[00:00:02]
BEING SAID, I'LL GO AHEAD AND HAND IT OVER TO SUSAN SUMMERS, OUR CHAIR, AND WE'LL GO AHEAD AND START THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION.
UM, LET'S SEE, ACTUALLY, IS THERE PAPER AGENDA? THERE IS, YES.
I'M A WEIRDO THAT LIKES PAPER.
[CALL TO ORDER]
I'M SUSAN SUMMERS, UM, I'M THE CHAIR OF THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION, AND I'M CALLING THE REGULAR MEETING, UH, JULY MEETING OF OUR COMMISSION TO ORDER.THE TIME IS 5:05 PM UM, SO OUR FIRST ITEM IN OUR AGENDA IS, UH, THE
[PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL]
PUBLIC COMMUNICATION GENERAL.THIS IS FOR CITIZENS TO COME AND, OR, UH, SPEAKERS TO COME AND SPEAK TO US ON A, UH, ITEM THAT IS NOT ON THE AGENDA.
AND WE DO HAVE ONE SPEAKER TODAY.
UM, AND PLEASE GO RIGHT AHEAD.
FIRST OF ALL, I'D LIKE TO THANK EVERYBODY FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO COME HERE AND SPEAK TO YOU TODAY ABOUT OUR ORGANIZATION.
I'M A RESEARCH ANALYST AT COMMUNITY ADVANCEMENT NETWORK.
YOU HAVEN'T HEARD OF COMMUNITY ADVANCEMENT NETWORK.
WE'RE A PARTNERSHIP OF GOVERNMENT, NONPROFIT, PRIVATE, AND FAITH-BASED ORGANIZATIONS, WHICH LEVERAGE MUTUAL RESOURCES TO COLLECTIVELY IMPROVE THE SOCIAL HEALTH E EDUCATIONAL AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES IN OUR COMMUNITY.
YEAH, I KNOW THAT'S A MOUTHFUL, BUT WHAT IT MEANS IS THAT WE'RE ENGAGED IN A LOT OF DIFFERENT FIELDS.
UH, OUR PARTNERS INCLUDE, UH, UH, CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS, UH, SCHOOL DISTRICTS, CAP METRO, UH, SEVERAL CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE AND, UH, AT UNIVERSITIES, ONE VOICE.
IT'S, IT'S ALL OVER AND TOGETHER WE PROMOTE AND SUPPORT THE POWER OF COLLABORATION FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS.
WE IDENTIFY OPPORTUNITIES TO COORDINATE AND ALIGN SERVICES AMONG CAN PARTNERS AND OTHER COMMUNITY SERVICE PROVIDERS.
WE SUPPORT EFFORTS TO ADDRESS COMMUNITY CHALLENGES THROUGH COLLECTIVE ACTION.
WE CREATE CIVIC INFRASTRUCTURE FOR CIVIC DIALOGUE AND CIVIC ACTION.
WE ENSURE THAT THE RIGHT STAKEHOLDERS ARE PART OF ASSESSING AND ADDRESSING THE CHALLENGES OUR COMMUNITY PHASES, AND WE INCREASE UNDERSTANDING OF EMERGING ISSUES AND TRENDS IN IDENTIFYING PROACTIVE STRATEGIES THAT MAY BE PURSUED.
AND HOW DO WE DO THAT? WELL, WE DEVELOP TOOLS TO INFORM, AND THAT'S REALLY WHERE I DO MOST OF MY JOB, IS, UM, WITH THE CAN COMMUNITY DASHBOARD, WHICH HAS, UH, 18 DIFFERENT INDICATORS THAT ASSESS OUR COMMUNITY'S OVERALL HEALTH AND WELLBEING, INCLUDING ONE TRANSPORTATION INDICATOR.
IT USED TO BE VEHICLE MILES TRAVEL, BUT NOW IT'S, UH, PER PERCENT WHO DRIVE A LOAN TO WORK.
UM, AND WE ALSO CREATE OPPORTUNITIES TO ENGAGE, LIKE, UH, THE WEEKEND AT X WEBSITE, WHICH WE CREATED DURING THE PANDEMIC, WHICH HAD DATA ON, UH, THE STATUS OF THE, THE PANDEMIC.
BUT IT ALSO HAD, UH, A LIST OF PLACES WHERE PEOPLE COULD ACCESS RESOURCES AND A LIST OF WHERE PEOPLE COULD VOLUNTEER OR PROVIDE AID IF THAT'S WHAT THEY COULD DO.
AND ONE OF THE INTERESTING THINGS ON THE WE CAN TX WEBSITE NOW ARE OUR COMMUNITY RESOURCE GUIDES, WHICH, UH, ARE IN SIX DIFFERENT, UH, TOPICS INCLUDING KNOWING YOUR RIGHTS, MANAGING MONEY, STAYING SAFE, FOOD HEALTH AND NAVIGATION, NAVIGATING THE EDUCATION SYSTEM.
AND THESE ARE AVAILABLE IN ENGLISH, SPANISH, BURMESE, CHINESE, MANDARIN, KOREAN, VIETNAMESE, PTO, ARABIC, HAITIAN, CREOLE, AND FRENCH.
AND THESE WERE CREATED IN, UH, COLLABORATION WITH OUR LANGUAGE ACCESS ACTION TEAM, WHICH WAS THE GROUP OR THE, I SPEAK CARDS ON CAP METRO ORIGINATED SEVERAL YEARS AGO FROM OUR GROUP.
UM, OUR, WE ON OUR DASHBOARD STEERING COMMITTEE, WHICH ADVISES OUR, UM, INDICATORS.
UH, WE USED TO HAVE, UH, JACKIE NIRENBERG AND CAITLIN DALTON SERVED AT DIFFERENT POINTS, AND I ACTUALLY REACHED OUT TO THE FOLKS TODAY, UH, AT THE AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP TO, UH, REKINDLE THAT RELATIONSHIP.
SO IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, I'M OPEN, AND IF NOT, I'D LOVE TO COME BACK.
I LEFT MY, UH, CONTACT INFORMATION AND, UH, THANKS AGAIN FOR THE OPPORTUNITY.
WE DON'T HAVE ANY OTHER SPEAKERS REGISTERED FOR, UH, ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA.
WE CAN GO AHEAD AND PROCEED TO THE NEXT ITEM.
UM, SO OUR NEXT ITEM WOULD BE APPROVAL OF
[1. Approve the minutes of the Urban Transportation Commission REGULAR MEETING on June 6th, 2023.]
OUR JUNE MINUTES.UM, THIS WAS, UH, SENT TO US ALL IN THE, UH, AS AN ATTACHMENT TO THE CALENDAR INVITE THAT CHRISTOPHER SHARED WITH US.
I WOULD ASK WHOEVER IS NOT ON MUTE, IF YOU COULD KINDLY
[00:05:02]
JUST PUT, SORRY, THESE ARE THE MINUTES CHAIR.UM, SO, UM, I'LL GO AHEAD AND MOVE APPROVAL OF THE JUNE MINUTES.
UM, ALL RIGHT, WITH, SO WE HAVE THE MINUTES, UH, ON BOARD.
I KNOW, UH, REEN, YOU HAD MENTIONED TO ME YOU WANTED TO AMEND, UH, CORRECT.
WE DIDN'T, WE PASS RESOLUTIONS ON ALL OF THOSE, RIGHT? OF WHAT ABANDONMENTS? YES.
DO YOU HAVE A MOTION? I I MOVE THAT THE MINUTES BE UPDATED TO SHOW THE PASSAGE OF ALL OF THOSE ITEMS? YES.
SO THAT'S THE THREE, UM, RIGHT OF WAY VACATION, UH, ITEMS. SURE.
ACTION ITEMS ONE, TWO, AND THREE.
WE JUST WANT TO LET THE RECORD REFLECT THAT THOSE WERE ALL, UH, APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY.
SO CAN I MAKE A SECOND AND THEN A MOTION TO AMEND THE MOTION? YES.
SO I THINK WE, WE ALSO MADE APPOINTMENTS AT THE END OF THE MEETING.
I DON'T KNOW IF IT WAS JUST ME, BUT I THINK WE ALSO, I DON'T KNOW IF WE CHANGED.
WE DIDN'T ACTUALLY, WE DISCUSSED THEM.
DOES THAT MAKE SENSE? WE DIDN'T, I THOUGHT, I THOUGHT WE TOOK A, AT LEAST A VOTE ON MOVING ME TO THE UT OR TO THE DOWNTOWN COMMISSION.
DOWNTOWN COMMISSION, BELIEVE ME.
IS THAT CORRECT? HE'S CORRECT ON THAT.
UH, THOSE SHOULD BE ADDED TO THE MINUTES, AND I CAN MAKE SURE THAT THAT'S REFLECT THAT WAS TOWARDS THE END OF THE MEETING.
AND I THOUGHT MAYBE WE ADJUSTED ONE OTHER, BUT I MIGHT BE WRONG.
WE HAVE THE RIGHT WAY, LIKE VACATION PROCESSES.
I'LL BE SURE TO MAKE SURE THE MINUTES ARE REFLECTIVE OF THAT.
I REMEMBER THE DOWNTOWN COMMISSION CAN'T RECALL.
YEAH, I THINK IT WAS JUST THAT I DON'T THINK WE ACTUALLY CHANGED ANY OF THE OTHER ONES.
WE JUST HAD, LIKE, WE JUST SORT OF DISCUSSED THEM.
UM, SO THEN MY MOTION TO AMEND MOTION WOULD BE TO ADD IN, WELL, JUST A SECOND MOTION.
I'M GOING ROBERT'S RULES ON YOU.
SO, UM, YOUR SECOND, LET, LET'S, LET'S TAKE HIM AN ORDER.
UM, ALL, EVERYONE IN FAVOR OF REFLECTING THAT THE THREE RIGHT OF WAY VACATIONS WERE APPROVED, PLEASE LET US KNOW.
UM, AND THEN I THINK SPENCER HAS A SECOND MOTION.
SO MY MOTION WOULD BE TO, UH, AMEND THE MINUTES TO REFLECT THE APPOINTMENT TO THE DOWNTOWN COMMISSION.
PLEASE LET US SEE YOU OR SAY A GREAT, ALSO UNANIMOUS AMONG THOSE PRESENT.
SO THAT IS, UH, AND NOW WE'LL GO BACK TO THE BASE AND APPROVE THAT.
SO ALL THOSE WANTING TO APPROVE THE MOTION, THE MINUTES IS AMENDED, PLEASE LET US KNOW.
[2. Discussion and possible action on the Transportation and Management Center Overview]
OUR DISCUSSION ACTION ITEMS. OUR FIRST ONE IS A PRESENTATION, DISCUSSION, AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON THE TRANSPORTATION AND MANAGEMENT CENTER OVERVIEW WITH, UH, LANCE BALLARD AND ALISON RICHIE ARE PRESENTING FOR US TODAY.ONE MORE QUICK FORM OF ORDER FOR THOSE WHO HAVE JOINED US ONLINE THAT ARE SPEAKERS FOR ITEM THREE, WE HAVE ACKNOWLEDGED YOU AND WE WILL, UH, WE WILL GET YOU, YOU WILL HAVE YOUR TURN TO SPEAK ONCE WE GET TO THE ITEM.
JUST WANTED TO MAKE THAT CLEAR.
UH, PRESENTATION AGAIN TO THE LEFT OF 61.
SORRY, MY EYES ARE ABSOLUTELY GOOD.
IF YOU WANNA PASS THE KEYBOARD DOWN HERE, I CAN ADVANCE IT AS WELL, IF THAT WORKS.
YEAH, THANK YOU CHAIR COMMISSION.
HAPPY TO BE WITH Y'ALL THIS EVENING.
UH, THIS IS MY PARTNER, ALISON RICHIE.
WE BOTH WORK WITH KIMLEY HORN AND STAFF, THE CITY OF AUSTIN'S MOBILITY MANAGEMENT CENTER.
UM, AND SO WE REC WE RECENTLY POSTED OUR ANNUAL REPORT FROM LAST YEAR.
WANTED TO TALK THROUGH A LOT OF THOSE FINDINGS AND JUST GENERAL OVERVIEW OF WHAT WE DO AS WELL.
WE ARE A PART OF THE TRANSPORTATION PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT UNDER THE ARTERIAL MANAGEMENT DIVISION.
UM, AND SO LET'S SEE IF I CAN GET THIS.
MAY HAVE TO CLICK ON THE SCREEN.
IS IT THIS ONE? IT IS THAT ONE, YES.
SO OUR GOAL IS TO IMPROVE THE REGION'S ARTERIAL, UH, NETWORK AND FOR ALL MODES OF TRAVEL TO MAKE SURE THAT REALLY WE'RE MANAGING MOBILITY AND SAFETY, THAT WE'RE TRYING TO IMPROVE THOSE CONTINUOUSLY THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
[00:10:01]
UM, AND IN AND HONESTLY THE REGION THROUGH SOME OF OUR COORDINATION AS WELL.SO WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE IN PRACTICE? WELL, WE HAVE 345 MILES OF ARTERIAL, UM, ROADWAY NETWORK IN THE CITY THAT WE MANAGE.
UM, AND WHERE WE'RE ABLE TO MAKE THE MOST IMPACT IS THROUGH THE MANAGEMENT OF OUR TRAFFIC SIGNALS.
THAT'S REALLY WHAT WE MANAGE THE MOST DAY-TO-DAY.
WE HAVE 1100 OF THOSE THROUGHOUT THE CITY, INCLUDING THE PEDESTRIAN HYBRID BEACONS THAT YOU SEE.
UM, WE HAVE 680 CAMERAS, UM, THAT WE USE TO OBSERVE AND MONITOR TRAFFIC TO MANAGE TRAFFIC.
UM, 13 SMALL ARTER ARTERIAL DMS SIGNS THAT ALLOW US TO DISPLAY TRAVELER INFORMATION ABOUT INCIDENTS OR, UM, EVENTS OR CLOSURES IN THAT AREA.
AND 771, UM, SCHOOL ZONE FLASHING BEACONS, WHICH KEEP US QUITE BUSY WHEN SCHOOL STARTS.
UM, JUST MAKING SURE ALL OF THOSE ARE OPERATING PROPERLY TO KEEP KIDS SAFE AS THEY GO TO AND FROM SCHOOL.
WE'RE LOCATED AT 8,700 CAMERON ROAD, NOT TOO FAR FROM HERE.
WE ARE VERY HAPPY TO HOST ANYBODY IF YOU WANNA COME PAY US A VISIT.
UM, WE'VE GOT SEVEN FULL-TIME STAFF ON THE PROJECTS THAT ARE HELPING US DO ALL OF THIS DAY OUT.
UM, WE'RE STAFFING THERE EVERY DAY EXCEPT FOR THANKSGIVING AND CHRISTMAS DAY.
UM, AND SO WE, WHAT WE DO ON A DAY-TO-DAY BASIS THERE, UM, IS REALLY COVERED HERE.
SO IF YOU SUBMIT A SERVICE REQUEST THROUGH THREE 11, THAT HAS TO DO WITH TRAFFIC SIGNAL, SCHOOLS AND BEACONS.
ANYTHING THAT WE MANAGE, IT COMES TO US.
WE PROCESS A LITTLE OVER 800 OF THOSE A MONTH.
UM, WE ALSO MAINTAIN A LOT OF THAT.
WE WORK WITH OUR SIGNAL TECHNICIANS TO MAINTAIN ALL OF THAT EQUIPMENT.
SO WE'RE ON THE PHONE A LOT, COORDINATING THEM WITH THEM FOR, UM, REPAIRS, MAINTENANCE ACTIVITIES, BUT ALSO ENHANCEMENTS, UPGRADES, UM, AND IMPROVEMENTS.
UM, WE'RE USING THAT SYSTEM TO MANAGE CONGESTION, MANAGE TRAFFIC ON A DAILY BASIS, STAY AWARE OF WHAT'S HAPPENING AND ADJUSTING SIGNAL TIMING, UM, FOR ANY INCIDENTS, LANE CLOSURES, UM, SPECIAL EVENTS.
AND WE ALSO ARE TWEETING OUT ABOUT CRASHES AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
WE'LL SHOW A LITTLE BIT OF THAT IN A MINUTE.
UM, SPECIAL EVENTS ARE A HUGE PART OF WHAT WE DO.
WE MAKE SURE THAT ALL OF OUR MAJOR EVENTS ARE COVERED AND STAFFED WITH FOLKS THERE, MULTIPLE FOLKS THERE IN THE CENTER.
UM, ADJUSTING SIGNAL TIMING IN REAL TIME FOR ALL OF THOSE.
AND WITH ALL OF THAT THAT WE HAVE GOING ON, WE COORDINATE WITH, UM, A LOT OF AGENCIES, TECH DOT, CT, RMA, OTHER LOCAL CITIES, UM, AS WELL SO THAT WE CAN BE ON TOP OF IT ALL AWARE OF ALL THE SITUATIONS, RESPONDING IN KIND, UM, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO EMERGENCIES.
UM, SO WE'RE VERY BUSY WHEN WE HAVE POWER OUTAGES, ICE STORMS, AND EVEN JUST THUNDERSTORMS WINTER, UM, THROUGH THE SPRING AND SUMMER, AS WELL AS THOSE CAN IMPACT THE POWER GRID FROM TIME TO TIME IF YOU HAVE LIGHTNING STRIKES, THINGS LIKE THAT.
SO, UM, WE'RE OFTEN IN THE STORM RESPONSE MODE, MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE KEEPING EVERYTHING RUNNING SMOOTHLY.
UM, SO WHEN YOU BREAK DOWN SOME OF THE NUMBERS, UH, LIKE I MENTIONED, WE PROCESSED 9,000, UM, SERVICE REQUESTS LAST YEAR, AND WE'RE ABLE TO RESOLVE ALMOST 5,000 OF THOSE WITHOUT HAVING TO DISPATCH ANYONE TO THE FIELD, WHICH SAVES TIME, UM, ALLOWS US TO ADDRESS THINGS QUICKLY, UM, AND EFFECTIVELY.
UM, WE'RE ALSO ABLE TO RESET SOME FLASHING SIGNALS REMOTELY.
SO IF A TRAFFIC SIGNAL, UM, HAS A POWER OUTAGE OR A POWER BLIP, SOMETIMES IT CAN GO INTO FLASH.
THERE'S HARDWARE IN THE CABINET THAT MAKES SURE THAT EVERYTHING'S RUNNING, DOING WHAT IT'S SUPPOSED TO.
SOME OF THOSE WE CAN RESET REMOTELY, UM, IN A SAFE WAY.
UM, AND WE DID 275 OF THOSE LAST YEAR.
AND WE ALSO DETECT ALL OF THOSE MALFUNCTIONS OR, UM, FAULTS.
UM, 84% OF, OF ALL OF THOSE, WE DETECT THEM BEFORE ANYONE ELSE DOES.
UM, SO WE'RE VERY PROACTIVE, MAKING SURE WE'RE STAYING ON TOP OF EVERYTHING AND WE'RE ADJUSTING SIGNAL TIMING PLANS ON A DAILY BASIS, AS YOU CAN SEE.
AND THAT, THAT 301 NUMBER AT THE BOTTOM RIGHT, THAT'S THE NUMBER OF TIMES WE ADJUSTED TIMINGS LAST YEAR, EXCLUDING EVENTS.
SO WE STAY INCREDIBLY BUSY, UM, AND VERY PROUD OF WHAT WE DO.
SO ALLIE, I'LL TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT OUR SPECIAL EVENT MANAGEMENT.
UH, SO LIKE LANCE HAD MENTIONED, ONE OF THE CORNERSTONE FUNCTIONS OF THE MMC IS SPECIAL EVENT MANAGEMENT.
IF YOU'VE BEEN IN AUSTIN FOR ANY PERIOD OF TIME, YOU'RE WELL AWARE THAT WE HAVE A LOT OF AWESOME EVENTS HAPPENING.
CITYWIDE, UH, SCALES, LARGE AND SMALL.
UH, YOU'LL SEE ON THE LEFT HERE A COUPLE OF THOSE MAJOR EVENTS.
ZILKER PARK HOME TO ACL AND MYRIAD OF OTHER SMALLER FESTIVALS, SOME IMPROMPTU, SOME PLANS.
UH, YOU'LL ALSO SEE SOME REFERENCES TO SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST, WHICH TAKES OVER LARGE PARTS OF DOWNTOWN, SEEMINGLY AT A MOMENT'S NOTICE.
IF YOU'VE HAD THE LUXURY OF GOING TO, UH, THE Q2 STADIUM FOR THE NEW AUSTIN FC, UH, YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED THAT WE RUN SOME VERY SPECIFIC SIGNAL TIMING THERE.
UH, FOR THOSE OF US THAT PARK IN THE DOMAIN AND THEN SCUTTLE ACROSS THE STREET, YOU MIGHT NOTICE THAT THE SIGNAL INDICATIONS DURING, UH, THE EVENTS
[00:15:01]
END HOLD ALL RED AND ALLOWS FOR EVERYBODY TO RUN ACROSS THE STREET MORE OR LESS AT THE SAME TIME.UH, THAT'S A VERY SPECIFIC SIGNAL OPERATION THAT'S MAINTAINED BY MANAGERS IN REAL TIME TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE USING THAT AS, UH, EFFECTIVELY AS WE CAN AND AS SAFELY AS WE CAN.
UH, BECAUSE OF THAT PEDESTRIAN OPERATION, WE'RE ABLE TO REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF NECESSARY AUSTIN POLICE OFFICERS AT THE INTERSECTION BECAUSE THEY ARE NO LONGER WORKING AGAINST THE SIGNAL, BUT IN FACT ARE AWARE OF ITS OPERATION AND ABLE TO STAFF AND RESPOND ACCORDINGLY.
SO WE'RE PARTICULARLY EXCITED ABOUT FUNCTIONS LIKE THAT, AND WE DO SEVERAL OPERATIONS LIKE THAT FOR UT FOOTBALL, A C L, AND SOME OTHER OPERATIONS.
UM, AS YOU GO DOWN THE LIST HERE, YOU'LL SEE A MYRIAD OF OTHER EVENTS, CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS.
WE PARTNER WITH THEM, ALL THOSE, SOME OF THOSE SIGNALS ARE WITH OUR TECH STOP PARTNERS.
WE DO WORK IN COORDINATION WITH MUNICIPALITIES AND CITY AND STATE AGENCIES TO BE ABLE TO MAKE SURE OUR SIGNALS ARE IN SYNC AS MUCH AS THEY CAN AND COVERING ALL THOSE MAJOR EVENTS.
WE GENERALLY THINK OF THOSE AS ABOUT 20,000 PEOPLE AT ABOVE, WHICH IS THE STATE INCAPACITY OF AUSTIN FC.
WE'VE ALSO MOVED INTO MANAGING MINOR EVENTS, SO MINOR EVENTS.
IF YOU HAVE KIDDOS AT A HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL GAME PERHAPS, OR ANYTHING RELATED TO THAT, UM, YOU'RE WELL AWARE THAT SOMETIMES IT FEELS LIKE ONE SIGNAL IS KEEPING YOU FROM GETTING HOME
AND WE'VE DECIDED TO FILL THAT GAP BY BEING ABLE TO MANAGE THOSE EVENTS ON A SCHEDULED BASIS.
THEY MAY NOT BE STAFFED LIKE THESE MAJOR EVENTS HERE, BUT WE'RE ABLE TO SCHEDULE THOSE AHEAD OF TIME, USE SINGLE ANALYTICS AND OTHER DATA POINTS TO BE ABLE TO MANAGE EFFICACY AND BE ABLE TO, YOU KNOW, SCHEDULE THOSE AS NEEDED.
SO, AS YOU CAN SEE HERE, BECAUSE WE'RE MANAGING BOTH AT THE MAJOR AND MINOR SCALE, WE'RE IMPACTING A LOT OF FOLKS CITYWIDE.
SO PER OUR CALCULATIONS FROM OUR ANNUAL REPORT, WE LOOKED AT ABOUT 5 MILLION ATTENDEES THAT WERE IMPACTED BY OUR SIGNAL OPERATIONS, WHICH IS PRETTY EXCITING IF WE'RE ABLE TO CUT DELAY, WHICH THEN CUTS CARBON EMISSIONS AND OTHER ITEMS THAT I KNOW ARE NEAR AND DEAR TO OUR HEARTS.
WITH THAT, THAT SAVED US ABOUT 42,000 HOURS OF DELAY.
UH, SO ABOUT P PEOPLE HOME QUICKER AND SAFER, UM, ROUNDING OUT TO ABOUT ALMOST 500 TOTAL EVENT DAYS.
SO WE'RE PRETTY EXCITED FOR OUR SPECIAL EVENTS OPERATION.
WE'RE ALWAYS GROWING, LOOKING AT OUR PARTNERS THAT MANAGE VENUES AND OTHER ITEMS TO BE ABLE TO EXPAND THAT UMBRELLA AND SEE WHAT ELSE IS IN STORE FOR US AS WE MANAGE SPECIAL EVENTS.
AS I'VE MENTIONED, MANAGING SPECIAL EVENTS IS A VERY HAND IN HAND OPERATION.
WE NEED TO KNOW WHAT OUR PARTNERS ARE DOING, AND THAT ALSO BLEEDS INTO OTHER CORNERSTONE OPERATIONS OF THE MMC.
SO CONSTRUCTION AND INCIDENT MANAGEMENT IS REALLY IMPORTANT TO US.
THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE SPEND A LOT OF TIME DOING.
THAT AGENCY COORDINATION, LIKE I TALKED ABOUT, NOT ONLY STOPS THE PLANNED OPERATION, BUT PERHAPS AN UNPLANNED OPERATION.
SO, LIKE LANCE HAD MENTIONED WITH WHAT WE'VE AFFECTIONATELY JUST STARTED CALLING SNOWPOCALYPSE AND ICE APOCALYPSE AND OTHER ITEMS ASSOCIATED WITH THAT.
WE WORKED WITH OUR EMERGENCY PARTNERS WITH TDOT, AUSTIN FIRE, AUSTIN PD, AUSTIN ENERGY, AND A LOT OF OTHER AGENCIES TO BE ABLE TO GET OUR SYSTEM UP IN A CRITICAL PATH METHOD TO BE ABLE TO TARGET THOSE INFRASTRUCTURE SO THAT WE'RE ABLE TO GET THAT UP IN A SYSTEM THAT MAKES SENSE, THAT AGENCY COORDINATION DOESN'T STOP THERE.
HOWEVER, WE ALSO PARTNER WITH OUR FRIENDS AT CTEC.
SO IF YOU'VE EVER BEEN OVER TO THE CTEC FLOOR, YOU'LL KNOW THAT THERE'S, UH, WILLIAMSON HAYES, TRAVIS COUNTY E M S, FOR EXAMPLE.
THEY'RE POLICE AGENCIES AND OTHER PARTNERS.
SO INSTEAD OF JUST HAVING TO PICK UP A PHONE AND SEND AN IM AND SEND AN EMAIL AND HOPE SOMEBODY'S AT THEIR DESK, WE CAN JUST STAND UP AND GO TALK TO THEM.
UM, SO THAT GIVES THEM NOT ONLY A NAME AND AN EMAIL, BUT A FACE TO RECOGNIZE.
SO WE'RE ABLE TO MAKE THAT EMERGENCY COORDINATION THAT MUCH MORE SEAMLESS.
BEING AWARE OF THOSE ITEMS IS CRITICAL TO US.
SO OUR SITU, OH, SITUATIONAL AWARENESS, PARDON ME, USES BOTH INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL DATA SOURCES.
UM, SO JUST LIKE YOU MIGHT BE CHECKING OUT TWITTER TO SEE IF THERE'S, YOU KNOW, A MAJOR ABSENT OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, WE'RE DOING THAT AS WELL.
WE ALSO HAVE BUILT-IN INTERNAL DATA METRICS THAT GIVE US TRIGGERS FOR CONGESTION.
WE HAVE PROGRAMS INSIDE OF WAYS THAT WILL SEND US AN EMAIL IF IT'S DETECTED AN UNUSUAL AMOUNT OF TRAVEL TIME INCREASE FOR A PARTICULAR SEGMENT.
AND THAT COULD KEY US OFF THAT THERE MIGHT BE AN INSTANT THERE THAT WE MIGHT NOT IMMEDIATELY BE AWARE OF.
CONGESTION MANAGEMENT IS GLOBALLY WHAT WE CALL THAT PRACTICE.
IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE ARE ABLE TO MEASURE IN OUR ACTIONS PROGRAM, WHICH LANCE IS GONNA TALK ABOUT HERE SHORTLY.
BUT WE'RE REALLY PROUD OF OUR ABILITY TO BE PROACTIVE INSTEAD OF REACTIVE, IN INSTANCE LIKE THIS.
LASTLY, WITH TRAVELER INFORMATION, IF WE CAN GET YOU THE INFORMATION BEFORE YOU LEAVE, THAT'S EVEN BETTER.
YOU DON'T EVEN SPEND THE 10 OR 15 MINUTES STUCK IN TRAFFIC.
YOU TAKE MOPAC INSTEAD OF 35, AND YOU'RE WELL ON YOUR WAY THROUGH THE DAY.
SO WITH THAT, WE HOST A LOT OF DIFFERENT RESOURCES THERE.
SO IF YOU'RE FOLLOWING US ON TWITTER, WE'RE AT AUSTIN MOBILITY, UH, WE'D LIKE TO SAY IF THERE ARE NO EMOJIS IN THAT TWEET, THAT'S PROBABLY US.
IF THERE ARE EMOJIS IN THAT TWEET, THAT'S PROBABLY PUBLIC INFORMATION.
UH, BUT AS YOU CAN SEE HERE, WE'RE TWEETING AT STENTS THAT COULD IMPACT YOUR DAY-TO-DAY OPERATION, AS WELL AS NOTIFYING WHEN SIGNALS ARE DARKER IN FLASH, WHICH ARE NEWS PARTNERS THEN HELP CONTINUE TO GET THAT INFORMATION OUT.
WE ALSO ARE ABLE TO PUSH INFORMATION RELATED TO, YOU KNOW, TRAVELER AWARENESS TO OUR DMS DEVICES LIKE LANCE HAD MENTIONED, AS WELL AS CONTINUING TO PUSH UPDATES TO GOOGLE AND WAYS WHICH WILL THEN UPDATE THE
[00:20:01]
PEOPLE'S DEVICES AS NEEDED.YEAH, SO YOU CAN IMAGINE WE'RE AT THE NEXUS OF A TON OF DATA AND FROM A LOT OF DIFFERENT PLACES, AND IT'S, IT'S A LOT.
SO WE WANNA DO MORE THAN JUST BE ABLE TO LOOK AT IT AND SAY, OH, THIS IS NICE.
LOOK AT THIS DATA, WE WANT TO ACT ON IT.
RIGHT? UM, SO LAST YEAR WE TOOK A BIG INITIATIVE TO PULL A LOT OF THOSE INTO, UH, YOU KNOW, UNIFIED PLACES AND FORMATS SO THAT WE COULD IDENTIFY TRENDS EARLY, UM, ADJUST OPERATIONS, AND THEN MEASURE OUR IMPROVEMENTS.
UM, AND THIS, THE TYPES OF DATA THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT ARE FROM OUR SIGNAL SYSTEM THAT ALERTS US WHENEVER SOMETHING MIGHT BE GOING WRONG OR HOW A SIGNAL IS OPERATING.
WE CAN SEE SOME ANALYTICS ON IF THERE'S TRENDS IN MOUTH, YOU KNOW, UM, POOR OPERATION, I GUESS YOU'D SAY A DETECTOR IS BROKEN OR SOME PIECE OF EQUIPMENT'S NOT WORKING, HOW IT SHOULD, UM, THIRD PARTY CROWDSOURCE DATA.
JUST WHAT, WHAT'S HAPPENING ON THE ROADWAYS? WHERE ARE THE DELAYS? AND WHEN, UM, AS WELL AS JUST OUR ASSET MANAGEMENT DATA, WHERE ARE WE GETTING THREE 11 REQUESTS FOR SIGNAL, UH, PROBLEMS, THINGS LIKE THAT.
SO WE TAKE ALL OF THAT AND LOOKING AT EVERYTHING IN THE YEAR 2022, REALLY MOST THINGS FELL INTO THREE CATEGORIES OF BEING A AWARE OF ISSUES, INSTANT MANAGEMENT, RUNNING CONGESTION MANAGEMENT PLANS, REPAIRING DETECTION SYSTEMS, UH, AND ADJUSTING TIMINGS WHERE WE FOUND, UM, IMBALANCES IN SIGNAL DELAY THROUGHOUT THE CITY THROUGH THIS DATA.
UM, AND OUT OF THOSE 120 ISH, UM, PROACTIVE ACTIONS THAT WE TOOK LAST YEAR, UM, ASSUMING THAT WE CAUGHT THAT SO MANY DAYS, WEEKS AHEAD OF WHEN WE WOULD'VE FOUND IT OTHERWISE POTENTIALLY ADDS UP TO, UH, ALMOST $800,000 IN DELAY SAVINGS, AND REALLY LARGE IMPROVEMENTS FOR, UM, THE TARGET MOVEMENT, WHICH IS THE ONE THAT WAS FEELING THE MOST PAIN, RIGHT? BUT ALSO JUST AT THE INTERSECTION IN TOTALITY, WE'RE ABLE TO MEASURE THAT DELAY USING THAT INRI SIGNAL ANALYTICS DATA FROM THE CROWDSOURCE DATA IN THE FIELD TO SEE DID THINGS REALLY IMPROVE? UM, AND WE CAN EVEN SAY, OKAY, IT DIDN'T IMPROVE AS MUCH AS WE THOUGHT, OR IT GOT WORSE.
LET'S CHANGE THAT AGAIN, UH, TO KEEP IMPROVING.
SO, VERY PROUD THAT, YOU KNOW, THESE NUMBERS HERE, THE NUMBER OF TRIPS WE'RE IMPACTING DELAY SAVINGS THAT WE HAVE HERE ARE FROM US BEING PROACTIVE, USING THE DATA TO FIND PROBLEMS THAT WE MAY NOT HAVE FOUND OTHERWISE.
SO WHEN YOU ADD IT ALL UP AND ALL THE THINGS THAT WE DO, UM, AS WE DO EACH YEAR, OUR REMOTE INVESTIGATION THAT SAVES CITY STAFF TIME AND MONEY, IMPROVES DELAY, SPECIAL EVENT MANAGEMENT, UM, LANE CLOSURE MANAGEMENT, AND DOING THOSE PROACTIVE, UM, ISSUE MITIGATION ADDS UP TO $6 MILLION IN THE YEAR 2022, UM, WITH A THREE AND A HALF, UH, OR 3.55 BENEFIT COST RATIO.
SO WE'RE VERY PROUD OF THAT NUMBER.
UM, CONTINUE TO TRY TO QUANTIFY ALL THE BENEFITS THAT WE CAN FROM WHAT WE DO BECAUSE, UH, WE THINK OF OURSELVES AS BEING ON THE FRONT LINE OF TRANSPORTATION IN THE CITY AND IN THE REGION, AND, UM, WANT TO NOT ONLY BE ABLE TO REACT QUICKLY TO CHANGING CONDITIONS, BUT ALSO PROACTIVELY TACKLE ISSUES AND TRENDS.
SO, HAPPY TO ENTERTAIN SOME QUESTIONS NOW.
UH, THANK YOU GUYS FOR PRESENTING.
UH, THIS IS REALLY GREAT INFORMATION.
UM, A QUESTION THAT KIND OF IMMEDIATELY STOOD OUT TO MIND, AND I'M LOOKING AT THE SLIDE HERE THAT HAS THE AGENCY COORDINATION.
UM, SO I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS THAT ALISON HAD MENTIONED WAS, UH, LIKE THE LIVE UPDATES THAT YOU GUYS GIVE ON SIGNS THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
I KNOW THAT ON SOME OF THE, THOSE SIGNS ARE MANAGED BY TECH DOT NOT THE CITY.
SO WHAT WOULD YOU GUYS SAY? I'M JUST LIKE CURIOUS BECAUSE I'VE PERSONALLY NOTICED THAT THOSE SIGNS MANAGED BY TEXT DOS SEEM TO HAVE THE LONGER DELAY AS FAR AS ACCURATE INFORMATION BEING YOU LIKE, OH, THERE'S A 15 MINUTE DELAY IN, LIKE, MAYBE THE ACCIDENT HAS ALREADY BEEN CLEARED UP AND IT'S, THAT'S, THAT'S NO LONGER RELEVANT.
SO, UH, DO YOU NOTICE ANY LIKE INTER-AGENCY COORDINATION IMPEDIMENTS BETWEEN TECH O OR YOU MENTIONED A COUPLE OTHER PLACES, OR IS THIS SOMETHING THAT IS JUST, IT FEELS PRETTY, PRETTY NORMAL? SO WE'RE ABLE TO COORDINATE WITH OUR TECH O PARTNERS.
UM, TECH O MANAGES THOSE DEVICES ON THEIR, UH, SYSTEMS, AND C T R M A DOES A LOT OF THE ONES ON, UH, 180 3.
UH, WE'RE ABLE TO, WE HAVE A DIRECT LINE TO MORE OR LESS THEIR CALL CENTER AND THEY CAN CALL OUR CALL CENTER AND KIND OF NOTIFY EACH OTHER OF EVENTS IF WE NOTICE AN INSTANT ON A TECH STOP MANAGED SYSTEM, FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN WE FEEL, YOU KNOW, THE NEED TO ALERT THEM IN CASE WE'RE NOT SURE IF THEY'RE AWARE, WE'RE WELCOME TO CALL THEM AND LET THEM KNOW THAT INCIDENT.
WHEREAS THEY CAN DO THE SAME FOR US AS FAR AS MANAGEMENT SPECIFICALLY OF THEIR DMS DEVICES.
UH, WE HIT, WE MIGHT PARTNER WITH THEM FOR, UH, PROGRAMMATIC INITIATIVES.
[00:25:01]
SO SOMETIMES FOR NEW YEAR'S, YOU KNOW, WE'LL PARTNER HAVE A, YOU KNOW, BUCKLE UP, DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE SORTS OF MESSAGE, BUT FOR IMMEDIATE INSTANT RESPONSE, I FEEL IT'S GENERALLY, UM, KIND OF THEIR, THEIR GROUP THAT IS MANAGING THOSE DEVICES.IT'S A, WE CAN DO PHONE CALL, EMAIL.
WE'VE GOT SEVERAL OPTIONS IF WE'RE OVER AT THE CTEC CENTER, IF WE'RE ON THE FLOOR WITH THEM, WE CAN, THEIR Q VILLAGE IS IMMEDIATELY BEHIND US, SO WE CAN JUST STAND UP TO
AND ON OUR ARTERIAL DYNAMIC MESSAGE SIGNS, UM, WE RUN SOME TRAVEL TIME INFORMATION.
UH, WE GET THAT TRAVEL TIME INFORMATION FROM WAYS IT'S UPDATED, I BELIEVE, EVERY FIVE MINUTES.
UM, AND WE DID A QUITE A BIT OF GROUND TRUTHING, UM, IN VALIDATION WHEN WE ROLLED OUT THAT SYSTEM.
SO IF YOU'VE DRIVEN DOWN, UM, LAMAR, CAESAR CHAVEZ, SOUTH FIRST, UM, GUADALUPE, YOU KNOW, THOSE ARE, WHEN THEY'RE DISPLAYING TRAVEL TIME MESSAGES, THAT'S, THAT'S OUR SYSTEM KICKING INTO THOSE.
A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT THAN TEXT DOTS, UM, SYSTEM, SO CAN'T SPEAK, UM, AS MUCH TO, TO THAT.
BUT IF WE HAVE SOMETHING ON OUR ARTERIAL, SAY CAESAR CHAVEZ NEAR 35, THAT'S IMPACTING I 35, WE GIVE THEM A RING TO LET THEM KNOW.
UM, A CLASSIC CASE IS DURING SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST A LOT OF TIMES, UM, THEY'LL CLOSE OR AFTER UT FOOTBALL GAMES, THEY'LL CLOSE RAMPS AROUND I 35 THROUGH THAT STRETCH OF DOWNTOWN FOR SAFETY REASONS.
UM, AND SO WE'LL COORDINATE BACK AND FORTH TO LET THEM KNOW THAT THEY CAN PUT MESSAGES UP TO SAY THAT CERTAIN EXITS ARE CLOSED.
COULD, COULD I ADD A LITTLE BIT TO THIS QUESTION? YEAH.
JIM, DALE, I'M SERVING AS AN INTERIM LEADER FOR TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS.
AND JUST TO BUILD ON YOUR, ONE OF YOUR QUESTIONS I WAS PICKING UP ON WAS ABOUT THE WELL INTER-AGENCY COORDINATION AND JUST LETTING YOU KNOW WHERE WE'RE MOVING TO AS A REGION.
RIGHT NOW WE HAVE CTEC, WHICH ALLISON AND LANCE TALKED ABOUT, BUT WE'RE NOW IN THE PROCESS OF DOING THE PLANNING WORK FOR CTECH 2.0.
IT'LL BE LIVE WITH CTEC 1.0, CTEC 1.0.
WE'VE OUTGROWN THAT SPACE, BUT WE'RE REALLY FOCUSING CTEC 2.0 IS ON TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT, BRINGING THOSE AGENCIES TOGETHER IN ONE PLACE.
SO IT'S NOT A PHONE CALL, IT'S LIKE, ALRIGHT, JUST TALKING TO THE PERSON ACROSS THE DESK FROM ME TO WORK ON COORDINATING, LOOKING UP ON THE SCREEN AT SI YOU HAVING THAT SITUATIONAL AWARENESS OF WHAT'S GOING ON, WHAT DO WE NEED TO DO ON THE ARTERIAL STREETS AS WELL AS THE, THE FREEWAYS.
AND SO I JUST WANTED TO SHARE THAT THE, WITH THE INTER COORDINATION WHERE WE'RE GOING, THIS STILL MAY BE, I'M NOT SURE HOW FAR IN THE FUTURE WE'RE STARTING THE PLANNING.
UM, BUT THAT'S THE DIRECTION THAT WE'RE GOING.
THAT, THAT WAS KIND OF LIKE WHAT I WAS GETTING AT WAS, UH, YOU KNOW, THIS, THE DATA THAT'S PRESENTED HERE IS REALLY NICE AND EVERYTHING SEEMS PRETTY SEAMLESS AS FAR AS THE, THE WAY YOU GUYS ARE COLLATING EVERYTHING AND, AND PRESENTING IT.
AND I WAS JUST WONDERING IF THAT INTERAGENCY, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE KIND OF, YOU KNOW, HUMAN, THERE'S HUMAN ERROR, YOU KNOW, SOMETIMES.
AND SO I WAS THAT THAT'S PERFECT.
THAT'S, THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I WAS WONDERING IF THERE WAS GONNA BE A, A PIVOT TOWARDS THAT IN THE FUTURE.
AND THAT SOUNDS, SOUNDS GREAT.
IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU GUYS HAVE ALREADY COVERED
I HAD A QUESTION, AND IT'S KIND OF ACTUALLY BUILDING ON SOME QUESTIONS THAT WE DISCUSSED AT OUR LAST MEETING.
UM, LAST MEETING WE HAD FRANCIS HARGROVE COME OUT TO US FROM, UM, THE SPECIAL EVENTS DIVISION, AND WE KIND OF DUG IN ON SOME ISSUES WHERE EVENTS ARE PLANNED FOR LIKE THE EVENT ATTENDERS, BUT MAYBE NOT PEOPLE WHO ARE REGULARLY USING FACILITIES LIKE RIGHT AROUND THERE.
AND SO IT'S LIKE, GREAT TO HEAR ABOUT THINGS LIKE I'VE DEFINITELY, UH, EXPERIENCED THE, I KIND OF LIVE NEAR Q2, SO LIKE THE DASH ACROSS, LIKE RIGHT, THAT'S PRETTY, THOSE ARE PRETTY COOL KINDS OF THINGS WHERE WE CAN, UM, ADJUST THOSE FOR EVENTS.
UM, BUT ONE OF THE ISSUES WE WERE KIND OF DIGGING IN ON, UH, LAST MEETING WAS ABOUT ACTUALLY SPECIFICALLY ABOUT THE MOODY CENTER BECAUSE A LOT OF, UM, PARTICULARLY CYCLISTS, BUT I THINK CYCLISTS AND PEDESTRIANS HAVE SHIFTED TO THAT NEW REBUILT RED RIVER BECAUSE IT'S SUCH A NICE FACILITY, UM, FOR, FOR ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION USERS.
BUT SOMETIMES IT SEEMED WHEN THERE'S AN EVENT, THE EVENT IS SORT OF PLANNED TO GET, LIKE, GET PEOPLE ARRIVING TO MOODY CENTER ON CARS, KIND OF IN AND OUT OF THE FACILITY, BUT NOT AS MUCH FOR, UM, ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION USERS AROUND THERE.
SO LIKE I KNOW THAT THAT'S LIKE, LIKE NOT QUITE WHAT YOU'RE DOING EXACTLY, BUT I THINK IT IS SOMETHING THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, THAT'S BEEN KIND OF A PAIN POINT IN SORT OF THE ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION COMMUNITY OF LATE.
SO JUST LIKE, I DON'T KNOW, JUST BRINGING THAT UP TO YOUR ATTENTION BECAUSE IT'S SOMETHING WHERE LIKE PEOPLE LIKE HAVE, ARE LIKE TRYING TO RIDE THROUGH THE AREA ON THE BIKE AND LIKE IT'S KIND OF CLOSED DOWN.
LIKE YEAH, THE STREET'S GONNA BE CLOSED DOWN FOR MOODY CENTER, BUT LIKE, WHY IS THE BIKE LANE
[00:30:01]
CLOSED DOWN? SPENCER MAY BE ABLE TO SPEAK TO THIS A BIT MORE, BUT I JUST THOUGHT I'D MENTIONED THAT BECAUSE IT IS SOMETHING LIKE THEY'RE ALL, THEY'RE ALL COORDINATED TOGETHER, RIGHT? SO, UM, AND WE'RE LOOKING TO USE A LOT OF THOSE DATA METRICS THAT WE'VE KIND OF HINTED AT, UH, MEASURE EFFICACY OF OUR PLANNED OPERATIONS.AND WITH THAT, WE'RE ABLE TO ANALYZE IF THERE'S UNUSED TIME, RIGHT? IF WE MAYBE RAN A PLAN, WHICH IS JUST A SIGNAL OPERATION SPECIFIC TO WHATEVER IS HAPPENING.
LET'S SAY WE RAN IT FOR AN HOUR, OUR DATA MIGHT SUGGEST TO US UPON REVIEW, WE REALLY ONLY NEED IT FOR HALF AN HOUR.
AND SO SOME OF THOSE OPERATIONS THAT MIGHT BE TILTED A LITTLE BIT MORE TOWARDS AN EVENT AS OPPOSED TO REGULAR USERS IN THE AREA, WE'RE ABLE TO TAKE THAT DATA AND FINE TUNE OUR PLAN WITH EVERY GO AROUND, IF YOU WILL.
UM, SO WE CAN TRY TO MAKE SURE THAT, YOU KNOW, FOLKS IN THE AREA AREN'T NECESSARILY, YOU KNOW, STRUGGLING INFINITELY MORE IF MOODY CENTER HAPPENS TO HAVE THE VENT OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
SO WE WE'RE ALWAYS IMPROVING IN THAT CAPACITY.
AND I THINK EVEN PUBLICITY OR LIKE WAY TO CHECK, LIKE IF YOU'RE GONNA TAKE YOUR BIKE DOWN RED RIVER, BUT YOU DON'T KNOW IF BEYONCE IS PERFORMING, YOU KNOW, LIKE
LOTS AND LOTS THERE, RIGHT? THAT'S REALLY GOOD FEEDBACK.
UM, WE DO WITH OUR SIGNAL OPERATION, UH, COMMIT A LOT TO TRYING TO KEEP CYCLINGS LOW EVEN DURING THOSE EVENTS FOR THE SAKE OF DECREASING PEDESTRIAN DELAY, MAKING EVERYTHING GO QUICKER, UM, AROUND THE CYCLE, AROUND THE INTERSECTION SO THAT THEY CAN CROSS MORE EASILY CYCLICS AS WELL.
UM, BUT YEAH, THAT'S REALLY GOOD FEEDBACK AND WE'LL TALK WITH FRANCIS.
IF YOU'RE A BICYCLIST, YOU PROBABLY ARE VALUING SAFETY AND MINIMIZING INTERACTIONS WITH CARS.
SO DOES YOUR DATA SET BUILD INTO, UM, YOU KNOW, THE DIFFERENT VALUES THAT A PERSON MAY HAVE DEPENDING ON THE MODE OF TRANSPORTATION THEY'RE USING? SURE.
LET ME GIVE A COUPLE OF EXAMPLES.
SO WE, WE KNEW THAT TWO, THE SIGNALS IMMEDIATELY ADJACENT TO THE STADIUM WE'RE GONNA BE HAVING REALLY INTENSE PEDESTRIAN DEMANDS, RIGHT? UM, AND SOMETHING WE'D HAD SUCCESS WITHIN THE PAST WAS CHANGING THE PHASING TO RUN THAT WHAT WE CALL A PED SCRAMBLE PHASE, AN EXCLUSIVE PEDESTRIAN PHASE.
UM, THAT'S ONE TO PRIORITIZE THEIR TIME, MAKE SURE THAT WE CAN HELP THEM GET NOT ACROSS JUST ONE LEG, BUT IF THEY WANT TO GO DIAGONAL, THEY CAN DO THAT AS WELL.
AND ACROSS THE INTERSECTION, ONE FELL SWOOP, IT ALSO SEPARATES OUT SO THAT THEY HAVE AN EXCLUSIVE FADE WHERE THEY'RE NOT WORRIED ABOUT SOMEONE TRYING TO TURN RIGHT ON THEM, SOMEONE TRYING TO DO ANYTHING, YOU KNOW, THEY HAVE THEIR OWN TIME THAT'S SPOT SAFE IN THAT WAY.
UH, SIMILARLY FOR AUSTIN CITY LIMITS, UM, LAMAR AND BART SPRINGS.
BART SPRINGS IS TYPICALLY CLOSED AT THE END OF THE NIGHT, UM, FOR CYCLIST WALKS, THERE'S PETTY CABS, ALL THAT SORT OF STUFF.
UM, WE SET UP A SPECIAL OPERATIONS WHERE WE GIVE TWO MINUTES OF CROSSING TIME ACROSS LAMAR EXCLUSIVELY FOR PEDESTRIANS AND CYCLISTS AND, AND PETTY CABS AND ALL OF THOSE AS THEY CLEAR OUT WITH JUST ONE MINUTE OF VEHICLES ALONG THE MARCH TO TRY TO, UM, HELP THE CROWDS GET WHERE THEY'RE GOING, UH, SAFELY.
IT ALSO MAKES IT EASIER FOR PD PD TO, TO MANAGE CROWDS AT THE INTERSECTION, NOT HAVE TO WORK AGAINST THE SIGNAL LIKE ALLIE WAS TALKING ABOUT.
UM, SO WHEN WE'RE THINKING ABOUT THAT, WE REALLY TRY TO TAKE AN EVENT MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVE AND THAT EVENT MANAGEMENT IS REALLY PEOPLE AND HOW DO WE GET PEOPLE IN AND OUT OF THERE.
UM, AND SOME OF THOSE PEOPLE ARE IN CARS, THE PEOPLE ARE ON ALL DIFFERENT KINDS OF MODES.
UM, SO WE'RE THINKING ABOUT HOW WE CAN GET PEOPLE HOME AS QUICKLY AND SAFELY AS WE CAN, UM, WITH SIGNALS BY THEIR NATURE.
TYPICALLY IT'S A BIT MORE VEHICLE LANE ORIENTED.
UM, BUT IF WE HAVE LOCATIONS THAT HAVE BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN INFRASTRUCTURE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE LOOKING AT INCREASING WALK TIMES, DOING THINGS LIKE WE TALKED ABOUT.
I HOPEFULLY THAT HELPS A LITTLE BIT.
I, I HAVE TWO OTHER QUESTIONS, BUT I'LL GIVE IT BACK TO THE FLOOR.
I, THAT WAS MY ONLY YEAH, GO AHEAD.
I HAVE ONE OTHER QUESTION, BUT IT'S NOT RELEVANT TO THE LETTER.
IT'S, IT'S, IT CAN GO, IT CAN BE THE LAST QUESTION.
UM, OBVIOUSLY YOU GUYS PICK UP ON A LOT, BUT IF I AS A CITIZEN WANT TO FLAG SOMETHING FOR YOU MM-HMM.
IS THERE A WAY THAT I CAN FLAG THAT FOR YOU AS A CITIZEN AND WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO DO THAT? YES.
UM, EITHER THROUGH THE APP OR BY GIVING US A CALL, CUZ ALL THAT'S TRACKED, WE RESPOND TO THOSE, MOST OF THEM WITHIN, YOU KNOW, MINUTES, RIGHT? UM, WE'RE, WE'RE LOOKING AT THEM, TRIAGING THEM,
[00:35:01]
TRYING TO INVESTIGATE THEM REMOTELY AND THEN DISPATCHING, UM, REPAIRS.SO WE REALLY PRIORITIZE PEDESTRIAN INFRASTRUCTURE AND MAKING SURE THAT'S WORKING AS OPPOSED TO, SO IF THERE'S SOMEONE THAT SAYS, HEY, THIS PUSH BUTTON'S NOT WORKING, THAT'S A TOP PRIORITY MM-HMM.
UM, AND SO YEAH, GIVE US, GIVE US A RING AT THREE 11, UM, AND WE WE'RE RESPONDING, MAKING SURE THAT WE CAN TRY TO GET THAT REPAIRED AND RESOLVED AS BEST WE CAN.
SO THEN, UM, THE FOLLOW UP TO THAT IS, UM, THERE HAVE BEEN A LOT OF PEOPLE IN THE ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION COMMUNITY WHO SPECIFICALLY THE SIGNALS AT INTERSECTIONS WITH TECH STOP ROADS ARE REALLY BAD FOR ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION USERS WHO, WHO CONTROLS WHEN WE HAVE A CITY OF AUSTIN RIGHT AWAY INTERSECTING WITH TECH STOP RIGHT AWAY, WHO CONTROLS THE SIGNALS, HOW DOES THAT WORK? SO WE CONTROL THE, THE SIGNALS, UM, SO WE OPERATE AND MAINTAIN THE SIGNALS.
THEY'RE TECHNICALLY SORT OF STILL OWNED BY TECH DOT AND THEY PAY THE CITY TO OPERATE AND MAINTAIN THIS, UH, BECAUSE IT'S A TECH DOT FACILITY.
UM, BUT WITH THAT WE DO OFTEN, YOU KNOW, CREATE UPGRADES AND, AND HAVE PROGRAM PROJECTS TO IMPROVE THOSE FACILITIES.
UM, LAMAR UM, BOULEVARD IS A BOND CORRIDOR, IT'S ALSO A TEXTILE FACILITY.
SO WE JUST COORDINATE WITH THEM ABOUT, HEY, WE'RE SEEING THIS, THESE ARE SOME IMPROVEMENTS WE WANNA MAKE AND GO TO THE TABLE.
THEN JIM CAN PROBABLY SPEAK MORE TO HOW THAT PROCESS WORKS.
UM, BUT IF IT'S AN INFRASTRUCTURE RELATED UPGRADE, LIKE CURRENT BRANCH, UM, ALL THOSE SORTS OF THINGS, IT'S A LITTLE BIT MORE THAN WHAT WE CAN DO WITH JUST SIGNAL OPERATIONS, BUT WE'RE A PART OF THOSE CONVERSATIONS.
AND I DON'T WANT TO PUT YOU TOO MUCH ON THE SPOT, BUT DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE LIMITATIONS ON TEXT OUT RIGHT AWAY IN TERMS OF YOUR ABILITY TO MANIPULATE THE SIGNALS THAT YOU WOULDN'T HAVE ON CITY BOSTON? NO.
UM, IF WE WANNA DO UPGRADES AND THINGS, WE CAN COORDINATE WITH THEM, WHICH IS I GUESS ONE EXTRA STEP MM-HMM.
UM, BUT I, I WOULDN'T SAY THAT WE FEEL LIMITED IN WHAT WE ARE ABLE TO DO IF WE DO STRIKE CHANGING MM-HMM.
YEAH, USUALLY, USUALLY THEY'RE FINE WITH THAT.
WE PRESENT THE CASE AND SHOW THE IMPROVEMENT.
I'VE GOT ANOTHER, UM, COORDINATION QUESTION.
UM, I'M CURIOUS ABOUT HOW THE MMC COORDINATES WITH CAPITAL METRO IN TERMS OF THE TRANSIT SIGNAL PRIORITY PROGRAM FOR THE METRO RAPID.
UM, AND KIND OF LIKE HOW Y'ALL BRING THAT DATA TO THEM TO IMPROVE TRANSIT OPERATIONS AND HOW THEIR DATA ALSO INFORMS, UM, YOUR OPERATIONS FOR THOSE SIGNALS.
YEAH, WE'RE COORDINATING EXTREMELY CLOSELY WITH THEM.
WE'RE ACTUALLY HAVE A PROJECT WHERE WE'RE TRYING TO ROLL OUT OUR TRANSIT SIGNAL PRIORITY TO A MUCH GREATER, UM, PERCENTAGE OF THE CITY'S SIGNALS USING A CENTRALIZED SYSTEM.
SO THROUGH COORDINATING WITH CAB METRO, WE CAN GET THEIR DATA AS TO WHERE THEIR, UM, BUSES ARE AND WHAT THEIR STATUS IS IF THEY'RE LATE.
UM, AND SO IF THEY ENTER A ZONE NEAR ONE OF OUR TRAFFIC SIGNALS AND THEY'RE BEHIND SCHEDULE, WE CAN PROGRAM OUR TRAFFIC SIGNALS TO TRY TO GIVE THEM AN EARLY OR EXTENDED GREEN TIME TO GET THEM BACK ON SCHEDULE.
WE'RE IN ABOUT TO INTERFACE TWO OF AN AGREEMENT WITH THEM TO ROLL THAT OUT TO MORE INTERSECTIONS.
RIGHT NOW THAT'S PRIMARILY RUNNING ON JUST THE TWO EXPRESS ROUTES, BUT WE'RE LOOKING TO EXPAND THAT.
UM, SO WITH THAT THEY, WE CAN SEE THEIR DATA, THEY CAN KIND OF SEE OURS, WE COORDINATE WITH THEIR, UM, THEY CALL IT AN OCC THAT'S OVER AT THE MCNEIL OFF OF BURNETT, UM, FACILITY.
UM, IF WE EVER NEED TO COORDINATE WITH SOME SORT OF PREEMPTION OR PRIORITY THING WITH THE RAIL.
UM, WE'RE ALSO TRYING TO LET THEM KNOW IF THERE'S ANY IMPACTS TO BUS ROUTES AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
IN ADDITION TO THAT, UH, WE USE A VIDEO MANAGEMENT SYSTEM TO LOOK AT ALL OF OUR CCTV NETWORK.
SO WE MANAGE CLOSE TO 700 CCTV CITYWIDE, UH, VARIANTS AS FAR AS WHETHER THEY'RE AT AN INTERSECTION LEVEL OR IN OUR DOWNTOWN CORE.
WE HAVE A LOT ON THE HIGH RISES, SO WE CAN SEE PROGRESSION, UM, AS NEEDED.
WE'RE LOOKING TO, AND IN THE PROCESS OF FEDERATING OUR C T V SYSTEM WITH CAP METRO, SO MUCH LIKE HOW WE CAN LOOK AT, YOU KNOW, FROM THE INTERSECTION LEVEL DOWN TO THE BUS STOP, SO CAN CAT METRO AND WE'LL BE ABLE TO SEE SOME SELECT CAMERAS INSIDE OF THEIR SYSTEM AS WELL TO KIND OF FILL THE BLIND SPOTS WHERE WE MIGHT NOT HAVE A CAMERA INSTALLED QUITE YET.
UH, SO THAT WILL CONTINUE TO HELP, YOU KNOW, TEST THAT TSV PROGRAM AND OTHER ITEMS I'M LOOKING TO ACHIEVE I ADD.
UM, YEAH, SO SOME OF THE PLANNING WORK WE'RE DOING FOR THE RAIL, WE'VE BEEN IN DISCUSSIONS PROBABLY WELL OVER A YEAR IN TERMS OF HOW WE WILL RUN THE SIGNAL SYSTEM WITH THE LIGHT RAIL SYSTEM AS IT MOVES THROUGH TOWN.
CERTAINLY JUST GOT CLARITY RECENTLY ON WHAT THAT ALIGNMENT'S GONNA LOOK LIKE.
AND SO WE, WE EVEN HAD A MEETING THIS WEEK, SO THOSE MEETINGS ARE OCCURRING REGULARLY, BUT TO COORDINATE WHAT THAT FUTURE'S GONNA LOOK LIKE TO MOVE THOSE TRAINS IDEALLY BETWEEN STATIONS WITHOUT
[00:40:01]
STOPPING.SO A LOT OF THAT WORKS GOING ON TO THANK YOU.
THAT WAS, THAT WAS GONNA BE MY QUESTION, IS THE SCOPE OF THE COLLABORATION WITH THE AS PROJECT CONNECT RAMPS UP, UH, WITH CAP METRO, BUT THAT SOUNDS, YEAH, THAT SOUNDS GREAT.
UH, ANOTHER THING I'LL MENTION JUST TO THE, THE POINT THAT WAS MADE EARLIER ABOUT, UH, THE QUESTION THAT WAS ASKED ABOUT, UH, YOU KNOW, HOW DO WE REPORT THESE LIGHTS AND WHATNOT? UM, I LUCKILY KNOW ALLISON PERSONALLY, SHE'S A GOOD FRIEND OF MINE AND SHE HAS ENCOURAGED, SHE HAS, SHE'S ALWAYS ENCOURAGED ME TO USE THREE 11, AND I HAVE NOTICED, UH, A FEW TIMES WHEN I'VE CALLED IN THAT WHEN I REPORT SOMETHING, IT IS FIXED WITHIN UNDER AN HOUR THERE WILL BE SOMETHING OR, OR QUICKER.
SO, UH, KUDOS TO YOU GUYS FOR, YOU KNOW, A WELL OILED SYSTEM.
SO, UH, AND YEAH, HOPEFULLY MORE PEOPLE USE THAT TO CALL IN FOR THINGS.
YEAH, IT'S FLASHING, IT'S, YOU KNOW.
YEAH, WE LIKE TO HEAR SHOULD SAY, I REQUEST AN L LPI THREE WEEKS AGO AND IT WAS PUT IN WITHIN A WEEK.
SO LISTEN, THAT WAS Y'ALL'S KEEP GIVING US TWO SAMPLES.
UM, AND ALSO WHEN GOING BACKWARDS, A CAB METRO DRIVER NOTICED SOMETHING, WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? YEAH, WE OFTEN WILL GET CALLS FROM THEIR OCC FROM A CAT, METRO DRIVER'S SAFE, THE OCC.
THEY'LL CALL US AND SAY, HEY, THEY'VE NOTICED.
YEAH, THEY'LL CALL US DIRECTLY, UM, AND THEY'LL SAY, HEY, WE, YOU KNOW, OUR DRIVERS ARE NOTICING THIS ISSUE HERE.
MAYBE THE LEFT TURN'S NOT WORKING RIGHT.
OR, UM, A SIGNAL FLASHING, UM, SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
SO THEY'LL CALL AND LET US KNOW.
UM, OFTEN WE'RE ALREADY AWARE, BUT, YOU KNOW, WE ALWAYS APPRECIATE A SECOND, YOU KNOW, WE DON'T HAVE EYES EVERYWHERE, SO WE APPRECIATE IT.
AND IF YOU CALL IF THREE 11 AND REQUEST A CALL BACK, IT'S USUALLY ONE OF US TO GIVE YOU A CALL BACK TO ASK ABOUT YOUR ISSUE, SO, YEAH.
YEAH, THANKS Y'ALL WE'LL OUT AND MUCH Y'ALL HAVE A LITTLE MORE ROOM IN THE ROOM HERE.
GIVE YOU, UM, NO, CHRISTOPHER'S WORKING ON GETTING OUR NEXT ITEM, UH, IN FRONT OF US.
UH, ITEM TWO IS, UM, OR THREE, I'M JUST READING NUMBERS WRONG.
[3. Discussion and possible action on the Teleworking Policy Recommendation.]
UH, DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON THE TELEWORKING POLICY RECOMMENDATION.WE DO HAVE A RESOLUTION, UM, IT'S AVAILABLE IN THE BACKUP ONLINE, UH, THAT WAS EMAILED OUT FROM, UM, CHRISTOPHER.
HE'S GONNA GET THAT PULLED UP FOR THE, UH, ONLINE MEETING.
UM, I'LL PUT ON, YEAH, WE HAVE SPEAKERS, SO I'LL JUST SET THE STAGE.
WE HAD SEVERAL INDIVIDUALS, UH, CITY EMPLOYEES THAT CAME AND SPOKE UP TO US LAST MONTH, UM, AS PART OF, UH, PUBLIC COMMUNICATION, UH, NOT ON OUR AGENDA ABOUT THE TELEWORKING POLICIES AT THE CITY.
AND WE ALL, UH, THE COMMISSIONERS WERE EAGER TO TAKE THIS UP IN OUR JULY AGENDA.
SO, UM, I'D LIKE TO, YOU, YOU WERE THE AUTHOR OF THIS, GIVE A BIG THANKS TO REEN FOR PUTTING TOGETHER THIS, UH, DRAFT, UH, RESOLUTION FOR US.
UM, AND SO, UM, WE DO HAVE, UM, UH, SEVERAL SPEAKERS I THINK, UM, UH, WHY DON'T WE JUST GO AHEAD AND TAKE OUR SPEAKERS ON THIS, UH, WHILE WE'RE PULLING IT UP.
UH, THAT BEING SAID, I'LL GO DOWN THE LIST OF SPEAKERS, THE FIRST SPEAKER, UH, IF YOU COULD TURN THE CAMERA ON, THAT'D BE GREAT, BUT IF NOT, THAT'S OKAY.
UH, FIRST SPEAKER, PAIGE BRADLEY.
I WAS JUST ORGANIZING IN THE BACKGROUND.
IN THAT CASE, WE'LL GO ON TO MADELINE, UH, SORRY IF I'M PRONOUNCING THAT WRONG.
UM, CAN I GO AHEAD AND GET STARTED? YES.
HELLO, MY NAME IS MADELINE CIO AND I'M A BUSINESS PROCESS SPECIALIST FOR AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY.
UH, CURRENTLY MY TEAM IS EXPECTED TO BE IN THE OFFICE ONE DAY A WEEK.
UH, THIS WAS A HUGE DRAW FOR ME TO TAKE THIS ROLE BECAUSE I LIVE NEAR SOUTH LAMAR WHILE MY OFFICE IS UP NORTH OFF 180 3 ON RUTHERFORD LANE.
UH, THIS CAN BE UP TO A 30 MINUTE COMMUTE, UH, OBVIOUSLY MORE DURING RUSH HOUR, AND I CAN CUT THIS DOWN IF I WANT TO PAY FOR THE TOLL ROADS, BUT FOR HALF OF MY TEAM THAT LIVES OUTSIDE OF AUSTIN, DUE TO THE RISING COST OF LIVING, UH, THIS ONE DAY A WEEK ALLOWS US TO STAY ENGAGED WITH EACH OTHER, UH, WHILE ALSO ALLOWING US TO BE PRODUCTIVE AND LIVE MEANINGFUL LIVES OUTSIDE OF WORK WITHOUT MULTIPLE HOURS A WEEK SPINNING ON COMMUTING TO THE OFFICE.
THE PROPOSED TELEWORK POLICY FROM THE INTERIM CITY MANAGER
[00:45:01]
DOES NOT ACCOUNT FOR HOW MUCH MORE TRAFFIC WILL BE ON THE ROADS WHEN PEOPLE ARE REQUIRED TO BE IN THE OFFICE FOR THREE DAYS A WEEK.THIS POLICY DOES NOT MAKE SENSE FOR OUR ECONOMIC SAFETY OR SUSTAINABILITY GOALS AS A CITY.
WHEN WE LOOK AT THE AUSTIN'S VISION, 0 20 23 UPDATE CAR CRASHES WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR MORE THAN EIGHT, SORRY FOR MORE THAN 6.8 BILLION IN ECONOMIC LOSSES.
THIS UPDATE ALSO STATES THAT PEDESTRIAN FATALITIES ARE RISING AT AN ALARMING RATE.
48 PEDESTRIANS WERE KILLED IN 2022, WHICH IS UP FROM A 42 IN 2021, WHILE THE PREVIOUS FIVE-YEAR AVERAGE WAS 30 DEATHS.
AND I CAN'T IMAGINE WHAT PUTTING 60,000 MORE CAR TRIPS ON OUR ROADS EACH WEEK WILL DO TO THIS NUMBER.
THERE'S ALSO A STUDY FROM GREEN CAR REPORTS THAT SHOWS THE MICROPLASTICS FROM TIRES AND BRAKES MAKE UP 52% OF THE TOTAL EMISSIONS FROM DRIVING IT.
QUOTES OF THE PARTICLES EMITTED 82% FIND THEIR WAY INTO WATER, AND 18% BECOME AIRBORNE.
THE STUDY ALSO HIGHLIGHTS THE HIGHLIGHTS, THE POTENTIAL FOR PARTICLES FROM TIRES TO ACCUMULATE IN THE FOOD CHAIN.
RIGHT NOW, WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICE FOR OUR LOCAL GOVERNMENT TO RETAIN HIGHLY SKILLED AND VALUABLE EMPLOYEES, OUR CITY, TO BE SAFER FOR ALL AUSTINITES AND SLOW THE IMMENSE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE.
I'M ASKING EACH OF YOU TO CONTACT THE CITY COUNCIL MEMBER FOR THE DISTRICT YOU REPRESENT, AND EXPLAIN WHY THEY SHOULD VOTE IN SUPPORT FOR YOUR RESOLUTION AT THE COUNCIL MEETING ON JULY 20TH.
THANK YOU FOR ALLOWING ME AND MY COWORKERS TO SPEAK TODAY.
ALL RIGHT, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
UH, WE WILL MOVE ON TO OUR NEXT SPEAKER, MERA BEDROS MIERA, CAN YOU, CAN YOU HEAR US, MS. BEDROS? MS. BEDROS, WE'RE NOT ABLE TO, UH, HEAR YOU.
UM, I'M NOT ABLE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH MS. BARROWS.
UH, SHE, SHE SAYS COMPUTER AUDIO IS NOT WORKING.
SHE'S ON THE PHONE, BUT I CAN'T SHE PHONE CODE THAT SHE CAN, SHE SEES SHE IS CALLING.
I AM A MEMBER OF F 1624 AND A GRADUATE ENGINEER WITH WATERSHED DETECTION DEPARTMENT.
UH, MY JOB IS CURRENTLY ABOUT 60 TO 80% REMOTE, AND I HAVE COWORKERS WHO ARE UP TO A HUNDRED PERCENT REMOTE.
I'VE TALKED TO SEVERAL OF THEM WHO HAVE, UH, STATED THAT THEY'RE ALREADY LOOKING FOR OTHER POSITIONS, OR THAT EVEN IF THEY DO STICK AROUND WITH THE CITY, THEY ARE GOING TO DO IT BEGRUDGINGLY IF THE, UH, THE PROPOSED TELEWORK POLICY CHANGE GOES THROUGH.
AND I, I HOPE YOU'LL FORGIVE MY NONCHALANT, I JUST GOT HOME FROM BIKING BACK FROM WORK, SO, YOU KNOW, STICKING TO THAT URBAN TRANSPORTATION, UH, PLAN, BUT, UH, YEAH, TELEWORK IT, THE POLICY THAT WE HAVE IN PLACE HAS MADE US MORE PRODUCTIVE AS EMPLOYEES, AS IT IS.
IT HAS MADE US ABLE TO LIVE MORE FULFILLING LIVES OUTSIDE OF WORK.
AND THE ONLY OUTCOME THAT THIS POLICY WILL HAVE WILL BE TO DRAIN THE CITY OF REALLY VALUABLE TALENT AS PEOPLE LEAVE FOR BETTER JOBS IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR THAT ACTUALLY ALLOW THEM TO WORK FROM HOME.
UH, WE HEARD FROM SEVERAL EMPLOYEES AT WATERSHED PROTECTION WHO HAVE HEALTH RISKS OR HEALTH CONCERNS WITH COMING INTO THE OFFICE WHO HAVE IDENTITY RISKS AND CONCERNS OF COMING INTO THE OFFICE.
AND, UH, I ALSO TAKE ISSUE WITH THE WAY THAT THE POLICY CHANGE WAS PLAYED OUT.
UH, YOU KNOW, IT IT WAS DESIGNED TO PIT TELEWORK EMPLOYEES AGAINST EMPLOYEES NOT ELIGIBLE TO TELEWORK, WHICH THEN HAD THE KNOCKDOWN EFFECT OF CAUSING SOME DISRUPTION AND DISCORDANCE WITHIN THE OFFICE AND CAUSING CITY SERVICES TO POTENTIALLY BE DISRUPTED AS PEOPLE HAD TO WORK THROUGH INTERPERSONAL ISSUES.
SO THE PATH FORWARD IS TO ACTUALLY GIVE US AN EQUITABLE TELEWORK POLICY THAT BENEFITS BOTH TELEWORK ELIGIBLE AND NON TELEWORK POSITIONS EQUALLY, AND OFFERS TRAVEL STIPENDS WHILE NOT PUTTING MORE CARS ON THE ROAD.
I KNOW I'M PROBABLY PREACHING TO THE CHOIR BECAUSE I BELIEVE THAT YOU ALSO SUPPORT A MULTIMODAL TRANSIT SYSTEM.
SO I WOULD ASK THAT YOU PLEASE SUPPORT THE JOINT, UH, OR THE, SORRY, THE, UM, EXCUSE ME, JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION.
IN THEIR REPORT AND ALSO IS YOUR, YOUR OWN IN SUPPORT OF INEQUITABLE TELEWORK POLICY.
UH, OUR LAST SPEAKER, I BELIEVE IS WHITNEY, WHITNEY HOLE, BUT NOT SURE IF SHE'S ABLE TO JOIN US TODAY.
SO I THINK, SORRY, UH, PAIGE EMAILED
[00:50:01]
ME AND LET ME KNOW THAT WHITNEY'S NOT ABLE TO JOIN.SO THAT BEING SAID, OKAY, WITH THAT BEING SAID, CHAIR, THAT IS ALL OF OUR SPEAKERS FOR THIS ITEM.
I'LL GO AHEAD AND PULL UP THE, UH, RESOLUTION.
YEAH, I WOULD LIKE TO NOTE, UH, COMMISSIONERS, IF YOU WANTED TO REVIEW WHITNEY'S, UH, THERE'S A SHORT, JUST SHORT SLIDE DECK.
IT'S IN OUR BACKUP, UH, IF YOU WANTED TO REVIEW THAT JUST FOR YOUR OWN INFORMATION SINCE, UH, THEY WEREN'T ABLE TO BE HERE.
SO JUST A POINT OF INTEREST ON THAT.
UM, UH, I GUESS, UM, AND I ALSO WANNA DRAW YOUR ATTENTION.
I'M GONNA LET REEN MAKE HIS MOTION, BUT, UM, WE ALSO HAVE, UM, I KNOW ONE OF THE SPEAKERS MENTIONED THE JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION, UH, FROM JUNE 28TH.
WE HAVE THAT IN OUR BACKUP AS WELL FOR OUR REFERENCE LOOKS LIKE THAT PAST LA BODY UNANIMOUSLY ON THAT DATE.
SO, UM, WITH THAT, I THINK WE'RE GONNA HAVE AN EMOTION ABOUT THIS RESOLUTION.
I MAKE MOTION WITHOUT THE FOLLOWING RESOLUTION INTO THE RECORD.
WHEREAS THE LONG-TERM TREND OVER THE PAST DECADE IN THE AUSTIN LABOR MARKET HAS BEEN FOR INCREASING NUMBERS OF PEOPLE TO WORK FROM HOME OR OTHER LOCATIONS OUTSIDE THEIR EMPLOYER'S LOCATION.
THIS NUMBER GOING FROM 5.7% IN 2010 TO 8.7% IN 2019 BEFORE THE PANDEMICS, NOT PANDEMICS BETTER SOMETHING'S HAPPENED, WHEREAS THE POST PANDEMIC RETURN TO EMPLOYEES OFFICE IS TAKING PLACE FAR MORE SLOWLY THAN RECENT NEWS ITEMS, WHICH IS SUGGEST, FOR EXAMPLE, AS OF 6 21 20 23, THE CASTLE BACK TO WORK.
BAROMETER BAROMETER, UM, SHOWS THE CURRENT OFFICE OCCUPANCY RATE IN AUSTIN HAS ACHIEVED ONLY 58.2% OF THE PRE PANDEMIC LEVEL, DESPITE THE HEADLINES OF BUSINESSES REQUIRED EMPLOYEES TO WORK IN THEIR OFFICES.
AND WHEREAS THE CITY OF AUSTIN COMPETES WITH OTHER EMPLOYERS IN BOTH THE PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SECTORS, THE AVAILABILITY OF TELEWORK OPPORTUNITIES WILL INCREASE THE SIZE OF THE POTENTIAL EMPLOYEE WHO WILL BY OPENING OPPORTUNITIES FOR THOSE WHO TRAVEL TO THE CITY OF AUSTIN FACILITY IS DIFFICULT, SUCH AS THOSE LIVING FAR FROM CITY OF AUSTIN FACILITIES, THOSE WHO HAVE DISABILITIES, AND THOSE WHO HAVE DIFFICULTY ARRANGING FOR TRAFFIC.
AND WHERE SUBSTANTIAL NUMBERS EMPLOYEES TELEWORKING WOULD RESULT IN SUBSTANTIAL FLOOR SPACE OR ENTIRE CITY BUILDINGS BECOMING AVAILABLE FOR OTHER PURPOSES, SUCH AS THE DELOITTE CONSULTING REPORT FORECAST FOR TRAVIS COUNTY.
AND WHEREAS THE PREPONDERANCE OF STUDIES ON EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY SHOWING THAT EMPLOYEES ALLOWS WORK, INCREASES PRODUCTIVITY, AND WHEREAS THE JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION RECOMMENDED IDENTIFIES THE ENVIRONMENT EFFECTS OF IN CHARGING TELEWORKING AND WHEREAS THE CHANCE OF SUCCESSFUL OUTCOMES IN SWITCHING TO TELEWORKING FOR INCREASED, IF MANAGERS AND EMPLOYEES RECEIVE TRAINING IN BEST PRACTICES REMOTE WORK, IT RESOLVED THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION RECOMMENDS THAT THE AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL IMPLEMENT A PERMANENT OPTION FOR ALL EMPLOYEES WHOSE JOB DUTIES PERMIT TELEWORKING TO TELEWORK SOME OR ALL OF THE TIME, AND SHOULD MOVE TOWARDS IMPLEMENTATION OF THAT OPTION BY REQUESTING THAT THIS INTERIM CITY MANAGER FINALLY DELIVER THE REPORT ON ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES TELEWORKING, WHICH WAS REQUESTED BY COUNCIL ON JUNE, 2022.
THE REPORT SHOULD CONTAIN AT LEAST THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION, A PROPOSED LIST OF WHICH JOB CLASSIFICATIONS AND POSITION ARE SUITABLE FOR TELEWORKING, THE ESTIMATED FINANCIAL IMPACTS OFFERING TELEWORKING AS AN OPTION.
THOSE EMPLOYEES' JOB CLASSIFICATIONS ARE SUITABLE SIMILAR TO THE REPORT PREPARED BY DELOITTE CONSULTING FOR TRAVIS COUNTY.
THE REPORT SHOULD ALSO IDENTIFY WHICH PROPERTIES WOULD BECOME AVAILABLE FOR OTHER PURPOSES SUCH AS AFFORDABLE HOUSING OR LEASE TERMINATION AND SUBSTANTIAL FRACTION OF EMPLOYEES OR ELIGIBLE FOR TELEWORKING AT THOSE LOCATIONS.
TO DO SO, THE REPORT SHOULD ALSO IDENTIFY COSTS OF EXPANDING TELEWORKING SUCH AS ADDITIONAL IT COSTS, COST UPDATE, PERSONNEL POLICIES AND PROCEDURES AND TRAINING COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH LEARNING TO WORK AND MANAGE AND DISTRIBUTE ENVIRONMENT A SKILL MANY OTHER MANY MATTERS DON'T CURRENTLY POSSESS.
SO THAT'S THE END OF THE RESOLUTION.
RIGHT? SO WE HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE THIS, UH, DRAFT RESOLUTION.
UH, IS THERE A SECOND? I'LL SECOND.
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EXCELLENT, THANK YOU.UM, ALL RIGHT, UH, COMMISSIONERS, WE HAVE BEFORE US THIS DRAFT RESOLUTION.
IS THERE ANY, UH, DISCUSSION OR, I'M GOOD.