["Portions of the meeting does not contain audio"]
[00:00:36]
[CALL TO ORDER ]
NO, UH, I'M, I'M HERE.UH, COMMISSIONER WHEELER? YES.
COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER NOT HERE.
COMMISSIONER BROOKS, OUR VICE CHAIR BROOKS, I SHOULD SAY.
UM, WITH THAT WE'LL MOVE INTO OUR, UH, PUBLIC COMMUNICATION GENERAL.
UM, AND I BELIEVE WE HAVE NO ONE SPEAK UP, UH, HERE, BUT IF ANYONE IS HERE, PLEASE IDENTIFY YOURSELF IF YOU WANTED TO SPEAK ON AN ITEM THAT IS NOT ON OUR CURRENT AGENDA.
[1. Approve the minutes of the Urban Transportation Commission REGULAR MEETING on August 6, 2024. ]
OUR MINUTES APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES, UH, FROM OUR REGULAR MEETING IN AUGUST.IF YOU'RE HERE IN PERSON, I'LL MOVE APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES.
UM, ANY DISCUSSION ON THE MINUTES? I THINK THERE WAS ONE THING THAT WAS, UH, I JUST WANNA VERBALLY, I GUESS, CLARIFY WHAT'S THE CURRENT VERSION OF THE MID MINUTES THAT WAS CIRCULATED VIA EMAIL AND IS IN OUR PACKETS HERE.
UM, DOES REFLECT THAT I, I CHAIR SUMMERS ATTENDED VIRTUALLY LAST MONTH, AND THAT COMMISSIONER BROOKS WAS THE, UM, RUNNING THE MEETING HERE, UM, IN AUSTIN.
SO, UH, THAT HAS BEEN CORRECTED.
SO THE CIRCULATED VERSION THAT WE HAVE NOW SHOULD REFLECT THAT.
I THINK A VERY INITIAL DRAFT DIDN'T HAVE THAT, BUT I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT EVERYBODY'S AWARE THAT THAT IS CORRECTED FROM THE VERY FIRST DRAFT THAT WE SAW.
ANY OTHER DISCUSSION ON THE MINUTES AMENDMENTS? ALL RIGHT.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF APPROVING THE MINUTES? RAISE YOUR HAND OR SAY, AYE.
THAT LOOKS UNANIMOUS OF THOSE PRESENT.
UM, SO THAT TAKES US INTO OUR, UH, DISCUSSION ITEMS.
[2. Living Streets Program update ]
WE HAVE TWO DISCUSSION ITEMS TODAY.WE WILL TAKE THE LIVING STREETS PROGRAM UPDATE FIRST.
I'VE BEEN ASKED TO SAY THE ITEM NUMBERS FOR THE BENEFIT OF OUR, OUR WONDERFUL STAFF, AND I'M GONNA TRY TO DO BETTER ABOUT THAT.
IT'S LITERALLY BEEN SIX MONTHS SINCE I WAS HERE LAST, AND OUR PROGRAM IS A SIX MONTH PROGRAM, UH, IN THAT, THAT IS THE TERM OF THE INSTALLATIONS.
SO I'LL BE PRESENTING TONIGHT.
AND WHAT WE'RE GONNA GO OVER IS, UH, JUST THE BACKGROUND JUST TO REFRESH YOUR MEMORY ABOUT WHAT LIVING STREETS ARE, AND THERE'S A NICE LITTLE UNIQUE CHANGE IN THERE.
OUR INITIAL ACTIVATIONS AND THEN THE LESSONS WE LEARNED FROM THEM WHERE YOU GUYS ASKED US TO GO WITH THE PROGRAM AND MADE RECOMMENDATIONS TO MOB COM AND WE TOOK THOSE IN EARNEST, IS THE TRANSITIONS FROM OUR TEMPORARY INSTALLS TO A MORE PERMANENT STRUCTURE, AND THEN CURRENT PROGRAM DEMAND AND PUBLIC RESPONSE, AND WHAT OUR PLANS FOR FY 25 ARE MOVING FORWARD.
SO, JUST TO REFRESH YOUR MEMORY, CITY COUNCIL DIRECTED, UH, THE STAFF TO CREATE THE STREETS PROGRAM, ALSO KNOWN AS LIVING STREETS UNDER RESOLUTION.
IT'S ABSOLUTELY A RESIDENT LED PROGRAM.
IT CONSISTS OF THREE SUB-PROGRAMS AND THEY ALL USE SOFT CLOSURES, MEANING NOTHING IS BOLTED TO THE GROUND AND THERE'S NO CURB AND GUTTER TO THE CHANGE.
AS SUCH, IT'S IN PLACE FOR THREE TO SIX MONTHS EXCEPT FOR THE NEIGHBORHOOD BLOCK PARTY, WHICH IS A SINGLE DAY ACTIVATION.
UH, IT RE DOES REQUIRE 60% SUPPORT FROM THE RESIDENTS ON THE AFFECTED STREETS, AND IT IS OUT THERE TO ADDRESS EQUITY ISSUES WITHIN THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
THAT'S ALWAYS BEEN AT THE CORE OF THIS PROGRAM.
[00:05:01]
SO LIVING STREETS PROGRAM, WE, WE CALL IT A PROGRAM, UH, BREAKS INTO THREE ACTIVATIONS, NEIGHBORHOOD BLOCK PARTIES, PLAY STREETS AND HEALTHY STREETS.NEIGHBORHOOD BLOCK PARTIES ARE RELATIVELY STRAIGHTFORWARD IN TERMS OF THEIR EXPLANATION.
THEY'RE JUST LIKE, THEY SOUND, YOU WANNA THROW A BLOCK PARTY ON YOUR STREET, WE'LL HELP PROVIDE THE EQUIPMENT, YOU PAY THE PERMIT FEE AND THEN YOU HAVE A DAY TO ACTIVATE YOUR STREET WITH A PARTY AND HOPEFULLY YOUR COMMUNITY COMES OUT AND IS SUPPORTIVE.
A PLACE STREET IS SIMILAR TO A NEIGHBORHOOD BLOCK PARTY IN THAT IT IS A ONE BLOCK ACTIVATION, HOWEVER, ITS DURATION IS THREE TO SIX MONTHS.
IT IS THREE DAYS A WEEK, UP TO THREE DAYS A WEEK, UP TO 10 HOURS A WEEK.
AND THAT YOU CAN SPLIT THAT TIME UP HOWEVER YOU'D LIKE.
CORRECTION, IT'S 12 HOURS A WEEK, SO IT'S EASILY DIVISIBLE BY THREE.
UM, SO RESIDENTS APPLY FOR IT.
THEY'RE ALLOWED TO CLOSE OFF PART OF THEIR STREET SO CHILDREN AND ADULTS CAN ACTUALLY RECREATE IN THE STREET AND PLAY AND SOCIALIZE.
A HEALTHY STREET COMES OUT OF THE PANDEMIC PERIOD.
IT'S WHERE THE CITY TOOK THE INITIATIVE TO SHUT DOWN SEVERAL STREETS AND, UH, LINEAR FASHION OR CONJOIN FASHION TO CREATE A SAFE PLACE FOR PEOPLE TO HIKE, BIKE, WALK, EXERCISE, AND USE MULTIMODALITY IN A SAFE WAY.
AND TYPICALLY IT'S SET UP TO CONNECT PLACES AND PEOPLE AS WELL AS MAKE FOR A SAFER ENVIRONMENT BY REDUCING OR DETERRING THE TRAFFIC ON THE STREET.
SO THAT'S WHAT THE PROGRAM ACTUALLY IS.
AND THE WAY IT ACTUALLY FALLS, WE'VE JUST FINISHED OUR FIRST SET OF ACTIVATIONS.
WE HAD 17 ACTIVE, UH, INSTALLATIONS DURING THAT FIRST PERIOD.
THERE WERE ACTUALLY 18, ONE GOT ROLLED INTO THE OTHER, OR, UH, LOCATION.
SO WOOTEN ACTUALLY ANNEXED ANOTHER PIECE.
AND THAT'S HOW YOU GET TO THE 17 OF THAT.
SINCE THE TIME THAT WE INSTALLED IT, SEVEN OF THOSE HAVE CHOSEN TO EXTEND AS HEALTHY STREETS AND FOUR OF THE SEVEN PLAY STREETS HAVE DECIDED TO EXTEND AS WELL.
WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT THE FOUR OR THE THREE REMAINING PLAY STREETS IN A LITTLE BIT, BUT YOU CAN SEE THAT WE HAVE 69% SUPPORT FROM OUR LAST SURVEY.
SO DURING THE PANDEMIC, THE CITY DID A SURVEY.
IT CAME OUT THAT ABOUT 72% OF THE PEOPLE WERE IN FAVOR OF THIS.
UH, AND THAT'S WHAT ACTUALLY CATAPULTED THE RESOLUTION INTO ACTION DIRECTING STAFF.
TO MAKE THIS, RIGHT NOW, WE'RE AT 69%, WHICH ISN'T A HUGE DIFFERENCE.
WE ALSO DIDN'T PULL THE ENTIRE CITY.
WE PULLED SPECIFICALLY ROUGHLY A ONE BLOCK RADIUS AROUND ALL OF OUR ACTIVATIONS BECAUSE WE WANTED A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT THE IMPACT OF THE NEIGHBORHOODS WERE ON THE ACTIVATION AND WHAT THE ACTIVATIONS IMPACT WAS ON THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
ON PLAY STREETS, WE SEE 62% SUPPORT ALSO STILL IN THAT HIGHER MAJORITY.
UM, AND THAT'S AN IMPORTANT TO NOTE, THE DISTINGUISHING FACTOR BETWEEN HEALTHY STREETS AND PLAY STREETS IS YOU'LL NOTICE THAT THERE IS A NEUTRAL GROUND ON A HEALTHY STREET AT ABOUT 6%, BUT THERE IS NO NEUTRAL GROUND ON PLAY STREETS.
AND THAT'S WHERE WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT SOME OF THESE LESSONS LEARNED COMING UP.
SO WE ASKED EVERYONE BASED ON THE TYPE OF ACTIVATION, WHAT DO YOU DO ON IT? AND, UH, LO AND BEHOLD, PEOPLE ACTUALLY USE HEALTHY STREETS TO BE PHYSICALLY ACTIVE AND MENTALLY ACTIVE.
RIGHT? IT'S EXACTLY WHAT IT IMPLIES.
WE ALSO ASKED EVERYONE TO CHOOSE THREE WORDS TO DESCRIBE HOW THEY FEEL ABOUT A HEALTHY STREET SAFE.
FIRST AND FOREMOST, HAPPY, HEALTHY, RELAXED, RIGHT? WE DID THE SAME FOR THOSE ACTUALLY PARTICIPATING ON A PLAY STREET.
50% OF THE USERS SAID THAT THEY ARE NOT USING IN A PLAY STREET.
THE OTHER 50% USE IT FOR VARIOUS REASONS.
AND OBVIOUSLY THEN THE MATH DOESN'T ADD UP TO A HUNDRED PERCENT, BUT YOU CAN CLEARLY SEE THAT 50% DON'T ACTUALLY USE A PLAY STREET.
AND WE GET TERMS LIKE ANNOYED OR FRUSTRATED, TERRIBLE IN CONJUNCTION WITH PEACEFUL, FRIENDLY, UH, MINDFUL COMMUNITY.
AND IT'S THIS, THIS RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THESE TWO DIFFERENT PROGRAMS THAT WE SIT THERE AND HAVE
[00:10:01]
TO WONDER, WELL, WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THEM AND WHY IS THIS HAPPENING? AND THAT KIND OF BRINGS US TO OUR LESSONS LEARNED.SO OUR FIRST LESSON IS PLACE STREETS IN OUR PEER REVIEW LOOKED AT VERY MUCH PROGRAMS IN URBAN CORES.
OUR PLACE STREETS ARE ALLOWED TO BE INSTALLED ANYWHERE IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN, HONESTLY, EXCEPT FOR THE OR URBAN CORE.
IT'S TOO DENSE OF AN AREA AND IT DOESN'T HAVE THE NUMBER OF RESIDENTS THAT WE WOULD NEED TO DO THERE, RIGHT? SO WE GO THROUGH THIS PROCESS, IT CALLS FOR COMPLETE STREETS.
AND EVEN THE TERM COMPLETE STREET CLOSURE HAS CAUSED SOME CONSTERNATION OF OUR RESIDENTS ON IDENTIFYING WITH WHAT A PLAY STREET IS.
ARE WE SAYING THAT THE NEIGHBORS CAN ACTUALLY TAKE OVER THEIR STREET AND MAKE A GATED COMMUNITY? NO, THAT'S NOT THE INTENTION, BUT THAT HAS BECOME SOME OF THE PERCEPTIONS THAT ARE OUT THERE.
A COMPLETE STREET CLOSURE SEEMS LIKE A PRIVILEGE TO SOME, AS OPPOSED TO AN OPPORTUNITY THAT IT'S INTENDED TO BE.
IN ADDITION TO THAT, THE CONTROL PLANS THAT WE'VE CREATED SO THAT IT'S SAFE REQUIRE THAT THE RESIDENTS WHO ARE PARTICIPATING IN THE PLAY STREET STAFF, THE CLOSURES, MEANING THEY'RE THE CONTROL CHECKPOINT TO ALLOW PEOPLE IN AND OUT.
AND THIS IS FOR SAFETY REASONS.
IT'S NO DIFFERENT THAN WE DO ON NEIGHBORHOOD BLOCK PARTIES.
SO WE'VE ALREADY UNDERSTOOD THIS PRACTICE.
HOWEVER, WHEN YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THREE DAYS A WEEK, THAT'S ESSENTIALLY ON A THOUSAND SQUARE OR A THOUSAND LINEAR FOOT ROAD, ONE FAMILY WATCHING THE KIDS PLAY AND ONE FAMILY ON EACH END OF THE STREET, THAT'S THREE FAMILIES.
OUR AVERAGE STREETS HAVE SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 14 TO 27 PARCELS AND SINGLE FAMILY UNITS.
OKAY, I'M GONNA PUT THIS INTO COMPARISON FOR YOU REAL QUICK.
WHEN WE LOOK AT PHILADELPHIA, THE AVERAGE STREET LENGTH, 500 LINEAR FEET IN THE URBAN CORE, TYPICALLY ROW HOUSES, WE LOOK AT AUSTIN, THE AVERAGE STREET LENGTH, 500 LINEAR FEET, NO REAL BIG DIFFERENCE, RIGHT? WHEN WE LOOK AT THE MAXIMUM LENGTH IN AUSTIN, 1300 OR MORE LINEAR FEET OR A QUARTER MILE IN PHILADELPHIA, IT'S STILL 500 LINEAR FEET 'CAUSE IT'S ON A GRID THAT WAS DEVELOPED HUNDREDS OF YEARS AGO AND HASN'T CHANGED.
AND THEN WE LOOK AT PARCEL DENSITY AND WE'RE AVERAGING 14 PARCELS SINGLE FAMILY PARCELS ON OUR AVERAGE STREET, SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 500 AND A THOUSAND SQUARE FEET OR A THOUSAND LINEAR FEET.
SO YOU END UP WITH A PARCEL DIFFERENCE OF 54 IN PHILADELPHIA OVER 500 FEET, AND MOST OF THOSE ARE ROW HOUSES.
SO IT'S MULTIPLE FAMILIES IN THEM.
USUALLY THEY'RE SPLIT INTO TWO OR THREE.
AND I CAN ATTEST TO THIS, I'VE LIVED THERE AND THAT WAS ACTUALLY MY CONDITION.
UM, BUT EVEN PARCEL TO PARCEL, YOU'RE LOOKING AT ONE PARCEL FOR EVERY NINE FEET OF A PHILADELPHIA STREET, AND YOU'RE LOOKING AT ONE PARCEL FOR SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 36 TO 94 FEET ON OUR STREETS.
WHAT THAT MEANS IS IT'S SPREAD OUT AND IT MEANS YOU DON'T HAVE AS MANY FAMILIES THAT WOULD WANT TO BE ABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE PROGRAM ON THAT STREET.
AND THE NOTES THAT YOU SAW REFLECT THAT PEOPLE ACTUALLY LIKE THE IDEA AND CONCEPT, BUT THE IMPLEMENTATION IS SLIGHTLY SKEWED AND WE NEED TO ADJUST FOR THAT.
SO IF THERE'S SOMETHING THAT YOU GUYS TAKE AWAY FROM MY PRESENTATION TONIGHT, IT'S THE REQUEST THAT WE REEXAMINE THE TERMS COMPLETE STREET CLOSURE AND HOW A STREET, LIKE A PLAY STREET WOULD BE LAID OUT AND USED AND WHAT THOSE REQUIREMENTS ARE.
SO THAT'S LESSON ONE IS PLAY STREETS IN AUSTIN ARE NOT THE EQUIVALENT OF PLAY STREETS ELSEWHERE.
THE URBAN DENSITY IS THE REALLY DISTINGUISHING FACTOR.
SORRY, CAN I ASK YOU A QUICK QUESTION? ABSOLUTELY.
CAN YOU JUST REPEAT, YOU SAID IT WAS AN AVERAGE OF 14 PARCELS TO, FOR 500, 2000 SQUARE FEET IN AUSTIN AND 54 IN PHILLY FOR CORRECT.
AND THAT'S 54 PARCELS WITH MULTIFAMILY UNITS WITHIN THEM? CORRECT.
AND I'M JUST PARCELS TO PARCELS IS THE WAY WE DO OUR MATH, BECAUSE WE CAN'T TELL HOW MANY FAMILIES ARE IN A SINGLE UNIT, RIGHT? SO SOMETIMES THEY'RE EXTENDED FAMILIES.
[00:15:01]
WHERE DO YOU CUT THAT OFF? UM, COULD YOU TURN YOUR MIC ON? OKAY.UM, DENSITY IN AUSTIN IS 2000 TO 3000, UH, PEOPLE PER SQUARE MILE.
DO YOU HAVE A FIGURE OF PHILADELPHIA? UNFORTUNATELY, I DON'T.
UM, THERE'S 4.8 MILLION PEOPLE I THINK CURRENTLY IN PHILADELPHIA.
PHILADELPHIA PROPER IS SLIGHTLY LARGER THAN AUSTIN, SO ROUGHLY IT'S A ONE TO FOUR RATIO.
I THINK CHICAGO IS PROBABLY FAIRLY SIMILAR TO PHILADELPHIA.
IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN THOSE NUMBERS, I'LL DEFINITELY GO BACK AND RESEARCH 'EM AND I CAN SEND 'EM OFF.
I I JUST DON'T HAVE THEM HANDY, BUT THAT'S OKAY.
UM, I WAS LOOKING AT STREET TO STREET.
YEAH, JUST TO GIVE THE, THE CONNOTATION HERE, AND IT SEEMS TO REFLECT THE OVER THE OVERALL DENSITY STATISTICS PROBABLY PLAY DOWN TO THE STREET LEVEL, I WOULD THINK, AND I WOULD THINK IN THE URBAN COURT, IT'S DEFINITELY TRUE.
SO ON A PLAY STREET, THE NEXT LESSON THAT WE LEARNED WAS THE PRIORITIZATION VALUES THAT YOU GUYS SAW PREVIOUSLY REALLY WEREN'T THE BEST WAY TO PRIORITIZE A PLAY STREET.
MEANING WHEN WE LOOKED AT PLAY STREETS, WE WERE ALSO THINKING ABOUT CONNECTIVITY AND ITS PLACEMENT TO PARKS AND OTHER FACTORS.
PARKS ARE ABSOLUTELY STILL RELEVANT, BUT WE ALSO DETERMINED THAT THE LENGTH OF THE ROAD IS EQUALLY RELEVANT TO THE ENJOYMENT OF THE PEOPLE EXPERIENCING IT.
SO ONE OF THE STREETS, CAMBRIDGE SPECIFICALLY A THOUSAND FEET, THEY DID NOT RENEW BECAUSE THEY REALLY JUST COULDN'T GET THE CAPACITY TO SUPPORT THE STREET, RIGHT? AND THAT WAS A HUGE DISTINGUISHING FACTOR.
SO WE ARE GONNA PRIORITIZE STREETS OF A SHORTER LENGTH BECAUSE THAT MEANS DENSER CROWD AND POPULATION.
IT ALSO MEANS LESS AFFECTED OTHER RESIDENTS.
IN ADDITION TO THAT, WE NOTED THAT THOSE STREETS THAT ONLY HAVE A SINGLE ENTRANCE, A CUL-DE-SAC OR A DEAD END ABSOLUTELY ARE EASIER TO MANAGE.
IT'S ONE SET OF CLOSURE EQUIPMENT.
OFTENTIMES THE PLAY ON THAT STREET IS CLOSE ENOUGH THAT THE MONITOR OF THE EQUIPMENT CAN ALSO MONITOR THE CHILDREN OR THE ADULTS DEPENDING ON WHAT THEY'RE DOING.
UM, AND IT'S THIS THAT WE REPRIORITIZE THAT STRUCTURE.
IN DOING THAT, WE NEEDED TO REEXAMINE HEALTHY STREETS ALSO.
SO WE DID THAT AND UH, WELL, I'M JUMPING AHEAD A LITTLE TOO FAR.
THERE ARE EIGHT NOW PRIORITIZATION VALUES FOR A PLAY STREET.
THERE ARE 11 POSSIBLE VALUES FOR A HEALTHY STREET.
THEY'RE NOT ONE-TO-ONE AND THEY SHOULDN'T BE.
AND WE WERE CLOSE TO ONE-TO-ONE PREVIOUSLY.
AND THAT WAS PART OF WHAT WAS DRIVING OUR FACTORS AND MAKING THESE TWO THINGS DISTINCTLY DIFFERENT IN TERMS OF THEIR USE.
WE WERE TRYING TO IMAGINE THEM AS IF THEY WERE ALL GOING TO BE THE SAME TYPE OF APPLICATION.
SO A HEALTHY STREET TRULY IS ABOUT THOSE CONNECTIONS TO THOSE DESTINATIONS.
WE DO WANT TO ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO GET TO SCHOOLS, LIBRARIES, OTHER PARKLAND AND DO IT IN A SAFE ROUTE.
SO IF THAT'S AN OPPORTUNITY FOR A HEALTHY STREET THAT A HEALTHY STREET CAN PRESENT, THAT'S SOMETHING WE WANT TO ENCOURAGE.
BUT AGAIN, YOU DO SEE THE EQUITY AND THE AGE BECAUSE IF MY SON WHO'S IN THE BACK WANTED TO GO TO A PARK, HE NEEDS A HEALTHY STREET TO DO THAT OR NEEDS ME TO DRIVE HIM OR SUPERVISE HIM, RIGHT? UH, SAME THING WITH SENIORS.
NOT ALL SENIORS CAN DRIVE ANYMORE, BUT THEY MIGHT WANNA GO OUT AND RECREATE AND DO A SHORT WALK AROUND THEIR BLOCK OR EVEN A LONG WALK AROUND THEIR BLOCK FOR THAT MATTER.
BUT THEY NEED TO BE ABLE TO GO THERE TO DO THAT.
SO WE DO WANNA, WE DO WANNA TAKE THOSE FACTORS INTO CONSIDERATION.
THE REST, WE JUST SIMPLIFIED THE TITLES ON TO MAKE THEM EASIER TO UNDERSTAND.
WE GROUP LIKE THINGS TOGETHER.
WE REALLY GOT INTO WHAT IT MEANS TO BE PARK SUFFICIENT AND PARK DEFICIENT, RIGHT? IF YOU ARE SO FAR FROM A PARK IN THIS SCENARIO, IT REALLY DOESN'T MATTER THAT MUCH.
YES, WE'RE MAKING A CONNECTOR.
YES, YOU CAN EXERCISE ON THAT CONNECTOR, BUT IT'S NOT THE SAME AS A PLAY STREET.
DOES THAT MAKE SENSE? SO WE REPRIORITIZED AFTER THIS FIRST SET OF ACTIVATIONS WITH THESE LESSONS LEARNED.
[00:20:01]
ALRIGHT, THE NEXT THING IS THE LAYOUT AND THE EQUIPMENT, WHICH IS EVERYONE'S FUN LITTLE CONVERSATION WITH, UH, MYSELF AND THE REST OF OUR TEAM.UH, ON THE LEFT, YOU SEE PROPERLY INSTALLED AND ORGANIZED.
IT'S VERY CLEAN, IT'S VERY STRAIGHTFORWARD.
IT'S A TOTAL OF, YOU KNOW, NINE PIECES OF EQUIPMENT ON A HEALTHY STREET TO CREATE A PINCH.
YOU SEE WHERE NEIGHBORS DECIDED THAT THEY DIDN'T LIKE IT AND MOVED IT ALL OVER THE PLACE AND THEN OUR STAFF GOES OUT AND RE PUTS IT BACK IN PLACE.
NOT ONLY IS THAT MAINTENANCE AND TIME, BUT IT CREATES CLUTTER AND A MESS.
UM, BUT WE ALSO HAVE TO TAKE INTO THE CONSIDERATION WHAT DO THE RESIDENTS REALLY WANT AND WHAT ARE THEY ACTUALLY TELLING US BY MOVING THIS.
ONE IS THE SPACE THAT THEY PERCEIVE IN FRONT OF THEIR HOUSE IS PARTLY THEIRS.
MEANING THERE'S A PRESENCE, A STREET PRESENCE OF THEIR PROPERTY TO THE STREET.
AND WHETHER THAT'S COMPLETELY TRUE OR NOT, THAT'S THE PERCEPTION.
AND IF I HAD EIGHT ORANGE CONES IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE AND IT WAS TAKING UP ABOUT A PARKING SPOT, IT WOULD FEEL VERY DIFFERENT THAN IF IT WAS IN FRONT OF MY NEIGHBOR'S HOUSE.
AND THAT IS ABSOLUTELY A FACT, RIGHT? THEY DON'T HAVE 'EM.
WHY ME? WHAT'S THE VALUE? SECOND IS THE AMOUNT OF EQUIPMENT.
CAN WE GET AWAY WITH LESS EQUIPMENT, PROVIDE THE SAME LEVEL OF SAFETY, AND THAT WOULD CREATE LESS CLUTTER, MEANING LESS OBJECTS TO MOVE, LESS SPACE THAT IT TAKES UP.
AND THIRD, ORANGE, ORANGE IS A REQUIRED COLOR.
TEXAS MUNICIPAL CODE REQUIRES US TO USE THAT UNDER THE TRANSPORTATION GUIDELINES BECAUSE IT'S TEMPORARY IN NATURE.
HOWEVER, OTHER CITIES THAT RESPOND TO M-U-T-C-D, THE FEDERAL VERSION OF THAT, UH, THEY'VE GOTTEN AWAY WITH DOING OTHER THINGS AND THEIR ENGINEERS HAVE DEVELOPED OTHER PROGRAMS AROUND THOSE AND GUIDELINES.
IT'S OUR INTENTION TO BEGIN TO STUDY THAT STANDARD AND MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS, WHETHER NOW OR IN THE NEAR FUTURE, IT WILL BE DETERMINED BY WHETHER WE RECEIVE THE SAFE STREETS AND ROADS FOR ALL GRANT THAT WE APPLIED FOR, AND WE'RE IN THE SHORTLIST RUNNING FOR IT.
IF WE RECEIVE THAT GRANT, THAT GIVES US THE OPPORTUNITY TO TEST THIS EQUIPMENT OUT AND COME UP WITH A LOT MORE SCENARIOS THAT ARE A LOT MORE COMMUNITY FRIENDLY.
THERE ARE IMPACT RESISTANT PLANTERS OUT THERE.
HOWEVER, IN TEXAS, JUST BECAUSE THERE ARE DOESN'T MEAN WE CAN, RIGHT? AND THAT'S WHAT WE HAVE TO CONTEND WITH.
AND WE HAVE TO BECOME COMFORTABLE AS A CITY, AS CITIZENS AND NEIGHBORS WITH WHAT THAT WOULD ACTUALLY LOOK LIKE AND FEEL LIKE, AND WHY IT WOULD BE IN THE ROADWAY AND IS IT SAFE? AND THAT IS ABOUT BEHAVIOR CHANGE.
SO GOING THROUGH THIS STUDY PROCESS WILL ALLOW US TO EXPLORE THOSE OPTIONS, BUT IT'LL ALSO ALLOW US TO CREATE A CULTURE OF CHANGE IN AUSTIN IF IT'S DEEMED SAFE ENOUGH TO BECOME THE NEW LEVEL OF ACTIVATION
UM, ADDITIONALLY, LAST I WAS HERE, YOU GUYS ASKED, SO DO THESE EVER BECOME PERMANENT? AND WE DO HAVE A PROGRAM WITHIN TPW TEXAS OR TRANSPORTATION PUBLIC WORKS.
UM, AND THAT PROGRAM IS CALLED THE SHARED STREETS PROGRAM.
IT'S RUN BY THE SIDEWALKS AND URBAN TRAILS DIVISION.
WE'RE PARTNERING WITH THEM ON TRANSITIONING OUR LIVING STREETS, SPECIFICALLY THE HEALTHY STREETS TO THEIR SHARED STREETS.
AND WHAT YOU SEE ON THE SCREEN IS SOUTH AUSTIN HEALTHY STREET.
THAT IS SOUTH AUSTIN REC CENTER TO THE BOTTOM SIDE OF YOUR SCREEN OR PAMPHLET PAGE.
UM, IT IS A TOTAL OF, ORIGINALLY IT WAS FORECLOSURE SYSTEMS. IT'S NOW SIX CLOSURE SYSTEMS BECAUSE SHARED STREETS ASKED TO INCLUDE THE HERDON AND, UM, JUANITA TO THE SOUTH AND EXTEND SIXTH STREET, ALL THE WAY TO PICK THAT UP.
IT MAKES IT A NICE, NEAT NEIGHBORHOOD, UH, CORNERED BY THE PARK, THE TRAIN TRACKS AND FIFTH STREET, AND THIS IS KIND OF A PRELIMINARY CONCEPT HERE IN GREEN, MUCH SMALLER INSTALLATIONS, MORE THOROUGHLY INTEGRATED THROUGHOUT THE COMMUNITY.
WE'VE ALREADY DONE OUR FIRST COMMUNITY
[00:25:01]
OUTREACH MEETING AND WE'RE MOVING ONTO THE DESIGN PHASE AS THE ENGINEERS ROUGH OUT THIS DESIGN AND WE GET CLOSER TO FORMATION, WE'LL MEET WITH THAT GROUP AGAIN, AND THEN WE WILL START TO PILOT THIS OUT AND TEST IT OUT WITH TEMPORARY INSTALLATIONS IF NEEDED.AND THEN MOVE RIGHT INTO A BRICK AND MORTAR KIND OF CONSTRUCTION THAT WILL TURN THIS FROM A LIVING STREET INTO A SHARED STREET IF EVERYTHING GOES RIGHT WITH THIS PROGRAM.
AND IT IS SO FAR, WE HAVE OTHER STREETS THAT HAVE EXPRESSED INTEREST IN THIS, INCLUDING SOME OF OUR MORE POPULAR ONES, WOOTEN AND OUR ORIGINAL STREET AVENUE G, WHICH IS NOW CALLED HYDE PARK HEALTHY STREET.
AND IT'S CALLED THAT BECAUSE PEOPLE ON THE SIDE STREETS F AND H ENJOY IT SO MUCH THAT THEY ACTUALLY COME OVER AND USE IT.
SO MUCH SO THAT SOME OF THOSE RESIDENTS ARE THE AMBASSADORS FOR THE STREET AND HAVE ACTUALLY SIGNED UP THROUGH OUR PORTAL TO RECEIVE ADDITIONAL COMMUNICATION ON IT.
AND SO MUCH THAT THEY ACTUALLY PARTICIPATED IN THE SURVEY THAT WE SENT OUT AS WELL.
SO WE DO KNOW THAT THIS IS A SUCCESSFUL PROGRAM AND WE KNOW THAT THERE IS A WAY TO TRANSITION THESE PROGRAMS FROM TEMPORARY TO PERMANENT.
UM, THIS IS WHERE WE'RE AT NOW.
WE ARE LITERALLY SITTING ON 91 SUBMITTED VIABLY CONFIRMED APPLICATIONS.
LAST TIME WE HAD A TWO MONTH WINDOW FOR APPLICATIONS.
THIS TIME IT'S ACTUALLY CLOSER TO FIVE MONTHS.
OUR APPLICATION WINDOW IS COMING UP ON OCTOBER 4TH.
UH, WE HAD A 40% COMPLETION RATE, MEANING THEY WENT FROM AN EXPRESSION OF INTEREST TO GETTING THE FULL SIGNATURES TO SUBMITTING THOSE SIGNATURES.
AND THEN THAT'S WHAT WE LAUNCHED THE 17 TO 18 STREETS WITH, RIGHT? SO 40% OF 91 IS A WHOLE LOT OF STREETS.
AND OUR INTENTION IS TO LIFT AS MANY OF THOSE AS WE CAN.
AND THAT'S WHY THE REPRIORITIZATION OF THE STREETS WAS SO IMPORTANT ON THE MAP, WHAT YOU'RE SEEING IS THE ORIGINAL ONES ARE IN BLUE, SO A LOT OF BLUE TO THE WESTERN SIDE OF THE CRESCENT.
AND THEN THE ORANGE ONES ARE ALL THE ONES THAT WE HAVE VERIFIED AND PUT INTO THE PROCESS OF COLLECTING THE SIGNATURES TO COMPLETE THEIR APPLICATION.
AND YOU'LL NOTICE THAT SEVERAL OF THOSE ARE NOW APPEARING IN THE CRESCENT.
AND THAT'S BECAUSE LAST TIME I WAS HERE WE TALKED ABOUT DOING EQUITY OUTREACH AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION.
WE USED SOCIAL MEDIA TO TARGET SPECIFIC ZIP CODES, AND THEN WE ALSO DID A FULL MEDIA CAMPAIGN THAT TARGETED THE ENTIRE CITY.
AND IN DOING SO, OUR HOPE WAS JUST WHAT YOU'RE SEEING ON THE SCREEN IS THAT WE ARE GETTING IT IN THE AREAS WHERE WE HAVE THE MOST NEED BELOW, UM, IS THE COUNCIL DISTRICTS.
YOU'LL SEE THAT THERE'S 115 APPLICATIONS SUBMITTED, AND ONE MIGHT ASK, WELL, WHY IS THERE 91 VIABLE AND 115 SUBMITTED? AND THAT'S BECAUSE ON A DAY-TO-DAY BASIS, WE DO HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE PROCESS OF REVIEWING THIS APPROPRIATE STREET, COMING UP WITH A STREET DESIGN, COORDINATING WITH OUR ENGINEERING TEAM, AND THEN CORRESPONDING BACK WITH THE RESIDENTS TO ENSURE IT'S THE RIGHT LEVEL AND SCALE THAT THEY WANT.
SO THAT DISCREPANCY OF ABOUT 20 ISH, 25 ISH IS THAT NUMBER THAT WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF ACTUALLY WORKING WITH.
AS OF LAST THURSDAY WHEN I PRODUCED THIS DATA.
YOU'LL ALSO NOTE ON YOUR SHEETS, THE COUNCIL DISTRICTS DON'T MATCH WHAT'S ON YOUR SHEETS.
AND THAT'S 'CAUSE THERE WAS A MATHEMATICAL ERROR ON MY EXCEL SPREADSHEET.
I CORRECTED IT, I COORDINATED WITH NATALIE.
SHE WILL UPDATE THAT IN THE FILE THAT IS SHARED AND UPLOADED.
UM, BUT IF YOU'RE SPECIFICALLY INTERESTED IN YOUR COUNCIL DISTRICT'S NUMBERS, WHAT IS ON THE SCREEN IS WHAT IS ACCURATE.
ALL RIGHT, LAST SLIDE AND WRAPPING UP.
IT'S LITERALLY SIX MONTHS FROM LA WHEN I LAST MET WITH YOU, WHICH WAS LIKE WE JUST STARTED PUTTING THEM IN THE GROUND OR WE'RE GETTING READY TO PUT THEM IN THE GROUND THE WEEK AFTER WE MET.
UM, THOSE WERE EXTENDED FROM AUGUST THROUGH TO OCTOBER AND LIKELY WILL EXTEND INTO JANUARY.
SO A FIVE MONTH EXTENSION THAT IS BEING DONE SO THAT WE CAN PUT THIS WHOLE PROGRAM ON THE FISCAL TRACK, IT JUST MAKES SENSE.
[00:30:01]
MAKES SENSE IN TERMS OF SEASONALITY.OCTOBER THROUGH MARCH IS A GOOD SEASON.
JANUARY TO JULY IS A GOOD SEASON AND SO FORTH.
SO WORKING QUARTERLY, IT ALLOWS US STAFF ENOUGH TIME THAT WE CAN HAVE ONE INSTALLED AND ONE GOING THROUGH THE APPLICATION PROCESS CONSECUTIVELY.
AND THAT ALLOWS MY OPERATION COMPONENT AND THEIR TEAM TO BE OUT IN THE FIELD WORKING WITH THE RESIDENTS, ENSURING THAT EVERYTHING'S STABILIZED AND SET, AND MY APPLICATION TEAM PROCESSING AND WORKING WITH THE RESIDENTS ON THE NEXT SET OF RENEWALS.
AND THAT'S KIND OF WHERE WE'RE AT.
SO OUR INTENTION IS TO DO CHUNKS OF THESE EVERY THREE MONTHS WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR YOU TO RENEW IN THAT CONSECUTIVE TERM.
SO THAT'S WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE FULLY LAID OUT FOR OUR TEAM.
APPLICATIONS ARE UP TO THE STARS.
AND THEN INSTALLATIONS ARE THE OPERATIONS TEAM.
AND THAT'S OUR PRESENTATION FOR YOU TONIGHT.
IF THERE'S ANY QUESTIONS, WE'LL DEFINITELY TAKE THEM.
UM, I KNOW I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS.
I DON'T NECESSARILY NEED TO GO FIRST.
IF ANY OTHER COMMISSIONERS HAVE QUESTIONS, I GUESS I'LL, I'LL GO AHEAD AND ASK MINE.
SO THEY'RE ACTUALLY, UM, RELATING TO THE PLAY STREETS.
UM, I THOUGHT THAT WAS REALLY, UM, INTERESTING TO HEAR ABOUT SOME OF THE SPECIFIC CHALLENGES THAT WORK WITH THE PLAY STREETS.
UM, UH, I GUESS, UH, JUST FIRST INITIAL QUESTION WITH SOME OF THE NEGATIVE FEEDBACK THAT WAS RECEIVED, AND WE CAN SEE THAT IN THE WORD CLOUDS AND STUFF.
DO YOU THINK THAT WAS COMING FROM PEOPLE ON THE STREET OR VERY NEARBY TO THE STREET OR BOTH? AND THE ANSWER TO THAT IS BOTH AND OKAY.
AND WE KNOW THAT BECAUSE WE'VE HAD SEVERAL COMMUNITY MEETINGS, UM, RECENTLY GA STREET, UH, DID A NEWS PIECE ABOUT THEIR DISLIKE FOR THEIR STREET AND IT WAS TELLING FOR US, AND WE WORKED WITH THEM ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE PROCESS ON THAT AND HELD SEVERAL COMMUNITY MEETINGS.
AND THAT WAS KIND OF LIKE A PRIMER FOR THE OTHER COMMENTS THAT WE WERE GETTING.
WE DO TRACK EVERY COMMENT THAT COMES IN AND WE USE CHAT GBT TO KIND OF HELP US AGGREGATE AND SORT THOSE COMMENTS AND THOSE EMAILS.
WE RESPOND TO EVERY SINGLE ONE OF 'EM AS STAFF MEMBERS.
UM, AND IT'S THAT RELATIONSHIP THAT WE HAVE WITH THE RESIDENTS THAT I THINK IS GOING TO HELP US DRIVE A BETTER PROGRAM.
AND WHY I THINK THAT PLAY STREETS, EVEN THOUGH IN THEIR CURRENT EXISTENCE AND THE WAY IT'S BEING LAID OUT IS GOOD, BUT IT COULD BE BETTER.
AND A LOT BETTER, RIGHT? IT'S, IT'S DIFFICULT AS A RESIDENT TO SAY, I'M GONNA GO DOWN THIS STREET, NOT KNOW THAT THERE'S A PLAY STREET ONE DAY 'CAUSE IT'S NOT UP.
HOW DO WE BETTER COMMUNICATE THAT? WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE? HOW DO WE COMMUNICATE IT TO OUR NEIGHBORS BETTER? AND HOW BIG OF AN AREA IS THAT? RIGHT? WHAT IS THE INSTALLATION? WHY ARE WE HAVING RESIDENTS STAFF IT? IS THAT THE SAFEST WAY TO DO THIS? YEAH, I I THINK I, I MEAN I, I AGREE WITH ALL THOSE QUESTIONS AND I, I AGREE THAT THERE'S SOME THINGS ABOUT THE AUSTIN CONTEXT THAT, THAT PROBABLY MAKE THIS PARTICULARLY CHALLENGING FOR US.
ONE THING THAT I WOULD SAY TOO, I MEAN, I WONDER, UM, ACTUALLY, LET ME TAKE MY ONE THING AND THEN I'LL COME BACK TO THIS, BUT I THINK THAT ONE THING THAT I WAS WONDERING IN YOUR REPRIORITIZATION WAS YOU WERE PRIORITIZING THINGS THAT MAYBE HAD LESS ACCESS POINTS THAT WERE CUL-DE-SACS OR DEAD ENDS.
AND WHY THAT'S, YOU KNOW, AS A, A MOM, YOU KNOW, I DON'T HAVE TO FIND ANOTHER MOM TO CLOSE THAT WITH ME.
UM, ON THE OTHER HAND, ARGUABLY STREETS WITH LESS ACCESS OR CONNECTIVITY ALREADY ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE USED AS NATURAL PLAY STREETS AND MAY NOT NEED THAT EXTRA CITY FUNDING.
UM, OR I MEAN, I CAN SEE HOW THE STAMP, YOU KNOW, STAMP OF APPROVAL AND SOME EQUIPMENT COULD REALLY HELP.
BUT, YOU KNOW, THOSE A LOT OF TIMES INFORMALLY MAY ALREADY HAVE THAT USE.
SO IT'S SORT OF, IT BECOMES TO ME A LITTLE BIT OF A RESOURCE QUESTION.
LIKE, IS THAT A GREAT USE OF RESOURCES FOR SOMETHING THAT ALREADY MAY BE ABLE TO OPERATE SOMEWHAT SAFELY, INFORMALLY AS A PLAY STREET? I JUST, I WONDER ABOUT THAT.
LIKE I DON'T, I DON'T KNOW THAT I HAVE THAT ANSWER, UM, BUT I REALLY WONDER ABOUT THAT PIECE.
UM, AND I GUESS COMING BACK AND YOU, YOU CAN RESPOND TO THAT, BUT I GUESS I'LL JUST SAY THE THING I WAS ABOUT TO SAY FIRST, WHICH IS, YOU KNOW, PART OF ME TOO WONDERS.
LIKE, I GET THAT LIKE A LOT OF GROWNUPS ARE MAD ABOUT THIS, BUT LIKE, I, I WONDER HOW KIDS FEEL ABOUT THIS.
YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN? AND I THINK, UM, THERE'S A LOT OF, UH,
[00:35:01]
IF YOU OUT IN THE DISCOURSE JUST POLITICALLY IN AUSTIN, A LOT OF WORRIES ABOUT KIDS AND FAMILIES WITH KIDS AND SUPPORTING KIDS, BUT LIKE THEIR, WHERE ARE THEIR VOICES? SO I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR SOME LIKE KID AND YOUTH VOICES ABOUT HOW THEY EXPERIENCED THIS.YOU KNOW, LIKE, YEAH, I'M FRUSTRATED I CAN'T DO IT ON THE STREET.
PARTICULARLY THE UNPREDICTABLE PIECE.
IF I'M, YOU KNOW, I DON'T WANNA FEEL LIKE I'M ABOUT TO RUN OVER SOMEBODY'S KID OR THAT I'M LATE TO MY PTA MEETING AND I CAN'T GET DOWN THE STREET OR WHATEVER.
YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN? BUT I LIKE, I THINK THAT LIKE HEARING FROM KIDS COULD ALSO HELP THIS PIECE.
LIKE, YOU KNOW, HOW YOU, HOW YOU COLLECT THAT.
UM, AND I THINK IT'S HARD 'CAUSE I THINK SOMETIMES FAMILIES, UM, YOU KNOW, I'VE BEEN A, I DON'T REALLY LIVE IN A NEIGHBORHOOD EXACTLY.
I LIVE IN AN APARTMENT BUILDING.
BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT SOMETIMES WHEN THERE'S ONLY A COUPLE FAMILIES ON THE STREET, YOU CAN ACTUALLY FEEL WEIRDLY ATTACKED.
LIKE, SO I, I, YES, I I I, I REALLY FEEL FOR FAMILIES THAT ARE TRYING TO MAKE THIS WORK.
SO ANYWAY, THAT'S JUST A JUMBLED THOUGHTS.
UH, MAYBE THERE'S SOMETHING YOU WANNA RESPOND TO IN THAT, BUT SO I, YOUR JUMBLED THOUGHTS ARE ACTUALLY THE WAY MOST PEOPLE FEEL ABOUT THIS.
AND THE REASON IS, IS WHAT WE DID FIND IS THE STREETS THAT WERE EASIER FOR THE FAMILIES TO MANAGE WERE THOSE ONE CONTROL POINT ACCESS POINTS.
THE REALITY THAT WE ALSO HAVE HEARD FROM EVERYONE THAT WE'VE TALKED TO IS, MY KIDS ARE GONNA PLAY IN THE STREETS REGARDLESS.
IT'S WHERE THEY, YOU BIKE, IT'S WHERE YOU PLAY BASKETBALL, YOU DON'T PLAY BA I MEAN, YES, YOU CAN PLAY BASKETBALL IN YOUR DRIVEWAY IF YOUR DRIVEWAY'S BIG ENOUGH AND NOT FILLED WITH CARS, BUT YOU NEED HARD SURFACE TO PLAY BASKETBALL.
YOU'RE NOT PLAYING IT IN A PARK IF IT'S GRASS PARK.
RIGHT? THAT'S NOT THE ENVIRONMENT, RIGHT? SO THE NATURE OF A PLAY STREET IS REALLY CRITICAL AND IMPORTANT.
SO WHAT WE'VE BEEN TRYING TO DO AS WE DISCOVER WHERE THE PATH IS OF LEAST RESISTANCE AND THE SAFEST ROUTE IS TO MAKE SURE THAT WHAT WE ARE DEPLOYING IS ACTUALLY THE EASIEST FOR THE RESIDENTS THAT ARE DEPLOYING IT.
SO ONE OF THE CONVERSATIONS THAT WE HAVE AND ISN'T A REQUIREMENT, BUT WE DO RECOMMEND THAT PEOPLE START WITH ONE DAY AND ALLOW THEM TO GO UP TO THREE DAYS SO THAT THEY CAN UNDERSTAND WHAT WE'RE ASKING THEM AS RESIDENTS TO DO.
IF THEY'VE GOT THE SUPPORT, GREAT.
BUT IF YOU START WITH THREE DAYS AND WE GO AND PRINT UP ALL THE SIGNS FOR YOU FOR THREE DAYS AND YOU'RE ONLY OUT THERE FOR ONE HOUR OF THOSE 12, IT'S NOT CHANGING BEHAVIOR ENOUGH THAT IT'S ACTUALLY GONNA MAKE IT SAFE AND IT'S ACTUALLY PUTTING YOU AT THE RESIDENT IN MORE JEOPARDY.
SO SOME THINGS THAT WE DID FIND IS, IS WHEN THE RESIDENTS ARE STAFFING THOSE GATES, THE PEOPLE WHO ARE DISGRUNTLED WITH IT, TAKE IT OUT ON THOSE RESIDENTS ALSO NOT SOMETHING WE'RE LOOKING TO DO.
RIGHT? SO THE FEWER CONTROL POINTS DOES PLAY TO THIS WHOLE SAFETY FACTOR.
AND IT TAKES INTO ACCOUNT THAT PEOPLE ARE GOING TO DO THIS PROGRAM REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THERE'S A PROGRAM OR NOT.
MY SON BIKES AROUND THE BLOCK ALL THE TIME.
OUR NEIGHBOR'S LEARNING HOW TO BIKE NOW AND SHE'S OUT THERE CRASHING AND FALLING AND WE'VE ALL BEEN THROUGH THAT.
BUT THAT'S THE ONLY PLACE TO DO IT.
YOU, YOU DON'T DO THAT IN A DRIVE.
IT'S NOT LONG ENOUGH TO RUN BEHIND SOMEWHERE.
RIGHT? WE HAVE TO FIND A WAY THAT THIS ACTUALLY STARTS TO WORK IN A SAFE WAY.
SO FOR NOW, THAT'S WHY THE REPRIORITIZATION IS SO IMPORTANT.
AND THE ADDITIONAL STUDIES, THE ADDITIONAL CONVERSATIONS IN OUR SURVEY, WE DID ASK FOR KIDS TO CONTRIBUTE.
UM, AND THERE WAS A LINE ITEM IN THE SURVEY TO CHECK IF YOU ARE FILLING IT OUT FOR A CHILD IN YOUR HOUSEHOLD.
UM, I THINK WE HAD ONE WHO DID NOT.
THAT'S RIGHT, THAT'S WHAT I WAS GONNA SAY.
I, HE JUST RECENTLY LOOKED AT THE DATA FOR US.
THAT'S JONATHAN, MY TEAMMATE AND COLLEAGUE, UM, AND AN EXCELLENT CONTRIBUTOR TO THIS.
WE DID HAVE ONE OUT OF 3,500 THAT WE SENT OUT, AND WE GOT ROUGHLY AN 8% RETURN, WHICH IS ACTUALLY STATISTICALLY PRETTY GOOD.
ANYTHING OVER 6% ON A SURVEY IS REALLY GOOD.
UM, SO IT'S HARD TO SAY WHETHER KIDS DO IT.
AND WHEN KIDS SHOW UP TO THE COMMUNITY MEETINGS, THAT'S WHEN WE HEAR THEIR VOICES.
OR GOING OUT TO AN ACTIVATION.
I MEAN, KIDS USUALLY HAVE NO PROBLEM TALKING TO YOU IF THEY'RE RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU, BUT EVEN, EVEN MY 15-YEAR-OLD, I DOESN'T, SHE DOESN'T WANNA FILL OUT A SURVEY.
SO NO, I, WELL, I MEAN, I DON'T REALLY WANNA FILL OUT A SURVEY
[00:40:01]
I DO.'CAUSE IT'S MANY CASES MY CIVIC DUTY, BUT, YOU KNOW, WHATEVER.
ONE IS A POINT OF CLARIFICATION ON SLIDE NINE.
UM, THE REPRIORITIZATION FOR THE HEALTHY STREETS, THERE'S LIKE THE GREEN ONES AT TOP, THEN THE OTHER COLORS ON THE BOTTOM.
WERE THE, WERE THOSE, IS THIS THE, THE NOW PRIORITIZATION? LIKE WHAT'S THE BEFORE AND AFTER, I GUESS? OH, SO THE, BEFORE IT WAS ALL KIND OF COLLECTIVE.
WE SEPARATED OUT EQUITY ISSUES FROM CONNECTION ISSUES, UHHUH,
SO THE BUFFERS AROUND THE CONNECTIVITY.
SO WHEN WE TAKE A SCHOOL AND WE LOOK AT YOUR STREET MM-HMM.
AND IF THAT OVERLAPS WITH YOUR STREET, THAT'S HOW YOU GET THAT POINT.
SO, SO WHAT, SO WHAT APPEARS HERE IS WHAT YOU'RE NOW USING? CORRECT.
AND THAT'S, THAT'S WHAT'S ACTUALLY WILL BE USED TO REVIEW THIS SET OF APPLICATIONS.
SO IT HASN'T BEEN IMPLEMENTED YET, BUT IT'S CORRECT.
UM, AND THEN, UM, WERE THERE ANY FROM THE STREETS THAT YOU RECEIVED POSITIVE FEEDBACK FROM EITHER THE HEALTHY STREETS OR THE PLAY STREETS? WERE THERE ANY THEMES IN, UM, SORT OF ANECDOTALLY WHAT THEY DID LIKE FOR BLACK PARTIES? THEY HAD MUSIC OR YEAH.
YOU KNOW, THE TYPE OF WAYS THEY ENGAGED THEIR NEIGHBORS CHALK IS CHEAP.
AND ALL THEY DID WAS BUY A BUCKET OF CHALK AND PUT A COUPLE PIECES OF CHALK AT EACH CLOSURE.
ALL OF A SUDDEN THE STREET WAS ALIVE.
THOSE KIDS ACTIVATED THAT BLOCK, BUT IT WAS THE PARENTS THAT TOOK THEM AROUND AND THEN THAT ACTUALLY CREATED COMMUNITY.
SO COMMUNITY IS A HUGE DRIVING FACTOR FOR BOTH PLAY STREETS AND HEALTHY STREETS.
WHEN YOU LOOK AT WHAT PEOPLE DO ON A PLAY STREET, 34% SAID SOCIALIZE, 34% SAID PLAY.
IF YOU LOOK AT THAT, I THINK I GOT THOSE NUMBERS RIGHT.
UM, AND THEN 50% SAID THEY DON'T USE IT.
AND THAT SURVEY, SO KEEP THAT IN MIND.
SO LIKE PEOPLE ARE OUT THERE ACTUALLY SOCIALIZING AND COMMUNING UHHUH
THAT'S ONE OF THE CORE PRINCIPLES BEHIND A LIVING STREET.
THE TIGHTER OUR COMMUNITIES ARE, THE MORE RESILIENT A CITY WE ARE.
IF WE EVER HAD TO GO THROUGH SOMETHING LIKE STORM URI TO KNOW YOUR NEIGHBORS IS A CRITICAL ELEMENT.
TO BE ABLE TO WALK SAFELY TO YOUR NEIGHBOR IS ALSO ESSENTIAL.
WE'VE ALSO FOUND THAT PEOPLE HAVE A PERCEPTION THAT THE STREETS ARE SAFER.
AND I'M NOT JUST TALKING ABOUT TRANSPORTATION, WE DON'T KNOW THE NUMBERS JUST YET BECAUSE IT'S REALLY COMPLICATED AS STUDY CRIME STATISTICS.
BUT WOOTEN COMPLAINED TO US ABOUT AN ISSUE ON THEIR STREET ABOUT A LOT OF CARS BEING STOLEN AND THEN DRIVEN VERY QUICKLY THROUGH THEIR STREETS.
AND NOW THEY FEEL LIKE IT'S CHANGED.
THAT'S QUALITATIVE, BUT THAT'S CHANGED.
AND IT'S OUR BELIEF AND THEIRS THAT IT'S BECAUSE THERE ARE SO MANY PEOPLE NOW ACTIVE IN THE COMMUNITY OUT WALKING AROUND, IT'S SO MUCH HARDER TO DO THAT.
WHEN WE TALK WITH A PD ABOUT THAT, THAT'S ACTUALLY WHAT THEIR SUMMATION IS AS WELL.
SO WE HAVEN'T FIGURED OUT HOW TO DO THE STUDIES AND THE NUMBERS.
BUT WE ARE HEARING ANECDOTALLY THAT IT'S SAFER.
UM, THAT PERCEPTION IS CRITICAL.
BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT GONNA DO THE COMMUNING, YOU'RE NOT GONNA CREATE THE ACTIVITIES IF IT'S NOT SAFER.
AND AS FAR AS THE ENGAGEMENT GOES, THE, IN THE APPLICATIONS, THERE'S SOME LIKE PERCENTAGE OF RESIDENTS THAT HAVE TO HAVE BUY-IN RIGHT AHEAD OF CORRECT THE ACTIVATION.
SO I, PEOPLE COULD THINK ABOUT IT, LIKE AGREE IT SAID, YES, WE WANT THIS, AND THEN IT CAME AND THEY WERE LIKE, AH, I DIDN'T REALLY USE IT.
AND IT WAS MORE OF A NUISANCE.
AND THEN, SO THE, THE WAY THAT WORKS IS, THAT'S WHY IT'S FOR SIX MONTHS IF RESIDENTS DON'T ACTUALLY ENJOY THE STREET AND 60% OF THE RESIDENTS DON'T ENJOY THE STREET.
[00:45:01]
GET IT ACTIVATED.AND THAT, THAT'S ACTUALLY THE CASE WITH GAULT.
SO THEY DIDN'T ACTUALLY GET THE 60% TO REMOVE IT, BUT THEY WOULDN'T HAVE GOTTEN THE 60% TO RENEW IT.
SO IT HIT HIT THE TIME LIMIT OF SIX MONTHS AND IT WAS REMOVED.
COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER, THANKS.
UM, FIRST YOU MAY HAVE ALREADY SAID THIS, BUT HOW, HOW, UH, HOW MANY ACTIVATIONS DO YOU HAVE FUNDING FOR THIS FISCAL YEAR? I DID NOT SAY THAT.
BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE A SPECIFIC ANSWER.
WE HAVE, UH, A BUDGET OF 315,000 ISH.
WE ANTICIPATE THAT WILL BE 36 APPLICATIONS AS WE HAVE INSTALLED THEM CURRENTLY.
THERE ARE PROS AND CONS TO BOTH.
PURCHASING IS OBVIOUSLY CHEAPER, BUT IT COMES WITH OVERHEAD COSTS AND DIRECT EXPENSE FOR REPLACEMENT REPAIRS AND MAINTENANCE.
WE'RE LEASING IT, THAT IS COVERED UNDER OUR CONTRACT AND IT'S THIS RELATIONSHIP THAT WE WILL BE FIGURING OUT.
RIGHT NOW, OUR INTENTION IS TO LIFT 18 THIS NEXT GO AND KEEP THE 11 THAT ARE CURRENTLY UP AND RUNNING AT THE SAME TIME.
SO, AND THEN HAVE THAT, HAVE THAT PERIOD OF TIME TO ENSURE THAT WE EITHER GET THE AWARD FOR THE S FOUR A GRANT YEP.
OR FULLY DEVELOP OUT HOW WE'RE GONNA PROCURE AND PURCHASE OR LEASE.
SO, UH, AND THEN JUST IN TERMS OF WHAT THAT REPRESENTS, UH, I'M TRYING TO REMEMBER.
THAT'S ABOUT THE SAME THAT WAS IN THE BUDGET FOR THE YEAR BEFORE, RIGHT? CORRECT.
ESSENTIALLY WE DID SIX MONTHS, 18 INSTALLATIONS FOR SIX MONTHS.
AND THAT'S HOW WE FIND EFFICIENCIES AND WHAT WE'RE DOING.
AND THAT'S WHY THAT APPLICATION TIME PERIOD IS STAGGERED THE WAY IT IS.
APPLICATION, INSTALLATION, MAINTENANCE, APPLICATION INSTALLATION, MAINTENANCE, RINSE, WASH, REPEAT, AND THEN HIT RENEWAL.
AND THEN, UH, SECOND QUESTION.
UM, SO BACK IN APRIL WE PASSED, UH, AS PART OF A LARGER RECOMMENDATION RECOMMENDATION THAT, UM, WE INITIATE CODE AMENDMENTS FOR, UH, UH, REMOVING THE PERMITTING REQUIREMENT FOR NEIGHBORHOOD BLOCK PARTIES, WHICH OBVIOUSLY THAT REQUIRES A CODE AMENDMENT RIGHT.
SO THAT, THAT'S NOT UP TO YOU.
BUT, UM, WE ALSO RECOMMENDED SEEING IF WE COULD MOVE THE APPLICATION FROM AUSTIN BUILD CONNECT TO THE SMART MOBILITY PORTAL.
IS THAT SOMETHING YOU'VE BEEN ABLE TO EXPLORE? SO THE REALLY GOOD NEWS THERE, AND THANK YOU FOR ASKING 'CAUSE I DIDN'T SAY THIS AT THE BEGINNING.
UH, AS TPW BECOMES MORE TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC WORKS CAN JOIN TRANSPORTATION PUBLIC WORKS, WE'VE REALIGNED OUR STAFF AND IN DOING SO, THE NEIGHBOR BLOCK PARTY IS FULLY UNDER THE UMBRELLA OF LIVING STREETS.
THAT MEANS THAT THE, NOT ONLY IS THE APPLICATION PROCESS GOING TO FOLLOW ALONG THE SAME LINES AS THE HEALTHY STREET AND PLAY STREET APPLICATION, WE'RE IN THE PROCESS OF ALSO UPDATING OUR WEBSITE FOR CLARITY.
SO YOU WON'T HAVE TO GO TO TWO DIFFERENT SITES TO DO YOUR APPLICATIONS.
IT WILL BE ONE SITE, ONE BODY OF WORK, ONE PROGRAM.
IN ADDITION TO THAT, THE REALIGNMENT ALSO PROVIDES US OPPORTUNITIES TO WORK WITH SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOLS AND OUR NEIGHBORHOOD PARTNERING PROGRAM.
COLLECTIVELY, THIS GROUP OF PLACEMAKERS AND RESIDENT DRIVEN PROGRAMS WILL ALL BE OPERATING TOGETHER UNDER ONE DIVISION.
AND THAT GIVES US ADDITIONAL LEVEL OF OUTREACH ENGAGEMENT AND, YOU KNOW, REALLY THE ABILITY TO FLEX OUR SKILLS.
HOPEFULLY THAT, UH, PUTS AN END TO PEOPLE ACCIDENTALLY, UH, APPLYING FOR PLAY TWEETS.
UH, I I I THINK THAT ONLY HAPPENED THE ONE TIME, BUT HOPEFULLY IT ONLY HAPPENED THE ONE TIME.
WE DON'T EVEN COUNT THAT AS A STREET THAT WE LIFTED.
YEAH, NO, THAT'S TOTALLY FAIR AT POINT.
BUT IT, IT IS REALLY IMPORTANT AND THAT, THAT CONFUSION IS OUT THERE.
UM, IT'S ALSO NICE TO KNOW THAT LIKE THE PROGRAM IS WHOLE AND COMPLETED AS THE RESOLUTION INTENDED.
UM, IN TERMS OF THE PERMIT, THE PERMIT FEES HAVE ALREADY BEEN ADOPTED BY COUNSEL EVEN BEFORE THE BUDGET WAS
[00:50:01]
APPROVED AND ADOPTED.THE FEE STRUCTURE IS SET AND THAT IS PART OF THE BUDGET REQUIREMENT.
SO UNFORTUNATELY THIS YEAR WE WON'T BE ABLE TO LOOK AT MM-HMM.
IT IS OUR INTENTION TO EXPLORE OPTIONS ON THAT AND LOOK AT EQUITY.
WE DO KNOW THAT NEIGHBORS IN OUR EQUITY ANALYSIS ZONES THAT ARE, UH, THE MOST UNDERSERVED COMMUNITY, A $50 FEE IS STILL A $50 FEE AND SOMEONE'S PUTTING THAT UP.
SO WE HAVE TO THINK IN TERMS OF THOSE THINGS.
AND WE ALSO ARE THINKING IN TERMS OF THE LIVING STREETS PROGRAM AS A WHOLE, IS A TRANSITION PROGRAM THAT ALLOWS US TO MOVE CLOSER TO A COMPLETE STREET.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR PRESENTATION AND, AND COMING OUT.
IT'S REALLY GREAT WHEN WE HAVE THOSE MOMENTS WHERE STAFF IS WILLING TO COME TO US FREQUENTLY AND REALLY LET US SEE HOW THINGS ARE FLOWING THROUGH.
SO, UM, WE DON'T ALWAYS GET THAT.
SO WE'RE VERY APPRECIATIVE THAT YOU'RE HERE AGAIN AND REALLY ENJOYED THE PRESENTATION TODAY.
WE'LL COME BACK IN ANOTHER SIX MONTHS.
[3. Transit Enhancement Program update ]
TO ITEM NUMBER THREE, WHICH IS THE TRANSIT ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM UPDATE.AND THIS IS A DISCUSSION ITEM.
UM, GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS.
CAN YOU HEAR ME OKAY?
THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME HERE TONIGHT.
MY NAME IS CAITLIN DALTON AND I WILL BE PROVIDING AN UPDATE ON THE TRANSIT ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM IN THE TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT IN AT THE CITY.
SO THE PRIMARY PURPOSE OF THIS PRESENTATION IS REALLY TO PROVIDE AN OVERVIEW OF THE TRANSIT ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM SINCE IT'S STILL FAIRLY NEW AND PERHAPS UNFAMILIAR TO SOME MEMBERS OF THE UTC.
UM, AND AS PART OF MY PRESENTATION, I'LL BE TALKING THROUGH, UM, THE WORK THAT WE'RE CURRENTLY DOING AS WELL AS THE WORK THAT WE HAVE PLANNED TO IMPROVE TRANSIT OPERATIONS AND TRANSIT ACCESS HERE IN AUSTIN.
SO, AS I MENTIONED, THE TRANSIT ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM IS, UM, REALLY HOUSED WITHIN THE TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT.
IT'S ONE OF MULTIPLE MOBILITY PROGRAMS WITHIN TPW, LIKE THE LIVING STREETS PROGRAM THAT YOU JUST HEARD ABOUT, SIDEWALKS, URBAN TRAILS AND MORE.
AND THERE ARE REALLY TWO MAIN, UM, FOCUS AREAS FOR OUR WORK.
SO FIRST WE DEVELOP AND CONSTRUCT, UH, CAPITAL INFRASTRUCTURE THAT'S DESIGNED TO SUPPORT TRANSIT OPERATIONS AND TRANSIT ACCESS WITH A PRIMARY FOCUS ON BUS OPERATIONS AND BUS ACCESS.
UM, SECOND, WE COORDINATE WITH OUR PARTNERS ON PROJECTS THAT IMPACT FUTURE TRANSIT OPERATIONS AND ACCESS IN AUSTIN.
AND THROUGH ALL OF THAT WE COORDINATE WITH OUR TRANSIT PROVIDERS AS WELL AS RIDERS AND THE COMMUNITY, UM, WHO ARE IMPACTED BY THE INFRASTRUCTURE CHANGES THAT WE MAKE.
SO, UM, BEFORE I GO INTO MUCH DETAIL ABOUT THE PROJECTS THAT WE WORK ON, I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE HELPFUL TO GIVE SOME BACKGROUND ON WHY WE DO THIS WORK AT ALL.
UM, THE WORK THAT THE TRANSIT ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM IMPLEMENTS IS REALLY ENABLED BY A STRONG FRAMEWORK OF CITY POLICIES, UM, PLANS AND TECHNICAL CRITERIA THAT SUPPORT OUR WORK.
STARTING FIRST, OF COURSE WITH OUR COMPREHENSIVE PLAN, IMAGINE AUSTIN, UM, WHICH ENVISIONS A CITY THAT IS MOBILE AND INTERCONNECTED, WHERE TRANSPORTATION NETWORK, UH, WHERE THE TRANSPORTATION NETWORK PROVIDES A VARIETY OF CHOICES INCLUDING PUBLIC TRANSIT FOR USERS TO NAVIGATE THE CITY.
SECOND, OF COURSE, WE HAVE OUR COMPREHENSIVE TRANSPORTATION PLAN, THE AUSTIN STRATEGIC MOBILITY PLAN OR A SMP THAT MOVES THAT IMAGINE AUSTIN VISION FOR TRANSPORTATION FORWARD BY ESTABLISHING SPECIFIC GOALS, POLICIES, AND ACTION ITEMS NEEDED TO REALIZE THAT VISION, INCLUDING GOALS,
[00:55:01]
POLICIES, AND ACTION ITEMS AIMED AT MAKING PUBLIC TRANSIT A ROBUST AND RELIABLE TRANSPORTATION OPTION.AND THEN LAST WE HAVE OUR TRANSPORTATION CRITERIA MANUAL, UM, WHICH REALLY DISTILLS THAT VISION OF IMAGINE AUSTIN AND THOSE GOALS AND POLICIES OF THE A SMP AND TO DESIGN REQUIREMENTS FOR HOW MOBILITY INFRASTRUCTURE IS, UM, IMPLEMENTED IN AUSTIN, INCLUDING STANDARDS FOR TRANSIT FACILITIES AND TRANSIT SUPPORTIVE INFRASTRUCTURE ON CITY STREETS.
SO, UM, SINCE THE CITY DOESN'T ACTUALLY OPERATE BUS SERVICE OURSELVES, I THINK IT'S PROBABLY NATURAL TO WONDER WHY DOES THE TRANSIT ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM DO THIS WORK AT ALL? WHY DON'T WE JUST LEAVE IT UP TO OUR, UM, TRANSIT SERVICE PROVIDERS TO DEVELOP THIS INFRASTRUCTURE.
AND I THINK THIS GRAPHIC FROM NATO IS REALLY HELPFUL IN IN EXPLAINING THAT.
SO WHILE TRANSIT AGENCIES DETERMINE WHAT DESTINATIONS TO SERVE, UM, WHAT SCHEDULES TO OPERATE AND WHAT FAIRES TO CHARGE LOCAL MUNICIPALITIES LIKE THE CITY OF AUSTIN, UH, CONTROL THE DESIGN OF THE STREETS.
SO THAT MEANS THAT THE CITY ULTIMATELY DETERMINES WHERE INFRASTRUCTURE LIKE BUS LANES ARE INSTALLED.
WE DETERMINE HOW SIGNALS ARE DESIGNED TO SUPPORT TRANSIT.
WE ALSO DETERMINE WHERE FIRST LAST MILE CONNECTIONS ARE MADE TO IMPROVE ACCESS TO TRANSIT STOPS AND STATIONS, UM, AROUND TOWN.
SO BECAUSE OF THAT INTERPLAY AND OUR ROLES BETWEEN OUR TRANSIT OPERATORS AND THE CITY, WE HAVE TO WORK REALLY CLOSELY, UM, TO ENSURE THAT OUR STREET DESIGNS AND THEIR SERVICES ARE MUTUALLY SUPPORTIVE, UM, SO THAT WE CAN CONTINUE TO REALLY CO-CREATE A TRANSPORTATION NETWORK, UM, AND A SPECIFICALLY A TRANSIT NETWORK THAT'S A TRUE ALTERNATIVE TO DRIVING.
UM, SO A LITTLE MORE BACKGROUND AND THEN I'LL GET INTO MORE OF THE, THE PROJECT, UH, DETAILS.
UM, THE COLLABORATION THAT WE HAVE, UM, BETWEEN THE TRANSIT ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM AND OUR TRANSIT PROVIDERS IS QUITE ROBUST, BUT IT'S STILL FAIRLY NEW.
AND IT REALLY BEGAN BACK IN 2015 WHEN CAP METRO LEADERSHIP AND CITY LEADERSHIP DIRECTED STAFF TO BEGIN MEETING EVERY OTHER WEEK TO DEVELOP PROJECTS AIMED AT IMPROVING BUS OPERATIONS AND SAFETY AROUND TOWN.
UM, THE SUCCESS OF THAT GROUP WAS HONESTLY FAIRLY LIMITED AT FIRST THERE WAS NO DEDICATED STAFF TO LEAD THOSE PROJECTS.
THERE WAS NO DEDICATED BUDGET FOR THAT WORK.
UM, BUT MEETING REGULARLY REALLY PROVIDED THE CITY WITH AN OPPORTUNITY TO DEVELOP A MORE INTIMATE KNOWLEDGE OF TRANSIT'S NEEDS ON OUR ROADWAYS AS WELL AS FOR CAT METRO, UM, TO DEVELOP, UM, MORE MORE KNOWLEDGE AROUND, UM, OUR MULTIMODAL CONSIDERATIONS AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS ON OUR STREETS.
UM, BY 2018 THE NEED FOR OUR CONTINUED COLLABORATION WAS VERY CLEAR AND CAT METRO AND THE CITY SIGNED AN INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT CALLED THE TRANSIT SPEED AND RE RELIABILITY ILA.
UM, AND THROUGH THAT ILA, WHICH STILL EXISTS, THE CITY IS ABLE TO DESIGN AND CONSTRUCT IMPROVEMENTS IN ON OUR ROADWAYS, UM, THAT ARE REQUESTED BY CAP METRO AND THEN BE REIMBURSED BY CAP METRO FOR THAT WORK AND TO MANAGE THAT WORKLOAD.
WE, UM, CREATED A DEDICATED POSITION WITH STAFF, UM, AND THE TRANSIT ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM WAS FORMED.
UM, THE MOMENTUM AROUND THAT WORK TO SUPPORT TRANSIT REALLY CONTINUED A YEAR LATER IN 2019 WHEN THE CITY ADOPTED THE A SMP, WHICH WE TALKED ABOUT PREVIOUSLY.
AND THEN CONTINUED THE YEAR AFTER THAT IN 2020 WHEN THE CITY TOOK ANOTHER MAJOR STEP FORWARD IN SUPPORTING TRANSIT INFRASTRUCTURE AND REALLY SPECIFICALLY BUS INFRASTRUCTURE WITH PASSING THE 2020 MOBILITY BOND.
UM, SO THAT $460 MILLION BOND INCLUDES $19 MILLION FOR TRANSIT ENHANCEMENT PROJECTS.
AND THIS IS SIGNIFICANT 'CAUSE THIS IS REALLY THE FIRST TIME THAT THE CITY DEDICATED SUBSTANTIAL BOND FUNDING SPECIFICALLY FOR BUS INFRASTRUCTURE ON OUR ROADWAYS.
UM, AND IS REALLY, UH, AN IMPORTANT STEP FORWARD IN HELPING US REALIZE THE VISION AND GOALS OF OUR, OF OUR UH, MODAL PLANS.
MOVING ON TO 2021, WE ADOPTED, UM, OUR UPDATED TCM, WHICH I MENTIONED PREVIOUSLY.
AND THEN FINALLY LAST YEAR THE TRANSIT ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM FINALIZED AN INFRASTRUCTURE REPORT, WHICH I'LL TALK ABOUT AT THE, UM, END OF THIS PRESENTATION.
BUT THAT REPORT REALLY GUIDES THE CITY'S INVESTMENT IN INFRASTRUCTURE THAT SUPPORTS BUS OPERATIONS AND ACCESS TO BUS SERVICE.
AND IT'S REALLY THE FIRST EVER CITY PLAN FOCUSED ON THAT TYPE OF INFRASTRUCTURE ON A ROADWAY.
SO IT IS QUITE IMPORTANT TO US.
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WITH THAT BACKGROUND I'LL FINALLY TALK ABOUT THE ACTUAL PROJECTS THAT WE WORK ON.UM, AS MENTIONED, THE TRANSIT ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM DEVELOPS AND CONSTRUCTS, UM, INFRASTRUCTURE THAT SUPPORTS TRANSIT OPERATIONS AND ACCESS.
AND WE WOULD, UH, COORDINATE WITH OUR PARTNERS ON THAT WORK, UM, AS WELL AS FUTURE WORK THAT THEY'RE IMPLEMENTING IN AUSTIN.
SO THE, UH, CAPITAL PROJECTS THAT WE IMPLEMENT TO SUPPORT TRANSIT OPERATIONS INCLUDE PROJECTS LIKE THE BUS LANE THAT YOU CAN SEE IN THIS PHOTO ON EAST RIVERSIDE DRIVE.
UM, BUT THEY ALSO INCLUDE Q JUMPS, UM, SIGNAL TIMING ADJUSTMENTS, TRANSIT SIGNAL, PRIORITY IMPROVEMENTS, UM, BUS STOP UPGRADES, BUS STOP, RELOCATIONS, REALLY ANY HOST OF CHANGES THAT ARE AIMED AT HELPING TRANSIT SERVICE OPERATE MORE RELIABLY THROUGH AUSTIN.
UM, NEXT WE HAVE ACCESS IMPROVEMENTS.
SO THE CAPITAL PROJECTS THAT WE IMPLEMENT TO SUPPORT ACCESS INCLUDE, UM, PROJECTS LIKE THIS PEDESTRIAN CROSSING THAT WE IMPLEMENTED ON WICKERSHAM LANE.
UM, BUT IT ALSO INCLUDE INCLUDES REALLY ANY INFRASTRUCTURE THAT HELPS TRANSIT RIDERS ACCESS, UM, YOU KNOW, THEIR BUS, BUS SERVICE AND ALSO THEIR DESTINATIONS MORE EASILY.
SO THAT COULD INCLUDE, YOU KNOW, SIDEWALK BIKEWAY OR TRAIL CONNECTIONS SPECIFICALLY TO AND FROM TRANSIT STOPS.
ALSO, YOU KNOW, INVESTMENTS IN SHARED AND MICRO MOBILITY ORIENTED AROUND CONNECTING, UM, CUSTOMERS TO TRANSIT.
AND THEN LASTLY, UM, YOU KNOW, THESE PARTNER PROJECTS THAT WE COORDINATE ON ARE NOT ONES THAT WE LEAD, BUT WE OF COURSE, UM, YOU KNOW, WORK WITH OUR PARTNERS TO ENSURE THAT FUTURE SERVICE AND FUTURE CHANGES TO SERVICE, UM, ARE, YOU KNOW, SUPPORTIVE OF THE GOALS OF, OF OUR MOBILITY PLANS AND MAKING SURE TRANSIT IS, UH, RELIABLE AND EASY TO ACCESS IN THE CITY.
SO SINCE THE TRANSIT ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM WAS CREATED IN 2018, WE'VE COMPLETED OVER 150 TRANSIT INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS ACROSS THE CITY.
THOSE IMPROVEMENTS ARE FUNDED BY BOTH THE INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT THAT I MENTIONED, AS WELL AS THE 2020 TRANS ENHANCEMENT BOND FUNDS.
UM, THAT INCLUDES 75 BUS STOP IMPROVEMENTS, 47 ACCESS IMPROVEMENTS, 25 OPERATIONS IMPROVEMENTS AND MORE.
UM, AND CURRENTLY WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF CONSTRUCTING OVER 50 TRANSIT ENHANCEMENTS ACROSS THE CITY.
SO THERE'S QUITE A LOT OF WORK UNDERWAY, UM, TO PROVIDE YOU WITH SOME MORE CONCRETE EXAMPLES OF THE WORK THAT WE'VE DONE BEFORE, TALKING ABOUT THE WORK THAT'S UNDERWAY AND COMING AHEAD.
UM, ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE YOU CAN SEE, UH, THE SHARED BUS BIKE LANE ON WEST FIFTH STREET.
UM, YOU MIGHT REMEMBER BACK IN 2017, CTRA OPENED THEIR SOUTHBOUND, UM, EXPRESS LANE ON MOPAC.
AND WITH THAT FACILITY OPENING, CAT METRO REALIGNED A NUMBER OF THE ROUTES OPERATING FROM NORTHWEST AUSTIN IN DOWN INTO DOWNTOWN.
UM, AND WE UNDERSTOOD THAT, YOU KNOW, THERE WAS LIKELY GONNA BE INCREASED TRAFFIC ON THIS CORRIDOR AS WELL AS INCREASED BUS SERVICE.
SO WE WORKED CLOSELY WITH CAP METRO TO INSTALL THIS NEW SHARED BUS BIKE LANE, UM, THAT PROVIDES TRANSIT PRIORITY BETWEEN WESTLAND STREETS AND BAYLOR.
UM, SO THAT'S THE PICTURE ON THE LEFT AND REALLY THE PURPOSE OF THIS LANE IS THAT IT ENABLES CAB METRO TO BYPASS THE TRAFFIC THAT'S HEADING INTO DOWNTOWN AND REALLY GET TO THE FRONT OF THE QUEUE SO THAT IT CAN CONTINUE, UM, THROUGH THE LAMAR INTERSECTION AND BEYOND.
UM, AND BECAUSE THE BUS VOLUMES ON THIS CORRIDOR ARE FAIRLY LOW, IT ALSO PROVIDES AN OPPORTUNITY TO PROVIDE A FACILITY FOR CYCLISTS, UM, WHO CAN USE THAT SPACE IN TANDEM WITH THE BUSES.
UM, ON THE RIGHT I HAVE A PHOTO OF A INTERSECTION AND IMPROVEMENT THAT WE MADE JUST OUTSIDE AT KAL LOOP AND CAESAR CHAVEZ.
UM, SO THIS WAS, AND THIS HAS, THIS INTERSECTION HAS HISTORICALLY BEEN, UM, REALLY A CHALLENGING LOCATION FOR CAT METRO TO OPERATE THROUGH.
AND IT WAS THE AGENCY'S TOP CRASH LOCATION, UM, BEFORE WE IMPLEMENTED THIS PROJECT.
BUT IN 2021 WE DID SOME WORK TO RECONSTRUCT HOW THE INTERSECTION WAS DESIGNED SO TRANSIT COULD OPERATE MORE SAFELY.
UM, WE RE WE REBUILT THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF THE INTERSECTION TO BETTER ACCOMMODATE BUS SOUTHBOUND LEFT TURNS.
WE ALSO RETRIED, UM, THE CAT TRACKS THROUGH THE INTERSECTION THAT GUIDE VEHICLES HOW TO OPERATE THROUGH, UM, SOUTH OVER THE, THE BRIDGE.
UM, AND THAT RE-PIPING WAS DESIGNED TO REALLY ACCOMMODATE LIKE THE BUS MOVEMENT, WHICH IS TYPICALLY LARGER THAN A TYPICAL VEHICLE MOVEMENT THROUGH THE INTERSECTION.
AS PART OF THAT, WE ALSO REBUILT THE SOUTHWEST CORNER OF THE INTERSECTION AND PROVIDE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR CYCLISTS TO RAMP BEHIND CURB THERE.
SO THEY HAVE THE OPTION EITHER TO CONTINUE ON THE STREET OVER THE BRIDGE OR BEHIND CURB ON THE SHARED USE PATH.
UM, AFTER THAT PROJECT WAS COMPLETED, CAT METRO SAW A 76%
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DECREASE IN THEIR QUARTERLY CRASH RATE AT THIS LOCATION.SO WAS A GREAT SUCCESS AND REALLY, YOU KNOW, A GOOD EXAMPLE OF THE WORK THAT WE TRY TO DO TOGETHER.
SORRY, CAN YOU REPEAT THAT FOR SECOND? YEP.
SO ON THIS SLIDE I HAVE TWO EXAMPLES OF PROJECTS THAT WERE IMPLEMENTED MORE RECENTLY.
BOTH OF THESE WERE INSTALLED IN THE LAST YEAR.
UM, ON THE RIGHT IS A PHOTO OF A RECENT IMPROVEMENT ON LAKELINE BOULEVARD IN NORTHEAST AUSTIN.
SO AT THIS LOCATION, CAP METRO HAD RECEIVED REQUESTS FROM A NUMBER OF THEIR CUSTOMERS, UM, WHO WANTED TO HAVE BETTER ACCESS TO THE HEB THAT YOU CAN, IF YOU LOOK CLOSELY, YOU CAN SEE IT SORT OF ON THE RIGHT CORNER OF THAT PHOTO.
UM, BUT BASED ON HOW CAP METRO'S ROUTE WAS DESIGNED, IT, IT WASN'T REALLY FEASIBLE FOR THEM TO IMPLEMENT A STOP THAT WAS WITHIN EASY WALKING DISTANCE OF THAT STORE.
SO WE WORKED WITH THEM ON A SOLUTION, WHICH INCLUDED INSTALLING A, UH, BUS QUEUE JUMP LANE AT THIS LOCATION AS WELL AS A BUS STOP.
SO THIS LANE ALLOWS CAT METRO BUSES TO PULL UP SERVE THE STOP, WHICH IS, YOU KNOW, ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE GROCERY STORE.
AND THEN THEY GET A DEDICATED TRANSIT SIGNAL THAT ALLOWS THEM TO CONTINUE ON THEIR ROUTE.
THEY HAVE TO MAKE, GO FROM ONE SIDE OF THE STREET TO THE OTHER AND THEN MAKE A LEFT TURN.
SO A LOT OF, UM, MOVEMENTS THAT YOU WOULDN'T TYPICALLY WANT TO DO WITHOUT THAT DEDICATED SIGNAL.
UM, AND THEN LAST WE HAVE THIS PHOTO ON THE LEFT.
THESE WERE SOME RECENT IMPROVEMENTS, UM, IMPLEMENTED ON BLUFF SPRINGS ROAD IN SOUTH AUSTIN.
SO YOU MIGHT KNOW THAT THE CITY, UM, TPW RECENTLY IMPLEMENTED A VISION ZERO PROJECT HERE TO REDUCE CRASHES ON THE CORRIDOR.
UM, AS PART OF THAT PROJECT, WE WORKED WITH THEM TO UPGRADE THE EXISTING NORTHBOUND BUS STOP HERE TO PROVIDE A MULTIMODAL STOP DESIGN THAT ALLOWS CYCLISTS AND PEDESTRIANS TO TRAVEL BEHIND THE STOP, UM, TO REDUCE THAT SORT OF FRICTION BETWEEN, UM, PARTICULARLY CYCLISTS AND BUSES.
IT ALSO PULLS THE CURB OUT AND ALLOWS BUSES TO STOP IN THE TRAVEL LANE, WHICH REDUCES ANY MERGING, UH, ISSUES FOR THEM OR DELAY ASSOCIATED WITH PULLING IN AND OUT OF A LANE TO SERVE THE STOP.
AND THEN ON TOP OF THAT, THERE WAS ACTUALLY NO SOUTHBOUND STOP HERE.
THERE WAS NO SAFE WAY TO CROSS THE STREET.
SO AS PART OF THIS PROJECT, WE ADDED A SOUTHBOUND STOP AS WELL AS A PEDESTRIAN CROSSING SO THAT FOLKS, UM, PARTICULARLY LIVING EAST OF BLUFF SPRINGS, COULD MORE EASILY ACCESS TRANSIT HERE.
SO THOSE WERE SOME PAST PROJECT EXAMPLES.
UM, AND MOVING ON TO SOME PROJECTS THAT ARE CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION.
UM, SO JUST ACROSS DOWNTOWN FROM US ON TRINITY STREET AND SAN JACINTO BOULEVARD, WE'RE IMPLEMENTING A SERIES OF MULTIMODAL IMPROVEMENTS IN COORDINATION WITH CAB METRO.
SO THAT INCLUDES INSTALLING NEW BUS LANES, UM, INSTALLING PROTECTED BIKE LANES AND ENHANCING PEDESTRIAN CROSSINGS ON THE CORRIDOR.
AND REALLY THE AIM OF THIS PROJECT IS TO ENHANCE BUS OPERATIONS FOR THE 10 EXISTING ROUTES THAT ALREADY OPERATE HERE TO SUPPORT THE UPCOMING PROJECT CONNECT EXPO CENTER RAPID LINE THAT IS, UM, STARTING SERVICE NEXT YEAR.
UM, WE'RE LOOKING TO IMPROVE BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN COMFORT AND SAFETY ON THE CORRIDOR, AND THEN MAINTAIN PARKING AND VEHICLE ACCESS AS POSSIBLE.
UM, WE BEGAN PUBLIC OUTREACH FOR THIS PROJECT IN JULY.
UM, MULTIPLE WAYS OF REACHING OUT TO THE COMMUNITY.
AND THE WORK IS CURRENTLY UNDERWAY.
WE'RE ANTICIPATING COMPLETING THIS PROJECT IN NOVEMBER OF THIS YEAR.
SO HERE ARE SOME PHOTOS OF THAT WORK.
UM, SO THIS PROJECT, AS I MENTIONED, IS MANAGED BY THE TRANSIT ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM, BUT IT'S REALLY A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT, NOT ONLY WITHIN WITH CAP METRO, BUT WITHIN TPW AND ACROSS DEPARTMENTS.
UM, FOR EXAMPLE, WE RECENTLY REPAVED, UH, LARGE SECTIONS OF SAN JACINTO AND TRINITY.
UM, WE DID THAT WORK BOTH THROUGH TPW AS WELL AS OUR PARTNERS AT THE CAPITAL DELIVERY SERVICES DEPARTMENT.
UM, AND WE'RE CURRENTLY HAVE SOME CONCRETE WORK UNDERWAY ON THE CORRIDOR FOR, UH, A DA PARKING, UM, BUS STOP IMPROVEMENTS, AS WELL AS ACCESS IMPROVEMENTS.
AND COMING NEXT, IN JUST THE FOLLOWING WEEKS, YOU'LL BEGIN TO SEE MORE MARKINGS AND SIGNAGE GO OUT ON THE STREET IN SUPPORT OF THIS PROJECT.
UM, REALLY HELPING THE CORRIDOR TAKE SHAPE AND MAKE IT CLEAR KIND OF HOW WE'RE ACCOMMODATING DIFFERENT, UH, MODES ON THE CORRIDOR.
SO LAST BUT NOT LEAST, UM, I JUST WANNA OF COURSE MENTION NOT ONLY THE WORK THAT WE HAVE DONE OR IN THE PROCESS OF DOING, BUT WORK THAT WE HAVE PLANNED.
UM, AND THOSE PLANS THAT WE HAVE ARE REALLY GUIDED BY THE TRANSIT ENHANCEMENT INFRASTRUCTURE REPORT THAT I MENTIONED, UM, MULTIPLE SLIDES BACK.
UM, SO THIS IS A REPORT THAT WAS FINALIZED LAST YEAR.
IT'S REALLY, UM, YOU KNOW, AS I MENTIONED, THE THE CITY'S FIRST PLAN THAT WE
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OWN, UM, WHERE WE'VE IDENTIFIED OUR PRIORITIES FOR INVESTMENT IN BUS INFRASTRUCTURE, UM, THAT SUPPORTS BUS ACCESS AND OPERATIONS.UM, THE REPORT RECOMMENDS 37 TRANSIT INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS, UM, TOTALING 53 MILLION IN PROPOSED IMPROVEMENTS ACROSS THE CITY.
UM, IT WAS INFORMED BY INPUT BY OVER 1400 COMMUNITY MEMBERS.
WE ENGAGED THEM IN TWO DIFFERENT ROUNDS OF ENGAGEMENT, BOTH IN PERSON AT BUS STOPS AND ONLINE.
AND THE PROJECTS THAT WERE IDENTIFIED ARE BASED ON WHAT THE COMMUNITY TOLD US WERE THEIR PRIORITIES FOR OUR INVESTMENTS.
SO WHAT WE HEARD FROM THEM IS THAT REALLY, YOU KNOW, PRETTY EQUALLY ACROSS THE BOARD, THEY WANTED US TO INVEST IN INFRASTRUCTURE THAT WOULD MAKE TRANSIT FASTER AND MORE RELIABLE.
THEY WANTED US TO INVEST IN INFRASTRUCTURE THAT WOULD, UM, PROVIDE SAFE WAYS TO GET ACROSS THE STREET AND GET TO AND FROM THE SERVICE.
AND THEN THEY THOUGHT IT WAS IMPORTANT THAT WE INVEST IN OUR INFRASTRUCTURE AND OUR IMPROVEMENTS IN AREAS THAT HAVE BEEN HISTORICALLY UNDERSERVED.
SO THAT'S, UM, THOSE PRIORITIES ARE REFLECTED IN, IN WHERE PROJECTS HAVE BEEN RECOMMENDED AND THE TYPES OF IMPROVEMENTS THAT ARE RECOMMENDED AT THOSE LOCATIONS.
UM, THE REPORT ALSO INCLUDES A NEW TRANSIT ENHANCEMENT TOOLBOX.
SO THIS IS A COLLECTION OF 32 DIFFERENT CAPITAL AND OPERATIONAL TREATMENTS THAT COULD BE APPLIED, UM, HERE IN AUSTIN TO IMPROVE TRANSIT OPERATIONS AND ACCESS, UM, AND CREATE SAFER, MORE PREDICTABLE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN TRANSIT AND OTHER ROADWAY USERS.
AND THAT TOOLBOX AS WELL AS THE WHOLE REPORT CAN BE FOUND ON OUR WEBSITE, WHICH IS AUSTIN TEXAS.GOV/TRANSIT.
UM, SO WITH THAT, I'M HAPPY TO, UM, ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.
I REALLY, UM, APPRECIATE YOUR TIME AND, UM, THAT'S IT
UM, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE PRESENTATION.
UM, COMMISSIONERS, DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? YEAH, COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER.
I, I'VE GOT A, A COUPLE, SO I'LL SAY MAYBE TWO AND THEN I'LL, I'LL HAND IT BACK OVER TO EVERYONE.
UM, FIRST I JUST WANNA SAY I'M REALLY IMPRESSED WITH A LOT OF YOUR WORK, UM, AS SOMEONE WHO RIDES THE BUS A LOT TO WORK.
YOU KNOW, THERE'S SO MANY LITTLE IMPROVEMENTS THAT YOU GUYS HAVE DONE THAT HAVE MADE IT SO MUCH MORE ENJOYABLE AND, UH, USABLE.
UM, I WANNA TALK ABOUT THE BUS DELAY ANALYSIS TOOL.
SO IT'S SOMETHING I'VE NEVER GOTTEN A LOT OF CLARITY AS TO HOW IT WORKS, RIGHT? SO OBVIOUSLY WE'RE MEASURING THE, THE DELAY OF VEHICLES ON A STREET, BUT WHAT IS THE BASELINE? IS THE BASELINE CAP METRO'S TIME SCHEDULES, RIGHT? WHAT IS CONSIDERED DELAY? SO, UM, FOR LARGER REFERENCE, SO THE BUS DELAY ANALYSIS TOOL THAT SPENCER IS REFERENCING, THAT WAS ONE OF THE TOOLS THAT WE DEVELOPED AS THE, UM, IN THE PROCESS OF DEVELOPING THAT TRANSIT ENHANCEMENT INFRASTRUCTURE THAT HELPED US UNDERSTAND HOW WAS TRANSIT PERFORMING ACROSS THE WHOLE CITY, UM, THROUGH A REALLY DATA INTENSIVE WAY.
SO RATHER THAN MY ANECDOTAL OBSERVATIONS NECESSARILY, OR SOMEBODY ELSE'S, WE HAD, YOU KNOW, HARD DATA SHOWING US WHERE IS TRANSIT DELAYED OR WHERE DO WE HAVE LARGE GAPS BETWEEN CROSSINGS, WHERE PEOPLE CAN ACCESS THE BUS, OTHER ELEMENTS LIKE THAT.
UM, SO TO GET BACK TO YOUR QUESTION, YOU'RE WONDERING WHAT IS THE BASELINE FOR THE DELAY DATA? SO WE WERE USING, UH, AT IT'S A KIND OF POINT IN TIME, LOOK AT HOW THE SURFACE IS OPERATING.
SO WE PULLED CAP METRO TRAVEL TIME DATA, UM, ACROSS THE CITY AND THEN, UH, MARRIED THAT DATA.
SO THE ANALYSIS ISN'T PURELY BASED JUST ON DELAY, THOUGH, YOU CAN LOOK AT THAT.
IT'S ALSO, UM, WEIGHTED WITH OTHER FACTORS LIKE, UM, YOU KNOW, EQUITY FACTORS OR PASSENGER LOAD OR THINGS.
SO WE CAN SEE WHERE ARE THE MOST PEOPLE EXPERIENCING THE MOST DELAY OR WHERE ARE THE, UM, MOST PEOPLE WHO DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO A VEHICLE EXPERIENCING THE MOST DELAY.
BUT IT'S BASED ON HOW CAT AMATEURS ACTUALLY LIKE THEIR ACTUAL TRAVEL TIME.
SO, UM, WE'RE PULLING CAT METRO HA AND, UM, I MIGHT PAUSE JUST TO CALL UP MY COLLEAGUE NADIA FROM CAT METRO HERE, UM, WHO MIGHT BE ABLE TO PROVIDE A LITTLE MORE COLOR COMMENTARY ON THEIR DATA, BUT CAT METRO BUSES, UM, PROVIDE, YOU KNOW, KIND OF LIVE INFORMATION ABOUT, I'M HERE, I'M HERE, I'M HERE.
AS THEY'RE TRAVELING DOWN THE STREET, AND WE, WE AS IN THE, UM, SOFTWARE CAN ANALYZE THAT DATA TO UNDERSTAND HOW, HOW QUICKLY OR SLOWLY ARE THEY TRAVELING MM-HMM.
AND SO WE HAVE THAT CONSOLIDATED DATA FROM A POINT IN TIME TELLING US, YOU KNOW, HOW WAS THE SERVICE ACTUALLY OPERATING? NOT HOW WAS IT SCHEDULED TO OPERATE.
DOES THAT MAKE SENSE? THE DIFFERENCE IS THE DELAY.
I GUESS I'M JUST TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW DO WE CALCULATE, LIKE WHAT IS THE OPTIMAL SPEED A ROUTE CAN BE? AND AND WHAT FACTORS ARE WE ACCEPTING IN THAT? RIGHT.
LIKE, YOU KNOW, ON THE 10 ROUTE, WHICH IS THE ROUTE I I, YOU KNOW,
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I TAKE THE MOST, UM, THERE ARE A LOT OF PLACES WHERE, YOU KNOW, THERE ARE JUST LONG LIGHTS.IS THAT FACTORED IN OR IS THAT CONSIDERED A DELAY? THERE ARE A LOT OF PLACES WHERE YOU WOULD ANTICIPATE TRAFFIC.
THERE ARE ALSO A LOT OF PLACES WHERE THERE ARE A LOT OF STOP SIGNS, SO YOU'D NATURALLY BE GOING LOWER.
SO THE DATA THAT WE GET FROM THE BAT IS REALLY OUR FIRST FLAG TO HELP US UNDERSTAND WHERE IS THEIR DELAY, REGARDLESS OF THE CAUSE OF THE DELAY.
AND SO WE CAN SEE FROM THAT TOOL, WE HAVE A LOT OF PEOPLE ON A LOT OF SERVICE MOVING SLOWLY COMPARED TO OTHER LOCATIONS IN AUSTIN WHERE BUS TRAVELS.
SO WE CAN SAY, THESE ARE THE LOCATIONS, YOU KNOW, COMPARED TO EVERYWHERE ELSE, THE BUS OPERATES WHERE WE HAVE THE SLOWEST SERVICE WITH THE MOST PEOPLE ON BOARD, AND THEN THE DATA DOESN'T TELL US NECESSARILY WHAT'S THE CAUSE OF THAT DELAY.
SO THAT'S WHERE WE HAVE TO GO AND UNDERSTAND THE FIELD CONDITIONS.
IS IT RELATED TO A SIGNAL? IS IT BECAUSE OF, UM, YOU KNOW, PERHAPS HOW WE HAVE ASSIGNED LANES, UM, DIFFERENT TURNING MOVEMENTS OR MAYBE LIKE PERHAPS WE HAVE A QUEUE OF VEHICLES AT A CERTAIN TIME OF DAY THAT ARE TRYING TO MAKE A RIGHT TURN FROM THE SAME LANE THAT BUSES ARE IN.
SO SORT OF UNDERSTANDING THOSE FACTORS, WE CAN THEN DIVE INTO WHAT POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS ARE.
UM, BUT THE DATA ITSELF DOESN'T TELL US WHAT THOSE SOLUTIONS ARE.
IT'S JUST TELLS US THERE'S A PROBLEM THAT WE NEED TO LOOK AT.
SHE DOESN'T NEED ME, BY THE WAY.
I'M A PLANNER WITH CAMP METRO.
AND I WILL SAY FOR US, IT WAS THE FIRST TIME WE WERE ABLE TO SEGMENTIZE THE DATA THAT LOOKED AT THE SEGMENT OF THE ROAD BEFORE WE WERE LOOKING AT ROUTE LEVEL DATA.
AND SO WE WEREN'T ABLE TO REALLY MAKE THEM ALL TO JUST TO LOOK AT THE INFRASTRUCTURE OF THE ROAD AND WHAT NEEDED TO BE IMPROVED.
AND SO HAVING IT, THE, THE BETA TOOL REALLY DOES SHOW YOU THE WIDTH OF THE PEOPLE THAT ARE ON THE BUS.
SO WE CAN LOOK AT PASSENGER VOLUME, WHICH WAS, FOR ME THE MOST, UH, THE RICHEST PART OF THE DATA.
UM, I'LL ALSO SAY THAT WHEN WE LOOK AT TRAVEL TIME ANALYSIS, WHEN WE LOOK AT RELIABILITY, WE'RE LOOKING AT STANDARD DEVIATION.
SO WE LOOK AT A LOT OF TRIPS MM-HMM.
AND THEN WE SAY, OKAY, HOW ARE WE, ARE WE CLOSE TO THE AVERAGE TIME? ARE WE, ARE WE SEEING FLEXES IN IN TIME OF DAY, FOR EXAMPLE, PEAK HOURS WHERE, YOU KNOW, WHERE ARE WE NOT SEEING THE STANDARD, UM, TRAVEL TIME? AND THEN WE KIND OF DISSECT A LITTLE BIT OF WHAT'S HAPPENING AT PEAK HOUR OR OTHER HOURS.
AND, AND I GUESS I'LL JUST KIND OF TALK TO MY CONCERN ABOUT, INSTEAD OF DANCING AROUND, WHICH IS THAT IT'S DEFINITELY A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION, BUT I'M WORRIED WE HAVE A GREAT TOOL TO, TO EVALUATE WHERE THERE ARE MAYBE PROBLEM AREAS, BUT NOT A GREAT TOOL TO OP TO LOOK AT WHERE OPPORTUNITY AREAS MIGHT BE.
AND, AND TO GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE, UH, ALONG THE EXPERT ROUTE, THERE ARE PLENTY OF PLACES WHERE WE'VE CREATED A, A FLOATING BUS STOP, RIGHT.
WHERE WE HAVE THE BIKE LANE GO ROUND.
AND THAT HAS LED TO A SEGMENT OF THE RIGHT OF WAY THAT IS NOW UNUSED.
UM, THERE'S A SEGMENT, UM, RIGHT ON, ON BERKMAN AND BARBARA JORDAN.
AND SO THAT SEGMENT COULD HAVE BEEN TURNED INTO A BUS QUEUE.
UM, AND, YOU KNOW, THAT WAS SOMETHING I POINTED OUT AND THE RESPONSE I, I HAD GOTTEN BACK FROM THE CITY WAS, WELL, THE BUS DELAY ANALYSIS TOOLS AND SHOWING A DELAY THERE, WHICH MIGHT BE TRUE, UH, BUT IT'S NOT MEASURING HOW MUCH QUICKER WE COULD POSSIBLY BE GOING, GIVEN THAT THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY RIGHT THERE DURING CONSTRUCTION.
SO I GUESS IF YOU COULD TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE TO HOW ARE YOU EVALUATING, ESPECIALLY AS, YOU KNOW, WE'RE BUILDING OUT SO MUCH INFRASTRUCTURE OPPORTUNITIES TO WORK WITH OTHER AGENCIES AND OTHER DEPARTMENTS THAT ARE WORKING ON THIS STUFF.
AND THEN OPPORTUNITIES, WELL, HOW DO YOU EVALUATE OPPORTUNITY RATHER THAN JUST NEED? SO WE, UM, OF COURSE HAVE THE PLAN WHICH SORT OF IDENTIFIES THOSE PRIORITY PROJECTS, BUT WE HAVE REALLY THE GREAT BENEFIT WITH, YOU KNOW, WORKING WITHIN TPW AND THEN WORKING CLOSELY WITH CAP METRO AND OUR, AND OUR OTHER PARTNERS THAT WE, UM, ARE CONSTANTLY COLLABORATING ON OTHER GROUPS PROJECTS.
SO A LOT, YOU KNOW, UNFORTUNATELY WE DON'T HAVE UNLIMITED, YOU KNOW, RESOURCES AND SO WE HAVE TO, UM, YOU KNOW, ALLOCATE OUR TIME AND ENERGY APPROPRIATELY.
BUT WE WILL HEAR FROM, AS AN EXAMPLE, THE BIKEWAY PROGRAM WHO WILL SAY, WE ARE LOOKING TO START SCOPING A POTENTIAL BIKEWAY IMPROVEMENT ON THIS ROADWAY WHERE TRANSIT OPERATES.
UM, IS THERE AN INTEREST IN PARTNERSHIP THERE? AND SO, EVEN IF THAT ROAD IS NOT ON ONE OF THE 37 PROJECTS THAT ARE IMPLEMENT, YOU KNOW, RECOMMENDED AS PART OF THIS REPORT, WE WILL LOOK AT RIDERSHIP ON THE CORRIDOR, WE'LL LOOK AT STOP PLACEMENT, WE'LL LOOK AT DELAY.
AND SO THEN WE CAN SAY, HEY, UM, LET'S SCOPE THIS TOGETHER.
WE WANT TO ADDRESS THIS ACCESS ISSUE.
OR WE'RE SEEING THAT THERE'S A A LOT OF DELAY AT THIS INTERSECTION.
WE WANNA LOOK AT POTENTIAL SIGNAL TIMING IMPROVEMENTS OR RELOCATING A BUS STOP TO THE FAR SIDE SO IT DOESN'T STOP BEFORE THE SIGNAL AND THEN GET STUCK THERE.
UM, SO WE DO HAVE THAT AVENUE THROUGH OUR COLLABORATION TO FIND THOSE OPPORTUNITIES TO, UM, IMPROVE THE SERVICE.
AND, YOU KNOW, THE OPPORTUNITIES ARE REALLY GUIDED BY LIKE
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RIDERSHIP, UM, OTHER, LIKE OUR BEST PRACTICE.SO PERHAPS RIDERSHIP IS LOW, BUT WE CAN SEE THAT THERE IS DENSITY IN THE AREA AND MAYBE RIDERSHIP IS LOWER 'CAUSE THERE'S NO SAFE, SAFE WAY TO CROSS THE STREET.
UM, SO WE'RE LOOKING AT SORT OF LIKE, WHAT IS THE GUIDANCE ON HOW WE CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT THAT IS TRANSIT SUPPORTIVE, AND THEN APPLYING THOSE TOOLS TO THE ROADWAYS AS THE OPPORTUNITIES COME UP, WHETHER IT'S THROUGH THE PROJECTS THAT WE LEAD OURSELVES OR PROJECTS THAT OTHER MOBILITY PROGRAMS ARE LEADING, OR CAP METRO PERHAPS IS LEADING, YOU KNOW, HAS AN INTEREST IN, WANTS TO COLLABORATE ON.
UM, I'LL, I HAVE TWO MORE QUESTIONS, BUT I BET MY FELLOW COMMISSIONS WILL PROBABLY HIT ON THEM.
OTHER OTHER QUESTIONS? COMMISSIONER KAPELMAN.
THIS IS SOME OF THE, UM, IN-BETWEEN STUFF THAT I THINK SOMETIMES GETS LOST AND IT'S GOOD TO SEE, YOU KNOW, THE $53 MILLION OF PROJECTS OF WHICH, UM, THERE'S A FAIR CHUNK.
UM, BUT WHEN YOU, IN HOWEVER MANY YEARS WHEN YOU FINISH ALL THESE THINGS, DO YOU HAVE LIKE SORT OF A LIKE ROLLING, LIKE A RHYTHM, UH, BY WHICH YOU WANT TO COLLECT MORE DATA FOR THE NEXT SET OF PROJECTS? OR HOW, HOW DO YOU THINK ABOUT, UM, THAT AND ALSO, UM, AS WE, THIS WAS A 2020 BOND, THERE'S $19 MILLION.
AND SO, UM, HOW DO YOU SEE BONDS AND LIKE, WHAT IS THE FUNDING SORT OF LOOK LIKE THIS, AND WHEN WOULD YOU FACE LIKE A, ANY SORT OF FISCAL DROPS OR FISCAL CLIFFS AND STUFF IN WHICH YOU WOULD NEED ADDITIONAL TOP UP FUNDING? SURE.
SO YOUR PRIMARY QUESTIONS WERE ABOUT, UM, FUNDING AND WHEN WE MIGHT RUN OUT OF FUNDS OR FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES, ALSO ABOUT TIMELINE FOR IMPLEMENTING PROJECTS AND HOW WE PLAN FOR THE FUTURE AFTER WE IMPLEMENT THESE PROJECTS.
SO, UM, SO THE, IN TERMS, SO THE REPORT THAT WE DEVELOPED WAS REALLY DEVELOPED CONSCIOUSLY UNDERSTANDING THE TIMELINE FOR IMPLEMENTING THE 2020 BOND, UH, PROGRAM.
SO THE CONTRACT WITH THE VOTERS CALLS FOR, UM, THE 2020 BOND FUNDED PROJECTS TO BE IMPLEMENTED WITHIN A SIX YEAR TIMEFRAME.
SO THE RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THAT REPORT ARE REALLY ORIENTED AROUND THAT TIMEFRAME.
SO WE HAVE, YOU KNOW, $53 MILLION OF POTENTIAL PROJECTS THAT WE CAN IMPLEMENT OVER THAT LIFE OF THE BOND.
OBVIOUSLY, WE DON'T HAVE $53 MILLION TO DO THAT.
UM, SO WE WITHIN THOSE PROJECTS ARE PRIORITIZING WHAT COMES UP NEXT.
UM, BUT IT ALSO ALLOWS US THE OPPORTUNITY TO GRAB THOSE FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES WHEN THEY ARISE.
SO AS YOU KNOW, FEDERAL GRANTS OR STATE GRANTS, UM, COME ON, COME ONLINE FOR US TO LOOK AT.
UM, IF CAT METRO HAD A PRIORITY AMONG THOSE PROJECTS, THEN THEY FELT LIKE, YOU KNOW, WE UNDERSTAND YOU DON'T HAVE ALL THE MONEY TO IMPLEMENT THIS.
WE ALREADY PARTNER ON THINGS LIKE THAT.
LET'S, YOU KNOW, PUT MORE SKIN IN THE GAME.
ALL THOSE TYPES OF OPPORTUNITIES ARE ONES THAT, UM, WE PURSUE TO ALLOW OUR MONEY TO STRETCH FURTHER.
UM, MY, UM, INCLINATION WOULD BE TO SAY, YOU KNOW, LIKELY IN, IN THE NEXT SIX YEARS OR SO, WE MIGHT LOOK AT UPDATING THAT REPORT.
YOU KNOW, THE SERVICE CHANGES, THE CITY CHANGES, HOW TRAFFIC OPERATES AND WHERE PEOPLE ARE GOING CHANGES.
SO LIKE ANY KIND OF PLANNING TYPE DOCUMENT THAT WE DEVELOP, YOU KNOW, IT LIKELY NEEDS AN UPDATE.
UM, BUT IN THE MEANTIME, WE HAVE QUITE A BIT OF WORK AHEAD OF US, UM, JUST TO, TO FULFILL THE NEEDS THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN IDENTIFIED.
UM, AND I THINK THAT, I THINK THAT ANSWERED QUESTION.
UM, YEAH, COMMISSIONER BROOKS, EVERY TIME I, I ARRIVE THE EIGHT THREE BUS AND I THINK I CAN IDENTIFY EACH OF THE PROJECTS, MICROPHONE, EACH OF THE PROJECTS YOU TWO HAVE DONE ON THE, AT LEAST THE 8 0 3 BUS ROUTE FROM THE COUNTER FLOW LANES, THE, UH, TRANSIT PRIORITY LANES.
UM, I PROBABLY CAN'T THINK OF A COUPLE MORE, BUT THANK YOU.
I DIRECTLY BENEFIT, BUT, UH, PARTICULAR TRANSIT PRIORITY LANES.
I RECALL READING THAT ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WAS DONE FOR THE RIVERSIDE LANE WAS AN ANALYSIS TO SHOW WHETHER THE LANE ACTUALLY SPEEDED BUSES UP.
I'VE NEVER HEAR HEARD OF THE SIMILAR ANALYSIS FOR THE GUADALUPE, UH, LAMAR LANE DOES IT? THE GUADALUPE AND LAVACCA TRAVEL? YEAH, GUADALUPE AND LAVA.
UM, WE IMPLEMENTED THAT PROJECT IN 2014.
YEAH, WE DID DO AN ANALYSIS TO UNDERSTAND,
[01:25:01]
SO WHEN IT WAS FIRST IMPLEMENTED, IT WAS JUST SORT OF STANDARD ROADWAY STRIPING, UM, YOU KNOW, SOLID LINE BUSTLY LEGENDS.UM, I, THIS PROGRAM DIDN'T EXIST AT THE TIME THAT THOSE LANES WENT IN.
UM, SO I DIDN'T PERSONALLY WORK ON THAT ANALYSIS.
I'M NOT, YOU'RE FEEL FREE TO ADD ON.
BUT, UM, WHAT WE HAVE LOOKED AT IS SORT OF TRAIN CHANGE AND TRAVEL TIME OVER TIME TO MAKE SURE, YOU KNOW, ARE THERE, LIKE THAT CORRIDOR IS A LIVING CORRIDOR, NEW DEVELOPMENT COMES IN AGAIN, HOW PEOPLE OPERATE THEIR CHANGES.
AND SO ARE THERE THINGS THAT WE COULD DO THERE TO IMPROVE THE SERVICE BEYOND THE, JUST THE TRANSIT PARTY LANES? AND, UM, THE TRANSIT ENHANCEMENT INFRASTRUCTURE REPORT ACTUALLY RECOMMENDS SOME IMPROVEMENTS TO THOSE CORRIDORS FOR BUSES.
OF COURSE, YOU KNOW, PROJECT CONNECT HAS ITS ITS OWN PLANS, AND SO ALL OF THAT HAS TO BE COORDINATED.
UM, BUT I GUESS A LONG ANSWER IS THAT I DON'T KNOW HOW WE ANALYZED RIGHT AFTER IMPLEMENTATION IN 2014.
I DO KNOW THAT WE CONTINUE TO MONITOR IT TO SEE IF SERVICE IS DEGRADING OR, UM, IDENTIFY OPPORTUNITIES TO IMPROVE OPERATIONS FURTHER.
AND THEN WE DID FIND WHEN WE IMPLEMENTED THE RED MARKINGS IN THE LANES THAT SERVICE, UM, IN THE SECTIONS THAT WE IDENTIFIED, UM, NOT ONLY IMPROVED OPERATIONALLY, LIKE IN TERMS OF THE SPEED OF THE SERVICE, BUT WE ALSO REDUCED CRASHES ON THE CORRIDOR, WHICH WAS AN INTERESTING FINDING AS WELL.
DO WE, WE KNOW MORE ABOUT RIVERSIDE, RIGHT? WE DO, YES.
SO WE DID, UM, SOME ANALYSIS OF RIVERSIDE.
I DON'T KNOW IF OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD, UM, THE FOCUS OF THAT CORRIDOR REALLY WAS, UH, BUSES WERE EXPERIENCING MOST DELAY IN THE PEAK PERIODS IN THE PEAK DIRECTION.
SO IN THE AM THAT WAS DELAY HEADING WESTBOUND TOWARDS DOWNTOWN AND THE PM THAT WAS DELAY HEADING EASTBOUND AWAY FROM DOWNTOWN, UM, OUTSIDE OF THOSE PERIODS, NOT MUCH TRANSIT DELAY BEFORE THE LANES WENT IN.
UM, AND WHAT WE, I BELIEVE WHAT WE FOUND IS THAT WE DID IMPROVE TRANSIT SERVICE AND SPEEDS IN, IN THOSE DIRECTIONS.
UM, WE ALSO, INTERESTINGLY, DID A CAT, METRO DID A CUSTOMER SURVEY.
I DON'T KNOW IF YOU WANNA TALK ABOUT THAT, WHAT CUSTOMERS FOUND? YEAH, I MEAN, I THINK THE INTERESTING THING IS THAT PEOPLE SIMILAR TO THE CONTRAFLOW LANE, WE DID A SIMILAR SURVEY AFTER CONTRAFLOW.
AND WHILE THE IMPROVEMENT TO SERVICE IS MARGINAL, PEOPLE EXPERIENCE A MUCH MORE, UH, A GREATER SAVINGS IN TIME.
PEOPLE WERE SAYING FIVE, 10 MINUTES OF SAVINGS WHEN MAYBE IT WAS 30 SECONDS OR 20, YOU KNOW, IT WAS LIKE IN THE SECONDS VERSUS MINUTES.
BUT I THINK, UH, 85% OF PEOPLE WE TALKED TO ON ALONG RIVERSIDE SAID THEY WERE ENJOYED THE LANES, THEY APPROVED TO THE LANES, THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE GREAT THERE, THERE WAS A HIGH APPROVAL RATING OF PEOPLE ON THE BUS THAT WE TALKED TO AFTER THE LANES WENT IN ON RIVERSIDE.
BUT THE, THE TRAVEL TIME SAVINGS, ONE OF THE BIG THINGS THAT THE CITY DID WAS THEY CHANGED THE SIGNALS, RIGHT? SO AT FIRST WHEN WE PUT THE TRA THE BUS LANES DOWN ON RIVERSIDE THERE, UH, THE CROSS STREETS HAD MAYBE TOO MUCH TIME ON THE SIGNAL.
SO THERE WAS AN ISSUE, AND RIGHT AWAY THE CITY WENT BACK REPROGRAMMED THE SIGNALS, AND WE SAW A MUCH, UH, MUCH BETTER IMPROVEMENT FOR THE, FOR EVERYONE, INCLUDING GENERAL PURPOSE VEHICLES.
SO YEAH, WHEN WE'VE DONE OUR BEFORE AND AFTER ANALYSIS OF PROJECTS, WE OF COURSE DO THE, YOU KNOW, HARD DATA ANALYSIS AND LIKE WE'VE SAID WITH RIVERSIDE AND OTHERS, WE HAVE FOUND AN IMPROVEMENT, BUT WE'VE ALSO BEEN INTERESTED TO UNDERSTAND DO PEOPLE EXPERIENCE THAT? DO THEY FEEL LIKE WE'RE ACTUALLY HELPING THEM? AND WHAT'S BEEN INTERESTING IS THAT PEOPLE CITE TRAVEL TIMES THAT ARE FASTER THAN IT EVEN REALLY TAKES FOR ANYBODY TO OPERATE ON THE CORRIDOR.
UM, BUT THEY'RE, YOU KNOW, FINDING THE EXPERIENCE SO MUCH BETTER.
YEAH, AND I WOULD ALSO JUST ADD, IT DEPENDS ON THE TRIP YOU'RE TAKING, RIGHT? SO JUST ANECDOTALLY AND MY EXPERIENCE AS A BUS RIDER, THE EXPERIENCE, ESPECIALLY WHEN THE RED MARKINGS WENT IN DOWNTOWN ON, ON GUADALUPE LA VACA, LIKE REALLY, AND ESPECIALLY THEN ALSO WHEN THE CONTRAFLOW LANE HAPPENED RIGHT SOUTH OF JUST SOUTH OF CAMPUS, THAT WAS A HUGE IMPACT.
BUT THE PROBLEM IS THEN YOU GET, DEPENDING ON THE TRIP YOU'RE TAKING, IF YOU'RE GETTING OFF AT CAMPUS, THAT'S GREAT, BUT IF YOU'RE, YOU KNOW, GOING THROUGH CAMPUS TRYING TO GET NORTH OF CAMPUS, LIKE YOU'VE STILL GOT LIKE IT, SO IT JUST DEPENDS ON THE EXACT WHAT'S GOING ON THROUGHOUT THE, THE, THE, THE SEGMENT THAT YOU'RE RIDING.
AND THEN ALSO OF COURSE, IF YOU NEEDED TO MAKE A TRANSFER.
SO I THINK, BUT I DO THINK THAT THERE'S A VERY TEMPTING HUMAN THING WHEN YOU'RE IN A A BUS AND I NOTICED PARTICULARLY LIKE THERE'S BEEN THIS CONSTRUCTION AND SOME STREET CLOSURES ON GUADALUPE, AND YOU'RE IN THE BUS AND YOU'RE MOVING AND YOU SEE THE PEOPLE BESIDE YOU AND YOU'RE LIKE, HA YEAH.
YOU KNOW, LIKE THERE'S, THAT'S VERY MENTALLY SATISFYING.
I CAN ONLY IMAGINE HOW LIKE WHEN YOU'RE IN THAT, HAVING THAT EXPERIENCE, THEN YOU ANSWER A SURVEY, YOU'RE LIKE, YEAH, I'M GOING FAST.
AND, YOU KNOW, LIKE, I CAN IMAGINE THAT THAT, UM, REALLY, UH, IMPACTS YOUR SURVEY RESPONSE THERE.
YOU'RE, YOU'RE SATISFACTION LEVELS AS YOU FLY BY WATCHING ALL THE OTHER PEOPLE SITTING
[01:30:01]
IN THEIR CARS.SO YEAH, THAT'S ALL GOOD, BUT I'D STILL LIKE TO SEE IF, IF IT'S AVAILABLE, OUR DATA, UH, ONE, ONE OF THE ARGUMENTS IN FAVOR OF BUS FLOW LANES, BUS LANES IS THAT THEY CARRY MORE PEOPLE PER HOUR THAN CAR LANES.
IT'S NICE TO BE ABLE TO SHOW THAT.
YEAH, I THINK THE, I THINK THE OTHER CHALLENGE IS IN 20 NOT TO DO YOUR JOB FOR YOU, BUT IN, IN 2014, THAT ALSO CAME WITH SERVICE CHANGES, RIGHT.
SO I THINK, YOU KNOW, I THINK YOU COULD PROBABLY TRY TO STUDY THAT A BIT, BUT I THINK IT'S GONNA BE A LITTLE, IT'S GONNA BE A LITTLE COMPLEX BECAUSE IT'S NOT EXACTLY THE SAME SERVICES THAT EXISTED PRIOR TO 2014 WHEN THE RAPIDS CAME IN.
IT'S AN APPLES TO ORANGES COMPARISON.
SINCE TRANSIT WAS ON CONGRESS AVENUE, MOVED OVER TO GUADALUPE LA BACA AT THE SAME TIME THE THE LANES WERE IMPLEMENTED.
SO THE BEFORE, AFTER IS A LITTLE CHALLENGING, BUT WE DO HAVE THE DATA AND, YOU KNOW, WE'D BE HAPPY TO FOLLOW UP.
UM, YEAH, SO TO FOLLOW UP ON COMMISSIONER KAMAN, SO SHOULD I UNDERSTAND THE, UM, ENHANCEMENT INFRASTRUCTURE REPORT THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT'S PUT TOGETHER WITH THE 2020 BOND IN MIND, NOT NECESSARILY A FUTURE 2026 BOND.
SO WILL THERE BE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO, YOU KNOW, THINK BIGGER AS, YOU KNOW, THE 2026 BOND, UH, UH, COMES AROUND, YOU KNOW, WE'RE PLANNING TRANSIT FORWARD 2035.
I THINK I I GOT THE NAME RIGHT.
I THINK, WELL, I THINK IT'S JUST TRANSIT PLAN 2035 TRANSIT PLAN 2035.
OH, YEAH, THAT WOULD MAKE MORE SENSE ANYWAYS, RIGHT? SO WE'VE GOT THESE BIG, YOU KNOW, UH, INITIATIVES COMING ABOUT, AND THE ENHANCEMENT REPORT, YOU KNOW, TALKS A LOT ABOUT GREAT CHANGES THAT'LL MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO THE EVERYDAY, UH, BUS RIDER.
BUT IT ALSO DOESN'T LIKE, YOU KNOW, EVEN THOUGH IT'S IN THE TOOLBOX, THERE ARE NO PLACES WHERE WE'RE RECOMMENDING MEDIAN BUS LANES, RIGHT, FOR EXAMPLE.
SO IS, IS THERE GOING TO BE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO, TO THINK BIGGER ABOUT, YOU KNOW, IF WE'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT A $59 MILLION BUDGET, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT A HUNDRED, $200 MILLION BUDGET, WHAT COULD WE DO? I THINK WE, YOU KNOW, ALWAYS HAVE THAT OPPORTUNITY.
WE, OF COURSE, AS CAT METRO IS, UM, UPDATING THEIR SERVICE PLAN, WE'LL LOOK TO UNDERSTAND HOW WE CAN SUPPORT THAT SERVICE AS IT CHANGES TO MAKE IT, UM, OPERATE MORE EFFICIENTLY AND EFFECTIVELY IN TERMS OF BIGGER PICTURE POLICY AROUND THOSE TYPES OF CHANGES.
I DON'T KNOW IF, IF YOU HAVE ANY THOUGHTS, JIM, ON HOW WE MIGHT INVEST
WE'RE, WE'RE LOOKING AT THAT RIGHT NOW.
WHAT'S THE PORTFOLIO OF OUR NEED? MM-HMM.
AND SO WE'RE WORKING, LIKE CAITLYN SAID, WE'RE GONNA WORK WITH OUR PARTNERS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE ALIGNED, UM, ON WHAT THE NEEDS ARE AND WHAT WE CAN, UM, PROVIDE TO KEEP THAT PROGRAM GOING.
UM, I'M NOT SURE HOW THAT WILL FALL OUT IN THE END.
THERE'S A LOT OF PROCESS, LOT OF P THERE'LL BE STAFF INPUT OF COURSE, BUT THEN THERE'LL BE PUBLIC INPUT ON THAT TOO.
AND, UM, BOND ADVISORY COMMITTEE, UM, FOLKS ALSO BE WEIGHING IN ON THAT.
UH, THE LAST QUESTION I, I HAVE IS ABOUT, UM, I WONDER IF WE'VE THOUGHT ABOUT ANY WAY, AND THIS IS A UNIQUE PROBLEM THAT WE'RE, WE'RE COMING UP ON, JUST BECAUSE OUR TRANSIT SERVICES IS GETTING SO GOOD, UH, WITH PROJECT ENACT, UH, BUT THERE ARE A LOT OF PLACES WHERE THE FREQUENCY OF BUSES WILL BECOME A TRAFFIC ISSUE IN AND OF ITSELF.
I'M THINKING, UH, ON BERKMAN, UH, WHEN EVERYTHING GETS UP AND RUNNING AND WE HAVE METRO RAPID AT ITS NORMAL FREQUENCIES, YOU KNOW, THERE'S GONNA BE A BUS STOPPING EVERY 90 SECONDS, RIGHT? UH, WHICH MOST OF BERKMAN AND MUELLER IS ONE LANE, AND THEN PARKING, UM, THAT WOULD SEEM LIKE A, A PRETTY GOOD INDICATION THAT MAYBE WE NEED TO CONSIDER REMOVING PARKING AND, AND PUTTING IN A BUS LANE.
DON'T TELL MY NEIGHBORS I SAID THAT, RIGHT? BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, THOSE ARE, ARE ARE CONVERSATIONS WE HAVEN'T HAD TO HAVE BEFORE BECAUSE WE HAVEN'T HAD THE FREQUENCY OF BUS SERVICE ALONG ONE QUARTER TO NEED THAT.
UM, IS THAT SOMETHING YOU GUYS HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT AND HOW WE MIGHT GO AROUND ANALYZING THAT? I THINK THAT FALLS IN AGAIN TO LIKE THIS FUTURE WORK THAT WE HAVE, YOU KNOW, POTENTIALLY AROUND THE 2026 BOND OR OTHER OPPORTUNITIES TO UPDATE SORT OF OUR PROGRAMMING AND HOW WE PRIORITIZE WHERE WE'RE INVESTING, UM, OUR TIME AND RESOURCES.
UM, YOU KNOW, THE TRANSPORTATION CRITERIA MANUAL IS PRETTY CLEAR ABOUT HOW WE, UM, CAN EVALUATE THE OPPORTUNITY TO PROVIDE, UM, TRANSIT PARTY LANES.
AND IT'S ACTUALLY QUITE, UM, I WOULD SAY LIKE, UH, FORWARD THINKING.
SO REALLY LOOKS AT NOT JUST, UM, WHAT ARE WE DOING TODAY IN TERMS OF HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE ON, ON THIS SERVICE, FOR EXAMPLE, FOR, UM, WHO COULD WE CARRY GIVEN THE VOLUME OF SERVICE THAT WE'RE OPERATING, IF WE WERE ABLE TO NOT ONLY CAT METRO, IF CAT METRO IS NOT ONLY ABLE TO OPERATE THAT SERVICE, BUT IF IT WERE EXTRA RELIABLE, PEOPLE ARE MORE ATTRACTED TO IT, UM, KIND OF USING THOSE MEASURES
[01:35:01]
AS WAYS TO, UM, IDENTIFY WHERE WE HAVE THAT TYPE OF NEED OR THE OPPORTUNITY TO PROVIDE LANES.UM, YEAH, SO I GUESS, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE THE POLICIES IN PLACE, WE HAVE THE KIND OF TOOLS IN OUR TOOLBOX.
UM, I THINK WE ARE KIND OF STEPPING FORWARD AND, AND MAKING THESE THINGS HAPPEN.
AND AS THOSE OPPORTUNITIES ARISE, UM, AND AS THE NEED BECOMES APPARENT, WE WILL, YOU KNOW, PURSUE THAT.
I GUESS ONE OTHER THING I WOULD SAY, AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I REALLY, UM, BENEFITED FROM AND APPRECIATED WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TRANS ENHANCEMENT TOOLBOX SPECIFICALLY, IS IT REALLY, UM, CLARIFIES THAT THERE'S A LOT OF DIFFERENT TOOLS AVAILABLE.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, UM, I THINK THE EXPRESSION IS LIKE WHEN YOU'RE O ONLY TOOL IS A HAMMER, EVERYTHING LOOKS LIKE A NAIL.
UM, BUT WE HAVE A LOT OF WAYS TO HELP THE SERVICE BE MORE RELIABLE.
AND IT COULD BE BUS, UM, PARTY LANES IN PLACES.
IT COULD JUST BE A QUEUE JUMP LANE AND A, A SIGNAL THAT HELPS BYPASS A QUEUE, IT'S BUS STOP UPGRADES, YOU KNOW, PREVENTING BUSES FROM HAVING TO MERGE IN AND OUT OF TRAFFIC, ALL HOST OF IMPROVEMENTS THAT HELP THE SERVICE.
UM, I THINK IT'S ABOUT, UM, IN INFRASTRUCTURE, LIKE SHELTERS, I BELIEVE YOU SAID THAT YOU CAN INSTALL BUS SHELTERS.
IS THAT ACCURATE OR IS THAT NOT ACCURATE? DID I, I MISUNDERSTAND THAT.
SO, UM, THE TRANS ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM, UM, BUILDS THE INFRASTRUCTURE THAT A SHELTER WOULD BE ADDED TO.
UM, BUT WE DON'T INSTALL SHELTERS OURSELVES, THEN CAT METRO COMES IN AND PUTS IN THE SHELTER.
WHAT ABOUT SOMETHING LIKE SHADE, LIKE TREES AT A, A STATION? SO THIS IS SOMETHING THAT'S REALLY BEEN A, A REALLY COMMON THEME LATELY, UH, UH, IN PROJECT CONNECT AND LIKE THROUGHOUT THE COMMUNITY IS THE NEED FOR SHADE AT BUS STOPS.
LIKE, EVEN IF IT'S NOT A SHELTER, LIKE IF THERE HAD SOMETHING I COULD DUCK UNDER FOR SOME SHADE, YOU KNOW, LIKE, WE HEAR THIS A LOT.
SO I WONDERED, AND THERE'S A LOT OF OTHER TALK ABOUT STREET TREES AND GREEN STREETS AND THINGS GOING ON IN THE CITY AS WELL.
IS THAT SOMETHING THAT CAN BE PART OF THIS? IT'S CERTAINLY SOMETHING THAT I THINK WE'RE INTERESTED IN, IN UNDERSTANDING MORE ABOUT THOSE OPPORTUNITIES.
UM, YOU KNOW, CAT METRO HAS ITS EXISTING PROGRAMS TO ADD BUS STOPS, LIKE YOU SAID, FOR SHADE.
THERE'S A NUMBER OF, UM, I THINK INITIATIVES OR, UM, LOOKS THAT WE'RE DOING AT HOW COULD WE BUILD UP GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE, PROVIDE MORE SHADE ON OUR CORRIDORS.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, AS THOSE CONVERSATIONS EVOLVE AND BECOME MORE CONCRETE, WE WOULD OF COURSE WANNA WORK, UM, TOGETHER TO PROVIDE THAT TYPE OF AMENITY AT STOPS, LIKE YOU'RE SAYING.
I MEAN, IT'S VERY DIFFICULT TO NAVIGATE WHEN IT'S 105 DEGREES AND THERE'S NO SHADE.
UM, SO WE KNOW THAT IT'S A HUGE ASSET AND SOMETHING THAT WE WANNA BE ABLE TO PROVIDE TO OUR RIDERS.
AND IF YOU'RE GOING IN AND, YOU KNOW, DIGGING UP, THAT'S THE MOMENT TO LIKE, THINK ABOUT WHERE, WHERE SHOULD A TREE GO, YOU KNOW, I THINK AS WELL.
SO, UM, ESPECIALLY IN PLACES THAT MAYBE AREN'T GETTING A SHELTER, A SHELTERED BUS STOP YET.
OBVIOUSLY I'D LOVE ALL OF OUR BUS STOPS TO HAVE A SHELTERED BUS STOP, BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK IT'S SOMETHING FOR SURE TO THINK ABOUT AS WELL.
UM, AND, UM, YEAH, I THINK THAT'S ALL MY QUESTIONS.
DOES ANY, ANY OTHER COMMISSIONERS? CAN I, DO YOU MIND IF I RESPOND A LITTLE BIT THAT SURE.
UM, SO I WILL SAY THAT WE HAVE WORKED REALLY HARD RECENTLY.
WE HAVE A BUS STOP PROGRAM THAT WE'VE RECENTLY DEVELOPED, AND IT'S FOR THE FIRST TIME, I THINK OUR DATA IS REALLY GOOD ABOUT WHERE WE DO AND DON'T HAVE SHELTERS.
UM, AND WE'RE DOING IT, WE HAVE NEW SERVICE STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES.
IT LOOKS AT ALL KINDS OF DIFFERENT ELEMENTS LIKE EQUITY, LIKE, UM, YOU KNOW, THE PERCENT OF PEOPLE THAT OWN A CAR, ET CETERA.
SO WE'RE DOING BETTER AT PRIORITIZING WHERE WE PLACE SHELTERS.
IN THE PAST, IT WAS BASED SOLELY ON RIDERSHIP, BUT NOW WE'RE LOOKING MORE AT HOW LONG ARE PEOPLE WAITING FOR A BUS TO COME? IF IT'S TH IF IT'S A 30 MINUTE WAIT, YOU'RE MUCH MORE LIKELY TO, I WANNA HEAR A WHOLE PRESENTATION ABOUT THIS.
SO, UM, BUT I WILL SAY WE'RE, WE'RE DOING A LOT BETTER.
UM, WE ARE PARTNERING WITH PEOPLE LIKE, UM, THE OFFICE OF RESIL.
IS IT RESILIENCE? RESILIENCE OFFICE? THEY HAVE THE, A HEAT YEAH.
OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY, BUT THEY HAVE A HEAT PLAYBOOK.
AND SO WE'RE, WE'RE WANTING TO PARTNER WITH THEM AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE TO PUT IN SHELTERS.
AND THEN WE'RE DOING THINGS NOW WHERE, UM, WE'RE ASKING DEVELOPERS TO BUY SHELTERS FOR US, SO THEY'RE, THEY BUY THE SHELTER AND WE'LL INSTALL IT.
BUT, SO TRYING TO BUILD MORE ON THOSE, UM, PARTNERSHIPS SO THAT WE CAN GET MORE SHELTERS DOWN.
REMEMBER A ROUGH NUMBER OF, THERE'S SOMETHING LIKE 2000 SHELTERS.
I, WE HAVE, WE HAVE 2,500 BUS STOPS, BUT I DON'T KNOW HOW I, OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD, I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY SHELTERS ARE OUT THERE, BUT I KNOW WE WE'RE, WE'RE, YOU KNOW, I THINK WE'RE ON TRACK THIS YEAR TO PUT IN ABOUT 30.
SO, UM, AND THEY'RE, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE PRETTY EXPENSIVE BECAUSE THEY'RE DURABLE AND, YOU KNOW, MADE FOR THE ELEMENTS, ET CETERA.
BUT, UM, SO WE'RE CONTINUING TO TRY AND PUT THOSE OUT AS MUCH AS WE CAN.
ANY OTHER COMMISSIONERS WITH QUESTIONS FOR OUR PRESENTERS? UM, JUST SORT OF ON, ON WHAT YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT, I THINK IN PART
[01:40:01]
OF, UH, SOME OF THOSE NEW PLANS I HAVE COME OUT ON A CITY SIDE OR PAIRED WITH THE CAP METRO SIDE AND PARTNERSHIPS ON LIKE THE TOD STUFF AND SOUTH CENTRAL WATERFRONT, I THINK THERE ARE CERTAIN LIKE, UM, DENSITY BONUS GATEWAY OR, UM, DIFFERENT, UH, NOT GATEKEEPER, BUT THE ONES PAST THAT, LIKE THE MENU OF OPTIONS ARE IS DID BUS STOP AND BUS SHELTERS, IS THAT SORT OF HOW YOU'VE GONE ABOUT? LIKE HAS THAT BEEN HELPFUL TO FUNDING, UH, CERTAIN BUS ENHANCEMENTS AND STUFF LIKE THAT? I DON'T A HUNDRED PERCENT KNOW THE ANSWER, BUT I KNOW THAT THEY ARE WORKING ON SOMETHING CALLED TRANSIT CONCESSIONS.SO IT'S, IT'LL BE PART OF THE NEW ETOD POLICY.
I THINK THEY'RE GOING A SECOND ROUND CONCESSIONS.
SO IMPLE FINDING A WAY TO IMPLEMENT THAT.
AND WE'VE ALSO BEEN WORKING WITH, UM, FOOT CURTIS BEATY OVER AT, AT THE CITY, LOOKING AT HOW WE CAN, UM, CONTINUE, LIKE I SAID, CONTINUE TO WORK WITH DEVELOPERS AND, AND FIGURE OUT HOW WE CAN INCLUDE TRANSIT IMPROVEMENTS AS PART OF DEVELOPMENT.
COMMISSIONERS, DO WE HAVE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? I'M LOOKING AT MY ONLINE PEOPLE.
I THINK THAT PROBABLY DOES IT FOR US.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR PRESENTATION.
WE REALLY APPRECIATE IT TODAY.
[4. Update from Commissioner Schumacher from the Downtown Commission regarding actions taken at the August 21, 2024 meeting]
COMMITTEE UPDATES.UM, SO FIRST, UH, NUMBER FOUR, UPDATE FROM COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER FROM THE DOWNTOWN COMMISSION'S ACTIONS AT THE AUGUST 21ST, 2024 MEETING.
[5. Update from Commissioner Wheeler from the Joint Sustainability Commission regarding actions taken at the August 28, 2024 meeting ]
UPDATE FROM COMMISSIONER, COMMISSIONER WHEELER FROM THE JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION REGARDING ACTIONS TAKEN AT THE AUGUST 28TH, 2024 MEETING.SO WE TALKED ABOUT, UM, UH, SUSTAINABLE PURCHASING, UH, FOR THE CITY THAT'S KIND OF IN PROGRESS.
IT'S SOMETHING THE CITY IS WORKING ON, IS HOW TO GET SUSTAINABLE PURCHASING GUIDELINES AND PLANS IN PLACE.
UM, AND THEN THERE WAS AN UPDATE ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL INVESTMENT PLAN RELATED TO THE 2024 BUDGET.
AND THERE WAS A, UM, A 50, SO $50 MILLION WAS, UH, DESIGNATED FOR LAND ACQUISITION.
WE KIND OF ALL DECIDED WAS ONE OF THE NUMBER ONE MOST EXPENSIVE AND MOST IMPORTANT WAYS TO, UM, PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT, REDUCE CARBON, THINGS LIKE THAT FOR THE ENVIRONMENTAL INVESTMENT PLAN.
SO THE GOOD NEWS IS 50 MILLION HAS BEEN PUT INTO THE 2024 BUDGET AND THE CITY MANAGER, UM, IS DEVELOPING A BOND PACKAGE, UM, TO BE DELIVERED TO CITY COUNCIL, TO EVERYONE, I GUESS BY NOVEMBER, 2026.
[6. Update from Commissioner Schumacher from the Bicycle Advisory Council regarding actions taken at the August 20, 2024 meeting ]
SIX, UPDATE FROM COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER FROM THE BICYCLE ADVISORY COUNCIL REGARDING ACTIONS TAKEN AT THE AUGUST 20TH, 2024 MEETING.UH, WE PASSED ONE RECOMMENDATION, UH, WRITTEN BY, UH, COMMISSIONER BUFFET RIGHT THERE.
UM, THERE IS AN ORGANIZATION CALLED THE GREAT SPRINGS PROJECT THAT, UH, UH, IS WORKING TO TRY TO CONNECT THE FOUR GREAT SPRINGS, WHICH ARE BARTON SPRINGS, ONE IN SAN ANTONIO, ONE IN NEW BRAUNFELS, AND ONE SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN THOSE CITIES.
DON'T REMEMBER, UM, SAN MARKS, SAN MARCOS.
UM, SO, UH, UM, THEY'RE WORKING, UH, THEY WOULD LIKE TO WORK WITH THE CITY.
THEY'VE WORKED WITH SAN MARCOS, SAN ANTONIO, AND A LOT OF OTHER CITIES, UH, ON TRAIL INFRASTRUCTURE, YOU KNOW, IN A SIMILAR WAY THAT A LOT OF OR OTHER ORGANIZATIONS WORK ON URBAN TRAILS PROJECTS.
UM, THEY ASK THE BAC FOR A RECOMMENDATION, UH, BASICALLY SAYING THAT, UH, WE RECOMMEND TPW AND THE CITY OF AUSTIN WORK WITH THEM.
UH, AND I THINK IT IS POSSIBLE THEY MAY ALSO ASK THIS BODY THAT IN SOMETIME SOON.
[7. Update from Commissioner Kavelman from the Pedestrian Advisory Council regarding actions taken at the August 5, 2024 meeting ]
COLLMAN ON THE PEDESTRIAN ADVISORY COUNCIL REGARDING ACTIONS TAKEN AT THE AUGUST 5TH, 2024 MEETING.UM, JUST A LOT OF NOT, UH, A LOT OF TALK ON HOW TO GET PEOPLE TO APPLY FOR, UH, MEMBERSHIP IN SEPTEMBER, BUT NO ACTIONS.
[8. Update from Chair Somers from the City Council Mobility Committee regarding actions taken at the August 22, 2024 meeting ]
NEXT ONE IS UPDATE FROM ME, UM, UH, CHAIR SUMMERS CITY COUNCIL MOBILITY COMMITTEE REGARDING ACTIONS FROM THE AUGUST 22ND, 20 AUGUST 22ND, 2024 MEETING.I DUNNO WHY THAT'S SUCH A TONGUE TWISTER FOR ME.
UM, SO I DID GO AND PRESENT, UM, I HAD A COUPLE ITEMS TO PRESENT BECAUSE IT HAD BEEN A, THEY CANCELED A MEETING IN THERE.
UM, AND UH, SO I HAD A COUPLE MONTHS GATHERED UP BASICALLY THE WHOLE SUMMER.
SO I WAS ABLE TO, UH, PRESENT, UM, ABOUT OUR RECENT ACTIONS TO THEM.
UM, AND I GOT SOME, UH, REALLY GREAT QUESTIONS, ESPECIALLY AROUND THE URBAN TRAILS PIECE, WHICH I THINK EVERYBODY HERE WILL APPRECIATE SINCE THAT'S BEEN SUCH A PRIORITY FOR US THIS YEAR.
UM, I ACTUALLY, UM, WAS NOT ABLE TO STAY FOR THE REST OF THE MEETING BECAUSE IT WAS, UH, RIGHT AROUND THE START OF CLASSES AT UTC.
[01:45:01]
UM, BUT, UM, THEY DID HEAR, UM, UH, THE STREET IMPACT FEE UPDATE THAT WE HAD SEEN, I THINK PRIOR TO THEM.WE SAW THAT, UH, LAST MONTH AND THEN THEY HEARD ABOUT THE ELECTRIFICATION OF THE FLEET, UM, MOBILITY REPORT, AND THAT WAS BASICALLY IT.
SO, UM, THOSE WERE THEIR ITEMS. UM, AND THEN MOVING ON TO ITEM
[9. Update from Chair Somers from the Community Advisory Committee for Austin Transit Partnership Board regarding actions taken at the August 8, 2024 meeting ]
NINE, UPDATE REGARDING THE COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR THE AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP BOARD REGARDING ACTIONS TAKEN IN OUR AUGUST 8TH, 2024 MEETING.UM, IT WAS MAINLY, UH, ABOUT BUDGET.
SO THIS WAS ABOUT THE, UH, AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP UPDATE, UM, THE AUSTIN HOUSING FINANCE AND CORPORATION REAL ESTATE BUDGET UPDATE AND THE CAP METRO BUDGET UPDATE.
AND SO WE DID MAKE, UH, SEVERAL BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE, UH, JOINT PARTNERSHIP ORGANIZATIONS INCLUDING, UM, UH, MULTIPLE THINGS, BUT INCLUDING LIKE, UH, EXTENDING THEIR, UM, UH, TRANSIT COMMUNITY INTERVENTION SPECIALIST PROGRAMS AND SOME THINGS LIKE THAT.
SO, UM, I ACTUALLY WENT TO SEE IF OUR REC IS ONLINE AND IT LOOKED LIKE IT'S NOT POSTED.
SO THAT'S, UM, YEAH, SO I CAN'T LIKE READ IT BACK TO YOU, BUT WE BASICALLY MADE SOME BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS AND THAT WAS THE, THE MAIN THING THAT WE DID.
UM, AND THAT TAKES US THROUGH OUR COMMITTEE UPDATES.
[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS ]
ITEMS, WE HAVE THIS AMAZING, UM, CHART THAT, UH, KIND OF GUIDES US THROUGH WHAT WE HAVE, UH, LIFT, UH, HERE.UM, I KNOW THAT ONE THING TO, TO SPEAK THAT, ONE THING THAT I THINK IS ON TAP FOR OCTOBER IS THE GREAT SPRINGS PROJECT.
UH, LIKE COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER MENTIONED, THEY PRESENTED AT, UM, AND HAD A RECOMMENDATION AT BICYCLE ADVISORY.
I THINK THEY'RE ALSO GONNA, UM, I BELIEVE THEIR, THEIR STAFF MEMBER IS READY TO COME SPEAK TO US NEXT MONTH, UM, AND POTENTIALLY HAVE A DRAFT RECOMMENDATION FROM UTC.
SO, UM, I THINK WE COULD HAVE THAT IN OCTOBER.
UM, I KNOW HERE IT ALSO SHOWS THE CAT METRO RAPID LINEUP UPDATE FOR NOVEMBER AND THE AUSTIN CORE TRANSPORTATION BRIEFING FOR NOVEMBER.
I KNOW THAT YOU'RE ALWAYS CONTINUOUSLY WORKING ON SOME OF THESE THINGS.
WE ALSO HAVE, I ACTUALLY WONDERED IF CITY LEAP MIGHT BE OPPORTUNE FOR, UM, OCTOBER ALSO POSSIBLY, UM, UH, DEPENDING IF WE CAN GET A REP OUT TO SPEAK TO US ABOUT THAT PERHAPS.
BUT, UM, WE CAN LOOK THROUGH THIS.
UH, SO OTHER THINGS THAT WE HAVE CYCLISTS HIT AND RUN INVESTIGATIONS, PARKING ENTERPRISE UPDATE OVERVIEW, INCLUDING AN UPDATE SPECIFICALLY ON SOUTH CONGRESS, TRANSPORTATION CRITERIA MANUAL, UM, CAMPOS, ZILKER TRANSPORTATION.
WE ALSO HAVE OUR QUARTERLY PROJECT CONNECTING CAPITAL DELIVERY SERVICES.
I'M JUST SORT OF REMINDING US ABOUT OURSELVES.
'CAUSE I THINK WE'VE, WE'VE GOTTA BE DUE, AT LEAST FOR, FOR BOTH OF THOSE I WOULD THINK.
UM, SO THAT WAS SOMETHING I HAD A QUESTION ON.
WOULD YOU LIKE, I WOULD SUGGEST DOING THOSE ON DIFFERENT MONTHS.
LIKE NOT HAVE, HAVE THE STAFF OUT FOR BOTH OF THOSE AT THE SAME TIME.
SO I THINK IF WE JUST GET THEM OUT FOR A MONTH AND THEN JUST BE LIKE, HEY, EVERY, YOU KNOW, AND SOME CASES, ESPECIALLY WITH CAT, WITH, WITH, YOU KNOW, PROJECT CONNECT, SOMETIMES YOU MIGHT EVEN GET A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT TEAM OF PEOPLE FROM A TP OR, OR IT MIGHT NOT ALWAYS NEED TO BE THE SAME COUPLE PEOPLE DEPENDING ON WHAT THEY HAVE TO PRESENT TO US.
BUT I THINK, UM, YOU KNOW, ONCE WE GET THEM IN, SO JUST SORT OF COMMUNICATING, HEY, WE REALLY WANNA BE HEARING FROM YOU QUARTERLY, I THINK WE'LL BE, WILL BE HELPFUL.
UM, WHAT ELSE IS, IS MISSING OR NEEDS TO GET ADDED TO THIS? I SEE IT'S COUPLE HANDS, SO LET'S KIND OF TAKE IT PIECE BY PIECE.
UH, COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER? YEAH, I'VE GOT TWO, UM, ONE, AND THIS MAY BE SOMETHING THAT CAN BE, UM, FOLDED INTO IN A, MAY ALREADY BE FOLDED INTO THE, UH, METRO RAPID LINEUP UPDATE.
UM, BUT CAT METRO'S TRANSIT PLAN 2035? YES.
YEAH, I MEAN THE FIRST TOWN HALL IS IN OCTOBER, SO, OKAY.
YEAH, I GUESS THAT WOULD BE GREAT.
I MEAN, YES, I, I THINK THAT WE NEED THAT FOR SURE.
UM, AND MAYBE IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE, AND THAT'S WHY I SAID IT CAN PROBABLY BE FOLDED INTO THE METRO RAPID.
'CAUSE I, I DOUBT THERE'S THAT MUCH TO UPDATE US ON AT THIS POINT OTHER THAN IT EXISTS.
UM, AND THEN THE OTHER ONE, UM, OR IT WILL EXIST, IT DOESN'T EVEN EXIST RIGHT NOW.
UM, THE OTHER ONE WAS, UM, WE HAD TALKED, UM, LIKE A MONTH OR TWO AGO ABOUT THERE POSSIBLY BEING A SPECIAL EVENTS ORDINANCE UPDATE AND THEN THAT KIND OF WENT AWAY.
I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE, LIKE IF THERE IS NOT AN ORDINANCE, THAT'S TOTALLY FINE, BUT IF THERE IS, THEN I, I WOULD DEFINITELY LIKE TO HEAR ABOUT IT.
[01:50:01]
SO, UH, THAT WAS ON THE DOCKET AND THEN THEY TOLD ME TO HOLD OFF INDEFINITELY.SO I DON'T KNOW IF THERE IS AN ORDINANCE OR NOT THAT EIGHT, IF THERE'S NO ORDINANCE, THAT'S TOTALLY FINE.
COMMISSIONER BROOKS, DID YOU HAVE SOMETHING OR WAS IT YOURS? THE TRANSIT PLAN 2035.
THAT WAS WHAT THE FIRST THING ITEM.
THE SECOND ITEM IS THAT CAP METRO, WELL, THEIR POLICE DEPARTMENT IS NOW OFFICIALLY RECOGNIZED BY THE STATE OF TEXAS T COLE.
AND I'M NOT SURE HOW MUCH ATTENTION WE OUGHT TO PAY TO IT, BUT CERTAINLY OTHER GROUPS AROUND TOWN HAVE BEEN GETTING A LOT OF UPDATES ON WHAT CAP METRO IS DOING IN THAT AREA.
AND MAYBE WE SHOULD HEAR ONE AS WELL.
YEAH, I'M OPEN TO THAT FOR SURE.
UM, WE JUST HAVE CAP METRO HERE EVERY MONTH.
UM, IN, IN OTHER CITIES IT'S JUST AN ACCIDENT OF TEXAS LAW THAT CAP METRO IS A SEPARATE ORGANIZATION, ABST FROM THE CITY OF AUSTIN, AND WE SAW THE TWO WHO DO THE MOST WORK IN COORDINATING BETWEEN THOSE, THE TWO.
UM, UM, BUT I THINK IT'S PERFECTLY WITHIN OUR SCOPE TO PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT THE LEAD TRANSIT AGENCY IS DOING IN THE AREA OF THAT THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION HAS RESPONSIBILITY FOR.
COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER, DID YOU HAVE, UH, YEAH, ONE OTHER, UM, IN I BELIEVE OCTOBER, OR MAYBE IT'S NOVEMBER, UM, THE CITY COUNCIL BIKE LANE BLOCKAGE RESOLUTION DIRECTED STAFF TO COME BACK TO MOBILITY COMMITTEE.
UM, WHENEVER THAT HAPPENS, UH, IT WOULD BE NICE IF THEY COULD ALSO COME TO THE UTC.
SO I'M GUESSING THEY WOULD GO TO MOBILITY COMMITTEE FIRST.
UM, I CAN TRY AND SEE ABOUT GETTING THAT ON FOR NOVEMBER.
YEAH, I MEAN, WE'RE MORE FUN IF THEY WANT TO COME HERE FOR THIS ONE.
AM I MAKING THAT UP? NO, THAT'S DEFINITELY RIGHT.
YEAH, I HAVEN'T HEARD ANY, YOU HAVEN'T HEARD ANYTHING.
UM, I, I THINK THERE, I THINK THEY, ON THE RESOLUTION THAT THEY PASSED UP IN, I THINK IT WAS FEBRUARY OR MARCH, THEY HAD SOME SORT OF MADE UP FALL DATE TO COME BACK TO COUNCIL WITH AN ORDINANCE.
BUT YOU KNOW, SOMETIMES THOSE THINGS JUST TAKE YEAH, YEAH.
LET ME ASK COMMISSIONERS THIS, 'CAUSE I THINK THIS WOULD DEFINITELY HELP ME AND NATALIE, WHEN WE WERE THINKING THROUGH WHAT TO DO OCTOBER.
I THINK WE'RE DEFINITELY GONNA HAVE PRETTY MUCH CLOSE TO DEFINITELY HAVING GREAT SPRINGS, BUT, UM, WHAT OTHER THINGS WOULD YOU REALLY LIKE TO HAVE IN OCTOBER? SORRY, JUST TO FOLLOW UP ON THAT.
THE RESOLUTION ABOUT GREEN STREETS, UH, DIRECTED THEM TO, UH, UPDATE THE CITY COUNCIL MOBILITY COMMITTEE IN SEPTEMBER.
WHICH IS NOW, AND I WANNA JUMP IN.
I JUST, THAT WAS A, UM, OVERSIGHT ON MY PART ON THE SPREADSHEET.
I HAVE IT ON MY OTHER DOCUMENT THAT LIKE GOES UP TO EXECUTIVES AND STUFF ON THE GREEN, THE GREEN STREETS, NOT GREEN STREETS, UM, GREAT SPRINGS.
GREAT SPRINGS IS ON FOR OCTOBER.
WE WE CONFIRMED THAT LAST MONTH.
UM, I JUST, I THINK WHEN I TRANSFERRED IT TO MY INTERNAL DOCUMENT, I MUST HAVE PULLED IT OFF THIS ONE.
DIDN'T WE TALK LAST MONTH OR THE MONTH BEFORE ABOUT A BUDGET UPDATE? YEAH, THAT, SO THAT'S ON HERE.
SO I THINK WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO, SO WE USED TO GET A BUDGET PROPOSAL MUCH LATER IN THE YEAR, AND THEN WE WOULD STILL HAVE TIME TO RESPOND, BUT LIKE THE ENTIRE COMMENT PERIOD HAS MOVED UP.
SO LIKE LAST YEAR WE, WE MADE A BUDGET RECOMMENDATION IN MARCH AND THEN WE NEVER HEARD A STAFF PRESENTATION AT ALL.
WE JUST SORT OF STAFFED OURSELVES LIKE WE DID, YOU KNOW, WE DID WELL.
BUT I THINK IDEALLY WE WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM STAFF ABOUT PRIORITIES FIRST AND THEN BE ABLE TO DO OUR RECOMMENDATION SOMETHING, SOMETHING AS, AS EVERYONE AGREE ON THAT CADENCE.
AND SO I THINK IT'S IN HERE NOW AS ANNUAL NOW.
OBVIOUSLY THE BUDGET PASSED, WE NEVER HEARD ABOUT STAFF IT FROM STAFF.
I MEAN, IF WE STILL WANNA HEAR ABOUT THE CURRENT NEW NOW, NOW BUDGET, WE'RE OUT IN SEPTEMBER, I'M TOTALLY OPEN TO, TO ASKING STAFF TO COME OUT AND TALK ABOUT THIS CURRENT BUDGET AND, YOU KNOW, HIGHLIGHTS IF, IF OUR COMMISSIONER'S INTERESTED IN THAT.
I MEAN, IT'S, IT'S DONE, IT'S ON THE BOOKS.
[01:55:01]
WOULD BE, BUT I MAY BE ALONE IN THAT.I, I ALSO SAY THAT FULLY ACKNOWLEDGING THAT I WILL NOT GO ONLINE AND LOOK AT THE BUDGET MYSELF.
I, FOR ME IT MIGHT DEPEND, LIKE IF WE HAVE A A MONTH THAT'S KIND LIGHT ANYWAY, BUT LIKE, I THINK AFTER NEXT MONTH, I'M NOT SURE THE POINT OF THAT.
I THINK IT WOULD BE LIKE, LET'S GET IT DONE NEXT MONTH MAYBE.
I GUESS IF WE'RE LOOKING FOR WAYS TO OUR AGENDA YEAH.
IF WE NEED TO, OUR AGENDA, IF WE NEED TO FLUSH OUT OCTOBER, WE
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME WE HAD A PRESENTATION FROM CDS? THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION.
I THINK IT WAS THE EIGHT OR NINE MONTHS AGO.
WHAT'S CDS CAPITAL DELIVERY SERVICES? OH, UH, IT WAS, WE HAVE THIS DOWN FOR QUARTERLY DOWN HERE.
IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE QUARTERLY.
IT WAS THE ONE WHERE WAS THAT MY FIRST MEETING WHEN EVERYONE WAS REALLY MAD? NO, WE WEREN'T MAD.
I
UM, IF IT WAS MY FIRST MEETING, I THINK THAT WAS MARCH, MAY WAS IT MAY WAS IT MAY.
AND, UH, I, THE POSTING LANGUAGE WAS AROUND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT.
AND WE WERE TOLD THAT WASN'T THE QUARTERLY UPDATE NECESSARILY AT THE TIME, IF I RECALL.
WE WERE TOLD THAT WAS AN EXTRA REQUESTED UPDATE.
IN ANY CASE, IT IT'LL BE FIVE MONTHS TO, UNTIL THE NEXT TIME WE SEE THEM.
SO, SO WE ARE DUE FOR THEM TO COME TO SPEAK WITH US FOR SURE.
SO WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO GET THEM ON THE SCHEDULE FOR OCTOBER? YES.
AND THEN I THINK IF WE HAVE GREAT, GREAT SPRINGS CAPITAL DELIVERY, MAYBE CITY LEAP, I DON'T KNOW OF, OF OTHER THINGS THAT ARE ON HERE, BUT IS THE CAP RAPID UPDATE THAT'S SCHEDULED FOR NOVEMBER? IS THAT THEIR EARLIEST DATE? I HAD ASKED FOR OCTOBER 1ST AND THEY SAID TOO MANY PEOPLE FROM THEIR TEAM WOULD BE UNAVAILABLE FOR THAT DATE.
I ACTUALLY DON'T HAVE THE NOVEMBER DATE CONFIRMED.
SO I THINK, I THINK MELISSA'S TALKING ONLINE.
IF YOU WANNA CONNECT WITH ME, WE CAN HELP THERE WITH MORE INFORMATION ON WHAT DATES WE'RE LOOKING AT.
OH, FOR THE CAT METRO STUFF? YEAH, SHE, OKAY.
I THINK MELISSA MAY BE THE PERSON TO ASK
TRY NOT TO UNMUTE AS MUCH, BUT YES, IF YOU WANNA CONNECT WITH ME, THEN YOU CAN SEE IF I CAN CHECK ON AVAILABILITY.
UM, WE'LL KEEP, WE'LL KEEP CRUNCHING ON SOME OF THIS, BUT I DO THINK IT'S IMPORTANT, UM, YOU KNOW, THOSE PLACES WHERE WE WOULD LIKE TO HAVE, AND I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT, I KNOW THAT CAPITAL DELIVERY SERVICES HAS TOLD US THAT THEY WOULD COME AND PRESENT QUARTERLY.
I ACTUALLY DON'T KNOW IF PROJECT CONNECT IS ACTUALLY WE'VE, WE WOULD LIKE THEM TO, I DON'T ACTUALLY KNOW IF THEY'VE EVER SAID THAT THEY WOULD, BUT THAT HAS BEEN A COMMITMENT THAT CAPITAL DELIVERY SERVICES HAS MADE TO US IN THE PAST.
SO I WOULD LIKE TO SEE US BE ABLE TO DELIVER ON THAT.
YOU CAN, YOU CAN ASK THE CAP METRO DIRECTOR OF OUTREACH ABOUT WHETHER THEY WANNA MEET, SHE'S RIGHT ON THE SCREEN.
WELL, I KNOW, BUT THAT'S PROJECT CONNECT VERSUS CAP, I MEAN, THEY ARE, WELL, CAPITAL, YES.
CAPITAL, CAPITAL DELIVERY SERVICES.
BUT CAP METRO, UH, YOU'RE RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL THE, ANY, I THINK ANY REQUEST TO CAP METRO SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO YOU.
SO, UM, WITH THAT, I THINK WE'VE COME TO THE END OF OUR AGENDA AND, UM, I, IT IS 7:02 PM AND SO IF THERE'S NO OBJECTIONS, I'M GONNA ADJOURN OUR MEETING.