDATED IT FOR BOARD MEMBER GARZA RECENTLY.
UM, I WILL SAY THOUGH, I THINK A FOLLOW UP WHERE WE CAN DEEP DIVE WHAT THE TECHNICAL TEAM IS NOT A BAD IDEA, SO WE CAN SET THAT UP AND, AND IN FEEDBACK AS WE DO THAT ONBOARDING TO ADVANCE IT, YOU KNOW, HOW IT WENT FOR, UM, BOARD MEMBER, TRULY HOW IT WENT FOR YOU, WE CAN KEEP ITERATING IT TO, TO A GOOD STATE.
THE STAFF HAS BEEN GREAT SO FAR.
AND SO A LOT OF THE QUESTIONS I ASK, THIS IS ONE OF MY MENTORS, SO BLAME IT ON HIM.
SO THERE WAS A REVISION TO THAT PLAN WHERE THEY ARE LOOKING AT OUR HOME MOBILITY PIECE.
SO THAT'S, THAT'S A REALLY GOOD DOCUMENT AND WE CAN SEND YOU A LINK TO IT TOO.
I'LL MAKE SURE THAT, UM, THE BOARD IS DISTRIBUTED AN UPDATED COPY OF THE ASM PAGE.
WELL, I'M GOING TO, UH, MOVE ON TO THE NEXT BUT RELATED TOPIC AND START A CONVERSATION ABOUT HOW ARE WE GOING TO APPROACH AN EVALUATION OF THESE OPTIONS THAT WILL BE BEFORE US, UH, FOR PHASING AND PROJECT DEFINITION NEXT YEAR.
UH, SO MAYBE I'LL START BY SAYING THIS IS REALLY A CONTINUUM FOR US AND HOW WE'RE LOOKING AT IT.
UH, WE'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT THESE PROJECTS FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS, RIGHT? SO WE'VE BEEN REVISITING THAT COMMUNITY DIALOGUE AND OUR INTENTION IS NOT TO DEPART FROM IT, BUT RATHER TO
[00:50:01]
VALIDATE SOME ASPECTS AND MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE THE INFORMATION THAT'S NEEDED, UH, TO MAKE DECISIONS NEXT YEAR, YOU KNOW, BASED ON THE BEST INFORMATION AND CURRENT CONDITIONS THAT WE HAVE.UM, SO OUR THINKING TO DATE, UM, IS WE ARE ARE GROUPING THE CRITERIA FOR DECISION MAKING INTO A COUPLE OF BUCKETS.
UM, WE'RE GONNA BE COMPETING FOR THOSE FEDERAL DOLLARS, AND THAT'S A, A CERTAIN SET OF CRITERIA THAT'S ESTABLISHED, UM, BUT ALSO SETTING UP EVALUATION CRITERIA, UM, THAT WILL HELP US TO CONSIDER, UM, WHAT ARE THE COMMUNITY VALUES AND PRIORITIES THAT SHOULD REALLY INFORM THE DECISIONS THAT WE NEED TO MAKE.
SO I'M GONNA TALK ABOUT EACH OF THESE A LITTLE BIT MORE.
UM, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO, UH, YOU KNOW, CHIME IN WITH ANY QUESTIONS, UH, OR, OR COMMENTS AS I GO.
UH, SO I'M GONNA START WITH THE FTA CRITERIA.
UM, AND, YOU KNOW, THIS IS FAIRLY PRESCRIBED.
UM, WE WOULD BE COMPETING WITH PROJECTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY FOR THESE FEDERAL DOLLARS.
AND SO THERE'S A, A VERY ESTABLISHED WAY THAT THEY EVALUATE PROJECTS THAT WE'LL NEED TO, UH, RESPOND TO.
SO CERTAINLY THIS IS PART OF OUR CONSIDERATION, AND I'LL JUST KIND OF BRIEFLY TOUCH ON WHAT THESE ARE, BUT REALLY ABOUT 50% OF THE FTAS EVALUATION IS THE FINANCIAL PLAN.
UM, LOOKING AT WHAT THAT PLAN IS, ARE OUR LOCAL FUNDS COMMITTED? UM, AND WHAT ARE THE, WHAT'S THE FINANCIAL CONDITION IN THE ORGANIZATION? THE OTHER 50% ARE THESE OTHER SIX ITEMS THAT ARE LISTED UP HERE, UM, WHICH ARE ALL CALCULATED IN A PRESCRIBED MANNER.
UH, BUT THE MOBILITY IMPROVEMENTS, THAT'S REALLY LOOKING AT RIDERSHIP, UH, AND ESPECIALLY, UM, RIDERS WHO ARE TRANSIT DEPENDENT AND HOW THE SYSTEM THAT WE'RE PROPOSING WOULD SERVE THEM.
UH, THE COST EFFECTIVENESS MEASURE IS REALLY LOOKING AT, UM, COST AND RIDERSHIP TOGETHER TO SEE WHAT THAT BALANCE IS.
UH, HOW MUCH ARE YOU SPENDING FOR WHAT LEVEL OF BENEFIT, UH, ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS AND CONGESTION RELIEF I'LL KIND OF PUT TOGETHER BECAUSE, UM, THE WAY THOSE ARE CALCULATED REALLY FOCUSES ON NEW RIDERS AND MODE SHIFT, UM, AS A RESULT OF THE PROJECT.
THE LAND USE COMPONENT IS A MORE QUALITATIVE CONSIDERATION OF WHAT, WHAT ARE THE EXISTING LAND USE CONDITIONS, UH, IN AUSTIN? UM, WHAT'S THE EXISTING DENSITY? UM, WHERE IS THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND ARE WE CONNECTING TO IT? UH, AND FINALLY THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PIECE IS MORE FUTURE ORIENTED AND LOOKING AT THE PLANS AND THE POLICIES THAT ARE IN PLACE, UM, TO BUILD THE DENSITIES AND TO BUILD THE CONDITIONS THAT ARE TRANSIT SUPPORTIVE ALONG THE CORRIDORS.
UM, SO THESE ARE ALL THINGS THAT WE'LL BE LOOKING AT, UM, AND, AND THINKING ABOUT HOW WE WILL COMPETE FOR THE FEDERAL DOLLARS THAT WE'RE, WE'RE LOOKING FOR.
SO KIND OF MOVING ON TO THE COMMUNITY VALUES CRITERIA.
YOU KNOW, THESE ARE, UH, THE CRITERIA THAT WE AS A COMMUNITY, UH, WANT TO USE TO, TO MAKE THESE MAJOR INVESTMENT DECISIONS.
SO IN OUR THINKING DEBATE, WHERE WE'VE REALLY STARTED IS WITH ALL OF THESE PLANS, UM, AND THE THINGS THAT HAVE COME BEFORE, UM, AUSTIN, YOU KNOW, HAS DONE ITS PLANNING.
AND SO WE'RE LOOKING AT THAT THINKING IN TERMS OF HOW DO WE MOVE IT FORWARD? HOW DO WE MAKE THE INVESTMENTS THAT ARE GOING TO REALIZE, YOU KNOW, THE VISIONS THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN LAID OUT.
UM, IN ADDITION TO, YOU KNOW, THESE PLANS, UH, WE HAVE BEEN THINKING ABOUT CERTAINLY THE JPA AND THE CONTRACT WITH THE VOTERS AND HOW, UM, THE OBJECTIVES FOR PROJECT CONNECT HAVE BEEN LAID OUT.
YOU KNOW, AND HOW CAN WE BEST ACHIEVE THOSE GOALS? UM, WE WANT OUR CRITERIA TO REALLY BE ROOTED IN, IN HOW DO WE KIND OF MAXIMIZE THAT KIND OF GOAL ACHIEVEMENT.
UH, I WANTED TO NOTE THIS TOO.
WE ARE IN THE NEPA PROCESS THAT'S CONTINUING, UH, IN THE VERY FIRST, UH, EARLY STAGES OF THE NEPA PROCESS ARE ALL ABOUT ESTABLISHING THE PROJECT'S PURPOSE AND NEED.
UM, AND SO THAT WAS A, A COMMUNITY BASED PROCESS A COUPLE YEARS AGO.
UM, AND SO WE STILL HAVE THIS IN MIND.
UM, AND THESE STATEMENTS REALLY ARE CONSISTENT WITH A LOT OF THE PLANS, UM, THAT HAVE BEEN PREPARED PREVIOUSLY, UM, WITH REALLY HIGHLIGHTING KIND OF A, UM, MEETING, UM, OUR CAP TRANSPORTATION CAPACITY NEEDS AS AUSTIN IS GROWING, UH, AND ALSO MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE CONTINUING TO SUPPORT THE LINKS BETWEEN AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND JOBS, YOU KNOW, THROUGH OUR TRANSIT INVESTMENTS.
SO, WELL JUST ONE RECURRING THEME YOU'LL SEE IS THAT A LOT OF THESE GOALS THAT HAVE BEEN ARTICULATED IN DIFFERENT PLACES, THEY CROSS REFERENCE WITH EACH OTHER, RIGHT? SO IT'S NOT THAT THE FTA COMPETITIVE GRANT COMPETITIVENESS CRITERIA AND THE COMMUNITY VALUES ARE SEPARATE OR DIFFERENT, IT'S ALMOST LIKE THERE'S JUST DIFFERENT WAYS OF ARTICULATING, YOU KNOW, THE SAME THING.
AND FRANKLY, WE WANT THEM TO BE SORT OF MUTUALLY SUPPORTIVE.
I THINK THAT THE, THE PART OF THE IDEA BEHIND THE COMMUNITY VALUES CRITERIA IS THAT IT, IT TAKES THE FTAS CRITERIA AND GIVES IT A LITTLE BIT MORE LOCAL SPECIFICITY, RIGHT? SO THAT WE ENSURE THAT WE'RE REFLECTING THE THINGS THAT ARE SPECIFIC TO AUSTIN, RIGHT? THEY'RE NOT IN CONFLICT WITH THETA'S CRITERIA, THEY'RE JUST AN ELABORATION OF THEM, HOW THEY APPLY TO THE CONDITIONS IN AUSTIN.
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CONFLICT, YOU KNOW, AMONG THESE ITEMS AT ALL.UM, SO OF CUNY VALUES CRITERIA, I'M GONNA STEP THROUGH AGAIN,