[00:00:07]
IF YOU'RE ON THE COMMITTEE, YOU CAN'T LEAVE.
[CALL TO ORDER]
THE CHAIR OF THE MOBILITY COMMITTEE.AND I'M GOING TO CONVENE OUR COMMITTEE MEETING HERE.
IT IS 1:25 PM ON APRIL 6TH, 2023.
AND WE ARE HERE INSIDE CITY HALL IN COUNCIL CHAMBERS.
WE HAD ANOTHER TOPIC WE WERE TAKING UP THAT, UH, WE NEEDED TO MAKE SURE WE COVERED.
UM, I BELIEVE THERE IS NO ONE SIGNED UP FOR PUBLIC COMMUNICATION.
IS THAT STILL ACCURATE? ALL RIGHT, SO WE WILL MOVE RIGHT ALONG.
I AM JOINED BY VICE CHAIR Z CADRE, COMMITTEE MEMBER VANESSA FUENTEZ.
AND THEN WE HAVE COUNCIL MEMBERS, ALISON ALTAR AND RYAN AL ALTER ALSO JOINING US.
AND I SEE THAT, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER MACKENZIE KELLY IS HERE AND SHE IS ALSO A COMMITTEE MEMBER.
UM, WE ARE GONNA MOVE TO THIS AGENDA PRETTY QUICKLY TODAY.
THERE NEEDS TO BE AN ADJUSTMENT TO THE MINUTES THAT HAVE BEEN POSTED, SO WE'RE GONNA GO AHEAD AND POSTPONE THOSE UNTIL THE NEXT MEETING.
THE CHAIR OF THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION, UM, WAS NOT AVAILABLE TODAY, SO WE LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM THE CHAIR.
SUSAN SUMMERS AT THE NEXT MEETING.
SO WE WILL NOT TAKE THAT ITEM UP TODAY.
UM, I'M NOT SURE THAT THERE'S BACKUP FOR THE STRATEGIC MOBILITY OUTCOME, SO I MAY JUST SUGGEST NEXT TIME, UM, DOING A, UH, TWO MONTH OVERVIEW SO THAT WE, WE GET ALL OF THE GOOD INFORMATION THAT'S HAPPENING WITHIN MOBILITY FOR THE CITY.
AND WE WILL TAKE UP THE PROJECT CONNECT LIGHT RAIL BRIEFING AND WE WILL TAKE UP FUTURE ITEMS CUZ VICE CHAIR CADRE, UH, MENTIONED THAT HE HAD SOMETHING HE WANTED TO BRING UP.
SO WE'LL JUST BRIEFLY TALK ABOUT THAT AT THE END OF THE MEETING IF YOU'D LIKE.
[3. Project Connect Light Rail briefing.]
WITH THAT, I THINK WE WILL LEAD STRAIGHT INTO THE PROJECT CONNECT LIGHT RAIL BRIEFING.I'M INTERIM ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER.
I WANNA JUST REALLY BRIEFLY LAUNCH US TO, TO TELL YOU WHY WE'RE HERE.
WE'VE BRIEFED EACH ONE OF YOU ABOUT THE ALTERNATIVES THAT AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP IN CAP METRO AND CITY OF AUSTIN HAS HAVE PUT TOGETHER.
WHAT WE'D LIKE TO DO TODAY IS DIVE A LITTLE BIT DEEPER ON EACH ONE OF THOSE ALTERNATIVES, TELL YOU WHAT WE'VE HEARD THUS FAR.
AND THE GOAL IS TO HAVE A DIALOGUE WITH Y'ALL TO HEAR SOME OF THE IMPACT THAT YOU SEE ON SOME OF THOSE ALTERNATIVES AND ALSO SOME OF THAT, THAT THE, UH, THE PROS AND CONS FROM EACH, FROM WHAT YOU'RE HEARING FROM YOUR CONSTITUENTS.
SO WE HAVE ABOUT 20 SLIDES AND I WOULD RECOMMEND CHAIR WITH YOUR INDULGENCE.
WE GET THROUGH THOSE BEFORE WE START DIVING INTO EACH ALTERNATIVE.
AND WE HAVE MEMBERS FROM THE PARTNERSHIP HERE TODAY, AUSTIN TRANSFER PARTNERSHIP, CAP METRO, AND CITY OF AUSTIN STAFF THAT WILL BE PRESENTING EACH, EACH ELEMENT DIFFERENT ELEMENTS OF THE PRESENTATION TODAY.
SO WITH THAT, WE'LL GET THROUGH THE PRESENTATION.
AGAIN, THE, THE GOAL TODAY IS TO GET SOME DIALOGUE FROM Y'ALL ON WHAT YOU WANT US TO GO OUT AND SEEK ADDITIONAL INPUT.
WE HAVE A A PATH TO CONTINUE TO DO THAT, BUT FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE, WHAT YOU'RE SEEING FROM THESE ALTERNATIVES AND, AND WHAT YOU'RE HEARING FROM YOUR CONSTITUENTS, SO THAT I'LL TURN OVER THE STAFF.
MY IS MY MIC ON? ALL RIGHT, IF, IF WE GO TO THE FIRST SLIDE, PLEASE.
UH, SO, UH, CHAIR MOBILITY MEMBERS, MY NAME IS ANIQUE BOK AND I'M THE MOBILITY OFFICER FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN, UM, FOR PROJECT CONNECT.
AND I HAVE THE FIRST TWO SLIDES AND THE PLEASURE TO GROUND US IN, UH, WHERE WE'VE BEEN AND WHERE WE ARE.
REGARDING TO THE NEXUS BETWEEN PROJECT CONNECT AND OUR CITY'S COMPREHENSIVE PLAN.
IMAGINE AUSTIN, IMAGINE AUSTIN CALLS FOR US TO BE, FOR AUSTIN TO BE MOBILE AND INTERCONNECTED, TO IMPROVE OUR CORRIDORS TO BE MULTIMODAL, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, TO ASSURE THEY CONNECT OUR ACTIVITY CENTERS.
IMAGINE AUSTIN ALSO CALLED FOR US TO PUT TOGETHER AN AUSTIN STRATEGIC MOBILITY PLAN, UH, WHICH WE DID IN 2019, WAS, UM, VOTED IN UN UNANIMOUSLY BY COUNCIL AT THAT TIME.
AND IT SET AN AMBITIOUS GOAL TO HAVE A 50 50 MO CHAIR BY 2039.
IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE THIS, WE NEED ALL OF OUR MOBILITY CHOICES AND SYSTEMS GOING AND MATURED, AND WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON THAT SINCE 2016 AND, UM, AND BEYOND.
BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, I WANNA CALL, CALL ATTENTION TO THE TRANSIT PORTION OF THE MODE SHARE, UM, PIE, UH, OF THE PIE.
UM, IT IS THE, IT IS THE MODE THAT IS CARRYING THE MOST SHARE, UM, FOR A LOT OF DIFFERENT REASONS, AND IT IS ONE OF THE MODES THAT WE REALLY NEED TO FOCUS ON IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE, UM, THE OVERALL GOAL THAT WE HAVE.
AND SO I'M GONNA TURN THE NEXT SLIDE OVER TO, UH, CHARMILLA MOJI FROM CAPITAL METRO TO TALK ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LIGHT RAIL AND THE OVERALL TRANSIT SYSTEM AS IT RELATES TO SEEING A SHIFT IN OUR MODES.
[00:05:02]
UM, THANK YOU.UM, WE ARE VERY EXCITED ABOUT THE, THE PROSPECT AND, UH, THAT THE FACT THAT LIGHT TRAIL'S COMING TO AUSTIN AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR OUR COMMUNITY, OUR SYSTEM, AND OUR CUSTOMERS.
SO THIS SLIDE IS ESSENTIALLY AN EXCERPT OR OUR OF OUR EXISTING, OUR EXISTING NETWORK.
AND I WANTED TO TAKE JUST A COUPLE MINUTES TO SPEAK OF OUR, OUR STATE OF TRANSIT, IF YOU WOULD, THAT L R T IS GOING TO BE PART OF.
SO, UH, IN THE LAST 12 MONTHS WE HAD, UM, OUR, OUR ANNUAL BOARDINGS, UH, WAS AT 22.3 MILLION, AND THAT'S FROM MARCH OF, UM, 2020 TO MARCH, 2020, UH, LAST MONTH THROUGH LAST MONTH.
AND DURING THAT TIME, UM, IT, I WOULD LIKE TO HIGHLIGHT THAT WE ARE OUTPACING OUR OTHER TRANSIT AGENCIES ACROSS THE NATION, OUR TRUE PEERS AND, UH, MUCH LARGER AGENCIES IN TERMS OF RECOVERY FROM, UM, COVID, UH, EFFECTS ON TRANSIT RIDERSHIP.
AND THAT IS, THAT SPEAKS VOLUMES ON TRANSIT SENSITIVITY AND RECEPTIVITY IN THE COMMUNITY.
UM, WITH WITH THAT, I, I JUST WANTED TO POINT OUT THAT AS FAR AS LIGHT TRAIL BEING A PART OF OUR, UM, OUR, OUR NETWORK, IT IS AN ADDITIONAL INVESTMENT.
IT'S THE SECOND TIER, SECOND GENERATION, UM, INVESTMENT TO OUR NETWORK.
IT'S GOING TO BE EXPECTED TO SERVE AS OUR TRANSIT SPINE TO OUR BROADER TRANSIT NETWORK, OBVIOUSLY PROVIDE ACCESS TO AND FROM DESTINATION EMPLOYMENT AND ACTIVITY CENTER.
AND JUST AS ANIQUE MENTIONED, IT REALLY NEEDS TO BE THAT, THAT SPINE, THAT LINE, THAT ENABLED MODE SHIFT.
AND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT YOU WOULD, THAT THEME YOU WOULD HEAR THROUGHOUT THE PRESENTATION AND REFLECTED IN OUR, UM, ALIGNMENTS THAT LINDSAY'S GONNA TALK ABOUT.
SO THIS IS WHERE I WANNA TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW LIGHT RAIL FITS INTO OUR TRANSIT NETWORK.
AND THERE ARE A NUMBER OF OTHER ON THE RIGHT SIDE YOU WOULD SEE, UH, SOME OF OUR CURRENT SERVICE OFFERINGS AND VISUALS AND THEN ADDITIONAL PROJECT CONNECT COMPONENTS.
UM, BUT THIS LIGHT TRAIL IS, WE VIEW THIS AND OUR CUSTOMER WOULD VIEW THIS AS A TRANSIT WARHORSE THAT FEEDS, COLLECTS, DISTRIBUTES TO THE REST OF OUR TRANSIT NETWORK.
AND TALKING ABOUT MATURING TRANSIT SYSTEM AND MATURING TRANSPORTATION NETWORK, WE ARE GROWING AS AN AGENCY.
WE ARE TRYING TO BE MORE RELIABLE, DESIRABLE, AND SAFE.
AND THAT'S THE SAME EXPECTATIONS, SHARED EXPECTATION FROM THE LIGHT TRAIL.
AND I THINK I MENTIONED THIS ALREADY, IT'S THE, IT'S THE FIRST CORE FOR, UH, THE SYSTEM THAT, UH, IS RIPE FOR A FU FUTURE EXPANSION.
WITH THAT, I WILL, UM, PASS IT ON TO JEN PINE.
I, MY NAME'S JENNIFER PINE, I'M WITH AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP.
AND, UM, WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE, THE PATH TO LIGHT RAIL, WE ALWAYS START WITH THE STRATEGIC MOBILITY PLAN, WHICH SET THAT MODE SHIFT GOAL, REALLY THE LIGHT RAIL COMPONENT OF PROJECT CONNECT AND ALL OF PROJECT CONNECT.
UM, UH, OUR, OUR JOB IS TO DELIVER THE SERVICES THAT ARE GOING TO ENABLE US TO ACHIEVE THAT GOAL.
UH, SO AFTER THE SUCCESSFUL VOTE IN 2020, YOU KNOW, A T P WAS FORMED.
AND EVER SINCE WE'VE BEEN DOING ENGINEERING AND ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES AND OTHER WORK TO FURTHER OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE LIGHT RAIL PROJECTS.
UH, SO, UH, WE'RE COMING HERE TODAY TO TALK ABOUT THE FIVE OPTIONS THAT WE'RE PRESENTING TO THE COMMUNITY FOR DISCUSSION ABOUT WHAT THAT FIRST PHASE OF THE LIGHT RAIL PROJECT WOULD INCLUDE.
BUT BEFORE WE, WE GET INTO THE OPTIONS, I WANNA TAKE JUST A MINUTE TO TALK ABOUT THE FACTORS THAT WE CONSIDERED IN ACTUALLY DEFINING AND, AND GETTING TO THAT PARTICULAR SET OF OPTIONS.
AND CERTAINLY ONE ITEM OF IMPORTANCE WAS, UM, FINANCIAL VIABILITY.
THAT IT IS WITHIN THE BUDGET THAT WE HAVE FOR THE PROJECT.
WE WANT TO BE IN A POSITION WHERE WITH ANY OF THESE OPTIONS WE WERE ABLE TO DELIVER, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE'RE DESCRIBING.
UH, CERTAINLY ANOTHER FACTOR WAS TECHNICAL FEASIBILITY AND THAT FROM AN ENGINEERING STANDPOINT, ALL OF THESE WORK.
UM, AND ANOTHER FACTOR RELATED TO THE FUNDING IS WITH THE FTA FUNDING, UH, WE ARE PURSUING NEW STARTS FUNDING FOR THE LIGHT RAIL PROJECT, UM, IN A SUBSTANTIAL PROPORTION OF THE CAPITAL COSTS.
WE ARE LOOKING TO BE COVERED BY THAT NEW STARTS FUNDING.
THAT IS A COMPETITIVE PROCESS.
SO WE'LL BE COMPETING WITH TRANSIT PROJECTS FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY AND WE KNOW HOW WE'LL BE EVALUATED FOR THOSE FUNDS.
AND SO PART OF OUR WORK, UM, WITH THESE OPTIONS IS TO MAKE SURE THAT THESE ARE COMPETITIVE.
UM, AND SO WE BELIEVE ALL FIVE OF THESE OPTIONS WOULD BE ELIGIBLE FOR THOSE FUNDS.
SO BEYOND THAT, UM, THE COMMUNITY VALUES CRITERIA, UM, THAT WE'VE DEVELOPED ARE INTENDED TO HELP US EVALUATE THESE OPTIONS IN TERMS OF WHAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT IN AUSTIN AND WHAT WE
[00:10:01]
WANT TO PRIORITIZE FOR WHAT THIS PROJECT WILL DELIVER.SO WE'VE ORGANIZED THOSE THOUGHTS INTO A COUPLE OF BUCKETS.
AND ONE IS MOBILITY AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE.
AND THIS IS REALLY ALL ABOUT HOW WE'RE MEASURING OUR, WOULD WE BE DELIVERING A QUALITY TRANSIT PRODUCT.
UM, AND SO WE'RE MEASURING THAT IN TERMS OF WHAT WE PROJECT RIDERSHIP WOULD BE, UH, AND ALSO HOW IT WOULD INTERFACE WITH OUR EXISTING AND PLANNED TRANSIT NETWORK AND ALSO THE BIKE AND PEDESTRIAN INFRASTRUCTURE, UH, THAT, UM, IS EXISTING END PLANNED.
UH, BECAUSE WE, WE REALIZE THAT FOR ANY PART OF THE TRANSIT JOURNEY, EACH RIDER IS GOING TO BE A PEDESTRIAN AT ONE POINT OR ANOTHER.
UH, THE DEGREE TO WHICH ALL OF THESE SYSTEMS WORK TOGETHER IS GOING TO MAKE ALL OF THEM MORE ROBUST.
SO THE SECOND, UH, BUCKET OF CONSIDERATIONS IS ACCESS TO OPPORTUNITIES.
AND, UM, HOW WE'RE THINKING ABOUT THAT IS LOOKING AT, UH, THE PEOPLE ALONG THE LINES, UM, FOR THESE FIVE OPTIONS AND THINKING ABOUT WHO'S LIVING THERE, WHERE ARE THEY GOING, UH, WHERE ARE THE KEY DESTINATIONS, UM, AND LOOKING AT, UH, THE EXTENT TO WHICH WE'RE REALLY MEETING THE NEEDS, UM, AS WE CAN DEFINE THEM FOR ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS.
UM, A KEY THING THERE IS THINKING ABOUT MODE SHIFT.
WE CAN ESTIMATE, UM, HOW MANY PEOPLE NOT ONLY WOULD BE RIDING THESE LIGHT RAIL, UH, CORRIDORS, BUT WOULD BE SWITCHING FROM OTHER MODES IN PARTICULAR FROM A CAR, UM, ONTO TRANSIT.
UM, IN ADDITION, UH, IN THIS AREA OF, WE ARE AT A PRELIMINARY STAGE OF DESIGN, BUT WE ARE THINKING ABOUT SOME OF THOSE SENSITIVE RESOURCES AND LOOKING TO MINIMIZE, UH, ANY ADVERSE IMPACTS ON THEM LIKE PARKLAND OR, OR WATER RESOURCES.
AND FINALLY, UH, LAND USE AND HOUSING IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF HOW WE'RE WE'RE THINKING ABOUT THIS PROJECT.
UH, WE'RE LOOKING AT EXISTING LAND USE AND ALSO WHAT'S PLANNED IN THE FUTURE AND ANY POLICIES, UM, THAT ARE BEING PUT IN PLACE, UH, THAT WOULD PROMOTE TRANSIT, SUPPORTIVE LAND USES, UM, ALONG THESE CORRIDORS.
UM, AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING, UM, IS SOMETHING THAT WE WANNA SERVE.
UM, SO WE'VE BEEN COLLECTING DATA AND WORKING CLOSELY WITH THE FOLKS, UH, AT THE CITY PLANNING AND HOUSING TO, UM, MAKE SURE THAT, UM, WE HAVE A GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF HOW WE CAN SERVE AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
UM, SO WITH THAT, I THINK LINDSAY IS GOING TO SPEAK TO, UH, THE OPTIONS THEMSELVES.
I'M LINDSAY WOOD WITH AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP.
UM, WE HAVE FIVE OPTIONS THAT WE'LL BE TALKING, UM, WITH YOU ABOUT TODAY.
AND, AND I WANNA NOTE THAT THESE DIFFER IN THEIR EXTENTS AS SOME GO A LITTLE FURTHER TO THE NORTH OR THE SOUTH OR THE EAST.
AND THEY ALSO VARY IN TERMS OF HOW THEY MOVE THROUGH DOWNTOWN AND THEY HAVE DIFFERENT LOCATIONS FOR A MAINTENANCE FACILITY.
BEFORE I GO INTO EACH ONE OF THESE INDIVIDUALLY, I WENT TO HIGHLIGHT THAT WE HAVE PRESENTED THESE FIVE OPTIONS TO OUR COMMUNITY, UH, THAT IN A PROCESS THAT WAS KICKED OFF ON MARCH 21ST WITH OUR PUBLIC OPEN HOUSE.
AND THAT STARTED THE, UM, THE BEGINNING OF A SIX WEEK PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD THAT WILL EXTEND THROUGH MAY 2ND.
WE ARE REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THE LEVEL OF ENGAGEMENT WE'VE HAD SO FAR.
WE HAD, UM, OVER 500 ATTENDEES TO THAT FIRST OPEN HOUSE EVENT.
WE HAVE SINCE, UM, BEEN ABLE TO MEET WITH, UM, MORE THAN 700 PEOPLE, UH, I THINK NEARLY 800 AS AS WE REACH TODAY, UM, SINCE THAT KICKOFF.
AND WE'VE ALSO HAD MORE THAN 8,000 VIEWS OF OUR VIRTUAL OPEN HOUSE WHERE ALL OF OUR MATERIALS ARE AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.
WE ARE HOSTING A, A VIRTUAL LIGHT RAIL UPDATE TONIGHT AND HOPE TO RECEIVE MORE FEEDBACK AND ARE REALLY GETTING A, A GREAT LEVEL OF, I THINK, INFORMED FEEDBACK FROM OUR COMMUNITY.
AND WANNA TAKE A MOMENT TO JUST SHARE SOME OF THE THINGS WE HAVE BEEN HEARING SO FAR, KNOWING THAT WE ARE STILL EARLY IN THAT PROCESS.
UH, THAT WHILE WE DO HEAR DESIRE TO, YOU KNOW, REACH PERHAPS FURTHER NORTH OR SOUTH OR EAST IN THESE OPTIONS, UM, WE ALSO HEAR A CONSISTENT LEVEL OF SUPPORT FOR UNDERSTANDING WHY WE ARE WHERE WE ARE AND NEEDING TO GET STARTED NOW.
SO, YOU KNOW, WHILE WE MAY HEAR SOME DISAPPOINTMENT OF NOT BEING ABLE TO BUILD, UM, AS MUCH AS WE WOULD LIKE, AND IN THIS FIRST ELEMENT OF THE CORE SYSTEM, UH, THERE HAS BEEN CONSISTENT SUPPORT FOR WANTING LIGHT RAIL AND WANTING TO GET THIS MOVING.
UH, WE'VE RECEIVED SEVERAL QUESTIONS ABOUT THE LENGTH AND THE VALUE OF THE UNDERGROUND SEGMENT IN THESE OPTIONS THAT WE CAN TALK ABOUT, UH, ALSO KIND OF WHAT IT MEANS TO BE ELEVATED DOWNTOWN, UM, MIXED FEEDBACK, SO ON, ON BOTH SIDES OF THE EQUATION ABOUT REACHING THE AIRPORT IN THIS CORE SYSTEM.
AND QUESTIONS ABOUT WHAT IT COULD MEAN TO HAVE ALTERNATIVES TO BEING UNDERGROUND THROUGH DOWNTOWN IN TERMS OF WHAT THAT MEANS FOR
[00:15:01]
TRAFFIC RELIABILITY AND, AND VARIOUS OTHER ASPECTS TO KEEP IN MIND AS WE GO THROUGH THESE FIVE OPTIONS.SO I'LL START WITH THE ONE THAT EXTENDS THE FURTHEST TO THE NORTH THAT, UM, BEGINS AT NORTH LAMAR TRANSIT CENTER ALONG NORTH LAMAR, JUST NORTH OF 180 3 AND GOES THROUGH DOWNTOWN ON STREET, WHICH PETER WILL, WILL TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT, UM, THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THAT AT THE END HERE AFTER THE FIVE OPTIONS AND, AND THEN ENDS AT EAST RIVERSIDE AND PLEASANT VALLEY.
AND EACH OF THESE OPTIONS HERE, YOU'LL SEE THAT WE HAVE A DIFFERENT NUMBER OF RIDERS SERVED.
THAT'S GENERALLY A FUNCTION OF, UM, THE REACH OF, OF THIS CORE SYSTEM AND THE NUMBER OF LIGHT RAIL STATIONS.
AND THEY VARY OF THESE FIVE OPTIONS ANYWHERE FROM AROUND 20,000 TO NEARLY 40,000 RIDERS.
SO YOU CAN SEE HOW EACH ONE COMPARES IN THAT REGARD.
IN, UH, THESE ON STREET OPTIONS THAT YOU SEE HERE, YOU NOTICE TWO WAYS OF GETTING ACROSS LADY BIRD LAKE, UH, ONE BEING FROM GUADALUPE TO SOUTH FIRST ON A NEW LIGHT RAIL BRIDGE AND ONE THAT CONNECTS THROUGH THE EAST SIDE OF DOWNTOWN AND WOOD CROSS AT TRINITY.
WE WOULD ENVISION BRINGING BOTH OF THESE OPTIONS FORWARD INTO OUR, OUR CONTINUED PROCESS FOR EVALUATION.
THE NEXT OPTION, EXTENDING FARTHEST TO THE EAST, CONNECTING TO THE AIRPORT WOULD, UM, TO THE NORTH RUN FROM 29TH STREET.
SO A LITTLE BIT NORTH OF THE UT CAMPUS, UH, AND CONNECTING TO THE AIRPORT.
UH, THE, THE PREVIOUS MIN OPTION I SHOULD HAVE MENTIONED HAD A MAINTENANCE FACILITY AT NORTH LAMAR TRANSIT CENTER.
ALL OF THE REMAINING FOR INCLUDING THIS ONE HAVE A MAINTENANCE FACILITY, UH, THAT IS REQUIRED FOR THE OPERATION OF THE LIGHT RAIL SYSTEM NEAR RIVERSIDE AND 71 OFF OF AIRPORT COMMERCE.
UH, THIS OPTION ALSO GOES THROUGH DOWNTOWN ON STREET, UH, SHOWING THAT THROUGH THE EAST SIDE CONNECTION, UH, NEAR THE CONVENTION CENTER TO, TO CREATE THAT CONNECTION TO THE AIRPORT AT THE TRINITY CROSSING.
AND THE NEXT HAS KIND OF A BALANCED COVERAGE TO THE, THE NORTH, SOUTH AND EAST EXTENDING FROM 38TH STREET ON THE NORTH SIDE, AGAIN ON STREET THROUGH EITHER CROSSING OPTION DOWNTOWN, UH, ACROSS LADYBIRD LAKE TO OLTORF AND SOUTH CONGRESS TO THE SOUTH AND ALONG EAST RIVERSIDE TO YELLOW JACKET OR, OR APPROACHING 71.
UH, AND THIS OPTION, YES, EXCUSE ME, CAN I JUST ASK A CLARIFICATION? WHEN YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THE RIDER SERVED, IS THAT ONLY FOR THE LIGHT RAIL? THAT IS CORRECT, YES.
SO FROM THAT PERSPECTIVE, THESE ARE LIKE, HOW DO WE COMPARE THAT WITH THE NUMBER FOR THE CURRENT RIDERSHIP? CUZ WHEN I JUST MULTIPLIED THAT BY 365, IT WAS LESS THAN YOUR 22 MILLION NUMBER EARLIER, SO I WAS, SO THESE ARE DAILY, RIGHT? SO THESE ARE AVERAGE WEEKDAY DAILY NUMBERS.
THESE ARE NOT ACCOUNTING FOR SPECIAL EVENTS.
THIS IS ARE SORT OF AN AVERAGE TUESDAY SORT OF RIDER AND ONLY FOR THIS CORE SYSTEM OF THE LIGHT RAIL.
UM, AS CHARMILLA MENTIONED, THERE ARE MANY OTHER MODES IN THE OVERALL TRANSIT SYSTEM.
UM, I DON'T KNOW, DO YOU HAVE A, A DAILY NUMBER THAT YOU COULD SPEAK TO FOR THE OVERALL SYSTEM? SO, UM, WE USUALLY, I THINK THE MOST RELIABLE INFORMATION THAT WE HAVE SHARED AND COLLECTED, VERIFIED, IT'S ALSO ON OUR PUBLIC DASHBOARD, UM, THAT IS ABOUT, WE'RE KIND OF RANGING.
UM, I DON'T HAVE DAILY NUMBERS, SO LET ME JUST CORRECT THAT.
WE DO HAVE THREE YEARS ANNUAL, WE CAN GET TO DAILY NUMBERS, BUT IT VARIES SIGNIFICANTLY BETWEEN ROUTES AND OUR TOP FIVE ROUTES, UM, ARE, THEY LOOK VERY DIFFERENT FROM THE REST OF OUR, UM, OTHER, OTHER ROUTES.
SO I THINK WE WILL BE HAPPY TO SHARE THAT INFORMATION WITH YOU.
THANK YOU SERGEANT, INTERRUPT.
UH, BUT I, WE'D BE HAPPY TO FOLLOW UP TO GIVE YOU MORE OF AN APPLES TO APPLES OF SYSTEM WIDE AND THE LIGHT RAIL ELEMENTS ON A DAILY BASIS.
UH, SO THIS, UH, THIS OPTION ALSO HAS THAT YOU MIGHT NOTE HERE ON, ON THE MAPS, THE OPPORTUNITY TO POTENTIALLY EXTEND A LITTLE BIT FURTHER TO THE NORTH GOING UP TO 45TH STREET OR TO THE SOUTH TO ST.
EDWARDS AND, AND SEEKING FEEDBACK ON THAT VARIABILITY.
AND THE NEXT TWO DIFFER FROM THOSE FIRST THREE THAT WERE ALL TRAVELING THROUGH DOWNTOWN COMPLETELY ON THE STREET.
UM, WITH THESE HAVING SOME ELEMENT OF SEPARATION OF THE LIGHT RAIL FROM THE STREET LEVEL, THIS FIRST ONE BEING ELEVATED FOR A PORTION OF DOWNTOWN FROM EIGHTH STREET TO JUST BEYOND AUDITORIUM SHORES STATION.
AND WITH THAT ELEVATED SEGMENT, UM, WHICH DOES COST MORE THAN BEING ON STREET RESULTS
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IN ENDPOINTS TO THE NORTH AT 29TH STREET, UM, WHICH DIFFERS FROM THE, THE ON STREET VERSION THAT EXTENDS A LITTLE FURTHER FROM THE NORTH AND THEN IS CONSISTENT WITH, UM, OLTORF TO THE SOUTH AND YELLOW JACKET TO THE EAST.AND LASTLY, WE HAVE THE OPTION THAT IS FULLY SEPARATED THROUGH DOWNTOWN FROM MLK OR MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.
BOULEVARD, UH, JUST SOUTH OF THE UT STATION TO BE UNDERGROUND FROM THAT POINT TO EIGHTH STREET WHERE IT WOULD TRANSITION TO BEING ELEVATED WITH THE LIGHT RAIL ON A BRIDGE STRUCTURE ABOVE THE STREET, UH, AND STAYING ELEVATED AGAIN TO JUST BEYOND AUDITORIUM SHORES.
SO THIS ONE WOULD HAVE ONE UNDERGROUND STATION FOR LIGHT RAIL AND TWO ELEVATED STATIONS FOR LIGHT RAIL WITH ENDPOINTS FROM UT TO RIVERSIDE AND YELLOW JACKET.
AND I'LL HAND THIS OFF TO MY COLLEAGUE PETER MELLON TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE CHARACTERISTICS THROUGH DOWNTOWN.
UM, UM, YEAH, SO BECAUSE SOME OF THE OPTIONS THAT WE'RE DISCUSSING HAVE DIFFERENT CONFIGURATIONS RUNNING THROUGH DOWNTOWN, UH, WE THOUGHT IT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO SHOW THE PUBLIC WHAT THAT MIGHT LOOK AND FEEL LIKE.
UM, OBVIOUSLY I THINK, AS JEN MENTIONED, EVERYBODY STARTS THEIR TRANSIT JOURNEY, UM, AS A PEDESTRIAN.
AND SO WE'RE ALWAYS TRYING TO TAKE THIS HOLISTIC VIEW TOWARDS THE DESIGN OF THE TRANSIT SYSTEM AND A USER CENTERED, UH, VIEW OF THOSE JOURNEYS.
SO THIS IS A VIEW OF WHAT THE SURFACE AT THE STREET RUNNING, UM, OPTIONS THROUGH DOWNTOWN MIGHT LOOK LIKE.
UM, THE, THE LIGHT RAIL TRAINS WOULD BE IN THEIR OWN LANES DEDICATED GUIDEWAY IN THE CENTER OF THE STREET.
UM, THERE IS SPACE ON EITHER SIDE OF THE G WAY FOR OTHER MODES, WHETHER THAT'S, UH, GENERAL PURPOSE VEHICLES OR LOCAL ACCESS TO GARAGES AND OTHER SERVICES, UM, OR BIKES AND CERTAINLY PEDESTRIANS.
SO, UM, ALL THOSE DETAILS WOULD BE DEVELOPED IN, UM, FUTURE DESIGN PHASES.
UM, AND ALSO I THINK IT'S WORTH POINTING OUT WOULD BE COORDINATED, UM, WITH THE TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT, UM, WHICH IS CURRENTLY ENGAGED IN AN UPDATE TO THE AUSTIN CORE TRANSPORTATION PLAN, THE, THE ACT.
AND SO WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY WITH THE CHANGES HAPPENING WITH I 35 POTENTIALLY AND, AND WHAT'S HAPPENING HERE TO HAVE A REALLY HOLISTIC VIEW TOWARDS MOBILITY DOWNTOWN.
UH, NEXT, THIS IS ANOTHER VIEW OF THAT STREET RUNNING SYSTEM LOOKING NORTHWEST FROM FOURTH STREET TOWARDS REPUBLIC SQUARE.
UM, AGAIN, YOU CAN GET A SENSE OF THE SCALE OF THE OPERATION IN IN RELATIONSHIP TO SOME OF THE ELEMENTS OF OUR, OF OUR PUBLIC REALM, UM, WHICH I THINK IS AN IMPORTANT CONSIDERATION FOR, FOR THE COMMUNITY TO UNDERSTAND.
UM, NEXT, UM, AND THEN BY COMPARISON, SEEING WHAT THE, WHAT THE ELEVATED STRUCTURE WOULD LOOK LIKE POTENTIALLY.
AGAIN, THIS IS NOT DESIGNED YET, BUT JUST TO GIVE A SENSE OF, OF WHAT THAT WOULD LOOK AND FEEL LIKE.
UM, IN COMPARISON, UM, YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY THE ELEVATED, UH, THE OPTIONS THAT HAVE ELEVATED STRUCTURES THROUGH DOWNTOWN HAVE SOME BENEFITS IN TERMS OF, UM, SPEED AND BEING SEPARATED FROM THE, UH, OTHER MODES ON THE STREET.
UH, BUT OBVIOUSLY THERE ARE, YOU KNOW, VERTICAL CIRCULATIONS FACILITIES, STAIRS, ELEVATORS, ESCALATORS THAT HAVE TO BE ACCOMMODATED TO PROVIDE ACCESS TO THE PLATFORM AND THE STATION, UM, THE ELEVATED STATION AND OBVIOUSLY VISUAL IMPACTS TO BE CONSIDERED, UM, IN THE PUBLIC REALM AS WELL.
NEXT IT'S ANOTHER VIEW LOOKING SOUTH FROM FOURTH STREET DOWN GUADALUPE.
UM, AND AN IDEA ABOUT HOW THE LANDS MIGHT BE CONFIGURED, UM, IN THIS, UH, IN THIS OP IN THESE OPTIONS.
NEXT, UM, IN THE ELEVATED OPTIONS OR THE ELEVATED AND UNDERGROUND, PARTIALLY ELEVATED UNDERGROUND OPTIONS THAT WE'RE, THAT ARE BEING CONSIDERED, UM, THE ELEVATED STRUCTURE WOULD CROSS ON THE WEST SIDE OF DOWNTOWN, UM, ADJACENT IN A NEW BRIDGE ADJACENT TO THE EXISTING SOUTH FIRST STREET BRIDGE.
UM, AND THEN THERE WOULD BE AN ELEVATED STATION, UH, IN AUDITORIUM SHORES PARK, UH, AND THEN CROSS ON AN ELEVATED STRUCTURE CROSS SOUTH FIRST STREET AND THEN MAKE THE TRANSITION TO ON STREET, UM, BETWEEN BARTON SPRINGS ROAD AND SOUTH CONGRESS AVENUE.
SO YOU CAN GET A SENSE OF, OF THE LAYOUT OF THAT AND THE TOP IMAGE.
UM, AND THEN HOW SOME OF THOSE TRANSITIONS AND THE STATIONS WOULD LOOK AND FEEL, UM, SOUTH OF THE RIVER AS WELL.
AND I THINK WE'RE REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO YOUR QUESTIONS AND THE ENSUING DIALOGUE.
I REALLY APPRECIATE THE PRESENTATION AND, UH, KEEPING IT RELATIVELY BRIEF SO WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR Q AND A.
I KNOW SOMETIMES WE TAKE UP SO MANY TOPICS IN MOBILITY COMMITTEE THAT WE RUN OUT OF TIME FOR, UH, COVERING EVERYBODY'S QUESTIONS.
UM, SO THANK YOU GUYS FOR THE PRESENTATION AND, AND Y'ALL'S WORK WITH ALL THIS.
UH, I GUESS MY QUESTION IS THE ORIGINAL PLANS HAD IT FOR THIRD STREET, SO WHY FOURTH STREET NOW? AND, AND, AND IF I COULD JUST ADD A QUICK COMMENT, UH, MY CONCERNS WITH THAT WOULD BE THAT IT WOULD ELIMINATE THE, SOME OF THE ONLY, UH,
[00:25:01]
PROTECTED BIKE LANES THAT WE HAVE IN, IN DOWNTOWN CURRENTLY.ONE WE'VE HEARD BEFORE FROM OTHERS.
UM, SO PREVIOUSLY, YES, THE CROSSING UNDER WHEN WE WERE UNDERGROUND WAS ON FOURTH STREET.
ONE OF THE REASONS WHY, AND WE'VE STUDIED IT BOTH AT FOURTH STREET AND AT THIRD STREET, UM, ONE OF THE ADVANTAGES TO BEING AT THIRD STREET IS THAT, UM, WHEN WE GET TO GUADALUPE, THERE IS A, UM, IT'S A LITTLE BIT FLATTER.
AND SO IN TERMS OF THE, THE REGRADING OF THE SURROUNDING STREETSCAPE TO MAKE THAT TURN ONTO GUADALUPE, THAT IT HAS FEWER IMPACTS IN TERMS OF THE SURROUNDING STREETSCAPE.
SO THERE'S SOME, SOME OPPORTUNITIES THERE THAT WE WANNA TAKE ADVANTAGE OF.
AND THEN IN TERMS OF THE PROTECTED BIKE LANES, ABSOLUTELY, AND THIS IS WHY, AGAIN, I MENTIONED THE, THE COURT TRANSPORTATION PLAN.
UM, YOU KNOW, PART OF THAT PLAN IS ABOUT MAPPING OUT WHERE PROTECTED BIKE CYCLING ROUTE WOULD BE LOCATED DOWNTOWN AND LOCATING THOSE.
SO OBVIOUSLY IF WE'RE IMPACTING THOSE ON THIRD STREET, THERE HAVE TO BE ALTERNATIVE ROUTES THROUGH DOWNTOWN, UM, TO REPLACE THOSE.
SO THAT WOULD BE, YOU KNOW, PART OF THE PLAN OF COURSE.
AND WE ARE SPECIFICALLY LOOKING AT POTENTIALLY RELOCATING THOSE BIKE LANES FROM THIRD STREET TO FOURTH STREET, WHICH COULD ACTUALLY CREATE A, A SEAMLESS SORT OF STRAIGHT CONNECTION TO WHERE THEY COME FROM AT A DOWNTOWN STATION.
UM, THERE, AND THEN I WOULD ADD FROM THE CITY'S PERSPECTIVE, UM, I KNOW THAT WE PRESENTED TO THE BICYCLE ADVISORY COUNCIL RECENTLY AS WELL.
UM, AND THE, THE, UM, THE, UH, THE FACILITY WOULD BE THE SAME IN NATURE CUZ IT, IT IS A, A VERY HIGH LEVEL PROTECTED FACILITY ON THIRD STREET NOW.
AND I THINK THE CONCERN IS WOULD IT BE OF THE SAME QUALITY? AND THE ANSWER WOULD BE YES, SHOULD IT BE MOVED.
UM, ONE LAST, ONE MORE QUESTION AND THEN I WILL LET COUNCIL MEMBER FUCO.
UM, HOW WOULD THE, UH, AT GRAY TURNS IN DOWNTOWN AFFECT THE SPEED OF THE, THE TRAIN, THE RAIL? UH, SO IN THE OPTION THAT HAS THE CROSSING OF LADY BIRD LAKE AT TRINITY, THERE ARE TWO ADDITIONAL TURNS THAT ARE REQUIRED THAT ARE, YOU KNOW, BASICALLY 90 DEGREE TURNS TO GET FROM TRINITY TO THIRD, AND THEN FROM THIRD TO GUADALUPE.
THOSE TURNS DO SLOW DOWN THE SPEED OF THE TRAIN, UH, TO AROUND FIVE MILES AN HOUR.
UM, BUT THEY'RE COMING TO AND FROM STATIONS THAT THEY ARE GOING TO BE STOPPING AT AS WELL.
SO THERE, THERE IS, UH, AN IMPACT, BUT ALSO THEY, THEY AREN'T GOING VERY QUICKLY TO BEGIN WITH COMING INTO AND OUT OF THE STATIONS THAT ARE LOCATED ON TRINITY AND ON THIRD NEAR CONGRESS.
AND I WILL JUST POINT OUT THAT COUNCIL MEMBER HARPER MADISON HAD JUMPED ON REMOTELY AT THE VERY BEGINNING OF YOUR PRESENTATION.
YOU JUST COULDN'T SEE HER JOIN.
DID YOU HAVE QUESTIONS? YES, THANK YOU.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRESENTATION.
UM, I LIKE MANY, I I'M, I'M EXCITED TO SEE THE PROJECT MOVE FORWARD AND THAT WE'RE HAVING THE CONVERSATIONS OF WHAT THE FIRST PHASE WILL LOOK LIKE.
I KNOW THAT WE, UM, HAVE A MISSION TO DELIVER THROUGH OUR AUSTIN COMMUNITY, WHICH HAS OVERWHELMINGLY SUPPORTED, UH, THIS, THIS, UM, THIS PROJECT.
UM, BUT LIKE MANY, WHEN I SAW THESE SCENARIOS, I CERTAINLY FELT, UH, UM, YOU KNOW, DISAPPOINTED THAT WE COULDN'T DO MORE WITHIN OUR, YOU KNOW, THE, THE BUDGET THAT WE HAVE.
BUT I CERTAINLY, AND IT SOUNDS LIKE THE MAJORITY OF OUR COMMUNITY ALSO UNDERSTANDS THAT THIS IS JUST THE FIRST PHASE, UH, THE FIRST PART OF WHAT WILL BE IMPLEMENTED AS PART OF PROJECT CONNECT.
UM, ONE OF THE QUESTIONS I HAD, AND I WANNA SEE IF YOU COULD SPEAK TO IT A LITTLE BIT MORE, IS UNDERSTANDING THE DIFFERENCES OF LIKE, HOW, WHAT SHOULD BE THE LENS THAT WE CONSIDER WITH THE DIFFERENT SCENARIOS BETWEEN AT GRADE VERSUS ELEVATION, THE ELEVATED RAILS.
UM, YOU MENTIONED THAT YOU, WELL ACTUALLY THAT IS ONE OF MY QUESTIONS IS CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE FEEDBACK YOU RECEIVED FROM THE COMMUNITY ON THE DIFFERENCES OF WHAT WE WOULD, OF WHAT WE HOPE TO SEE BETWEEN AT GRADE OR ELEVATED? UH, AND ALSO JUST LOOKING AT OTHER RAIL SYSTEMS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY AND, AND, AND KNOWING BEST PRACTICES, YOU KNOW, SHOULD WE INVEST TO HAVE THE ELEVATED RAIL PORTION, PARTICULARLY IN DOWNTOWN GIVEN, YOU KNOW, THE SAFETY CONCERNS AND, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE IN AND OUT.
UH, I JUST WANTED YOU TO SPEAK ON, ON THOSE TWO ELEMENTS.
UH, SO WE WOULD SAY THAT ALL OF THESE OPTIONS ARE, ARE VIABLE, BOTH ELEVATED AND, AND ON THE STREET.
UM, THEIR, THEIR IMPACTS RESULT IN COVERAGE IMPLICATIONS AND, AND HOW FAR THE EXTENTS CAN BE AS, AS ELEVATED IS MORE EXPENSIVE THAN ON STREET.
AND THERE ARE DIFFERENCES TO THE OPERATION.
UH, I WOULD SAY, I THINK YOU MENTIONED KIND OF WHAT IS THE, THE CRITERIA OF COMPARING THESE, UH, YOU KNOW, OUR, OUR CRITERIA OR OUR GOAL IS THAT WE WANT A SYSTEM THAT PEOPLE WANT TO RIDE, A SYSTEM THAT PEOPLE WANT TO USE.
AND THERE ARE A LOT OF DIFFERENT THINGS
[00:30:01]
THAT FEED WHAT MAKES PEOPLE WANT TO USE, UM, TRANSIT IN GENERAL, BUT, BUT SPECIFICALLY LIGHT RAIL.AND SOME OF THAT IS, UH, YOU KNOW, THE RELIABILITY OF THE TRIP, HOW FAST THE TRIP IS AS IT COMPARES TO OTHER MODES, BUT IT'S ALSO HOW EASILY THEY CAN ACCESS IT AND, AND HOW VISIBLE IT IS TO THEM AND WHAT EXPERIENCE IT CREATES.
SO WE HAVE RECEIVED, I WOULD SAY VERY MIXED FEEDBACK ON ELEVATED FROM OUR COMMUNITY, WHERE SOME ARE VERY CONCERNED ABOUT THE VISUAL IMPACTS OF BEING ELEVATED THROUGH DOWNTOWN, UM, AND OTHERS PRIORITIZE THE, THE BENEFIT THAT IT BRINGS IN TERMS OF ELIMINATING CONFLICTS WITH ANY OTHER MODES AND, AND CONFLICTS WITH INTERSECTIONS THERE FROM EIGHTH STREET.
UM, PRIMARILY TO, TO CESAR CHAVEZ IS THE AREA WHERE IT KIND OF PROVIDES THAT VALUE OF, OF ELIMINATING THOSE, UM, CONFLICTS WITH INTERSECTIONS.
THE, THE BENEFIT OF BEING SORT OF FULLY GRADE SEPARATED OR, OR NOT, UM, IN TERMS OF BEING ELEVATED WITH THE LIGHT RAIL VERSUS AT THE STREET LEVEL IS SOMEWHAT LIMITED BY HOW LONG THAT SEGMENT IS.
SO IT'S A FAIRLY SHORT SEGMENT.
IT, IT DOESN'T CREATE A LARGE DIFFERENCE IN TRAVEL TIME, BUT IT DOES MAKE THE TRAIN, YOU KNOW, MOVE A LITTLE BIT FASTER.
IT, IT'S JUST A SHORT AREA THAT IT PROVIDES THAT BENEFIT FOR.
UH, BUT REALLY ACROSS THE US AND THE WORLD FOR THAT MATTER, LIGHT RAIL IS OPERATED SAFELY, BOTH IN GRADE SEPARATED ENVIRONMENTS WHERE IT IS NOT AT THE STREET LEVEL AND WHERE IT IS AT THE STREET LEVEL.
THERE ARE ARE MANY CITIES IN THE US UM, THAT HAVE ON STREET LIGHT RAIL, INCLUDING THROUGH DOWNTOWN ENVIRONMENTS.
UM, SALT LAKE CITY, MINNEAPOLIS, PHOENIX, SAN DIEGO.
UM, I, I COULD PROBABLY THINK THROUGH SOME MORE.
UH, SEATTLE, DENVER, THERE'S, THERE'S SEVERAL AND, AND THERE ARE TRADE-OFFS TO THAT, BUT WE BELIEVE BOTH OPTIONS ARE, ARE ABSOLUTELY VIABLE AND, AND REALLY LOOKING AT AND OF THE FEEDBACK WE GET FROM THE COMMUNITY ON, ON WHAT PEOPLE VALUE AS WELL FOR THAT WRITER EXPERIENCE.
I HAVE A LITTLE BIT TO ADD TO THAT BECAUSE HE'S RIGHT.
THIS IS ESSENTIALLY GOING TO BE A DISCUSSION OF TRADE-OFFS AND I THINK ALL THE CITIES THAT HAVE BUILT WHETHER, UM, AT GRADE OR ELEVATED AND THEY CAN BE DESIGNED WELL.
UH, AND THAT CAN ELIMINATE VISUAL IMPACT, THAT CAN TAKE AWAY VISIBILITY OF THE SYSTEM.
ALL OF THOSE TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION, I THINK IT HAS COST, COST ASSOCIATED WITH IT.
WITH, UM, ANY GRADE SEPARATED OPTIONS, I THINK WHAT IT REALLY BOILS DOWN TO, AND IF I MAY SAY THIS, IS THAT WHAT EXACTLY THIS CORE SYSTEM, THE LINE THAT'S GOING TO BE PERFORMING IN THE GREATER TRANSIT NETWORK, UM, AUSTIN IS GROWING IN SOME OF THE CITIES, UH, LIGHT TRAIL CAME IN AS A SUPPLEMENT TO THEIR SUBWAY SYSTEM TO THEIR OTHER LINES.
FOR AUSTIN, IT'S THE FIRST MAJOR HIGH CAPACITY LINE.
AND AS SOMEONE WHO JOINED CABINET TRAIL PRETTY LATE WHEN LIGHT TRAIL WAS OR UH, THE UH, RED LINE WAS ALREADY IN EXISTENCE, WE REALIZED A LOT FROM, UM, THAT LEFT DESIRED
IT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE DIFFERENTLY, IT WAS BUILT AT A DIFFERENT TIME.
SO I THINK FUNCTION OF TIME AND SPACE AND WHAT WE ARE THIS IS GETTING BUILT FOR HAS ALSO, UM, A FACTOR IN THIS, IT IT, IT HAS AN IMPACT IN THIS.
CAUSE I WAS TRYING TO UNDERSTAND WHAT, YOU KNOW, THE UNDERSTANDING THE DIFFERENCES IN COSTS AND PERHAPS JUST TRYING TO GET A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE RATIONALE.
CUZ THERE ARE VERY FEW OF THE SCENARIOS JUST HAVE LITTLE TINY PIECES OF ELEVATED PORTIONS OF THE RAIL.
SO I WANNA BE ABLE TO SPEAK TO THAT WITH MY COMMUNITY.
UM, THE OTHER QUESTION I HAVE, UM, IS, ARE YOU AT LIBERTY TO GIVE US A PREVIEW OF WHICH SCENARIO IS KIND OF BEING FAVORED BY THE COMMUNITY WITH THE FEEDBACK THAT HAS BEEN PROVIDED TO THIS POINT? UH, I, THE, THE COMPLETELY HONEST ANSWER IS FEEDBACK IS, IS VERY MIXED.
UM, THERE ARE, UM, YOU KNOW, PROS AND CONS THAT I WOULD SAY OUR, OUR COMMUNITY'S VERY WELL INFORMED.
THEY, THEY REALLY ARE UNDERSTANDING THE NATURE OF, OF THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN OPTIONS AND, AND ARE FEEDING THAT BACK TO US OF, OF REALLY NOTING, I LIKE THIS ABOUT THIS ONE, BUT I DON'T LIKE THIS ABOUT THIS ONE.
AND IT'S, IT'S FAIRLY SPLIT, UM, ACROSS THE OPTIONS.
YOU KNOW, WHEN IT COMES TO THE AIRPORT, UM, WE, WE HEAR NEARLY AS MANY COMMENTS THAT WE ABSOLUTELY NEED TO REACH THE AIRPORT IN THIS FIRST PHASE AS WE DO, UH, COMMENTS THAT, THAT THAT SHOULD NOT BE THE FIRST PRIORITY.
AND, AND SO IT IS, IT IS MIXED.
UM, I THINK THE, THERE'S ALSO A RECOGNITION OF THE COMPLEXITY OF,
[00:35:01]
OF, OF THE, THE CHALLENGE AND KIND OF HOW HARD THAT QUESTION IS TO ANSWER.AND A, UM, YOU KNOW, SOMEWHAT OF A, A SYMPATHY OF OF BEING ABLE TO WEIGH ALL OF THESE DIFFERENT TRADE OFFS.
AND, AND SO AT, AT THE END OF THE DAY, I WOULDN'T SAY THAT THERE IS ONE EMERGING OPTION.
I WOULD SAY THAT WE WILL BE TAKING ALL OF THIS FEEDBACK ON PARTICULAR PREFERENCES AND, UM, NOT SO MUCH ON SORT OF OPTION ONE VERSUS TWO VERSUS THREE OR FOUR, BUT THE ELEMENTS THAT PEOPLE RESPOND TO WITHIN THAT OPTION OF WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO THEM AND WHAT MATTERS AND HOW THAT OPTION DOES OR DOESN'T SERVE, WHAT MATTERS TO THEM.
AND BRINGING ALL OF THAT BACK TOGETHER WITH THE CRITERIA THAT JEN MENTIONED, UM, OF, OF COMMUNITY VALUES OF OUR FEDERAL FUNDING, SORT OF INVESTABILITY OF THE PROJECT, UM, AND, AND BRINGING ALL OF THAT TOGETHER TO BALANCE AND WEIGH THOSE TRADE OFFS.
AND MY LAST QUESTION IS, UH, YOU KNOW, TALKING ABOUT, UM, OUTREACH AND YOUR STRATEGIES TO ENSURE THE OPEN HOUSE WAS A HUGE HIT.
I LOVE SEEING IT, YOU KNOW, THE LIBRARY PACT, UM, WITH FOLKS WHO ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT TRANSIT AND, AND, AND OF COURSE OUR RIDER AS WELL.
BUT HOW ARE WE ENSURING THAT WE ARE GOING ALL THROUGHOUT OUR CITY TO ENSURE, ESPECIALLY SINCE WE WANNA ENCOURAGE MODE SHIFT, UH, MODE, BEHAVIOR CHANGE, UM, CAN YOU TALK US THROUGH WHAT ARE SOME OF THOSE STRATEGIES MOVING FORWARD? YEP.
SO, UM, IT'S A GREAT QUESTION.
I THINK, UH, YOU KNOW, FIRST AND FOREMOST WE'RE TRYING TO GO TO PEOPLE WHERE THEY ARE, RIGHT? ATTENDING EXISTING NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION MEETINGS, UM, YOU KNOW, MEETING PEOPLE, MAKING IT EASY FOR MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY TO LEARN ABOUT THE OPTIONS AND THE ISSUES AT HAND.
UM, NOT FORCING THEM TO COME TO US AND ALSO MAKING SURE THAT WE ARE, UM, TALKING TO A REPRESENTATIVE, UH, GROUP OF PEOPLE WITHIN OUR COMMUNITY, RIGHT? IT'S NOT JUST THE, SORRY IF I OFFEND ANYBODY, IT'S NOT JUST THE TRANSIT NERDS THAT WE NEED TO TALK TO, RIGHT? WE NEED TO TALK TO THE, YOU KNOW, EVERYDAY NORMAL OFF NIGHTS, RIGHT? SO, UM, SO WE'RE, WE'RE WORKING REALLY HARD TO TRY TO REACH, UM, THOSE MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY WHERE THEY ARE.
I WOULD ALSO ADD THAT ONE OF THE STRATEGIES THAT I THOUGHT WAS BRILLIANT IS WE'RE DOING A LOT OF, UM, UM, AT BUS STOP CONVERSATIONS.
AND SO WE'VE GOT, UM, FOLKS, STAFF SIGNED UP FROM, UM, THE THREE AGENCIES AS A PARTNERSHIP, UM, TO GO OUT TO BUS STOPS AND, AND TALK TO PEOPLE WHERE THEY ARE, YOU KNOW, ACTUALLY THINKING ABOUT TRANSIT, WAITING FOR TRANSIT.
UM, AND I'M SURE THAT A LOT OF THAT IS GOING, GOING ON IN YOUR DISTRICT AS WELL, SO, GREAT.
UM, AND THAT'S, THANK YOU FOR MENTIONING THAT.
CAUSE I THINK THAT'S EXACTLY THE TYPE OF OUTREACH THAT WE NEED, YOU KNOW, GOING INTO THE COMMUNITIES, THINK OF OUR LAUNDRY MATS OR COFFEE SHOPS, YOU KNOW, POINTS OF INTEREST WHERE OUR COMMUNITY MEMBERS ARE, ARE AT.
I DON'T THINK TRANSIT NERD IS AN INSULT.
I THINK, I THINK THEY'D BE VERY, THEY'D BE VERY HAPPY TO BE CALLED TRANSIT NERDS, BUT I MIGHT BE WRONG.
UM, I HAVE A COUPLE QUESTIONS AND I SEE COUNCIL MEMBER ALLISON ALTER ALSO HAS HER HAND UP, SO I'LL TAKE IT TO HER NEXT.
UM, IN THE SCENARIOS THAT EITHER GO TO PLEASANT VALLEY OR YELLOW JACKET, IS THERE CONVERSATION HAPPENING WITH THE AIRPORT ABOUT, UM, SHUTTLING OR CIRCULATORS OR WAYS TO MAKE SURE THAT WHEN PEOPLE ARE FLYING INTO AUSTIN THAT THEY DON'T HAVE TO GET IN A CAR IF THAT'S NOT THEIR FIRST CHOICE? ARE THOSE CONVERSATIONS TAKING PLACE AT THIS STAGE? UH, I'LL, I'LL TAKE THAT ONE.
WE ARE HIGHLY COORDINATED, UM, WITHIN THE CITY WITH THE AIRPORT EXPANSION.
UM, SO THE PROJECT CONNECT OFFICE, UM, AND THE AIRPORT EXPANSION TEAM ARE, ARE TALKING A LOT ABOUT WHAT THESE OPTIONS MEAN TO, UM, ACCESS TO THE AIRPORT.
THE CONVERSATION IS STILL EVOLVING.
I COULDN'T HAVE ANYTHING CONCRETE.
UM, BUT THERE ARE A LOT OF IDEAS OUT THERE.
THERE'S NO DUMB IDEA AT THIS POINT ON HOW WE MIGHT IMPROVE UPON, UM, EXACTLY WHAT YOU SAID, YOU KNOW, WHAT, WHAT COULD WE DO IN THE INTERIM BASED ON THE SITUATION THAT WE'RE IN AND WHAT WE END UP BUILDING, WHETHER IT GOES THERE OR NOT.
SO, UH, IN CLOSE CONTACT AND WE'LL BE REPORTING OUT ON THAT AS WE KNOW.
THINGS I APPRECIATE THAT I THINK ABOUT WHEN I'VE TRAVELED TO OTHER CITIES AND IT'S JUST REALLY SMOOTH AND EASY TO FIGURE OUT HOW YOU'RE GOING TO GET TO THE DOWNTOWN AREA.
BUT THAT BEING SAID, I WANNA BE MINDFUL THAT THE FOLKS WHO ARE PAYING FOR THIS PROJECT, UH, ARE ARE THE FOLKS WHO ARE LIVE, WORK, PLAY HERE IN AUSTIN ALL THE TIME.
AND I WANNA BE MINDFUL OF THE NEEDS OF THE COMMUNITY AND NOT ONLY ALLEVIATING TRAFFIC CONGESTION FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE, YOU KNOW, TOURISTS HERE WHO ARE HERE FOR A WEEKEND OR HERE FOR A WEEK.
UM, AND ALSO WANTING TO BALANCE THE NEEDS OF THE PEOPLE WHO WILL USE IT EVERY DAY.
AND WE'LL REALLY PARTICIPATE IN THAT MODE SHIFT GOAL OVER THE YEARS BY DECIDING TO TRY A COUPLE
[00:40:01]
DIFFERENT TRANSIT OPTIONS.UM, AS FAR AS THE SERVICE CENTER LOCATIONS GO, WHAT KIND OF, UH, CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE MAINTENANCE YARDS ARE, IS ONE BETTER THAN THE OTHER? ARE THEY BOTH WORKABLE? WHAT CONSIDERATIONS MIGHT PEOPLE WANNA TAKE INTO ACCOUNT WHEN WE'RE LOOKING AT, YOU KNOW, A, A GREEN DOT OVER BY PLEASANT VALLEY OR YELLOW JACKET VERSUS THE GREEN DOT UP ON THE NORTH LAMAR TRANSIT CENTER? UH, THEY ARE BOTH VIABLE, THEY'RE BOTH FEASIBLE LOCATIONS.
WE CAN MEET, UM, ALL OF THE NECESSARY FUNCTIONS IN AND UM, IN EACH SPACE.
SO SOME CONSIDERATIONS THESE FACILITIES ARE, ARE CHALLENGING TO LOCATE PARTIALLY BECAUSE OF THE SIZE OF THEM, UM, YOU KNOW, AROUND 35 TO 40 ACRES.
IT'S, IT'S NOT SOMETHING EASY TO FIND SORT OF NEAR THE, THE CORE OF DOWNTOWN.
AND, AND SO THAT'S ONE KEY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE OPTIONS OF, UH, YOU KNOW, REALLY FOUR OF THE OPTIONS SINCE THEY DO NOT REACH NORTH LAMAR TRANSIT CENTER REQUIRE A MAINTENANCE FACILITY THERE AT THE AIRPORT COMMERCE LOCATION AS OPPOSED TO THE OTHER NORTH LAMAR TRANSIT CENTER.
UM, THERE ARE SOME DIFFERENT, UM, CONSIDERATIONS IN TERMS OF THE SITE DEVELOPMENT AND, YOU KNOW, UTILITY CONFLICTS OR, UM, DIFFERENT COST DRIVERS.
SO THEY, THEY DO HAVE SOME DIFFERENCES IN COST, UH, BUT THERE ARE, THERE'S NO REASON THAT NI EITHER ONE COULD NOT BE IMPLEMENTED.
WE ARE WORKING WITH TEXT DOT AUSTIN DISTRICT AS WELL IN TERMS OF THE SITE TO THE NORTH, UM, AND, AND HOW IT WOULD NEED TO CROSS NORTH LAMAR AND HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT DESIGN CRITERIA AND, AND WAYS TO MAKE THAT WORK.
UM, AUSTIN DISTRICT STAFF HAVE, HAVE BEEN GREAT IN PARTNERING WITH US ON THAT, BUT WOULD ACKNOWLEDGE THAT, YOU KNOW, WE WOULD STILL ULTIMATELY NEED TO GET CLEARANCE FROM THE ADMINISTRATION WHO MANAGES THE DISTRICT LEVEL, UM, AS WE ADVANCE THE PROJECT.
SO THERE IS STATE RIGHT OF WAY INVOLVED IN MAKING THE CONNECTION TO THE MAINTENANCE FACILITY IN THE SITE TO THE NORTH.
UM, AND ARE THE OPTIONS PRESENTED TO US SET IN STONE, UM, IS THERE ANY WAY TO WIGGLE IF WE WANTED A LITTLE FURTHER EAST IN ONE OR A LITTLE FURTHER NORTH OR SOUTH IN ANOTHER? IS THERE A WAY TO BUILD IN THAT FLEXIBILITY OR FOR US AS THE ULTIMATE DECISION MAKERS TO BE ABLE TO WEIGH IN ON, UM, REALLY CRUNCHING THOSE NUMBERS AND SAYING IF THIS IS REALLY WHERE PEOPLE ARE VOICING THEIR OPINION AND THEIR PREFERENCE, IS THERE A WAY TO TWEAK ANY OF THEM? AS FAR AS THE, THE STATIONS, I WOULD SAY WE'RE OPEN TO FEEDBACK, YOU KNOW, THAT'S WHY WE'RE HERE AND WE'RE INTERESTED IN, IN UNDERSTANDING WHAT'S IMPORTANT, WHAT ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT CONNECTIONS WE NEED TO MAKE, UH, AND THE OTHER GOALS WE WE NEED TO ACHIEVE WITH THIS PROJECT.
SO WE'LL HAVE TO KEEP IN MIND, YOU KNOW, IF THERE'S ANY, YOU KNOW, TWEAKING.
UH, WE JUST HAVE TO KEEP IN MIND THAT WE'RE, WE'RE MEETING SOME OF THE CONSTRAINTS WE HAVE, WHETHER THEY'RE BUDGET WISE OR WITH REGARD TO THE FTA FACTORS, UH, AND THE ENGINEERING FEASIBILITY.
UM, BUT AGAIN, WE'RE, WE'RE HERE TO REALLY LISTEN AT THIS POINT AND UNDERSTAND, YOU KNOW, WHAT PEOPLE ARE THINKING ABOUT THESE OPTIONS.
AND, AND I WOULD ADD JUST, UH, YOU KNOW, FROM A PLANNING PERSPECTIVE, WHEN WE DO SCENARIO PLANNING, THAT'S, THAT'S THE ENTIRE POINT.
NO ONE SCENARIO IS MEANT TO BE THE END ALL BE ALL.
UM, IT'S MEANT TO SHOW THE TRADE OFFS BETWEEN OPTIONS AND GET FEEDBACK AND THEN, YOU KNOW, MAYBE YOU END UP WITH A SCENARIO EXACTLY THE WAY IT WAS SHOWN.
BUT IN THE CASE OF THE ASMP, WE ENDED UP WITH A NEW SCENARIO BASED ON THE FEEDBACK, BUT WE HAD THREE SCENARIOS, A, B, AND C.
UM, SO THE NATURE OF SCENARIO PLANNING IS MEANT TO RESPOND, UM, EXACTLY THE WAY YOU'VE EXPLAINED.
AND THAT BRINGS UP A GOOD POINT.
I KNOW THERE'S BEEN SOME DISCUSSION ABOUT THE PERCENTAGE OF CONTINGENCY FUND.
UM, DO ANY OF THESE PROVIDE MORE FLEXIBILITY WHERE WE WOULDN'T NEED TO HAVE 40% CONTINGENCY? CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT ASPECT OF THE, THE BUDGETING? SO ALL OF THESE OPTIONS ASSUME THE SAME LEVEL OF CONTINGENCY, WHICH IS RELATED TO FTA GUIDANCE, UM, AND, AND STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES FOR THE STAGE OF PROJECT THAT WE ARE WITHIN.
UH, SO WE ARE ARE FOLLOWING THOSE STANDARD GUIDELINES AND, AND ALSO IS, UM, COMMON TO WHAT THEY HAVE REQUIRED.
IN TERMS OF OTHER RECENT PROJECTS RECEIVING FEDERAL FUNDING.
UH, YOU KNOW, WE ARE NOT THE ONLY ONES ACROSS THE COUNTRY EXPERIENCING, UM, YOU KNOW, INFLATION AND, AND OTHER REASONS FOR COST INCREASE.
AND AS OUR FEDERAL PARTNERS ARE INVESTING IN OTHER PROJECTS, THEY'RE SEEING SIMILAR INCREASES IN OTHER PLACES AND, AND REQUIRING HIGHER CONTINGENCIES IN OTHER PROJECTS TO ACCOUNT FOR THOSE SAME OCCURRENCES.
UH, SO I WOULD NOT REALLY SAY THERE'S A, A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE OPTIONS IN THAT REGARD.
UM, THE CONTINGENCY VALUE DOES DECREASE
[00:45:01]
AS WE DEVELOP THE PROJECT OVER TIME.SO IT, YOU KNOW, WHILE WE MAY BE AT 40% NOW, IT, IT SLOWLY MOVES DOWN AS WE START TO KNOW MORE OF THE UNKNOWNS, UM, AND, AND REALLY UNDERSTAND THE RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH, WITH EACH, UM, PROJECT ELEMENT.
AS WE DESIGN MORE OF IT, HOWEVER, IT'S NOT REALLY RELEASING THE CONTINGENCY.
THE, THE CONTINGENCY IS BASICALLY GETTING ASSIGNED TO A COST THAT IS NOW KNOWN.
SO IF WE KNOW THERE ARE GREATER UTILITY CONFLICTS OR SOMETHING AS WE DESIGN MORE AND DO MORE INVESTIGATION THAN THAT CONTINGENCY NUMBER COMES DOWN BECAUSE WE NOW KNOW THERE'S AN ACTUAL COST ASSOCIATED WITH THAT RISK ITEM.
UH, BUT WE WILL CONTINUE TO VERY, VERY CLOSELY LOOK AT SORT OF BALANCING THOSE RISKS AND, AND OUR FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY TO, UM, MANAGE THAT LEVEL OF CONTINGENCY HELD AS WE ADVANCE THE PROJECT.
AND SO IF WE APPLY FOR A FEDERAL MATCH WITH THAT LEVEL OF CONTINGENCY, AND LET'S SAY COST GOES DOWN OR SOME PLOT OF LAND IS CHEAPER THAN WE THINK IT'S GONNA BE, I KNOW THAT HAPPENS A LOT.
UM, JUST KIDDING,
IS THAT ON THE TABLE? WELL, AND I THINK THAT'S ONE WAY WE CAN THINK ABOUT IT IS, UM, YOU KNOW, KIND OF WHAT OUR PRIORITIES ARE FOR THE NEXT PHASE AND CERTAINLY AS WE'RE IMPLEMENTING THE FIRST, UM, IF WE ARE COMING IN UNDER BUDGET, UM, THAT'S ONE IT WOULD HELP TO ACCELERATE, YOU KNOW, ANY, YOU KNOW, CONTINUING OR, OR FOLLOW ON WORK.
UM, SO, SO I THINK YES IS IS THE RESPONSE, BUT, UM, DID I ANSWER ALL THE QUESTIONS? I FELT LIKE A, I I THINK SO.
AND I'VE, I'VE GOT A COUPLE OTHERS THAT I MIGHT CIRCLE BACK ON, BUT I KNOW COUNCIL MEMBER ALLISON ALTER HAD HER HAND UP AND I DON'T WANNA TAKE ALL THE QUESTIONS THAT EVERYBODY'S ASKING AND THEN I'LL SEE IF COUNCIL MEMBER KELLY OR HARPER MADISON HAVE QUESTIONS AFTER THAT.
AND YOU DID ASK A COUPLE MY QUESTIONS SO THAT THAT'S GOOD.
I FIGURED YOU HAD SOME BUDGETING QUESTIONS.
UM, I WANTED TO GO BACK TO THE EARLY STATEMENT THAT MS. MUJI MADE ABOUT HOW WE'RE DOING RELATIVE TO OTHER CITIES AND GETTING BACK, UM, A RIDERSHIP.
CAN YOU, UM, MAYBE REPEAT THAT AND AND ELABORATE A LITTLE BIT? UM, CUZ I THINK THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE HEAR AS A HESITATION ON THIS PROCESS AND SO I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT CONTEXT FOR US TO MAKE SURE EVERYONE'S AWARE OF AND I KNOW I'D LIKE TO HEAR MORE.
UM, SO, UH, WE ARE, UM, SINCE MARCH OF 2022 TO MARCH OF 2023, AS OF, UM, AS AN END OF LAST MONTH, WE ARE MAKING, UH, WE ARE PROVIDING 22.3 MILLION TRIPS ANNUALLY AND WE ARE AT 73%, UM, OF OUR PRE COVID RIDERSHIP HAS BEEN RECOVERED ALREADY, WHICH IS FAR HIGHER AND, UM, GREATLY OUTPACING MANY OF OUR PEERS.
IT'S GREAT FOR, FOR THE PROJECT.
IT IS, IT IS GREAT THAT WE ARE STARTING WITH A STRONG BASELINE OF RIDERSHIP, BUT IT ALSO MEANS THAT WE NEED TO PLAN TO ACCOMMODATE THAT RIDERSHIP.
UM, IN TERMS OF OUR, UM, SOME OF OUR ROUTES AS I MENTIONED, HAVE, UM, HIGHER RIDERSHIP.
OUR 8 0 1, UM, HAS THE HIGHEST RIDERSHIP IN OUR SYSTEM AND, UM, THE GROWTH IN RIDERSHIP SINCE COVID HAS BEEN CONSISTENT.
THERE'S NOT A LOT OF FLUCTUATIONS IN IT.
WE WERE IN 2021, WE WERE AT UM, 16.9 MILLION ANNUAL ANNUAL TRIPS IN 2022.
WE WERE AT 19.8 AND THOSE ARE CALENDAR YEARS I'M TALKING ABOUT.
AND IF YOU CONTROL FOR MONTHS, WHICH IS AN IMPORTANT FACTOR IN THIS SPECIFICALLY BECAUSE WE'RE COMING OUT OF COVID EVERY MONTH, OUR TRAVEL PATTERNS ARE CHANGING AND WE ARE MONITORING IT CLOSELY AND ALL OF THIS INFORMATION ARE GOING TO BE PUBLIC THROUGH OUR DATA ANALYTICS DASHBOARD.
WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF TESTING IT RIGHT NOW.
AND THEN YOU WOULD BE ABLE TO JUST PULL IT UP AND REVIEW BY ROUTE YOURSELF.
SO, WHICH I THINK WOULD BE A GREAT, UM, SORT OF TRANSPARENCY, UM, OUTCOME FOR DECISION MAKERS AS WELL.
AND SO THOSE, FOR THOSE OF US WHO ARE NOT FOLLOWING CLOSELY EVERY OTHER CITY'S TRANSIT NUMBERS, WHAT PERCENTAGE ARE THEY AT? I KNOW I THINK LIKE NEW YORK WAS LIKE A, I MEAN IT WAS WAY LESS THAN THAT, BUT, SO OTHER THAN THAT I DON'T
I WOULD, UM, I WOULD UM, HESITATE TO GIVE
[00:50:01]
PARALLELS, UM, BETWEEN NEW YORK AND AUSTIN FOR VERY MANY DIFFERENT REASONS.UM, BUT I WOULD SAY MANY OF OUR P CITIES THAT RIDERSHIP ARE AT LOWER, UM, LATE FIFTIES AND SIXTIES AND THAT'S A COMPARISON WE'VE MADE AND WE CAN SPEAK TO THAT CONFIDENTLY.
AND, UM, IN TERMS OF OUR LARGER SYSTEM, UM, SOME OF THE BAY AREA COMMUNITIES ARE STRUGGLING WITH RIDERSHIP.
I KNOW THAT IT'S, UM, I DON'T HAVE NUMBERS TO SHARE, BUT IT'S VERY GOOD SORT OF TRIGGER FOR ME US TO GO BACK AND COMPARE THAT WITH, WITH AUSTIN IF YOU, IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN THAT.
AND I THINK IT WOULD BE HELPFUL ALSO NOT JUST TO LOOK AT PERCENTAGES BECAUSE MAYBE OUR PERCENTAGE IS HIGH, BUT OUR NUMBERS ARE STILL FAIRLY LOW.
SO OUR, OUR NUMBERS AND OUR PERCENTAGES ARE BOTH HIGH FOR OUR COMMUNITY, OUR SIZE.
IT ALSO SHOWS PRECIPITOUS GROWTH IN POPULATION AND EMPLOYMENT AND IT'S BEEN FAIRLY CONSISTENT.
SO COMPARING OUR GROWTH AND OUR RIDERSHIP, THEY ARE FAIRLY CONSISTENT.
UH, COMPARED TO OTHER LARGE CITIES THAT HAVE FAR HIGHER TRANSIT SORT OF ACCOMMODATIONS AND INFRASTRUCTURE, I DON'T THINK IT'S QUITE A FAIR COMPARISON BECAUSE IT, THEIR TRIP DISTRIBUTIONS ARE VERY DIFFERENT, BUT WE ARE HAPPY TO SHARE SOME OF THOSE, UM, INFORMATION WITH YOU.
THAT, THAT WOULD BE, THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL CUZ WE ARE GETTING SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT.
UM, WHEN THIS, YOU KNOW, WHEN, WHEN WE PICK WHICH OF THE SCENARIOS OR, OR A VERSION OF THE SCENARIOS, UM, THAT GETS SMASHED TOGETHER AT THE END, UM, I'M ASSUMING THAT WE WILL ALSO REVISIT OUR BUS NETWORK TO ACCOMMODATE WHAT WE DIDN'T DO.
CAN YOU SPEAK A LITTLE BIT TO HOW THAT WILL HAPPEN? YES.
SO THERE'S A PROCESS, UM, FOR, FOR THAT IN IN, IN THE TRANSIT WORLD AND TRANSIT NERDS WOULD CALL IT BACKGROUND BUS NETWORK THAT WE WOULD, UM, PLAN FOR, UM, MULTIPLE TIMES, I WOULD SAY TWO OR THREE TIMES, UM, DURING THIS NEW STARTS PROCESS WHEN THE LIGHT TRAIL IS IN PROJECT DEVELOPMENT AND BEYOND.
BUT IN THE END, FUNCTIONALLY THE, WE WOULD, WE WOULD HAVE THE BUS SYSTEM THAT WE HAVE, WE WOULD WORK IT SO IT SERVES THE LIGHT TRAIL LINE.
AND KEEP IN MIND THAT'S PROBABLY ONE OF THE REASONS I KEPT MENTIONING THAT THIS IS OUR TRANSIT SPINE.
THIS IS A TRANSIT WORKHORSE THAT NEEDS TO FEED, COLLECT, AND DISTRIBUTE TO REST OF OUR NETWORK BECAUSE WE WOULD BE REPROGRAMMING SOME OF OUR OPERATIONAL RESOURCES TO OTHER AREAS THAT COULD THEN FEED THE LINE.
SO, UM, NONE OF THE SPINE IS IN MY DISTRICT OR REALLY TOUCHES NEAR IT EXCEPT MAYBE TWO BLOCKS AWAY OR SO.
UM, AND ONE OF THE THINGS WE TALKED ABOUT WHEN WE PUT TOGETHER THIS SYSTEM WAS HOW DO WE CONNECT, YOU KNOW, EAST AND WEST TO THE SPINE.
UM, BUT I'M NOT HEARING ANY CONVERSATIONS ABOUT THE PARK AND RIDE OPPORTUNITIES OR HOW WE'RE MAKING THOSE EASTWEST CONNECTIONS INTO THE SPINE HAPPEN.
UM, YOU KNOW, THERE ARE SCENARIOS WHEN YOU, YOU TAKE AWAY THESE LANES AND YOU, YOU, YOU DO THESE OTHER THINGS THAT FOLKS WHO DON'T REALLY HAVE ACCESS TO THAT SPINE, IF YOU DON'T PLAN FOR IT, THEY GET SHUT OUT OF, OF COMING DOWNTOWN WITHOUT HAVING TO PAY REALLY HIGH PARKING PRICES OR, OR OTHER KINDS OF THINGS.
SO CAN YOU SPEAK TO THAT PROCESS? ABSOLUTELY.
UM, SO WE WILL BE WORKING AT ATP CAMP METRO CITY OF AUSTIN.
WE'LL BE WORKING VERY CLOSELY TOGETHER, UM, ON THAT AS IT SUPPORTS THE LIGHT TRAIL.
BUT THERE'S ANOTHER LARGER PIECE AS WE PLAN FOR LIGHT TRAIL, WE ALSO NEED TO THINK THROUGH WHAT OUR FIVE YEAR SERVICE PLAN WOULD LOOK LIKE AND OUR 10 YEAR SERVICE PLAN WOULD LOOK LIKE.
OUR 10 YEAR SERVICE PLAN WOULD REFLECT LIGHT TRAIL, BUT WE ARE ALSO SEEING CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS, POPULATION EMPLOYMENT AND ACTIVITY CENTERS ARE CHANGING AS WELL.
SO AS PART OF BOTH OF THOSE PLANS, AND WE WOULD BE SPECIFICALLY PAYING ATTENTION TO BASED ON OUR BEST AVAILABLE INFORMATION AT THAT TIME, THAT HOW WE MAKE THOSE CONNECTIONS WORK.
UM, AND THAT WOULD INCLUDE PARK AND RIDE, THAT WOULD INCLUDE OUR, TO REVIEW OF OUR CURRENT CIRCULATORS TO SEE HOW THEY'RE PERFORMING AND WHERE WE PUT IN OUR OPERATIONAL RESOURCES.
THEN I HAVE TWO VERY QUICK FACTUAL QUESTIONS.
ONE, WHEN, WHEN WE, WHEN I REMEMBER LOOKING AT THE OVERVIEW, IT WAS, IT WAS PRICED OUT AT ABOUT 5 BILLION SOMETHING.
IS THAT DIFFERENCE TO THE 7 BILLION, THE, UM, BUS RAPID TRANSITS AND THE OTHER ELEMENTS OF THE SYSTEM? IS THAT WHY IT DOESN'T, THE NUMBERS DON'T ADD UP, IT'S JUST A PORTION OF IT.
THE, THE $5 BILLION, WHICH ALL FIVE OF THESE OPTIONS FIT WITHIN A CAPITAL BUDGET OF, IN TODAY'S DOLLARS AROUND 5 BILLION.
UM, ALL OF THE OTHER MULTIMODAL PROJECTS FOR RED LINE, UM, YOU KNOW, FUTURE GREEN LINE, THE METRO RAPID,
[00:55:01]
THOSE ARE, ARE WHAT MAKE UP THOSE DIFFERENCE.AND THEN FINALLY, DO WE HAVE A DATE FOR THE JUNE, UM, COUNCIL MEETING OR BOARD MEETING WHEN WE ARE MAKING THIS DECISION IS HAS, I BELIEVE THAT'S JUNE 6TH.
THANK YOU FOR THOSE QUESTIONS.
DO WE HAVE QUESTIONS FROM EITHER COUNCIL MEMBER, KELLY HARPER, MADISON, RYAN AL ALTER, STILL COLLECTING FEEDBACK? UM, I APPRECIATE THE DISCUSSION ABOUT THE PARK AND RIDES BECAUSE I KNOW I HAD THAT QUESTION ABOUT IF IT ENDS UP GOING TO OLTORF THE LIKELIHOOD OF PEOPLE IN SOUTH AUSTIN BEING ABLE TO GET TO OLTORF, WHICH IS A, YOU KNOW, GREAT CONNECTOR STREET THAT TRAVELS EAST WEST IN SOUTH AUSTIN.
UM, AND SO I KNOW THERE'S A LOT OF PEOPLE THINKING ABOUT THAT AND I'VE ALREADY ASKED THOSE QUESTIONS AND I KNOW WE'LL BE WORKING THROUGH THOSE.
UM, AND THE KIND OF FLEXIBILITY OF CAT METRO AS IT DOES ITS SERVICE PLANNING.
I KNOW, UM, I'M, I'M NEW TO THE CAT METRO BOARD, BUT I JUST RECENTLY LEARNED THAT THREE TIMES A YEAR THEY MAKE SMALL TWEAKS TO THE SERVICE PLANS JUST TO ACCOMMODATE, YOU KNOW, SCHOOL TRAFFIC.
WHAT DOES SUMMER BUS RIDERSHIP LOOK LIKE VERSUS AUGUST VERSUS OTHER TIMES OF THE YEAR.
UM, AND SO I'M SURE THERE ARE GONNA BE GOOD PARTNERS IN TRYING TO FIGURE OUT IF MORE PEOPLE ARE GETTING ON LIGHT RAIL THEN MAYBE MORE BUSES GET TO MORE PARTS OF TOWN, UM, TO HELP CONNECT PEOPLE INTO THE NETWORK.
UM, I ALSO APPRECIATED THE EARLIER, UH, COMMENTS ABOUT JUST THE SYSTEM PLAN OF PROJECT CONNECT.
AND JUST BECAUSE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE FIRST PHASE OF BUILDING OUT LIGHT RAIL DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE NEIGHBORHOOD CIRCULATORS WEREN'T DEPLOYED.
THAT THE METRO RIDES, UM, TWO OF THEM ALREADY QUALIFIED FOR FEDERAL GRANT FUNDING.
A NUMBER OF US WERE AT THAT CHECK ACCEPTANCE DURING SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST WHERE THE FDA ADMINISTRATOR CAME DOWN, UM, AND YOU KNOW, DELIVERED THE CHECKS TO KE METRO TO BE ABLE TO OPERATE SOME OF THOSE METRO RAPIDS THAT ARE ALREADY QUALIFYING FOR FEDERAL FUNDING.
SO THERE'S A LOT OF THAT BIG MAP THAT IS ALREADY UNDERWAY.
UM, THE INITIAL PORTIONS OF LIGHT RAIL ARE JUST THAT THEY'RE THE INITIAL BUILD OUT, THE FIRST PHASE OF GETTING LIGHT RAIL ON THE GROUND, BUT IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT THE OTHER PHASES ARE NOT GOING TO HAPPEN SUBSEQUENTLY.
SO I KNOW THERE'S A FEW MAPS GOING AROUND ONLINE THAT SAYS, HERE'S ROUTES WITH PURPLE ROUTES.
AND I DON'T SEE IT ON THE NEXT MAP.
IT DOESN'T MEAN THOSE CONVERSATIONS AREN'T HAPPENING, IT'S QUITE THE OPPOSITE.
UM, SO I'M HOPING MAYBE THROUGH THIS CONVERSATION WE CAN, UM, FIGURE OUT HOW TO VISUALIZE BETTER THAT THERE ARE OTHER COMPONENTS OF THIS CONVERSATION.
UM, AND THOSE AREN'T NECESSARILY QUESTIONS.
I I DID, I WANTED TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU ACKNOWLEDGE ME AND THAT I APPRECIATE THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT, BUT I THINK HONESTLY YOU GOT THIS, YOU WERE COVERING EVERYTHING THAT I WOULD OTHERWISE QUESTION.
SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.
UM, I WILL ASK A QUESTION ABOUT THE RIVER CROSSING.
I THINK YOU HAD MENTIONED THIS EARLIER.
UM, HOW AND WHEN DOES THAT DECISION GET MADE? IS IT GOING TO BE IN JUNE OR IS IT GOING TO FOLLOW SUBSEQUENTLY AFTER OUR JUNE DISCUSSIONS TAKE PLACE? SO IN THE ON STREET OPTIONS, UM, SUCH AS THE ONE THAT, THAT GOES TO YELLOW JACKET AND, AND 38TH STREET AND OLTORF.
SO IN, UH, THERE'S OTHER EXAMPLES AS WELL, BUT YOU SEE TWO OPTIONS FOR THAT.
UH, OUR INTENT IS TO BRING BOTH OF THOSE OPTIONS INTO THE PROJECT DEVELOPMENT AND NEPA PROCESS TO DO ALL OF THE NECESSARY ENGINEERING, EVALUATE ALL OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS UM, AND THAT WOULD BE POST JUNE.
SO CARRYING THEM BOTH FORWARD AND THEN DEVELOPING A, UM, PREFERRED OPTION FOR THOSE AS, AS PART OF THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT.
AND THEN, UM, I GUESS THE ONLY OTHER THING I WOULD THINK OF IS JUST THE DISCUSSIONS ABOUT ELEVATED VERSUS AT GRADE VERSUS TUNNEL.
I KNOW YOUR MAPS LAY OUT VERY WELL VISUALLY WHAT THE COST ANALYSIS IS.
YOU KNOW, IF THERE'S A TUNNEL, THERE'S LESS OF THE, UH, AT GRADE OPTIONS THAT WE HAVE TO CHOOSE FROM.
BUT IS, IS THAT ALSO FLEXIBLE WHERE WE COULD SAY, MAYBE WE DON'T WANNA DO AS MUCH ELEVATED DOWNTOWN, WE'D RATHER IT BE AT GRADE AND THAT MAY GET US A LITTLE FURTHER, UM, YOU KNOW, PAST 29TH STREET FOR INSTANCE.
CAN, CAN WE GET INTO THAT LEVEL OF DETAIL ABOUT THE ENGINEERING? I KNOW SOMETIMES YOU NEED ENGINEERING TO BE LEFT TO THE ENGINEERS AND, UM, CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE MORE ABOUT THAT? SURE.
SO THE, THE CURRENT LIMITS OF THE ELEVATED SEGMENT ARE, UH, MOSTLY DRIVEN BY THE TOPOGRAPHY.
SO THE, THE HILL ON GUADALUPE THAT COMES DOWN, THAT ELEVATED STRUCTURE KIND OF TIES INTO THE TOP OF THAT HILL.
UM, SO CHANGING THOSE EXTENTS TO SOMEWHERE ELSE WOULD MAKE THAT TRANSITION FROM WHERE WE ARE ELEVATED TO BEING ON STREET MORE IMPACTFUL TO THE SURROUNDING NETWORK BECAUSE WE CAN'T TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THAT HILL.
SO THAT'S NOT TO SAY IT'S NOT POSSIBLE, BUT IT WOULD LIKELY RESULT IN ADDITIONAL, UM, STREET CLOSURES BECAUSE WE WOULD HAVE A MUCH BIGGER TRANSITION WITH
[01:00:01]
KIND OF THESE RETAINING WALLS THAT COME DOWN FROM THAT ELEVATED STRUCTURE.WHEREAS IF WE'RE, UM, KIND OF GOING INTO A HILL, WE, WE HAVE A BIT OF AN ADVANTAGE TO MINIMIZE, UM, THAT TRANSITION AND DISRUPTION.
ANYTHING YOU WANNA ADD TO THAT, PETER? I THINK THE, THE SAME IS TRUE ON THE EXTENT OF THE UNDERGROUND YES.
PORTION THAT, IN THAT OPTION WHERE IT'S PARTIALLY UNDERGROUND, UM, SIMILARLY THAT'S, THAT'S DESIGNED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THAT HILL AS WELL, SO THAT ESSENTIALLY YOU'D BE UNDERGROUND NORTH OF EIGHTH STREET, BUT THEN WHEN YOU GET TO THE HILL COMING SOUTH, YOU KIND OF POP OUT OF THE SIDE OF THE HILL.
AS OPPOSED TO HAVING TO CHASE GRADE IN OTHER LOCATIONS, OBVIOUSLY.
UM, ONE OF THE LIMITATIONS OF THE PARTIAL UNDERGROUND OPTION IS THAT WE KNOW WE HAVE TO GET TO A MAINTENANCE FACILITY THAT HAS TO BE IN ANY OPTION.
SO IF YOU EXTEND, IF YOU WERE TO TRY TO, AND WE, WE LOOKED AT OPTIONS THAT DID THIS, WE TRY TO EXTEND THE TUNNEL MORE.
THE PROBLEM IS THAT THERE'S NOT ENOUGH RESOURCES TO BASICALLY GET TO A MAINTENANCE FACILITY, YOU KNOW, AT THE, AT THE TERMINUS.
SO IT'S, THERE ARE LIMITATIONS FROM THAT PERSPECTIVE IN TERMS OF BEING ABLE TO ADJUST THE EXTENTS OF THE, OF THE TUNNEL SCHEME.
SCHEME, ANY MORE QUESTIONS? RYAN? AL ALTER JUST ONE QUESTION.
I APOLOGIZE IF YOU TOUCHED ON THIS EARLIER.
I HAD TO STEP OUT ON THE, THE OPTION THAT IS THE 38TH TO ALTOR TO YELLOW JACKET.
THE TWO FLEX COMPONENTS ARE THOSE WE GET TO DO ONE OR THE OTHER? WE GET TO DO NONE IF WE GET MONEY THEN MAYBE WE GET TO DO ONE.
LIKE COULD YOU JUST TOUCH ON THAT REAL QUICK? YES.
UH, WE, WE THINK WE CAN DO ONE OR THE OTHER.
SO THEY, THEY COME FROM THE VARIATION OF DESIGN IN TERMS OF HOW WE GET THROUGH DOWNTOWN AND WE HAVE TWO DIFFERENT, UM, CROSSING LOCATIONS FOR LADYBIRD LAKE, BUT, BUT ALSO A, A DEGREE OF DESIGN AND ANALYSIS THAT'S NEEDED TO JUST FLUSH THOSE OUT A BIT MORE.
UM, SO WE BELIEVE WE HAVE THE AVAILABLE BUDGET TO EXTEND FOR AN ADDITIONAL STATION, EITHER NORTH OR SOUTH, KIND OF DEPENDING ON HOW WE GET THROUGH DOWNTOWN.
UM, BUT IT WOULD BE AN EITHER OR AND THE COST OF ONE OF THOSE COMPONENTS.
I NOTICED ONE OF THE OPTIONS YOU DON'T HAVE IS THAT LAST STOP OFF OF YELLOW JACKET TO GET TO THE AIRPORT.
I ASSUME THAT COST IS SIGNIFICANTLY MORE THAN ONE OF THESE OTHER STOPS.
IT, IT IS, IT, IT IS LARGELY ELEVATED ON A BRIDGE STRUCTURE, WHICH IS, UM, MORE EXPENSIVE, MORE COSTLY AND MORE EXPENSIVE THAN BEING ON STREET.
AND THE DISTANCE IS ALSO QUITE A BIT LONGER.
IT'S, IT'S CLOSER TO A, A MILE AND A HALF, UM, AS OPPOSED TO THOSE OTHERS THAT ARE LESS THAN A MILE.
ALRIGHT, THAT'S ANOTHER QUESTION.
IF THERE'S NO OTHER QUESTIONS, DO Y'ALL HAVE ANY THOUGHTS THAT YOU CAME UP WITH ALONG THE WAY THAT YOU WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAD MENTIONED? WE PROBABLY COVERED IT PRETTY WELL.
I'M SEEING A BUNCH OF NODDING HEADS.
UM, STARTS AT 5:00 PM UH, AND WE'LL BE DOING THE SAME, UM, GIVING OUT THE SAME INFORMATION THAT WAS AT THE OPEN HOUSE ON MARCH 21ST.
SO IF ANYONE WANTS TO JOIN, PLEASE DO.
AND A REMINDER, UM, AS WELL WITH YOUR CONSTITUENCIES THAT WE ARE, ARE HAPPY TO COME TO ANY EVENTS, UM, THAT YOU ARE AWARE OF, THAT YOU ARE WANTING TO HOST.
WE, WE REALLY ARE HONORED TO BE, UH, WE HAVE I THINK ALMOST AN EVENT EVERY DAY, SOME DAYS, TWO OR THREE OVER THESE NEXT SIX WEEKS OF MEETING WITH EVERY NEIGHBORHOOD GROUP THAT WE POSSIBLY CAN.
AND, AND HAPPY TO PARTNER WITH YOU ON THAT.
WE KNOW YOUR TEAM'S ALWAYS READY TO COME AND HELP ANSWER QUESTIONS AND EXPLAIN HOW THESE DIFFERENT SCENARIOS WORK.
SO I WOULD ALSO ENCOURAGE MY COLLEAGUES, IF YOU HAVE ANY, UM, IN-DISTRICT EVENTS OR, UH, YOU KNOW, SPECIFIC INTEREST GROUPS THAT YOU THINK WOULD WANNA TALK ABOUT THIS TO REACH OUT TO THE, THE FOLKS THERE AND THE PROJECT CONNECT WEBSITE.
IF YOU JUST GO TO PROJECT CONNECT.COM, THERE'S A BIG GET INVOLVED BUTTON RIGHT IN THE UPPER RIGHT HAND CORNER.
SO IT'S A PRETTY EASY LINK TO FIND WHERE THE VIRTUAL OPEN HOUSE IS.
SO THANKS FOR THAT PLUG ON GETTING EVERYONE'S ATTENTION TO THAT WEBSITE.
I THINK THAT WRAPS UP THAT SEGMENT.
[5. Identify items to discuss at future meetings.]
BUSINESS THAT WE HAVE LEFT IS GOING TO BE FUTURE ITEMS. LET ME GET MY NOTES OPEN.UH, WE HAVE A TRADITION HERE AT MOBILITY COMMITTEE OF MAKING MAY BIKE MONTH, AND WE USUALLY DO ALL THINGS BIKES, WE TALK ABOUT BIKES, SOMETIMES WE RIDE BIKES.
UM, SO IT'S, IT'S A GOOD TIME TO BE ON THE MOBILITY COMMITTEE FOR THE MONTH OF MAY.
UH, WE ARE STILL HAVE, WE ARE STILL DEVELOPING THE AGENDA, BUT WE ARE GONNA BE TALKING ABOUT THE BARTON SPRINGS ROAD FROM LAMAR TO MOPAC, INCLUDING TOUCHING ON THE ZIL REVISION PLAN AND THE BRIDGE PROJECT.
THERE WAS JUST AN OPEN HOUSE, BELIEVE IT WAS TUESDAY NIGHT THAT A FEW OF US WERE ABLE TO ATTEND IN MY OFFICE.
[01:05:01]
LOOKING AT INFORMATION ABOUT THE AUSTIN CORE TRANSPORTATION PLAN, THERE WON'T BE MEETINGS IN JUNE OR JULY AND AUGUST 31ST IS CURRENTLY HELD FROM MOBILITY COMMITTEE.BUT WE ARE I THINK MEETING TO LOOK AT HOW THOSE MEETINGS LOOK AFTER BUDGET AS COUNCIL MEMBER ALISON ALTER HAD MENTIONED ALL THOSE WEEKS AGO ABOUT TRYING TO MAKE SURE WE HAVE THOSE MEETINGS AFTER BUDGET, UM, LINED UP AND THAT OUR COMMITTEE MEETINGS FALL IN LINE WITH THE AGENDA, UM, THAT WE HAVE FOR THE CITY COUNCIL.
AND I KNOW THAT VICE CHAIR CADRE HAD FLAGGED, HE WANTED TO MENTION SOMETHING ABOUT FUTURE ITEMS EARLIER.
YEAH, I, FOR FUTURE ITEMS, I WOULD JUST LOVE AN UPDATE FROM STAFF ON THE CYPRESS CREEK PROJECT.
I THINK THAT SOUNDS FANTASTIC.
I'M ALSO CURIOUS TO, TO HEAR ANY UPDATES THAT WILL BE PROVIDED ON THAT.
ARE THERE ANY OTHER FUTURE ITEMS OR THINGS TO COVER BEFORE WE ADJOURN ON THAT NOTE? IT IS 2:31 PM AND WE ARE ACTUALLY GETTING OUTTA HERE A FEW MINUTES EARLY TODAY.
UM, SO THANKS FOR JOINING US AT MOBILITY COMMITTEE MEETING AND WE WILL SEE YOU ALL LATER.
YOU NEVER ONE TO MAKE ANY TROUBLE NOW.
HAVEN'T YOU BEEN SUCH A GOOD LITTLE GIRL? WHEN WILL YOU LEARN TO FLIP THE YOU NEED A PIECE OF DIRT TO MAKE A LISTEN TO ME.