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WELCOME[CALL TO ORDER]
EVERYBODY.UH, THIS IS THE MOBILITY COMMITTEE.
IT IS OCTOBER 16TH, 2025 AND IT IS 1:05 PM I AM COUNCIL MEMBER PAIGE ELLI.
AND I CHAIR THE MOBILITY COMMITTEE AND I AM JOINED BY COUNCIL MEMBER HARPER MADISON LANE.
AND VELA, UH, WE'RE HAVING A LITTLE BIT OF COMPUTER ISSUES, SO YOU MAY SEE SOME FOLKS UP HERE TRYING TO HELP MAKE SURE THE EQUIPMENT IS LOGGING IN CORRECTLY, BUT WE'RE GONNA GO AHEAD AND GET STARTED.
WE ARE HERE IN AUSTIN CITY HALL TODAY AND WE DO NOT HAVE ANY PUBLIC SPEAKERS, IS THAT CORRECT? CORRECT.
WE DO NOT HAVE ANY PUBLIC SPEAKERS.
[1. Approve the minutes of the September 18, 2025, Mobility Committee Meeting.]
ON TO ITEM ONE.APPROVE THE MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 18TH, 2025.
MOTION IS MADE BY COUNCIL MEMBER HARPER MADISON.
DO I HAVE A SECOND BY COUNCIL MEMBER VELA? ALL IN FAVOR OF APPROVING THE MINUTES? SAY AYE.
THAT IS UNANIMOUS FOR THOSE OF US PRESENT.
UM, VICE CHAIR CADRE IS NOT WITH US TODAY AS HE HAS A NEWBORN AT HOME.
SO WE WILL CONTINUE ON WITH THE SCHEDULE.
[2. Discussion and possible action on the Mobility Committee meeting schedule for calendar year 2026.]
TWO, DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON THE MOBILITY COMMITTEE MEETING SCHEDULE FOR CALENDAR YEAR 2026.AND THE DATES WE HAVE PROPOSED ARE JANUARY 15TH, FEBRUARY 12TH, MARCH 5TH, APRIL 2ND, MAY 14TH, JULY 9TH, SEPTEMBER 3RD, OCTOBER 1ST, NOVEMBER 12TH, AND DECEMBER 10TH.
I DON'T BELIEVE THERE'S ANY PRESENTATION ON THIS.
I THINK THIS IS JUST AN ITEM THAT WE CAN GO AHEAD AND HAVE A MOTION ON.
DO WE HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE CALENDAR FOR 2026? MOBILITY COMMITTEE MOVED.
OH, MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER VELA, SECONDED BY NATASHA HARPER MADISON, TODAY, ALL IN FAVOR OF APPROVING THAT CALENDAR.
THAT'S UNANIMOUS FOR THE FOUR OF US IN ATTENDANCE TODAY.
[3. Briefing from the Urban Transportation Commission regarding actions from the October 7, 2025, meeting.]
NUMBER THREE, BRIEFING FROM THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION REGARDING ACTIONS FROM THE OCTOBER 7TH, 2025 MEETING.AND I BELIEVE WE HAVE CHAIR SUSAN SUMMERS HERE TO PRESENT WITH US REMOTELY.
UM, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HAVING ME.
UM, COUNCIL MEMBERS REALLY, REALLY APPRECIATE, UM, THE OPPORTUNITY TO PRESENT.
UM, WE HAD ONLY TWO ACTION ITEMS. ONE WAS SIMPLY IDENTIFYING OUR 2026 MEETINGS.
THE OTHER ONE WAS MUCH MORE SUBSTANTIVE AND, UM, I HOPE YOU'LL TAKE OPPORTUNITY TO LOOK AT IT.
PARTICULARLY THOSE OF YOU WHO ALSO MAY SERVE ON THE, UM, CAP METRO BOARD BECAUSE IT WAS A UTC RECOMMENDATION ON CAP METRO TRANSIT PLAN 2035, WHICH IS OF COURSE THEIR EXCITING DEVELOPMENT OF THEIR LONG RANGE PLANNING.
I'LL TRULY TRY TO FOCUS VERY QUICKLY ON OUR BE IT RESOLVED ITEMS THAT WE, UM, RECOMMENDED.
SO THE FIRST ONE, WHICH I THINK IS A REALLY, REALLY CRUCIAL ONE FOR OUR COMMUNITY WAS, UM, OFFERING SOME FEEDBACK WITHOUT BEING TOTALLY, UM, TIED TO, UM, SPECIFICS ABOUT THE, SOME OF THE PROPOSED OPTIONS.
BUT THEY PROPOSED SOME OPTIONS FOR HOW TRANSIT, UH, BUS TRANSIT ON, UM, GUADALUPE LAMAR WILL LOOK WHEN THE LIGHT RAIL AUSTIN LIGHT RAIL COMES INTO EXISTENCE.
AND WE RECOMMEND THAT THEY CONTINUE TO STUDY TWO OPTIONS.
UM, THAT BEING EITHER A, UM, UH, 8 0 1, 8 0 3 ALIGNMENT THAT BUILDS A NEW SPINE GOING DOWN SAN JACINTO AND TRINITY AND THE EASTERN, UM, SIDE OF DOWNTOWN.
OR, UM, PERHAPS, UM, LOOKING AT THE 8 0 3 AND 8 0 1 AS FEEDERS INTO THE LIGHT RAIL WHERE THEY WOULD STOP AT THE, UM, ENDPOINTS OF THE LIGHT RAIL.
SO WE WERE, UM, RECOMMEND THOSE TWO OPTIONS CONTINUE TO BE STUDIED.
WE WERE NOT, UM, WHAT WERE NOT SETTING THE RECOMMENDATION A BIT THERE IS THAT WE'RE LESS, UM, HIGH ON THE IDEA OF THE, UM, ONE AND THREE, UM, MOVING OR STOPPING AT SOME POINT.
WE REALLY THINK THAT THE ONE AND THREE SHOULD BE, UH, CONTINUE TO BE LOCAL THROUGH RUNNING SERVICE THROUGHOUT THE AREA.
AND SO WE HAVE SOME RECOMMENDATIONS THERE, PARTICULARLY IF WE WERE LOOKING AT THE EASTERN SIDE OF, UH, NEW SPINE, REALLY LOOKING AT SOME OF, UH, WHAT CAPACITY TREATMENTS WOULD BE NEEDED THERE TO MAKE, UM, TO MAKE THAT WORK.
SO I SPENT A LOT OF TIME ON THAT ONE BECAUSE I THINK IT'S SOMETHING THAT'S COMMUNITY HAS BEEN VERY FOCUSED ON IS HOW AUSTIN LIGHT RAIL WILL AFFECT BUS OPERATION.
SO WE'RE, WE'RE A LITTLE BIT NEUTRAL THERE.
WE WANT MORE RESEARCH AND STUDY ON THAT.
UM, WE ALSO MADE A RECOMMENDATION FOR, UM, BECAUSE THEY'RE PROPOSING TO REMOVE ROUTE 4 66, WHICH IS SORT OF A DOMAIN, UM, AREA CIRCULATOR THAT CONNECTS TO THE RED LINE TO LOOK, UM, AT REPLACING THAT WITH, UM, MORE BETTER TYING IN THE DOMAIN TO THE AN UPTOWN A TX INTO SOME KIND OF CIRCULATOR OR PICKUP SERVICE ROUTE.
UM, WE ALSO RECOMMENDED A PUBLIC SAFETY IMPROVEMENT PLAN FOR THE WESTGATE TRANSIT CENTER IN LIGHT OF THE NEW EIGHT 15 METRO RAPID SERVICE.
WE ALSO RECOMMEND IT, UM, UH, THAT, UH, THERE BE THE, WE TALKED ABOUT THIS ONE A LOT, SO I'LL READ IT OUT.
UM, THAT IN THE LONG TERM PLAN, UPON THE
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INITIATION OF LIGHT RAIL SERVICE, THE 20 SHOULD BE REPLACED WITH AN EXPRESS CONNECTION TO THE AIRPORT FROM EITHER PLEASANT VALLEY STATION OR YELLOW JACKET STATION WITH FREQUENCIES THAT MATCH THE LIGHT RAIL TIMETABLE TO MINIMIZE DUPLICITY AND ENSURE EASY TRANSFERS FROM LIGHT RAIL TO AIRPORT.WE TALKED ABOUT THAT ONE QUITE A LOT, BUT IT'S, UH, REALLY MAKING SURE THAT, UM, PEOPLE HAVE A EASY AIRPORT CONNECTION WHO ARE GETTING OFF THE LIGHT RAIL AT THE AUSTIN LIGHT RAIL TERMINUS.
UM, WE, UM, AND WE SAID THAT THERE WOULD BE AN EXPRESS CONNECTION THERE.
UM, AND THEN, UM, WAS ANOTHER RECOMMENDATION.
AND THEN WE SAID THEY, WE RECOMMEND THEY PUT THE GOLD LINE METRO RABBIT BACK INTO THE FIVE TO 10 YEAR FUTURE NETWORK.
WE RECOMMEND THAT CAP METRO CONTINUE TO PURSUE AND PRIORITIZE FUNDING AND GRANT OPPORTUNITIES FOR REDLINE GRADE SEPARATION AT CRESTVIEW AND THAT, UH, TRANSIT PLAN 2035 BE AMENDED TO INCLUDE 15 MINUTE PEAK FREQUENCIES ON REDLINE WHEN THAT GRADE SEPARATION IS COMPLETED.
AND, UM, WE ALSO RECOMMEND THAT IF ANY RED LINE INFO STATION IS INCLUDED IN TRANSIT PLAN 2035, THEY HAVE, UH, PLANS FOR ETOD AROUND THAT, THAT CAN ALSO CONNECT TO LOCAL BUS ROUTES.
AND, UM, WE ALSO RECOMMEND THEY WORK WITH LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO MAKE ARRANGEMENTS OR CHANGES TO BUS ROUTES IN RESPONSE TO SCHOOL CLOSURES OR CONSOLIDATIONS THAT ARE GOING TO HAVE NETWORK EFFECTS ON TRANSIT USE.
SO THAT IS OUR RECOMMENDATION.
I BELIEVE YOU, THE LINK HAS BEEN SHARED, BUT I HOPE YOU'LL REVIEW THAT.
UM, AND IF YOU HAD QUESTIONS ABOUT IT FURTHER, I'M SURE YOU COULD EMAIL ME OR THE VICE CHAIR.
WE COULD, UM, TALK TO YOU MORE ABOUT THAT AS WELL.
I DO THINK IT'S A REALLY IMPORTANT ONE.
I REALLY APPRECIATE THAT UPDATE.
I KNOW THERE'S BEEN SOME LONG RANGE PLANNING THAT IS HAPPENING.
THINGS LIKE LIGHT RAIL AND DIFFERENT MOBILITY AND CORRIDOR IMPROVEMENTS SUCH AS HIGHWAYS AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
UM, BUT OBVIOUSLY THERE'S A VERY REAL NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT AS A ISD AND OTHER SCHOOL DISTRICTS ARE GOING THROUGH EVERYTHING THAT THEY NEED TO GO THROUGH TO MAKE SURE THAT THEIR FINANCES ARE RESILIENT AND THAT THEY'RE SERVING THE POPULATIONS OF THOSE SCHOOL DISTRICTS.
UM, THEY'RE, THEY'RE ALL IMPACTED.
IT'S NOT JUST A ISD, RIGHT? S IS GOING THROUGH IT.
UM, THERE'S MANY OTHER SCHOOL DISTRICTS THAT OPERATE WITHIN THE CITY LIMITS THAT ARE DEALING WITH TOUGH TIMES.
AND SO WE APPRECIATE THE, THE LOOK FORWARD FROM THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION ON WHAT IS IT THAT WE NEED TO BE ACCOMMODATING AND HOW DO WE MOVE FORWARD IN A WAY THAT SERVES THE FAMILIES AND THE STUDENTS OF ALL OF THESE SCHOOL DISTRICTS.
ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS FROM THE COMMITTEE FOR THE CHAIR OF UTC? NOT A QUESTION.
COUNCIL MEMBER HUBBER MADISON? NOT A QUESTION.
'CAUSE I'M ABOUT, THE MIC IS GREEN.
NO, I DON'T HEAR THAT MIC EITHER.
I'M NOT ACTUALLY HEARING GHOST
IF THERE'S ONE MIC THAT WORKS, AT LEAST IT'S ALL RIGHT.
SO I WANTED TO SAY, YOU KNOW, AS WE WERE PREPPING FOR THIS MEETING, SOME OF OUR STAFF IS RELATIVELY NEW AND SO GETTING READY FOR COMMITTEE MEETINGS, THAT'S JUST ONE OF THOSE THINGS, YOU KNOW, UM, HOUSEKEEPING THINGS.
AND, YOU KNOW, IT OCCURRED TO ME AS I SAID IT TO HIM THAT I HAD NEVER SAID IT TO YOU.
I SAID, OH, YOU KNOW, MOBILITY COMMITTEE, WE'RE GONNA GET AN UPDATE FROM SUZANNE SUMMERS.
AND I MEAN, IT'S LAYMAN FRIENDLY AND IT'S INFORMATIVE.
IT'S REALLY TELLING US, YOU KNOW, WHAT IT IS THAT WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO IN THE FUTURE AND WHAT IT IS, GENERALLY SPEAKING, THE SORT OF THE TENOR OF THE BODY.
AND I THINK THAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT.
I THINK SOMETIMES FOLKS THINK THAT WHAT YOU'RE BRINGING TO US IS THE CHAIR'S PERSPECTIVE AS OPPOSED TO A COMPREHENSIVE, YOU KNOW, REALLY WELL THOUGHT OUT REPORT OF, UM, THE MAKEUP OF THE BODY.
AND I JUST WANTED TO SAY, AS I WAS TELLING HIM HOW MUCH I APPRECIATE IT, THAT I'D NEVER SAID IT TO YOU.
YOUR REPORTS ARE ALWAYS VERY APPRECIATED.
AND, AND THIS, THIS ITEM IN PARTICULAR WAS A RESULT OF A PRETTY EXTENSIVE DISCUSSION AND COMPROMISE ON MULTIPLE AMENDMENTS ON THIS.
SO WE REALLY WORKED ON THIS ONE QUITE HARD.
AND I ALWAYS DEFINITELY WANNA REPRESENT OUR BODY WHEN I'M SPEAKING TO Y'ALL.
UH, COUNCILMAN MADISON, DO YOU MIND CHECKING YOUR MIC ONE MORE TIME FOR ME? I THINK I FIXED THE ISSUE.
DO WE HAVE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FROM THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS? IT DOES NOT APPEAR, SO.
WE APPRECIATE, I APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY.
WE APPRECIATE YOUR SERVICE AND THE REST OF THE COMMISSION FOR EVERYTHING THAT YOU GET TO DIG INTO FOR US IN GREAT DETAIL.
[4. Briefing on CapMetro Transit Plan 2035. ]
NUMBER FOUR, THE BRIEFING ON THE CAP METRO TRANSIT PLAN.AND WE HAVE ZANE BARNES HERE FROM CAP METRO
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AS WELL AS SHARMILA MUKHERJI.SHOULD I BEGIN? HI, GOOD AFTERNOON.
UM, CHAIR ALICE, MEMBERS OF THE MOBILITY COMMITTEE, CITY STAFF MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC.
I, UH, SERVE AS CAP METRO'S, UM, CHIEF PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT OFFICER.
AND I'M HERE TODAY WITH MY TEAM, PART OF MY TEAM, UM, TO TALK ABOUT TRANSIT PLAN 2035.
UM, BEFORE I BEGIN, I WANTED TO MENTION THAT, UH, THE, THE TEAM THAT YOU SEE SITTING NEXT TO ME IS A PART OF IT, UH, LED BY PROJECT MANAGER LAWRENCE DIETER, UH, DEPUTY PM ROSE LISKA JOINED MCGEE, EMMA MARTINEZ, AND ROBERTO GONZALEZ, UH, WHO LEADS THE SERVICE PLANNING, UH, TEAM.
THE REASON I MENTION THEM, BECAUSE YOU HAVE HAD MULTIPLE DISCUSSIONS WITH THEM IN THE PAST AND THEY'RE THE FOUNDATIONS, UH, WITHIN CAP METRO THAT DELIVERED THE PLAN.
SO WHAT WE WILL COVER TODAY, WE'LL COVER, UM, THIS THREE TOPICS.
UM, TODAY WE'LL LIKE TO PROVIDE YOU WITH AN OVERVIEW OF WHAT TRANSIT PLAN IS AND HOW WE EXPECT IT TO, TO SHAPE CAT METRO'S WORK IN THE NEXT FIVE TO 10 YEARS.
AND THEN FOR BULK OF TODAY'S TIME, WE'LL ALSO DISCUSS HOW WE COME UP WITH THE CHANGES THAT WE ARE RECOMMENDING FOR THE FUTURE AND WHAT THOSE CHANGES ARE.
THE RECOMMENDATIONS ARE DERIVED NOT JUST FROM EXTENSIVE DATA ANALYSIS, BUT A ROBUST PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT PROCESS THAT REACHED 10,000 PEOPLE.
AFTER THE SECOND ROUND OF PUBLIC COMMENTS, WE UPDATED ABOUT 40% OF OUR PROPOSED ROUTES BASED ON COMMUNITY FEEDBACK.
I SHARE THAT TO HIGHLIGHT THE LEVEL OF ENGAGEMENT AND ITS INCORPORATION IN THE PLAN.
SO HERE'S A RECAP, BUT IT IS A PRETTY EXHAUSTIVE RECAP.
SO TO START, LET'S TALK ABOUT WHAT TRANSIT PLAN 2035 IS.
THE PLAN IS OUR DATA-DRIVEN ROADMAP AND VISION FOR CAT METRO'S TRANSIT SERVICE OVER THE NEXT FIVE TO 10 YEARS.
IT'S IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT THE PLAN ITSELF IS NOT A SERVICE CHANGE.
INSTEAD, IT PROVIDES GUIDANCE THAT WE ANTICIPATE WILL RESULT IN SERVICE CHANGES.
IT'S PHASED IN GRADUALLY OVER SEVERAL YEARS.
THIS CHANGES WON'T HAPPEN OVERNIGHT.
THEY WILL BE IMPLEMENTED IN STAGES AND THEN ALIGN WITH MILESTONES AND ONGOING WORK LIKE THE OPENING OF THE RAPID PARK AND RIDES AT GOODNIGHT RANCH AND EXPO CENTER, OR THE NEW BARNETT, UH, NEW NORTH BURN AND UPTOWN STATION THAT'S COMING ALIVE IN 2027.
THE PHASED ROLLOUT GIVES US BOTH DIRECTION AND FLEXIBILITY.
EACH RECOMMENDATION WILL STILL GO THROUGH REGULAR SERVICE CHANGE PROCESS.
AND I WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT THAT, THAT EACH RECOMMENDATION WILL GO THROUGH REGULAR SERVICE CHANGE PROCESS, WHICH MEANS ANOTHER ROUND OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND BOARD ADOPTION.
THE PLAN SERVES AS OUR NORTH STAR, BUT WE CAN ALSO CONTINUE TO ADAPT BASED ON NEW TRAVEL PATTERNS AND EVOLVING COMMUNITY NEEDS.
THE PLAN HAS SPECIFIC ELEMENTS.
TRANSIT PLAN 2035 FOCUSES SPECIFICALLY ON OUR CORE ELEMENTS, LIKE WHERE OUR BUS ROUTES WOULD GO, WHERE PICKUP ZONES WOULD OPERATE, WHEN SERVICE RUNS, AND HOW OFTEN IT'S PROVIDED.
IT IS DISTINCT FROM OTHER PARTS OF CAP METRO EFFORTS.
UM, HOWEVER, THIS DOESN'T COVER ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT WORK CAP METRO IS DOING.
IT'S OUR STRATEGIC ORGANIZATIONAL PLANS, STRATEGIC PLAN 2030.
THE PLAN EFFORTS TO ENHANCE SAFETY AND SECURITY, IMPROVE BUS STOP AMENITIES AND PLANS FOR FUTURE CONSTRUCTION DETOURS.
WHILE THOSE ITEMS ARE OUTSIDE THE SCOPE OF THIS PLAN, THEY'RE ALSO VERY CRITICAL TO ITS SUCCESS.
AND WHILE WE DO NOT INCLUDE RECOMMENDATIONS IN THOSE AREAS SPECIFICALLY IN THE PLAN, I WANT TO EMPHASIZE THAT ALL FEEDBACK RECEIVED DURING THE OUTREACH AND RECOMMENDATION DEVELOPMENT PROCESS ARE SHARED
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WITH APPROPRIATE CAP METRO STAFF RESPONSIBLE FOR SPECIFIC ELEMENTS AND OVERALL CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE.A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE PROJECT TIMELINE AND WHERE WE ARE.
HERE'S A QUICK OVERVIEW OF WHERE WE ARE IN THE PROJECT.
THE KICKOFF HAPPENED IN SPRING OF 2024 WITH DATA COLLECTION, AND THEN WE HAD EXTENSIVE FOUR SERIES OF PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT.
WE WORKED ON SCENARIO DEVELOPMENT IN SPRING OF 2025.
WE COMPLETED COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT ON THE DRAFT RECOMMENDATION LAST MONTH.
WE WILL ASK OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOR APPROVAL OF THE PLAN ON MONDAY, THIS COMING MONDAY, OCTOBER 20TH.
SO NOW I TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW WE DEVELOP RECOMMENDATIONS.
LET'S TALK ABOUT HOW WE GET TO THEM TO BUILD THIS PLAN.
FOR EXAMPLE, WE LOOKED AT POPULATION AND EMPLOYMENT DENSITIES THROUGHOUT THE REGION.
WE EVALUATED WHERE WE, UH, EXPECTED GROWTH TO OCCUR, IDENTIFIED POPULATIONS THAT WOULD BE MORE LIKELY TO RIDE TRANSIT, SUCH AS GROUPS OF PEOPLE WHO DON'T HAVE A CAR, HOUSEHOLDS WITH LOWER INCOMES, AREAS WITH LOT OF STUDENTS, STUDENT CONCENTRATIONS OR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES.
WE WERE ABLE TO ANALYZE HOW TRAVEL PATTERNS HAVE SHIFTED SINCE THE PANDEMIC, USING OUR LOCATION-BASED DATA TO SEE WHEN AND WHERE PEOPLE ARE GOING.
IF YOU WANT TO TAKE A DEEPER DIVE, AND I WOULD ENCOURAGE YOU TO DO SO, ALL OF THE DATA IS EASILY AVAILABLE AT THE 2035 TRANSIT PLAN WEBSITE.
EQUALLY AS IMPORTANT, WE LISTEN TO OUR COMMUNITY MEMBERS THROUGHOUT THIS PROCESS.
THE FEEDBACK WE RECEIVED HELPED SHAPE AND REFINE OUR RECOMMENDATIONS, AND YOU WILL SEE THAT THROUGHOUT THE REP THROUGHOUT THE PRESENTATION.
FINALLY, WE HAD TO BALANCE ALL OF THAT AGAINST FINANCIAL REALITIES.
SALES TAX, OUR PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE ISN'T GROWING AS FAST AS IT USED TO.
SO IT'S CRITICAL TO HIGHLIGHT THAT WE STAY RESPONSIBLE STEWARDS OF OUR TAXPAYER DOLLARS.
THE RECOMMENDATION YOU'LL SEE TODAY ARE SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED TO BE FLEXIBLE, FORWARD THINKING AND COMMUNITY DRIVEN.
SO HERE'S A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHY AND HOW IT'S A COMMUNITY DRIVEN PLAN.
AT THE HEART OF ANY GREAT TRANSIT PLAN IS THE COMMUNITY IT SERVES FROM THE VERY BEGINNING.
WE SET OUT TO ACHIEVE THAT BY LISTENING TO THE PEOPLE OF CENTRAL TEXAS, AND THAT INCLUDES RIDER AND NON RIDERS, FAMILIES, INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES, LONGTIME TRANSIT ADVOCATES, OUR NEIGHBORS WHO DEPEND ON OUR SERVICE FOR ACCESS TO THEIR DAILY ACTIVITIES, ACCESS TO JOBS, SCHOOLS, AND OTHER NEEDS.
OUR ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES INCLUDED BOTH IN PERSON AND VIRTUAL MEETINGS, FOCUS GROUPS AT STOP OUTREACH.
BASICALLY, WE DIDN'T STOP ANYWHERE.
WE HAD A VERY COMPREHENSIVE PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT PROCESS ALONGSIDE COMMUNITY OUTREACH.
WE LISTENED TO CAP METRO EMPLOYEES AT EVERY LEVEL.
THERE WAS AN EMPHASIS THIS TIME ON GATHERING INPUT FROM OUR BUS AND RAIL OPERATORS, THEIR CLOSEST TO OUR SERVICE AND THEY UNDERSTAND THE ISSUES ON THE GROUND.
THEIR INPUT DIRECTLY SHAPED THE PLAN AS WELL.
ONE OF THE EXAMPLES THAT COMES TO MIND IS FEEDBACK FROM OUR OPERATOR THAT RESULTED IN A CHANGE IN ROUTE TWO, ONE OF OUR CORE ROUTES IN CENTRAL EAST AUSTIN.
WE ALSO WORKED WITH OUR REGIONAL STAKEHOLDERS AND ORGANIZATIONAL PARTNERS THROUGHOUT THIS PROCESS.
WE SPOKE WITH, UH, IN BRIEFINGS WITH ALL OF OUR COUNCIL MEMBERS.
OBVIOUSLY MANY OF YOU WERE CONSULTED, CITY STAFF AND ALL OF OUR MEMBER CITIES TECH DOWNTOWN AUSTIN ALLIANCE, UT HT, AUSTIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE, JUST TO NAME A FEW.
HERE'S A LITTLE BIT ABOUT H HOW MANY WE REACHED IN THIS PROCESS.
THIS EFFORTS LED TO MORE THAN 9,000 PEOPLE IN JUST IN THE FIRST ROUND OF OUTREACH.
AND THEN THAT'S HOW WE HEARD ABOUT HOPES AND DREAMS OF FUTURE OF TRANSIT IN CENTRAL TEXAS LAST FALL.
AND IT BROUGHT US TOGETHER SHAPING A PLAN FOR THOSE VOICES THAT'S AT THE CORE OF, AT THE CORE OF THIS PLAN.
AND THEN WE MADE SURE THIS PLAN IS FINANCIALLY ACHIEVABLE.
WE BROUGHT THE DRAFT PLAN BACK TO THE COMMUNITY TO SEE, UH, WHAT WE DEVELOPED, ACTUALLY ALIGNED WITH WHAT WE ARE PUTTING FORTH AND WHAT WE HEARD.
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT MAKES THIS PLAN SO MEANINGFUL IS THAT WE GOT REALLY ACTIONABLE FEEDBACK THROUGH MORE THAN 30 FOCUS GROUPS MADE POSSIBLE THROUGH OUR PARTNERSHIPS.
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UM, WITH IM OS TEXAS OFFICE OF REFUGEES ADOPT CHRIS COLE INTO AMERICAN SENIORS ONE VOICE PODER, UH, FOUNDATION, COMMUNITIES ON POINT, REENTRY COMMUNITY FIRST.AND THIS IS JUST TO NAME A YOU THE THIS RESULTED IN VERY REACH COMMUNITY FEEDBACK.
AND HERE'S TWO DRAFT TRANSIT PLAN RECOMMENDATIONS.
ALL OF THIS FEEDBACK THAT WE RECEIVED IN THIS PROCESS CULMINATES IN A ROADMAP FOR THE NEXT FIVE TO 10 YEARS.
AND EVEN SOME PLANS THAT GO BEYOND THAT WITH RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPROVE OUR BUS, RAIL AND PICKUP SERVICE.
THE CHANGES WE RECOMMEND, THEY ALIGN WITH OUR SERVICE AND TRAVEL PA PATTERNS IN THE REGION.
WE'VE BEEN RESPONSIVE TO THE NEED TO FOR IMPROVED EAST-WEST CONNECTIONS AND SHORTER TRIPS THAT HAPPEN WITHIN COMMUNITIES.
SECONDLY, WE ARE PLANNING FOR INTEGRATION WITH AUSTIN LIGHT RAIL, ENSURING SMOOTH TRANSFERS AND TRAVEL TIMES, WHETHER YOU'RE ON BUS OR RAIL.
AND FINALLY, THIS PLAN IS FORWARD THINKING AND IT INCLUDES, UH, CONCEPTS FOR FUTURE REGIONAL EXPANSION AS OUR SYSTEM GROWS SO OUR SYSTEM CAN GROW AS THE REGION GROWS.
NOW I HAVE A FEW SLIDES THAT TALK ABOUT OUTLOOK WITHIN THE FIVE YEARS, FIVE YEARS PLUS AND BEYOND.
SO WITHIN THE FIRST FIVE YEARS BEFORE AUSTIN LIGHT RAIL LAUNCHES, WE ARE VERY FOCUSED ON GROWING OUR RIDERSHIP, HELPING MORE PEOPLE GET TO WHERE THEY NEED TO GO.
AND THIS PHASE SPECIFICALLY WILL INCLUDE CHANGES ASSOCIATED WITH BRINGING THE NEW RAPID ROUTES.
AND THAT'S 800 PLEASANT VALLEY AND 8 37 EXPO CENTER TO THEIR FULL FREQUENCY TO ALIGN WITH PROJECT CONNECT.
THIS INCLUDES THE OPENING OF OUR TWO NEW PARK AND RIDES, AS I MENTIONED EARLIER.
AND THERE ARE NO MAJOR CHANGES IN PICKUP WITHIN THE FIRST FIVE YEARS FOR REDLINE.
WE HAVE NORTH BURNETT UPTOWN STATION THAT WOULD OPEN AND OPERATE WITH INCREASED HOURS OF OPERATION.
BEYOND THAT, UH, FIVE YEAR PLUS OUTLOOK INCLUDES IN THE NEXT PHASE, PLANS FOR FUTURE GROWTH AND CHANGES TO OUR BUS NETWORK THAT WILL MAKE IT WORK BETTER WITH OUR NEW LIGHT LIGHT RAIL SERVICE.
AS THE OPERATOR OF ALL OF AUSTIN'S MODES OF PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION, INCLUDING AUSTIN LIGHT RAIL CAP MITRO IS COMMITTED TO CREATING A HIGHLY CONNECTED AND FUNCTIONAL NETWORK THAT MAXIMIZES TRANSIT USAGE, ALLOWING AUSTIN TO MEET ITS VERY AMBITIOUS MODE SHIFT GOALS SET FORTH IN AUSTIN'S STRATEGIC MOBILITY PLAN, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS A SMP.
THE PHASE, THIS PHASE IS FINANCIALLY RESTRAINED AND I WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT THAT AS WELL.
THIS PHASE IS FINANCIALLY RESTRAINED, MEANING THAT WE HAVE PRIORITIZED ELEMENTS TO FOCUS ON WHAT'S MOST IMPORTANT, WHAT'S NEEDED FOR OUR CUSTOMERS AND BEYOND.
BUT MANY OF THOSE ELEMENTS ARE OUTSIDE OUR CURRENT FINANCIAL PROJECTIONS.
AND SOME OF THESE PROPOSALS WILL REQUIRE COORDINATION WITH OUR PARTNERS AT THE CITY OF AUSTIN, AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP, TRAVIS COUNTY, UT TO JUST NAME A FEW.
AND HERE WE ARE WITH CAT METRO TENURE VISION LIST.
OUR DRAFT PLAN INCLUDES CONCEPTS FOR WHAT HAPPENS AFTER AUSTIN LIGHT RAIL IS IMPLEMENTED AND BEYOND.
THE PROPOSED CHANGES FOR 10 YEARS IN THE FUTURE WILL ADDRESS TRANSIT SYSTEM GROWTH THROUGHOUT THE REGION AND ANY CONCEPTS OF PROJECT CONNECT NOT IMPLEMENTED IN THE PREVIOUS PHASES.
THE CONCEPTS ON THIS LIST ARE IDEAS WHERE WE SEE GROWTH HAPPENING, BUT THE IMPLEMENTATION ITSELF WOULD REQUIRE MORE MARKET READINESS, ADDITIONAL PARTNERSHIPS AND OR INVESTMENT TO MAKE THEM A REALITY.
MANY OF THOSE, WE ARE CALLING THEM FACILITATOR PROJECTS.
IN ADDITION, CAP METRO ALSO UPDATES OUR TRANSIT PLAN EVERY FIVE YEARS.
SO THE RECOMMENDATIONS IN THIS CATEGORY WILL HAVE ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITIES TO BE VETTED AND FURTHER REFINED AROUND 2030.
IN THE NEXT FEW SLIDES, I'LL FOCUS ON EACH GEOGRAPHIC AREA AND HIGHLIGHT WHAT'S HAPPENING, UH, WITHIN THE NEXT FIVE AND BEYOND.
IN THE NORTHEAST AREA, WE RECOMMEND ADJUSTMENTS TO SUPPORT OUR FULL VISION OF RAPID 8 37 EXPO CENTER, WHICH WILL SOON HAVE 10 MINUTE FREQUENCY ROUTES THAT CURRENTLY HAVE END OF LINE IN THE DECKER AREA
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ARE EXTENDED TO THE END OF NEW EXPO, CENTER, PARK AND RIDE.WE ARE ALSO RECOMMENDING TRANSITIONING RIDERS WHO CURRENTLY USE INEFFICIENT FIXED ROUTE SERVICE TO PICK UP SERVICE.
WE ALSO RECOMMENDED MORE FREQUENT SERVICE ALONG AIRPORT BOULEVARD.
AND IN THE TUSCANY AREA SOUTHEAST, WE HEARD A LOT ABOUT BETTER ACCESS TO THE AIRPORT IN THE FIVE TO 10 YEARS.
WE ARE PROPOSING TO EXTEND THE AIRPORT BOULEVARD SERVICE ALL THE WAY TO THE AIRPORT TO IMPROVE ACCESS FROM THE EAST SIDE.
WE ARE ALSO LOOKING TO PROVIDE MORE CONNECTIVITY FOR THE MONIS AND DALE VALLEY NEIGHBORHOODS AS WE EXTEND SERVICES FROM MONIS TO THE EAST SIDE BUS PLAZA AND THEN FURTHER INTO WEST AUSTIN.
AND AS WE CONNECT TO DALE VALLEY NEIGHBORHOODS, UH, TO, AND THE RESIDENTS TO THE SERVICES SUCH AS HEB, THERE'S STRONG SUPPORT FOR THESE CONNECTIONS.
AND FINALLY, WE ARE PROPOSING TO ADJUST SERVICES IN THIS AREA TO ALIGN TO AUSTIN LIGHT RAIL IN THE FIVE PLUS, UH, SCENARIO NORTHWEST.
IN THE NORTHWEST AREA, OUR COMMUNITY EXPRESSED DESIRE FOR BETTER CROSSTOWN CONNECTIONS.
SO WE PROPOSED REALIGNMENT OF ROUTES PROVIDING EAST, WEST AND NORTH SOUTH CONNECTIONS THAT BETTER ALIGN WITH TRANSIT NEED.
WE ALSO LOOKED AT IMPROVING OUR CONNECTIONS AT CURRENT AND FUTURE RAIL STATIONS, INCLUDING OUR UPCOMING NORTH BURN END UPTOWN STATION, PREVIOUSLY KNOWN AS BROADMOOR.
IN THE FIVE TO 10 YEAR PHASE, WE PROPOSED TWO NEW PICKUP ZONES IN THE AREA, ONE ALONG 180 3 AND THE OTHER ONE ALONG GEORGIAN ACRES AND A NEW ROUTE ALONG DESAW THAT WOULD START BUILDING TOWARDS A PROJECT CONNECT RAPID LINE SOUTHWEST.
WE ARE PROPOSING TO CONNECT EAST AUSTIN TO EMPLOYMENT CENTERS SUCH AS BARTON CREEK MALL AND THIS SERVICE WOULD EVENTUALLY BE FREQUENT.
WE'RE ALSO PROPOSING CONNECTING TWO ROUTES AND RAPID 800 LINE AT THE NEW GOODNIGHT RANCH PARK AND RIDE.
WE ARE ALSO PROPOSING A NEW RAPID LINE THAT WOULD CONNECT OAK HILL TO SOUTH AUSTIN AND IT WOULD ALLOW SERVICE TO OPERATE MORE RELIABLY WITH GREATER FREQUENCY AS OUR RIDERSHIP GROWTH AND LAND USE PATTERNS THAT SUPPORT RAPID SERVICE AND ULTIMATELY TO PROVIDE AN OVERALL BETTER CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE CENTRAL.
WITHIN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS, CENTRAL AND DOWNTOWN AREA.
WE'RE EXCITED TO PROPOSE A BI-DIRECTIONAL LOOP IN EAST AUSTIN.
WE ARE ALSO PLANNING TO REMOVE AN INEFFICIENT ROUTE IN CENTRAL AUSTIN WHILE STILL PROVIDING SERVICE TO KEY DESTINATIONS ALONG 35TH STREET LIKE THE HANCOCK CENTER, HEB.
AND WE ARE RECOMMENDING TO PROVIDE MORE SERVICE FOR OUR SENIORS WHO LIVE ALONG CESAR CHAVEZ OFFERING DAILY INSTEAD OF WEEKLY, UH, DAILY INSTEAD OF WEEKLY SERVICE.
FINALLY, IN THIS AREA, WE'RE LOOKING TO ALIGN OUR DOWNTOWN ROUTING TO INTEGRATE WITH AUSTIN LIGHT RAIL AND IMPROVE CONNECTIVITY WHILE ALSO MEETING CHANGES CREATED BY I 35 AND AUSTIN LIGHT RAIL IN, UH, INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS WHILE IN CONSTRUCTION.
THIS PLAN MAKES RECOMMENDATION WITH THE KNOWLEDGE THAT DOWNTOWN ROUTINGS WILL BE FINALIZED IN THE NEXT PLAN.
AGAIN, THE DOWNTOWN ROUTINGS WILL BE FINALIZED IN THE NEXT PLAN UT SHUTTLE NETWORK.
LOOKING AHEAD IN THE FIVE TO 10 YEARS, WE ARE PLANNING TO TRANSITION OUR UT SHUTTLE ROUTES TO MAINLINE FIXED ROUTE, EXCEPT FOR THE TWO ROUTES THAT CIRCULATE ONLY ON CAMPUS.
THE UT SHUTTLES CURRENTLY DO NOT OPERATE SATURDAYS AND AT SER AND SERVICE LEVELS CHANGE IN ALIGNMENT WITH SCHOOL YEAR, WHICH CAN MAKE IT HARDER OFTEN FOR STUDENTS TO TRAVEL IN OFF PEAK TIMES.
CHANGING TO A MAINLINE FIXED ROUTE WILL PROVIDE MORE CONSISTENT AND FREQUENT SERVICE TO STUDENTS SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.
FINALLY, CAP METRO RAIL WITHIN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS.
WE HAVE A LOT HAPPENING ALREADY.
WE HAVE MANY EXCITING INVESTMENTS AND IMPROVEMENTS OCCURRING ON THE RED LINE, INCLUDING THE UPCOMING NORTH BURNETT UPTOWN STATION PLAZA SALTIER DOUBLE TREKING PROJECT WITH MULTIMODAL CONNECTIVITY, ONGOING EFFORTS ON RED LINE TRAIL AND IMPROVEMENTS TO OUR POSITIVE TRAIN CONTROL TO ENHANCE RELIABILITY AND SAFETY ALONG THE WAY.
WITHIN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS, WE ARE PROPOSING LATER WEEKDAY SERVICE AND EARLIER SATURDAY SERVICE.
THAT BRINGS US TO THE SUMMARY OF TRANSIT PLAN 2035 TRANSIT
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PLAN 2035 IS AN EXCITING STEP.IT'S AN EXCITING STEP FORWARD FOR CAP METRO AND OUR REGION.
IT'S NOT JUST A PLAN, IT'S A ROADMAP FOR HOW WE WILL EXPAND OPPORTUNITY, GROW RIDERSHIP, AND MAKE TRANSIT A BIGGER PART OF OUR LIFE, OUR EVERYDAY LIFE IN CENTRAL TEXAS.
WHAT MAKES THIS PLAN SO POWERFUL IS THAT IT'S BUILT ON BOTH SOLID DATA AND VOICES OF MORE THAN 10,000 PEOPLE.
THIS ISN'T A PLAN JUST CREATED IN VACUUM, IT REFLECTS WHAT OUR WRITER WRITERS AND OUR CUSTOMERS AND THE REGION TOLD US THEY NEED.
THE RECOMMENDATIONS ARE BOLD, BUT THEY'RE GROUNDED IN REALITY.
THEY RESPOND TO, TO TODAY'S TRAVEL PATTERNS, BUT ALSO PREPARING US FOR THE FUTURE FROM PROJECT CONNECT'S LIGHT RAIL TO THE REGIONAL GROWTH WE KNOW IS COMING.
AND JUST AS IMPORTANT, THIS IS A PHASED COST-EFFECTIVE STRATEGY.
WE ARE MAKING SMART NEAR TERM CHANGES THAT STRETCHES OUR RESOURCES NOW WHILE LAYING THE GROUNDWORK FOR TRANSFORMATIONAL IMPROVEMENTS TO COME DOWN THE ROAD.
SO WHAT'S OUR NEXT STEP? WE WILL TAKE THE TRANSIT PLAN TO OUR BOARD ON OCTOBER 20TH, THIS MONDAY AND IMPLEMENTATION WILL BEGIN THROUGH SERVICE CHANGES.
IT'LL BE IMPLEMENTED THROUGH MULTIPLE SUCCESSIVE SERVICE CHANGES STARTING IN 2026, OFFERING US AN OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE ADDITIONAL PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT AND BOARD APPROVAL.
THIS IS A PLAN FINALLY, THAT TO US IT DELIVERS RESULTS WITH ONGOING COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT EVERY STEP OF THE WAY.
AND THIS ALLOWS US YOUR TRANSIT AGENCY FOR CAT METRO TO CONTINUE TO BE THE LEADER IN SHAPING MOBILITY IN CENTRAL TEXAS NOW AND INTO THE FUTURE.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND INTEREST IN IN THIS.
WE APPRECIATE YOU COMING HERE TO THE CITY OF AUSTIN MOBILITY COMMITTEE.
WE'RE CROSS POLLINATING INFORMATION AT THIS POINT, AND SO I'M VERY RESPECTFUL THAT, UM, YOU HAVE YOUR OWN BOARD.
THREE OF US ON THE MOBILITY COMMITTEE SERVE ON THAT BOARD, UM, AND APPRECIATE YOU SHARING THIS INFORMATION ABOUT THE PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT PROCESS AND WHAT IS ON THE HORIZON FOR TRANSIT PLAN 2035.
UM, I HAVE A BRIEF QUESTION BEFORE I TURN IT OVER TO MY COMMITTEE MEMBERS FOR ANY QUESTIONS THEY MAY HAVE.
UM, CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THIS TENURE PLAN VERSUS THE SERVICE CHANGES VERSUS ANY OTHER CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS PLANS THAT MAY BE COMING DOWN? HOW DO WE FIT THIS DISCUSSION INTO THE BROADER SCOPE OF OTHER DECISIONS, BOTH SHORT RANGE AND LONG RANGE THAT CAP METRO IS MAKING? UM, I I WILL, I WILL START WITH THAT AND THEN, UM, I WILL HAVE MY TEAM MEMBERS HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO ADD ON AS THEY SEE.
SO 10 YEAR SERVICE PLAN, UH, 10 YEAR, UH, TRANSIT PLAN 2035 IS A 10 YEAR PLAN.
IT HAS RECOMMENDATIONS THAT ARE ORGANIZED IN THREE DIFFERENT SCENARIOS IN FIVE, UH, BETWEEN NOW AND FIVE YEARS.
FIVE TO 10 YEARS AND 10 YEARS AND BE AND BEYOND TRANSIT AGENCIES ACROSS ALL MAJOR METROS IN US HAVE SIMILAR TRANSIT PLAN.
THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THAT AND SERVICE CHANGES ARE THAT TRA SERVICE CHANGES ARE ARE OPERATIONAL PUT IMPRINT THAT WE IMPLEMENT THREE TIMES A YEAR.
THAT COMES WITH AN OPPORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC HEARING OR PUBLIC MEETING DEPENDING ON THE NATURE OF THE SERVICE CHANGE.
METRO, USUALLY WE DO PUBLIC HEARINGS FOR MOST OF OUR, UH, MAJOR SERVICE CHANGES.
UM, AND THAT IS HOW WE IMPLEMENT MORE SPECIFIC ROUTE LEVEL CHANGES.
SO IF YOU THINK OF IT THIS WAY, THIS IS KIND OF A LONGER RANGE PLAN THAT TAKES INTO ACCOUNT OUR DEMOGRAPHIC SHIFTS, OUR EMPLOYMENT CHANGES, AND A MORE EXHAUSTIVE PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT PROCESS THAT TAKES INTO ACCOUNT OUR PREFERENCES OF OUR WRITERS AND THEIR OPINIONS ON OUR SERVICE AND THE REFLECTION OF HOW THEIR NEEDS ARE CHANGING.
SO IT TAKES ALL OF THOSE DIFFERENT INPUTS IN A COMPREHENSIVE MANNER AND CREATES A PLAN THAT IS MORE FORWARD THINKING AND HAS LARGER FOCUS.
BUT SERVICE CHANGES ARE THE INSTRUMENTS WITH WHICH WE IMPLEMENT THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE PLAN.
SO THEY ARE THE GATEWAY THROUGH WHICH WE WOULD VET THOSE, UH, RECOMMENDATIONS, GET MORE GRANULAR PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT AT THE TIME OF IMPLEMENTATION AND THEN ROLL IT OUT.
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DID EITHER OF Y'ALL HAVE ANYTHING TO ADD? I WANNA MAKE SURE I DON'T CUT YOU OFF.UM, 'CAUSE I, I, AND I WANNA THANK YOU FOR THE TIME THAT YOU SPENT WITH US THIS MORNING.
I KNOW WE HAD A LOT OF DETAILED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE SOUTHWEST REGION, UM, AND CAP METRO'S STAFF WAS ABLE TO MAKE SOME TIME FOR US SO WE COULD GET INTO THAT DETAILED LEVEL.
UM, SO IN AN INSTANCE LIKE THE MAP YOU SEE AROUND THE 30 ROUTE, WHICH IS THE ONE THAT I LIVE ON AND HAS A NUMBER OF PLACES THAT I LIKE TO FREQUENT, UM, HOW AND WHEN WOULD PEOPLE WEIGH INTO THAT CONVERSATION ABOUT WHETHER THE SPYGLASS ROUTE OR THE, THE STOP IN FRONT OF SPYGLASS IS ACTUALLY GOING TO BE MAINTAINED? IS THAT BETWEEN HERE AND MONDAY, OR IS THAT IN A LONGER CONVERSATION AROUND, YOU KNOW, THE THREE TIMES A YEAR SERVICE CHANGES THAT CAP METRO DOES? I WOULD SAY IT'S A COMBINATION OF BOTH.
UM, WE HEARD YOU THIS MORNING AND WE, THE COMMENTS AND THEIR, THE IMMEDIATE NEXT STEP AS I SEE IS WE WILL TAKE THOSE COMMENTS AND REVIEW THEM AS A WHOLE WITH THE OTHER RECOMMENDATION NOW, SPECIFICALLY THE SPY GLASS STOP ON ROUTE 30 AT, WHEN WE COME TO THAT SERVICE CHANGE WHERE THIS RECOMMENDATION WOULD BE VETTED, WE WOULD HAVE ANOTHER, UM, A PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT OPPORTUNITY AND IT WILL GO THROUGH OUR SERVICE CHANGE PROCESS BEFORE IT GETS IMPLEMENTED.
SO I WOULD ALMOST SAY THIS ALLOWS US TO HAVE A TWO TIER APPROACH, BE ABLE TO LOOK AT IT HOLISTICALLY, SEE HOW IT MAKES SENSE FOR OVERALL ROUTE, BUT THEN WHEN ACTUALLY IT'S GOING TO BE PART OF THE IMPLEMENTATION THROUGH SERVICE CHANGES, YOU'LL HAVE ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY.
AND ANYONE ELSE, ANY OUR ANY OF OUR CUSTOMER THAT HAVE SPECIFIC COMMENTS ABOUT THE ROUTING OR THE STOP CHANGES WILL HAVE ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO COMMENT ON THAT.
AND UM, A LOT OF THESE, UH, THE FIVE YEAR, THE, WITHIN THE FIVE YEAR PERIOD, THE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT YOU SAW, THEY WOULD BE IMPLEMENTED THROUGH, UH, SERVICE CHANGES THAT WILL FOLLOW IN 2026.
UM, SO THAT'S SORT OF, AND GIVE YOU AN IDEA ABOUT THE TIMELINE.
I KNOW, I KNOW THE CONVERSATION IS EVER EVOLVING AROUND THE HOW AND WHEN DO WE MAKE SHORT-TERM PLANS AND LONG-TERM PLANS.
UM, I'M JUST MINDFUL, I HAVE A NUMBER OF CONSTITUENTS THAT HAVE COME TO RELY ON CAP METRO SERVICES, AND I UNDERSTAND THAT RIDERSHIP HAS CHANGED A LOT SINCE THE PANDEMIC AND THERE'S A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT ARE ABLE TO TELEWORK OR THEIR HOURS HAVE CHANGED.
I'M JUST TRYING TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE HOLDING UP TO THE STANDARD THAT THOSE FOLKS MOVED THERE IN ANTICIPATION THAT THEY WOULD BE ABLE TO UTILIZE THIS SERVICE.
AND I'M SURE PLENTY OF OTHER DISTRICTS ARE DEALING WITH VERY SIMILAR ANECDOTES TO MAKE SURE THAT ALL OF A SUDDEN IF SOMETHING CHANGES, FOLKS AREN'T CAUGHT OFF GUARD AND THAT THEY'RE ABLE TO GET TO AND FROM THE, THE ERRANDS THEY NEED TO RUN AND THE PEOPLE THEY NEED TO SEE, UM, OVER THAT TIMELINE.
UM, ARE THERE QUESTIONS FROM OUR OTHER COMMITTEE MEMBERS? I'M SURE YOU'VE DUG INTO YOUR OWN MAPS.
I SEE CRYSTAL LANE NODDING AT ME.
LET'S, LET'S KICK IT OFF WITH YOU.
I ALSO WANNA THANK YOU FOR ALL THE TIME THAT YOU'VE GIVEN TO MY, WHOA, THAT WAS A LITTLE LOUDER THAN YOUR SHOULD, UM, THAT YOU'VE GIVEN TO MY OFFICE.
UH, FROM THE MOMENT I ARRIVED UNTIL NOW, CAMP METRO HAS BEEN GREAT.
UM, BEING ABLE TO LEARN ABOUT HOW ALL THESE PUZZLE PIECES FIT TOGETHER.
UM, I, MY FIRST QUESTION HAS TO DO WITH, I KNOW YOU SAID THAT THE, THE PLAN IS DEVELOPED.
I'M TRYING TO GET THE RIGHT DISTANCE FROM THAT MIC.
UM, THE
AND, UM, I DEFINITELY HEARD A LOT OF PLANNING THAT WOULD MAKE SURE THAT, YOU KNOW, THIS NEW STATION WOULD HAVE LINKAGE THAT YOU KNOW IS COORDINATED.
UM, I'M WONDERING ABOUT THE EXTENT TO WHICH YOU EXAMINED EXISTING, ALREADY BUILT INFRASTRUCTURE, UM, THAT'S AVAILABLE THAT COULD PERHAPS BOOST RIDERSHIP BY, BY USING THAT TO CREATE A LINKAGE.
SO FOR EXAMPLE, BETWEEN EXISTING RED LINE STATION, EXISTING PARK AND RIDE, AS OPPOSED TO IN THE FUTURE WE WILL ALIGN WITH NEW RED LINE STOPS AND WE ARE GOING TO ALIGN WITH THESE NEW PARK AND RIDES.
JORDAN, WOULD YOU LIKE TO TAKE A STAB AT THAT? HI, JORDAN MCGEE, A PLANNER WITH CAT METRO.
UM, THAT'S A REALLY GREAT QUESTION.
SO FOR THE OVERALL RED LINE, WE LOOKED AT A VARIETY OF IMPROVEMENTS TO CONNECT, UM, IMPROVE CONNECTIVITY WITH EXISTING STATIONS.
SO FOR SOME OF THE FIXED ROUTES, WE REALIGN THOSE, FOR INSTANCE, WITH ONE OF THE BRAND NEW ROUTE THREE 70 THAT WILL CONNECT CLOSER TO PO CELL TEO AND PROVIDE A REALLY GREAT TRANSFER OPPORTUNITY, UM, CONNECTING ALL THE WAY, UM, FOR FOLKS FROM RIVERSIDE TO PO CELL TE TO OPEN UP THAT OPPORTUNITY AS WELL AS DIRECTLY TO CAMPUS.
AND THAT WILL BE A FREQUENT FIXED ROUTE.
SO THAT'S AN EXAMPLE OF HOW WE IMPROVED ACCESS TO THE RED LINE WITHOUT NEW INFILL STATIONS.
WE ALSO RECOMMEND, UH, FREQUENCY IMPROVEMENTS AS WELL AS BAND.
[00:40:01]
REGIONAL CONNECTIVITY OVERALL, UM, WE DO RECOGNIZE THAT THERE ARE SOME POTENTIAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR POTENTIAL INFILL STATIONS.UM, FURTHER OUT IN THE FUTURE, ALTHOUGH WE DON'T HAVE THE FUNDING AVAILABLE TODAY, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE WOULD BE INTERESTED IN IF THE OPPORTUNITY ARISE TO HELP, UH, EVEN MORE FOLKS ACCESS THAT.
UM, AND REGARDING INFRASTRUCTURE SPECIFICALLY, WE EVALUATED EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE, UM, THROUGHOUT OUR SYSTEM AND OUR SERVICE AREA FOR HOW WE COULD BEST UTILIZE THAT.
SO AN EXAMPLE OF THAT IS SOME OF THE ROUTE CHANGES THAT WE MADE IN LINE WITH THE UPCOMING, UM, PARK AND RIDES AT EXPO CENTER AND GOODNIGHT RANCH.
AND THEN ALSO IDENTIFIED POTENTIAL NEW INFRASTRUCTURE THAT WE, UM, MIGHT NEED, UM, IN LINE WITH SOME OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS.
I'LL, I'LL FOLLOW UP WITH A LITTLE BIT OF SPECIFICS.
SO JUST TO TAKE THE EXAMPLE OF, YES, YES, I HEAR THE WORK ON THE NEW PARK AND RIDES, BUT FOR EXAMPLE, THE PAVILION PARK RIDE IS AN EXISTING ONE THAT DOESN'T, IS UNDERUTILIZED, LIKE, IS THAT, DID THAT TYPE OF THING GET ANALYZED AS YOU WERE DEVELOPING THIS AND CAN YOU SPEAK TO THAT? YEAH, UM, THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION.
SO WE, WE DEFINITELY DID, WE LOOKED AT PARK AND RIDE USAGE THROUGHOUT OUR WHOLE SYSTEM.
UM, LOOKING AT IT HISTORICALLY, HOW USAGE HAS CHANGED AND WE HAVE SEEN PARK AND RIDE USAGE DECREASE QUITE A BIT, UM, IN THE LAST FEW YEARS.
UM, AS WAS NOTED, THERE'S AN INCREASE IN TELEWORK, UM, MORE FLEXIBILITY WITH WORK OPTIONS, EVEN JUST TIME OF DAY THAT FOLKS ARE GOING INTO WORK.
UM, SO WE ARE SEEING LESS UTILIZATION OF PARK AND RIDES, UM, HOWEVER, TRYING TO OPTIMIZE CONNECTIVITY, UM, AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.
AND, AND THAT INCLUDES SOME OF OUR EXPRESS RECOMMENDATIONS FURTHER OUT IN THE FUTURE TO INCREASE TRIPS TO HELP, UM, ENCOURAGE MORE USE OF THAT.
UM, SO IN A, IN A PREVIOUS PRESENTATION, UM, I SAW THIS TRANSIT PROPENSITY MAP, WHICH I'M SURE Y'ALL ARE FAMILIAR WITH IN A GENERAL WAY.
AND, UM, IT HAS CIRCLES AROUND WHEREVER YOU'RE MORE THAN 10 MINUTES FROM A WALK FROM A FREQUENT STOP, AND I OBSERVED THAT ACROSS THE ENTIRE NORTHERN SUBURBS.
THAT'S WHERE WE'VE GOT THAT HAPPENING A LOT.
AND THEN WE'VE ALSO GOT THE TOP 20% HIGHEST PROPENSITY TO SHIFT A MODE OF TRANSIT.
AND I SEE A HIGH PROPENSITY TO SHIFT, FOR EXAMPLE, IN THE VICINITY OF THE EXISTING PAVILION PARK AND RIDE THAT HAS GRADUALLY LOST EXPRESS SERVICE AND CONTINUES TO IN THIS PLAN.
BUT I ALSO SEE JUST, YOU KNOW, YOU HEARD IN THE FEEDBACK ABOUT CONNECTIONS EAST, WEST, NORTH, BUT ALSO IF YOU, I LOVE IT, I LOVE IT THAT YOU GAVE, SPLIT THIS INTO, INTO QUARTERS OF THE CITY SO THAT WE COULD SEE THE WHOLE CITY.
UM, BUT I ALSO, I I CANNOT HELP BUT NOTICE AS I'VE FLIPPED THROUGH THEM SO MANY, SO MANY LINES AND IN SOME AREAS AND VERY FEW IN NORTHWEST IN THIS HIGH PROPENSITY AREA WHERE THERE'S AN UNDERUTILIZED PARK AND RIDE AND THERE'S A RED LINE STATION THAT MAYBE DOESN'T HAVE AS MUCH CONNECTIVITY TO BEGIN WITH.
AND SO THAT THIS IS, I MEAN, IT TIMES ARE REALLY FINANCIALLY TIGHT AT ALL LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT.
AND SO JUST WANT HOPING TO FURTHER UNDERSTAND, YOU KNOW, THE ANALYSIS OF USING THE INFRASTRUCTURE THAT'S ALREADY BEEN BUILT SOONER WITH BUSES, YOU KNOW, UM, IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU MIGHT FEEL TO ADD ON THAT? SORRY.
UM, I'LL TRY TO SPEAK TO THAT.
SO I, I THINK IT'LL BE VALUABLE TO HIGHLIGHT, AND YOU KIND OF ALLUDED TO THAT ALSO, THAT WE HAVE SEEN A LOT OF SHIFT FROM IN OUR COMMUTER PATTERNS.
AND EVEN THOUGH AS AN AGENCY WE GAINED BACK OUR RIDERSHIP ALMOST TO THE 80 SOME PERCENT, NEARLY 90% OVERALL, WHERE WE SEE THE BIGGEST CHANGE HAPPENING IS OUR COMMUTER PATTERNS.
AND THE OTHER THING TO KEEP IN MIND, WE ARE NOT TOO FAR OUT OR EXCEPTIONAL IN THIS AS THE AREAS THAT WERE WELL SERVED BY PREVIOUS COMMUTER ROUTES.
THEY ARE THE, THOSE ARE THE AREAS THAT ARE LIKE SLOWEST TO COME BACK.
AND WE ARE SEEING THIS ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
IT'S NOT JUST IN AUSTIN WHAT'S AGGRAVATED.
UH, OUR TRAVEL PATTERNS ARE AGGRAVATED BY SOME OTHER THINGS.
WE ARE ALSO ONE OF THE CITIES WHERE WORKING FROM HOME IS VERY POPULAR AND IT'S PROBABLY ONE THE HIGHEST WORK FROM HOME OPTIONS.
UH, WE ARE, THAT'S, I I'M FORGETTING THE EXACT TERM THAT WAS USED, BUT OUR WORK FROM HOME PERCENTAGE AND THE AVAILABILITY OF THE CHOICE IS REALLY DICTATING THAT AS WELL.
SO I, I THINK WHERE WE ARE IN A PAVILION PARK AND RIDE HAD RECEIVED A
[00:45:01]
LOT OF INTEREST PRE PANDEMIC.WE SAW THAT AS A HUB TO GROW OUR SERVICES TO, FROM, TO, TO SERVE THAT AREA.
WE SAW A VERY SHARP DECLINE POST COVID.
UM, AND WE ARE STILL, WE ARE COMING OUT OF IT, BUT WE'RE STILL STARTING TO SEE WHAT THE IMPACT OF RETURN TO WORK WOULD LOOK LIKE WITH NEW STATION IN NORTH UPTOWN NORTH, UH, NORTH BURNETT UPTOWN, WHAT TYPE OF, UH, LOCALIZED MOVEMENT IT WOULD GENERATE BECAUSE BETTER TRANSIT SERVES, IT FEEDS TRANSIT MORE, RIGHT? I MEAN, WHEN THERE'S BETTER SERVICE IN ONE PLACE, IT ENTIRELY HELPS TRANSIT SERVICE IN THAT ENTIRE AREA.
SO I THINK WE HAVE A LOT OF WAIT AND SEE TYPE SITUATION AND SEE WHAT TRIGGERS THE CHANGE TO BE ABLE TO PUT MORE PREDICTABLE SERVICE OUT THERE.
SO I THINK THAT AS LONG AS THERE ISN'T A WAY TO GET TO A MAJOR DESTINATION QUICKLY FROM THERE, THERE WILL NOT BE ADOPTION THERE.
UM, AND THAT'S WHAT WE'VE SEEN.
AND SO WHEN I, WHEN I HEAR THE PRESENTATION TALKING ABOUT LINKING WITH THE NEW RED LINE STOP THAT'S COMING IN THE DOMAIN AREA, UM, AND I SEE THE MAPS AND I SEE THAT THAT IS WHERE THE ROADS FUNNEL TO WITH A BIG EMPTY PARKING LOT.
WE'VE GOT MULTIPLE CURRENT RED LINE STATIONS THAT AREN'T THE, YOU KNOW, THE, THE ATTEMPT ISN'T THERE TO SEE THE REACTION.
DO YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN? UM, AND, AND IF I, I, I JUST AGAIN COME BACK TO HOW DO WE, HOW DO WE BOOST RIDERSHIP IN THE LOWEST DOLLAR WAY POSSIBLE? AND ONE WAY IS TO TRY EXPRESS CONNECTIONS BETWEEN EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE THAT'S SITTING UNDER UTILIZED.
UM, AND IF IT'S NOT AROUND COMMUTER, THAT THAT IS AN OPTION.
I'M GONNA THROW OUT AIRPORT CONNECTIONS EVERY, ALL, ALL ACROSS THE CITY.
PEOPLE NEED TO GET TO THE AIRPORT, OF COURSE.
UM, AND I WONDER IF THERE ARE OPPORTUNITIES FOR PERHAPS REVENUE GENERATION PILOTS THAT CAN TAKE ADVANTAGE OF SOME OF THE UNDERUTILIZED INFRASTRUCTURE.
SO, YOU KNOW, EVENTUALLY WE WILL HAVE A LIGHT RAIL CONNECTION TO THE AIRPORT ALL THE WAY BY RAIL.
AND THE TIMING FOR WHICH THE NORTHWESTERN AND NORTHERN PART OF AUSTIN WOULD BE ABLE TO USE THAT RAIL.
ANYTHING RESEMBLING EFFICIENT LEE IS EVEN FARTHER OFF.
BUT IS THERE A POSSIBILITY PERHAPS TO PILOT SOME SORT OF, YOU KNOW, THERE WAS A SUPER SHUTTLE THAT WAS ECONOMICALLY FEASIBLE, UM, AND, AND MARKET RATES WITHOUT THE, THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMPONENT.
PERHAPS THERE'S SOME PILOTING THAT COULD HAPPEN IN THAT WAY AND COULD ALSO BRING SOME MONEY IN AS OPPOSED TO COST CUTTING AS THE ONLY APPROACH.
CAN YOU SHARE THOUGHTS ON THAT? SO I WOULD SAY THAT WE HAVE A VERY, UM, FOCUSED TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT PLANNING PROCESS MM-HMM
AND AS YOU KNOW, OUR, OUR WORK INFORMED A LOT OF LAND USE CHANGES ALSO WITHIN CITY OF AUSTIN.
UM, TAKING THAT INTO ACCOUNT, WE ARE LEADING WITH IN OTHER WAYS TO WORK WITH, UM, DEVELOPERS AND OTHER STAKEHOLDERS AND PARTNERS TO KIND OF WORK ON THE LAND USE SIDE OF THINGS TO BE ABLE TO TRIGGER CHANGE ON THE TRANSIT SIDE.
SO THAT'S ONE PIECE ABOUT THE PILOT WE TAKE YOUR COMMON, WELL, UH, WE'LL TAKE THAT AGAIN, JUST AS I MENTIONED IN THE PREVIOUS, UH, DISCUSSION, THAT WE'LL TAKE ALL OF THESE COMMENTS AND REVIEW THEM AS A WHOLE AND, UM, WE'LL GO FROM THERE.
I'LL CLOSE OUT WITH, JUST TO MENTION THAT AS, AS WE BUILD THESE CONNECTIONS CENTRALLY, UM, THE CARS THAT TRAVERSE THE ENTIRE CITY BRING A, A BIG GAIN IF WE CAN FIGURE OUT ANY WAY TO GET THEM ANYWHERE THAT THEY WANNA GO IN AN EXPRESS ALTERNATE PATH.
UM, SO THANKS SO MUCH FOR, FOR SHARING AND FOR ALL THE WORK THAT'S GONE INTO THIS.
UH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH, CHAIR.
UM, I, UH, SEE THIS PRESENTATION ON THE, THE CAPITAL METRO BOARD, BUT UH, THAT'S STILL WANT TO KIND OF EXTEND SIMILAR, UH, UH, COMMENTS FROM LAST TIME.
UH, I APPRECIATE THE, THE THOUGHTFULNESS, I APPRECIATE THE TINKERING.
UH, AND YOU KNOW, EVEN WHEN WE THINKING ABOUT LIKE FOR EXAMPLE, AT 3 35, THAT WAS, UH, EAST WEST CONNECTOR, UH, UH, AROUND LIKE 38TH STREET, UH, HEB THE AT HANCOCK CENTER IN THAT AREA COMPLETELY UNDERSTOOD WHERE IT WAS COMING FROM, DIDN'T QUITE WORK OUT.
LIKE, I, I JUST APPRECIATE IT'S, YOU KNOW, WE DON'T, WE, WE TRY THINGS AND, AND IF THEY WORK, WE GO WITH IT.
AND IF THEY DON'T WORK, WE, WE, YOU KNOW, END IT.
AND SO I I APPRECIATE THAT, JUST BEING SMART AND BEING EFFICIENT ABOUT RESOURCES AND, AND YOU KNOW, BEING ABLE TO KIND OF END SOMETHING AND, AND MOVE ON TO, UM, EXCITED ABOUT THE, THE ROUTE THREE 50, THE, THE INCREASED SERVICE ON, UH, AIRPORT.
UH, AND I BELIEVE, AND I'M SORRY, I I THOUGHT I SAW IT.
IS IT, WILL THE ROUTE THREE 50 BE GOING TO THE, UH, WILL BE BE TERMINATING AT THE AIRPORT? WAS THAT PART OF THE THE TRANSPLANT? YES.
IN THE FIVE PLUS, UH, IT WAS TERMINATING
[00:50:01]
AT THE AIRPORT.AND, AND THAT'S ANOTHER, UH, YOU KNOW, THE AIRPORT IS, UH, AND INCREASINGLY, UH, ATTRACTIVE DESTINATION, BOTH FROM A TRAVELER PERSPECTIVE AND FROM AN EMPLOYEE PERSPECTIVE.
THERE'S A LOT OF FOLKS THAT WORK AT THE AIRPORT.
UH, I, I REMEMBER HEARING SOME OF THE COMMENTS, UH, THAT, UH, THAT Y'ALL RECEIVED AND YOU WERE RELAYING BACK TO THE BOARD ABOUT HOW, YOU KNOW, FOLKS LAND ON A MIDNIGHT FLIGHT AND A MAJOR AMERICAN CITY, AND THERE'S NO PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION FROM THE AIRPORT TO THE CITY.
UH, AND, AND, AND, UH, AND I APPRECIATE, YOU KNOW, CAPITOL METRO HAS RESPONDED, AND WE'RE DOING THOSE NIGHT OWLS NOW TO THE AIRPORT TO MAKE SURE THAT PEOPLE DO HAVE, WHEN THEY CATCH THE LAST PLANE OUT, THAT THEY DO HAVE A, A PUBLIC, UH, UH, TRANSIT WAY, UH, TO GET, UH, THERE.
UM, AND THEN, UH, JUST THINKING ABOUT ALSO THE, UH, THE, THE 2 33 AND THE 2 37 AND THE, THE COLONY, UH, PARK AREA, YOU KNOW, THOSE WERE ONCE AN HOUR, UH, BUSES, UH, THAT ARE BOTH, I THINK EXPENSIVE, UH, FOR CAPITAL METRO, A FULL SIZE BUS AND TWO ROUTES IN THAT SAME NEIGHBORHOOD BEING ESSENTIALLY, IF I'M UNDERSTANDING THE PLAN CORRECTLY REPLACED BY THE, THE PICKUP SERVICE, UH, WHICH IS I THINK A, A, A HIGHER LEVEL OF SERVICE FOR A LOT OF PEOPLE, UH, AND, AND COULD MUCH MORE, UH, POTENTIALLY MUCH MORE EFFECTIVELY SERVE, UH, THE AREA.
SO A AGAIN, I JUST, I APPRECIATE THE THOUGHTFULNESS.
I APPRECIATE Y'ALL KIND OF, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, TINKERING WITH THINGS, ADJUSTING THINGS, UH, AND, UH, THE LOOK FORWARD TO, TO VOTING ON THE PLAN ON, UH, THE CAPITOL METRO BOARD ON, ON OCTOBER 20TH.
AND FINALLY, I JUST WANTED TO GIVE A, UH, UH, A SHOUT OUT TO, UH, TO, UH, JORDAN.
I KNOW, UH, WE'VE BEEN WORKING WITH YOU ON THE, THE CAPITAL METRO, NOT AS A ACTUAL, THE RED LINE, NOT AS A ACTUAL ROUTE, BUT, UH, IT, IT GOES THROUGH A BIG CHUNK OF D FOUR AND, UH, WE'RE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT SOME MORE CROSSING, PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE AND OTHER.
AGAIN, I UNDERSTAND HOW COMPLICATED THAT IS, ESPECIALLY THERE'S A LOT OF, UH, UH, RAILROAD UH, RULES AND, AND DIFFERENT THINGS LIKE THAT.
BUT IT IS SOMETHING THAT MY CONSTITUENTS HAVE REALLY, UH, EXPRESSED THAT THEY WOULD REALLY LIKE SOME QUICK AND EASY WAY THAT IT DOES POSE A BARRIER TO, UH, A PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE CONNECTIVITY THROUGH A BIG CHUNK OF THE, OF THE HEART OF THE CITY.
UH, AND ANYWAY, I JUST WANTED TO SAY WE APPRECIATE YOU, YOU KNOW, WORKING WITH YOU AND, AND, AND ALL OF THE CAPITAL METRO STAFF THOUGH, YOU KNOW, LISTENING AND, AND WORKING TO FIND SOLUTIONS.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FROM THE COMMITTEE COUNCIL MEMBER HARPER MADISON? YES, PLEASE.
AND I REALLY APPRECIATE, UM, WHAT WAS SAID ALREADY.
'CAUSE IT, IT KNOCKED OUT A COUPLE OF THEM.
YOU DID MAKE MENTION THOUGH, ABOUT THE BROADMOOR, WELL, FORMERLY BROADMOOR.
UM, WOULD YOU ELABORATE A LITTLE BIT? I THOUGHT I HEARD YOU SAY FROM 180 3 TO GEORGIAN FROM GEORGIAN ESSA.
DID YOU SAY THAT MAYBE I MISHEARD? I I BELIEVE THAT I, WELL, WHAT I RECALL IS THAT I MENTIONED TWO, A NEW PICKUP ZONES, UH, ONE ALONG 180 3, 1 ALONG GEORGIAN ACRES.
AND, AND ALMOST IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING, YOU MENTIONED DESSA AND THEN YOU MENTIONED TUSCANY, YOU, IT WAS DESSA AIRPORT TUSCANY.
I'M JUST CURIOUS WHAT THE DESSA CONNECTION.
HI, ROSE LISKA, I, PLANET CAP METRO.
UM, SO THERE IS A ROUTE THE 3 92 MM-HMM
UM, AND SO THAT, THAT IS THE ROUTE THAT GOES THROUGH, UM, THOSE COMMUNITIES.
AND IT'S BEING REALIGNED TO CONNECT WITH THE NORTH BURNETT UPTOWN STATION.
UM, SO THROUGH THE DOMAIN, SO REMOVING THE 4 66 AND THEN EXTENDING THAT 3 92, UM, TO COVER THAT DOMAIN PORTION THROUGH THE DOMAIN AND THEN OUT TO THE REDLINE STATION.
AND THEN THE ONLY OTHER QUESTION I HAD, UM, YOU MADE MENTION OF, I, I FORGET EXACTLY HOW YOU SAID IT.
YOU SAID MORE, LESS EFFICIENT WAYS TO UTILIZE PARK AND RIDE.
AND I THINK YOU WERE TALKING SPECIFICALLY, YOU SAID NEW PARK AND RIDE USERS, AND THEN ALMOST IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING YOU MADE MENTION, UH, THE EXPO CENTER, UH, PARK AND RIDE.
AND SO I'M JUST CURIOUS ABOUT HOW OUR PARTNERS AT A ID AND SOME OF OUR OTHER PARTNERS, SO DISTRICT ONE FOR EXAMPLE, WE'RE UNIQUE IN THAT OUR CONSTITUENCY COVERS FOR SCHOOL DISTRICTS.
SO I REALLY APPRECIATE WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT IT, YOU KNOW, FROM A REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE, BUT JUST THINKING, HOW DO WE GET FOLKS WHO NEED ACCESS TO THAT PARK AND RIDE UTILIZING IT IN A WAY THAT IT DOES MAKE SENSE? AND IF FOR NO OTHER REASON I WATCH FOLKS ARE TRYING TO MAXIMIZE USE OF MULTIMODAL OPPORTUNITIES AND SPENDING TOO MUCH MONEY AND, YOU KNOW, OVER JUST SORT OF, I GUESS I'M CURIOUS ABOUT HOW WE MORE EXPEDIENTLY FILL THAT EDUCATION GAP THERE OR THAT EXPERIENCE GAP I WOULD BEGIN AND THEN I WOULD ALSO DEFER TO, UM, BEGIN AND DEFER.
I DEFER TO MY GREAT STAFF ALL THE TIME.
UM, I WAS GONNA SAY THAT, UM, IT'S BEEN VERY, UM, IMPORTANT FOR US TO COORDINATE WITH
[00:55:01]
MAJOR STAKEHOLDERS AND AIS SD IS ONE OF THEM.AND AS, AND IT'S SIMILAR TO CHAIR ELLIS'S QUESTION EARLIER, LIKE THE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WE HAVE HERE, WE ARE GOING TO, AS IT COMES, THEY'RE, THEY ARE DEFINED ENOUGH AND REFINED ENOUGH FOR A LEVEL, BUT BEFORE IT GETS IMPLEMENTED, BEFORE IT'S PART OF A SERVICE CHANGE PROCESS, WE WOULD REALLY HAVE MORE TARGETED STAKEHOLDER OUTREACH AT THAT POINT AND SEE WHAT THE NEEDS ON THE GROUND ARE.
AND THAT'S WHY THEY'RE PHASED IN TIME IN A WAY THAT WE CAN PREDICT NOW, BUT AS IT'S COMES CLOSER TO RECOMMENDATION, UH, CLOSER TO IMPLEMENTATION, RATHER, THEN WE WOULD HAVE MORE TARGETED DISCUSSIONS WITH STAKEHOLDERS TO SEE HOW THE UTILIZATION OR USAGE IS, HOW IT'S GOING TO IMPACT REAL TIME AT THAT TIME.
UM, AND I THINK THAT IS HONESTLY OUR BEST OPPORTUNITY TO UNDERSTAND THE DISPOSITION AND KIND OF FIGURE OUT HOW WE COMMISSION DECOMMISSION CHANGE ANYTHING AT THE MOMENT.
SO THINK SERVICE CHANGE WOULD BE THE WAY WE WOULD ADDRESS THAT.
I APPRECIATE THAT FLEXIBILITY AND THAT ADAPTABILITY.
I THINK THERE'S NOTHING THAT WILL BE MORE OF A DISSERVICE TO OUR CONSTITUENTS AT THIS POINT THAN BEING REAL STATIC.
UM, I DON'T THINK WE CAN AFFORD TO BE, EVERYTHING'S GOTTA BE FLUID AT THIS POINT, SO THANK YOU.
AND THEN THE DEFERENCE, UH, DEFERENCE, DO YOU WANNA ADD ANYTHING TO IT? UH, NOT MUCH OTHER THAN, YEAH, DURING OUR SERVICE CHANGE PROCESS, WE'LL BE DOING EXTENSIVE OUTREACH IN THE COMMUNITY, ESPECIALLY AROUND THOSE NEW PARK AND RIDES.
WE'VE ALREADY DONE THAT AS WE'VE, UM, LAUNCHED THE INITIAL SERVICE ON THE METRO RAPIDS.
SO AS WE CONTINUE TO WORK TOWARDS THAT SERVICE CHANGE, WE'LL BE OUT THERE IN THE COMMUNITY INFORMING THEM THAT THOSE AMENITIES ARE NOW AVAILABLE TO THEM AND THEN HOPEFULLY, UM, KIND OF GUIDING THEM ON HOW TO USE THAT.
THERE'S ONE PARTNER THAT I KNOW DON'T KNOW THAT I'VE HEARD YOU GUYS MENTIONED BEFORE, AND I'M CERTAIN, YOU KNOW, YOU PARTNER WITH THEM, BUT HAKA FOLKS ARE ABLE TO GET INFORMATION TO A LOT OF MY DISTRICT'S CONSTITUENTS, UM, YOU KNOW, WHEN THEY'RE GOING TO SEE THEIR CASEWORKERS AND THE, THE BOARD AT HAKA.
SO I MEAN, IF THAT'S NOT ONE OF Y'ALL'S REALLY ROBUST PARTNERSHIPS ALREADY, IT'S BEEN VERY HELPFUL WITH DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION IN OTHER INSTANCES.
I'M SURE WE COORDINATE WITH THEM CURRENTLY, BUT WE'LL BE SURE TO DO THAT AS WE ROLL THESE NEW SERVICES OUT.
AND I THINK WE'VE GOT ONE, SORRY, I DIDN'T WANNA CUT YOU OFF.
UH, I WAS JUST GONNA SAY THAT WE ARE ALSO COORDINATING WITH THEM ON THE TOD PROCESS.
I'LL JUST SAY, I THINK WE'VE GOT ONE MORE QUESTION TO CLOSE THIS OUT, BUT I WANTED TO, UM, COMMEND ALL OF THE WORK THAT'S GONE INTO THIS.
I KNOW YOU'RE, YOU KNOW, COMING INTO A CITY MOBILITY COMMITTEE, EVEN THOUGH WE'RE GONNA COVER THIS AT CAP METRO BOARD CONVERSATIONS, ESPECIALLY ON MONDAY.
UM, YOU KNOW, MY ONLY LINGERING QUESTIONS I'LL JUST FLAG ARE KIND OF THE, WHAT IS THE DOVETAILING OF SOME OF THE PARK AND RIDES THAT PROJECT CONNECT SHOULD BE FUNDING? I KNOW WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THAT THIS MORNING, SO I DON'T NEED ANSWERS TO BE COVERED TODAY.
UM, BUT JUST LOOKING AT, YOU KNOW, WHEN AND WHERE IS THE RIGHT TIME TO LEAN IN ON THOSE SERVICE CHANGES AND WHAT DOES THE LONGER TERM OUTLOOK LOOK LIKE? YOU KNOW, A CC PINNACLE, HAVING A PARK AND RIDE THAT WE WANNA MAKE SURE IS FULLY FUNCTIONAL WHEN ACCS PLANNING GETS TO THE POINT WHERE THEY KNOW WHAT THAT CAMPUS IS GOING TO LOOK LIKE.
AND THEN THE ONE FOR SOUTHWEST AUSTIN THAT DOES NOT HAVE AN IDENTIFIED LOCATION AT THIS POINT THAT WE STILL WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE CAN DELIVER AT THE APPROPRIATE MOMENT.
SO I'LL JUST FLAG, YOU KNOW, BETWEEN HERE AND MONDAY, THOSE ARE THE CONVERSATIONS THAT WE'VE BEEN HAVING THAT WE WANNA FOLLOW UP ON.
AND I'LL KICK IT OVER TO CRYSTAL LANE ONE MORE TIME FOR OUR LAST QUESTION.
AND I WILL NOT BE AT THE CAT METRO BOARD MEETING TO ASK ANOTHER ONE, SO DEFINITELY WELCOME.
YOU'RE ALWAYS MORE THAN WELCOME TO COME IN IN MARCH.
SOME SOME PRIZE VISITS FROM ME.
BUT I APPRECIATE YOU LETTING ME GET THIS IN NOW.
UM, I WAS JUST DRILLING DOWN A LITTLE BIT MORE DETAILED ON THE NORTHWEST PAGE AND I, IT APPEARS TO ME THAT, AND I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT I'VE GOT THIS RIGHT, THAT WITHIN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS, UM, THERE IS NO, NOTHING IS HAPPENING ON THE 180 3 CORRIDOR NORTH OF THE ARBORETUM.
THESE TWO CHANGES APPEAR TO BE LIKE, UH, ON THE BRINGING PEOPLE FROM MORE CENTRAL AREAS TOWARDS THE DOMAIN, AND I'M JUST
UM, I, WHERE SENIORS ARE, ARE LANDLOCKED, UM, IS THIS, THIS REALLY RIGHT THAT FOR A 10 YEAR PERIOD, ONE OF THE HIGHER GROWTH AREAS OF THE CITY ISN'T, AND I'M SAYING FIVE YEARS, LIKE FROM COVID TO NOW AND TO THE NEXT FIVE YEARS.
SO FOR 10 YEARS, THIS HIGH GROWTH AREA, THERE'S, WE'RE NOT, WE'RE NOT CONNECTING IN A NEW WAY ANY POPULATION.
SO, UM, IF I MAY START IN THE, IN THE NEXT, UH, FIVE TO 10 YEARS, WE LOOKED IN THE NORTHWEST AREA.
[01:00:01]
THINGS THAT WE NOTICED IS THAT THE, THE ROADWAYS ARE A BIT DISCONNECTED.AND SO WE'VE LAID DOWN, UM, I THINK IT'S KIND OF LIKE A TAN-ISH, UH, CIRCLE AROUND THAT AREA.
AND THAT'S WHERE WE'RE CONSIDERING A FUTURE PICKUP ZONE.
UM, WE HAD PREVIOUS SERVICE SIMILAR TO THAT IN THE PAST, AND WE THINK THAT THAT MAY BE, UM, THAT MAY FIT, UH, THE NEEDS OF THAT COMMUNITY.
UM, WE'VE ALSO LOOKED AT THE, THE 3 83 AND STREAMLINING IT DOWN, UM, 180 3 AND GETTING IT, UM, INSTEAD OF DOING A JOG AROUND THE DOMAIN INTO THE SOCCER STADIUM, TAKING IT STRAIGHT INTO NORTH LAMAR TRANSIT CENTER, HOPEFULLY CONNECTING PEOPLE MORE WITH, UM, SERVICES GOING ALL THROUGHOUT, UM, THE COMMUNITY.
UM, SO THOSE ARE TWO OF THE MAJOR CHANGES THAT WE SAW IN THAT AREA.
UM, ALSO IN THE 10 PLUS YEAR, WE ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THERE ARE SOME, UH, MAYBE PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES THAT NEED TO HAPPEN IN THIS AREA.
SO WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE FLAG THOSE AND THEN WORK THROUGH THEM, UM, OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS TO SEE WHAT, WHAT WE CAN DEVELOP.
UM, BECAUSE YES, WE DID SEE A HUGE TRAVEL DEMAND, UM, KIND OF, UH, GOING EAST, WEST FROM, UM, AROUND LIKE LAKELINE TO ROUND ROCK.
UM, SO WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE, WE'RE ABLE TO BE AWARE OF THAT AND BE RESPONSIVE TO THAT AS WE CONTINUE TO PLAN TO THE FUTURE.
YEAH, THERE ARE A LOT OF SAFETY ISSUES GOING ON AROUND YOUNG PEOPLE, SENIORS, LOW INCOME FOLKS, IMMIGRANTS, UH, TRYING TO GET PLACES ALL ALONG THAT CORRIDOR.
AND I'M GONNA, I'M JUST GONNA TAKE THAT AS A YES.
WE ARE NOT CREATING ANY ADDITIONAL CONNECTIVITY OVER A 10 YEAR PERIOD ON THIS HIGH GROWTH CORRIDOR OR IN WILLIAMSON COUNTY BECAUSE IT'S BEEN ALREADY FIVE YEARS SINCE COVID AND EVERYTHING THAT YOU JUST LISTED OFF AS SIX TO 10 YEARS OUT.
UM, I CAN CERTAINLY APPRECIATE THAT.
AND I CAN ALSO SPEAK TO HOW HELPFUL THOSE PICKUP ZONES ARE BECAUSE THEY CAN REALLY LIGHT UP AND ENGAGE ALL OF THOSE OTHER POINTS ALONG THE WAY WHERE PEOPLE CAN GET ACCESS INTO THE SYSTEM.
UM, THERE'S DEFINITELY CONVERSATIONS AROUND, YOU KNOW, HOW AND WHEN DO THESE SERVICES, THESE SERVICE ROUTES ACTUALLY FUNCTION, AND WHERE ARE THEY GOING? AND YOU KNOW, I'M LOOKING AT ONE THAT MAY CHANGE OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF YEARS THAT, THAT I RIDE, UM, BECAUSE OF JUST HOW, HOW MANY FOLKS ARE GETTING ON AND OFF.
AND I TOTALLY UNDERSTAND THE, THE BLESSING AND THE CURSE OF YOU DON'T HAVE RIDERSHIP TILL YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO GET ON.
UM, BUT HOW DO WE HELP ENGAGE IN THOSE AREAS WHERE WE'RE TRYING TO BEEF UP RIDERSHIP PAYING CUSTOMERS THAT CAN HELP EXPAND THE SYSTEM IN THAT WAY.
OR PERHAPS EVEN EXPANDING ACCESS TO THINGS LIKE THE METRO ACCESS OR THINGS THAT CAN HELP POPULATIONS THAT REALLY STRUGGLE TO GET SOMEWHERE, BUT ARE TOO FAR FROM ANY BUS LINES THAT AREN'T COMING ANYTIME SOON.
JUST SOME WAY TO REACH PEOPLE.
WELL, THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE TODAY.
UH, WE APPRECIATE YOU COMING INTO THIS FORUM AND HELPING TO CROSS POLLINATE SOME OF THE CONVERSATIONS WE'RE HAVING ON CAP METRO.
AND WE'LL BE ABLE TO SEE YOU AGAIN SOON IN A COUPLE OF DAYS.
THANK YOU FOR ALL THE COMMENTS AND, UH, WE TAKE THEM SERIOUSLY.
WE'LL TAKE IT HOME AND REVIEW TOGETHER.
[5. Briefing from Austin Transportation and Public Works regarding Annual Proactive Maintenance Service Plans for City Streets.]
US TO OUR NEXT ITEM, WHICH IS GOING TO BE NUMBER FIVE, A BRIEFING FROM AUSTIN TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC WORKS REGARDING THE ANNUAL PROACTIVE MAINTENANCE SERVICE PLANS FOR CITY STREETS.RICHARD MENDOZA, DIRECTOR OF TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC WORKS.
THANKS FOR THE OPPORTUNITY, UH, FOR US TO COME PRESENT ON OUR ANNUAL SERVICE PLAN AND ASSET MANAGEMENT, UH, INITIATIVES GOING FORWARD.
UH, MR. ADAM BAILEY IS MY DIVISION MANAGER OVER ASSET MANAGEMENT IN OUR DEPARTMENT AND IS GONNA BE LEADING THE DISCUSSION.
AND I THINK WE ALSO HAVE SOME SUPPORT, UH, CONSULTANTS, UH, IF IN THE EVENT TO HELP ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE.
SO WITH THAT, I'LL TURN OVER TO MR. BAILEY.
YEAH, APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY TO PRESENT TODAY.
UM, HERE TO SHARE AN OVERVIEW OF THE MAINTENANCE WORK PLANNED, UH, BY THE TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC WORKS FOR FY 26, STARTING OCTOBER 1ST, GOING THROUGH SEPTEMBER 30TH.
UH, AND ALSO PLAN ON PREVIEWING A NEW MAPPING TOOL THAT'S IN DEVELOPMENT, SHOWING THOSE SERVICE PLANS AND ALL THE WORK, UM, THAT WE HAVE PLANNED FOR THE CITY.
UH, AS MR. MENDOZA SAID, I'M, UH, THE ASSET MANAGEMENT TEAM LEAD FOR A TPW.
UH, AND OUR GROUP WORKS WITH ALL THE INDIVIDUAL SERVICE, UH, GROUPS ON THEIR ASSET MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES PLANS.
AND, UM, GLAD TO BRING THIS KIND OF UNIFIED LOOK AT ALL OF OUR PLANS AMONGST, UH, THE NUMBERS, UM, SERVICE GROUPS THAT WE HAVE.
SO WE HAVE A LARGE DIVERSE PORTFOLIO OF MOBILITY ASSETS, UH, AND IT'S OUR MISSION TO BUILD AND KEEP THAT INFRASTRUCTURE FUNCTIONAL, SAFE, AND RELIABLE FOR THE COMMUNITY.
UH, WE ACCOMPLISH THAT THROUGH A VARIETY OF WORKING GROUPS AND TECHNICAL TEAMS. SO THE WORK THAT WE'RE GONNA BE
[01:05:01]
TALKING ABOUT TODAY IS THE PRODUCT OF ENGINEERING, PLANNING, DESIGN, OPERATIONS, DELIVERIES ACROSS, UH, ALL OUR SERVICE AREAS.HERE'S A, UH, SNAPSHOT, UH, KIND OF OVERVIEW OF OUR MAJOR ASSET CLASSES WITHIN, UH, A TPW.
UH, SO YOU CAN REALLY SEE THE KIND OF DIVERSITY OF ASSETS BETWEEN HARD INFRASTRUCTURE TO TRAFFIC CONTROL AND, UH, CONTROL TO EVEN TREES, UH, IN THE RIGHT OF WAY AND OTHER RIGHT OF WAY INFRASTRUCTURE.
SO THIS, UM, THESE ASSETS A COMPANY, UH, ACCOUNT FOR BOTH SHORT AND LONG TERM.
SO OUR PAINT THAT ONLY LASTS A COUPLE YEARS ON THE ROAD BEFORE IT NEEDS TO BE REPLACED.
OUR BRIDGES, WHICH YOU KNOW, ARE GOING UP TO A HUNDRED YEAR LIFESPAN.
UH, SO REALLY COM COMPLEX, DIVERSE GROUP OF ASSETS UNDER OUR PURVIEW.
UM, AND THIS IS OUR INFRASTRUCTURE.
TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE CITY IS GROWING IN NUMBER AND COMPLEXITY.
WE'RE ADDING LANE MILES SIGNALS, UM, SIDEWALKS, BIKE LANES.
WE'RE ADDING NEW TECHNOLOGY, UH, THAT IMPROVES TRAFFIC FLOW, OUR SIGNAL IMPROVEMENTS, AND THEN NEW SAFETY TREATMENT TYPES.
UM, JUST AGAIN, ASSETS AND INFRASTRUCTURE THAT WE HAVEN'T HAD, UM, 10 OR 15 YEARS AGO, WHICH WE'RE NOW USING TO, UH, IMPROVE SAFETY THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
SO I WANNA TALK ABOUT THE CONTEXT OF OUR MAINTENANCE STRATEGY AND HOW DO WE KEEP THIS NETWORK SAFE AND FUNCTIONAL.
UH, THERE'S KIND OF THREE DELIVERY MAINTENANCE.
UH, MAINTENANCE IS DELIVERED IN THREE DIFFERENT WAYS THAT REACTIVE MAINTENANCE, PROACTIVE MAINTENANCE IN THE CIPS TODAY WE'RE LOOKING AT THAT PROACTIVE MAINTENANCE OR PLANS SCHEDULE, PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE WORK FOR THE YEAR.
UM, AND AGAIN, WE REFER TO THOSE AS OUR ANNUAL MAINTENANCE SERVICE PLANS.
SO WITH THAT STRATEGY MAINTENANCE PLAN STRATEGY, IT'S, IT'S TAKEN THAT PROACTIVE APPROACH THAT'S DATA DRIVEN, UH, TO CREATE THESE MAINTENANCE PLANS THAT OPTIMIZE THE LIFECYCLE PERFORMANCE OF THAT ASSET, UH, AND, AND ENSURE SYSTEM RELIABILITY AND SAFETY.
GOT A LIST OF THE SERVICE PLANS, UM, FOR THE GROUPS FOR FY 26.
AND IN FUTURE YEARS, WE'RE GOING TO REALLY PUSH MORE OF THESE ASSETS TO BE A, A PROACTIVE RATHER THAN REACTIVE MAINTENANCE AND, AND HOPE TO INCREASE THIS LIST IN THE FUTURE.
AND SO SOME OF THE, UM, COMPONENTS TO A SUCCESSFUL SERVICE PLAN IS HAVING THAT, UM, HAVING ROBUST DATA, GIS MAPPING, DETAILED INVENTORY, OUR FIELD STAFF THAT'S DOING, UH, CONDITION, CONDITION ASSESSMENTS AND INSPECTIONS ON ALL THESE ITEMS. LOOKING AT THE TREND, HOW ARE THESE, UH, PERFORMING IN THE FIELD AND, AND HOW IS THAT TRENDING OVER TIME, UH, TO IDENTIFY THE, UM, PROPER MAINTENANCE STRATEGY FOR THAT INDIVIDUAL CLASS.
REALLY ESTABLISHING, UNDERSTANDING AND REDEFINING OUR SERVICE GOALS.
HOW DO WE WANT THESE ASSETS TO PERFORM, UH, IN THE FIELD FROM YEAR TO YEAR? AND, AND HOW DOES THAT CHANGE? HOW DO WE USE OUR, YOU KNOW, PUBLIC FEEDBACK TO UNDERSTAND THOSE GOALS, UM, AND SET THOSE AND ALIGN THOSE THAT NEED WITH THE BUDGET AVAILABLE, UH, TO MAKE THE BEST INFORMED DECISIONS ON WHAT ASSETS TO, UM, MANAGE IN ANY GIVEN YEAR.
SO SOME SPECIFIC NUMBERS ON FY 26 IN OUR MAINTENANCE PLANS.
UH, I'LL GO THROUGH EACH OF THESE, BUT FOR THE STREETS WE HAVE 885 LANE MILES OF STREET MAINTENANCE PLANNED.
UM, SO THAT WOULD BRING THE NETWORK TO A SATISFACTORY LEVEL OF, UH, 68.5.
AND THIS IS WORKED TO ABOUT 11% OF THE NETWORK.
UH, JUST NOTING WE CAN'T SIMPLY MAINTAIN STREETS FOREVER AND, AND WE MUST INVEST IN RENEWABLE.
UM, THIS ACCOUNTS FOR OUR MAINTENANCE WORK FOR STREETS FOR THE YEAR, UM, AND BRIDGES.
WE'VE GOT 16 STRUCTURES THAT WE HAVE PLANNED MAINTENANCE ON, AND THIS IS BETWEEN, UM, IN-HOUSE STAFF AND CONTRACT WORKERS CONTRACT WORK.
AND WE HAVE, UM, SEVEN STRUCTURES IN LINE FOR ADDITIONAL SCOPING AND DESIGN THAT WOULD GO INTO NEXT YEAR'S PLAN.
SO CONSTANTLY LOOKING AT THE FUTURE YEAR AND PLANNING NECESSARY, UH, IN THE CURRENT YEAR FOR SIGNALS, WE CONDUCT PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE ON ALL, UH, SIGNALS IN THE CITY.
THAT'S 254, SORRY, UH, 1,254 SIGNALS.
SO THAT'S PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE ON, ON ALL OF THOSE.
THAT INCLUDES, UH, RECERTIFICATION, VISUAL INSPECTION, EQUIPMENT, EQUIPMENT DIAGNOSIS, SYSTEM CHECKS, CLEANING FILTER CHANGES, AND THEN WE DO SIGNAL RETIMING
[01:10:01]
ON APPROXIMATELY ONE THIRD OF THE NETWORK.UH, AND THAT'S TYPICALLY, UH, ALONG CORRIDOR, UH, CORRIDORS AND, UM, WITH THE GOAL OF IMPROVING, UH, TRAFFIC FLOW, OPTIMIZING TRAFFIC FLOW, IMPROVING SAFETY, REDUCING TIMES, AND SYNCHRONIZING, UM, ACROSS THOSE CORRIDORS.
SO THIS PROGRAM TARGETS APPROXIMATELY, LIKE I SAID, ONE THIRD OF THE NETWORK, UH, IS AN ANTICIPATED AND, UH, IS ANTICIPATED TO REDUCE DELAY ABOUT 2%.
UH, AND AGAIN, WITH THE GROWTH OF, UH, OF THE CITY AND DIFFERENT, UM, UH, INCREASES IN GROWTH IN CERTAIN AREAS, OUR SIGNALS GET DIFFERENT STRAINS.
AND SO IT'S REALLY JUST, UM, KIND OF ADJUSTING THAT RETIMING WITH THE, WITH THE GROWTH AND CHANGE IN POPULATION IN AUSTIN AS WELL.
OUR MODE AREAS, THERE'S, UH, 272 MAINTAINED MODE AREAS, AND SO THAT'S MEDIA, UM, MEDIANS, PET ISLANDS AND STRIPS OF RIGHT OF AWAY VEGETATIVE MAINTENANCE, UH, IN THE RIGHT OF WAY.
AND THESE ARE MOWED 11 TIMES A YEAR, SO ABOUT 3000 ACRES MOWED ANNUALLY.
SIDEWALKS, WE'VE GOT FIVE YEARS OF PLANNED REPAIRS, FIVE MILES OF PLANNED REPAIRS, AND THIS IS REPAIRS, UM, KIND OF CLOSING GAPS, MAKING, UH, MORE ACCESSIBLE ROUTES, UM, BRINGING UP TO A DA STANDARD.
UH, AND THAT'S FILLING IN AGAIN, SOME GAPS IN THE NETWORK.
WE'VE GOT, UH, 46 MILES OF TRAILS, UM, PLANNED FOR INSPECTION AND CLEARING.
AND THIS IS A NEW DEDICATED, UH, TRAIL CREW THAT WAS AUTHORIZED IN THE FY 26 BUDGET.
SO REALLY GLAD TO, UM, SEE THAT.
AND THIS IS GONNA BE A REAL GREAT BENEFIT.
UM, AND KIND OF AN EXAMPLE OF MOVING FROM THAT REACTIVE TO THE PROACTIVE.
HAVING THE DEDICATED CREW, WE'RE ABLE TO BE, UM, MORE PROACTIVE ABOUT THE MANAGEMENT OF OUR, UH, VEGETATE, UH, VEGETATION ON URBAN TRAILS.
UH, SO WE'VE GOT 200,000, UH, PLUS TOTAL IN THE CITY.
UM, SO WE'RE REPLACING 12,000 THIS YEAR.
200, UM, ALMOST 300 CENTER LINE MILES OF LONG LINE PAINT THAT ACCOUNTS FOR ABOUT A FOURTH OF THE NETWORK.
AGAIN, THAT FOUR YEAR LIFESPAN, REDUCING A QUARTER OF THE, UH, REPLACING AND MAINTAINING A QUARTER OF THE NETWORK EACH YEAR.
UM, 2,443 CROSSWALKS, AND THAT'S ABOUT A THIRD OF THE NETWORK REPLACING THOSE, UH, MOST OF THE, OR THOSE, DEPENDING ON WHERE THOSE CROSSWALKS APPEAR, THEY'RE EITHER ON A TWO OR FOUR YEAR REPLACEMENT SCHEDULE.
SO REPLACING, UM, THE 2,400 IS ABOUT A THIRD OF THE NETWORK.
AND AGAIN, SOME OF THOSE ARE THE HIGH PRIORITY CROSSWALKS THAT ARE A TWO YEAR REPLACEMENT OR MAINTAIN, UH, MAINTENANCE AND SOME ON THAT FOUR YEAR SCHEDULE AND PARKING PAY STATIONS.
WE WILL, UH, INSPECT AND CLEAN ALL 855 ON STREET PAY STATIONS.
AND WE'VE GOT A PLAN TO REDUCE THE NUMBER OF PAY STATIONS.
CURRENTLY, THE STATION SERVICE SERVE, UH, ABOUT 13,000 PARKING SPOTS.
AND RIGHT NOW WE ARE ABOUT 15 PARKING SPOTS TO ONE, UH, ON STREET PAY STATION, AND WE WANNA GET THAT DOWN TO ABOUT 20 TO ONE.
UM, STILL THINK THAT WOULD, UH, TAKE REMOVING THOSE MOST UNDER THE UTILIZED, UH, PAY STATIONS, STILL BE ABLE TO PROVIDE THAT SERVICE.
AND THEN ALSO HAVE THE, UM, KIND OF ENHANCEMENT OF WITH PAY BY PHONE, WE'RE ABLE TO USE LESS PAY STATIONS NOW.
SO REDUCING OUR ASSET FOOTPRINT, UH, FOR COST SAVINGS.
AND THEN TREES, WE'VE GOT, UH, SEEN 'EM ALL AROUND TOWN, NICE TREES PLANTED AND METAL GRATES AROUND THEM, UH, IN THE SIDEWALK.
AND AS THESE TREES GROW, THEY CAN, UH, GROW INTO THOSE METAL, UH, TREE GRATES AND, AND CREATE SOME GIRDLING ISSUES AROUND THE TREE TRUNK JEOPARDIZING THE HEALTH IN THE FUTURE GROWTH.
SO WE'RE LOOKING AND PLAN TO ADDRESS ABOUT 300 OF THOSE, UM, THIS YEAR.
SO NOW I WANT TO, UM, SHOW OUR MAPPING TOOL THAT WE HAVE BEEN DEVELOPING TO, UH, SHOW ALL THIS WORK AND KNOW THIS IS QUITE A LOT OF INFORMATION ON A SINGLE SLIDE.
SO THIS IS ALL OF OUR SERVICE PLANS, OVERLAID MAP AND A SINGLE, UM, SINGLE WEB TOOL, UH, SINGLE DASHBOARD WEB TOOL WITH THE DESIRED OUTCOME OF, OF BEING ABLE TO LOOK AT, YOU KNOW, AN INDIVIDUAL AREA AND SEE ALL THE WORK THAT'S GOING ON, MAINTENANCE WORK THAT'S GOING ON IN THERE.
UM, SO YOU CAN ZOOM INTO THE STREET AND SEE ALL THE PLANNED MAINTENANCE WORK.
THIS IS, UH, ON THE ARC GIS PLATFORM, AND, UH, IT TALLIES THE SUMMARIES FOR ALL THE WORK PLANNED FOR THE YEAR.
AND THIS IS THE, UM, BEGINNING OF THE YEAR SERVICE PLANS THAT HAVE BEEN, UM, KIND OF ADOPTED FOR THAT YEAR.
AND THEN THIS MAP HAS SOME FUNCTIONALITY BUILT IN, UH, ABILITY
[01:15:01]
TO, UM, FILTER BY COUNCIL DISTRICTS.SO I'VE GOT A, UM, ZOOM GEN HERE ON, UM, DISTRICT FOUR AND THE, UM, IT'LL SHOW A NEW SUMMARY, NEW TALLY OF THE WORK SPECIFICALLY OCCURRING IN DISTRICT FOUR.
UH, AND THEN ALSO THE ABILITY TO FILTER BY ASSET TYPES SINCE THERE ARE SO MANY LAYERS IN THIS MAP, BEING ABLE TO ZOOM IN AND SEE EXACTLY IN YOUR DISTRICT, UM, WHAT'S GOING ON WITH AN INDIVIDUAL ASSET.
DID WANNA JUST, UH, KIND OF QUICKLY HIGHLIGHT A, UH, COUPLE OF OUR MAJOR ASSETS, UH, THAT WE GET QUESTIONS ON A LOT.
STREETS, BRIDGES AND SIDEWALKS.
SO HERE'S A BREAKDOWN OF THE WORK PLANNED FOR OUR STREETS.
UH, TOTAL LANE MILES AT 8 85, UH, 200 MILES OF CRACK SEAL, UH, PLANNED 275 MILES OF SEAL COAT PLANNED, 250 MILES OF FOG SEAL PLANNED, AND 160 MILES OF OVERLAY PLANNED.
UM, FOUR BRIDGES, SOME TYPICAL REPAIRS.
NOW THESE ARE PROJECTS, AGAIN, MAINTENANCE PROJECTS, UM, MI MINOR COMMON REPAIRS IN BETWEEN THAT 10 AND A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS RANGE.
UH, LARGER, WE, WE CONTRACT OUT SOME OF THIS WORK, BUT, UM, COMMON REPAIRS, CONCRETE SPAS, SPAS, FAILED JOINTS, BRIDGE RAIL AND GUARDRAILS, EROSION, SCOUR MITIGATION.
UH, AND AGAIN, PLAN TO WORK ON 16 STRUCTURES THIS YEAR, UH, OUT OF A TOTAL OF 464.
AND OUR SIDEWALKS MAINTENANCE, UM, AGAIN, KIND OF TALKED ABOUT THE ENSURING SAFE, ACCESSIBLE SIDEWALKS, UH, ABOUT FIVE MILES OF REPAIRS, UH, THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE SYSTEM.
AND THEN, UM, SIDEWALK INSPECTIONS, VEGETATION MAINTENANCE OF ABOUT 240 MILES OF SIDEWALKS.
UH, AND THAT'S PROACTIVE MAINTENANCE ON THAT INSPECTIONS.
AND, UM, OVERGROW MAN, UH, VEGETATION.
AND THEN WE ALSO ACCOMPANY THAT WITH REACTIVE MANAGEMENT, ANSWERING 3 1 1 CALLS ON, ON VEGETATIVE, UH, ISSUES.
GOT A COUPLE, UM, IDENTIFIED HERE.
LONG TERM, AGAIN, TURNING A LOT OF OUR ASSETS INTO MORE OF THAT PROACTIVE PLANNING AND CONTINUING TO INCREASE OUR, UM, OUR DATA, UH, DATA COLLECTION, MAPPING, CONDITION ASSESSMENTS, INSPECTIONS.
UM, WE PLAN TO PRE, UH, PRESENT THESE PLANS AND THE MAP TO EACH COUNCIL DISTRICT IN THE NEXT COUPLE MONTHS.
I THINK WE'RE WORKING ON SCHEDULING THOSE MEETINGS NOW, SO GETTING WITH EACH COUNCIL DISTRICT AND PROVIDING, UH, AN OVERVIEW OF YOUR DISTRICT SPECIFIC, UM, WORK OCCURRING IN YOUR DISTRICT, UH, AND HAVING THOSE SUMMARIES.
AND THEN, UM, AGAIN, NEXT YEAR, CONTINUING ON WITH THESE, WITH OUR CURRENT PLANS, BUT LOOKING, ADDING PLANS FOR PEDESTRIAN BRIDGES, ALLEYS SPEED, CUSHION SPEED BUMPS, CURB AND GUTTER.
SO FINDING SOME OF THOSE OTHER ASSETS THAT WE'VE TRADITIONALLY HANDLED AS REACTIVE AND, AND REALLY IDENTIFYING AND BEING ABLE TO HAVE THE DATA TO, UM, MAKE GOOD PROACTIVE PLANS AND, UM, SCHEDULE AND PLAN FOR THAT.
SO REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THE WORK AHEAD, UH, AND THE POSITIVE IMPACT OF THESE EFFORTS, UH, THAT WE'LL HAVE ACROSS THE CITY.
AND WELCOME ANY FEEDBACK AS WE MOVE IN THAT DIRECTION FORWARD.
THANK YOU FOR THAT PRESENTATION.
I'M GONNA KICK IT OFF TO, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER CHIEF BELLA.
UH, COULD YOU, UH, PULL UP A SLIDE NINE, UH, AGAIN, AND THIS AGAIN, THESE ARE THE THINGS THAT I NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT BEFORE.
CONFRONTED WITH QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS, UH, CRACK SEAL.
WHAT COULD YOU DESCRIBE WHAT, WHAT THAT SEAL LOOKS AND, AND FEELS LIKE ON THE ROAD? UH, CRACK SEAL IS THE, UM, KIND OF LIQUIDIZED RUBBER THAT WE POUR INTO, INTO CRACKS.
UM, TO, AND IT'S A INTERIM TREATMENT FOR, UH, KIND OF PRESERVING THAT AND, UH, REDUCING THE ISSUES THAT, YOU KNOW, THOSE CRACKS CAN FURTHER.
SO THOSE ARE KIND OF THE LITTLE WIGGLY SQUIGGLY LINES THAT WE'LL SEE ON THE STREET SOMETIMES TO HELP, UH, YOU KNOW, KEEP WATER OUT THERE, HUH? CORRECT.
AND THEN THE SEAL COAT, UH, THAT IS THE NICE SMOOTH, UH, IT'S NOT SOFT, BUT IT PRACTICALLY FEELS SOFT.
IS THAT THE TYPE OF COATING THAT I'M THINKING ABOUT IS THAT THE SEAL COAT.
SEAL COAT IS THE OIL AND, AND ROCK OKAY.
KIND OF BASE THAT WE SPRAY DOWN AND, AND PUT CHIP OR ROCKS OVER.
IS THAT ALSO AGGREGATE? IS THAT THE CHIP SEAL? IS THAT ALSO CALLED THE CHIP SEAL? UH, OKAY.
[01:20:01]
THEN, AND AGAIN, I'VE WATCHED THIS ON MY OWN STREET, UH, AND MANY OTHER PEOPLE HAVE CALLED ME ABOUT IT.THE CHIP SEAL IS VERY UNPOPULAR
AND I MEAN, BECAUSE BASICALLY YOU LEAVE LIKE SHARP ROCKS, YOU KNOW, KIND OF, AND, AND AGAIN, I, I'VE, I'VE HAD, UH, THIS DISCUSSION WITH MR. MENDO AND I, AND I GET IT.
I'M JUST, HONESTLY, THIS IS MORE KIND OF FOR THE PUBLIC AT LARGE TO, TO, SO I SAW THAT THE CHIP, HE GOES IN AND THEN MAYBE, WHAT IS IT ABOUT TWO YEARS LATER YOU GO IN AND YOU PUT KIND OF ANOTHER COAT OF, UH, AGAIN, I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO CALL IT, TAR WOULD BE MY KIND OF FIRST WORD.
BUT, UH, WHAT IS THE PROCESS AFTER YOU DO THE CHIP SEAL? HOW LONG DOES THAT STAY AND WHAT'S THE NEXT STEP IN THE, IN THE, THE ROAD MAINTENANCE CYCLE? AND I MIGHT HAVE TO PHONE A FRIEND ON THIS WHEN YOU'RE GETTING OUTTA MY, UM, COMFORT ZONE
UM, BUT YEAH, THE, UM, WITH THE SEAL COAT, UH, I BELIEVE, YOU KNOW, IT DEPENDS ON THE ROADWAY AND, AND THE APPLICATION.
UH, AND SOMETIMES YEAH, WE'LL FOLLOW UP WITH TWO YEARS LATER WITH ANOTHER TREATMENT ON THAT TO, UH, TO FURTHER SET THAT, UM, SURFACE.
AND AGAIN, IT'S JUST SOME DIFFERENT STRATEGIES TO REALLY GET THE, UH, MOST, UH, OUT OF THAT STREET SURFACE AND EXTEND THE LIFE.
THANK YOU ADAM, YOUR FRIEND, COUNCIL MEMBER.
YOUR FRIEND THAT YOU HAVE PHONED HAS SHOWN UP.
I HAVE THE, THE PHD NEXT TO ME.
BUT BASICALLY WE'VE FOUND THAT FOLLOWING UP THE CHIP SEAL WITH A FOG SEAL HELPS LOCK IN THE AGGREGATE.
UM, THE CHIP SEAL WE FOUND HAS BEEN THE MOST COST EFFECTIVE AND LONG LASTING TREATMENT, UH, BANG FOR OUR BUCK TO PRESERVE OUR STREETS.
IT MAY BE ROUGH, UH, BUT YOU WON'T SEE ANY POTHOLES IN THERE FOR A WHILE.
UM, ED, ED POPIT IS OUR RESIDENT EXPERT ON STREET MAINTENANCE.
YEAH, I'D BE GLAD TO, UH, JUST, UH, FILL IN SOME GAPS.
UM, I'M A PAVEMENT ENGINEER, UM, AND YOU'VE, YOU'VE CHARACTERIZED THINGS PRETTY CORRECTLY.
UM, WE DO THE FOG SEAL AND, AND AS RICHARD SAID, WE DO THE FOG SEAL ON THE SEAL COAT TO HOLD DOWN, TO HOLD THE ROCK DOWN.
'CAUSE THAT'S ONE OF THE BIGGEST COMPLAINTS WE HAVE OTHER THAN IT'S A LITTLE BIT ROUGH, UH, COMPARED TO AN OVERLAY.
UM, BUT IT IS A EXTREMELY EFFECTIVE, UM, PRE PRESERVATION, UH, STRATEGY.
AND WE'VE NOT FOUND ANYTHING THAT IS AS COST EFFECTIVE AND AS, AS LONG-TERM PROTECTIVE OF THE STREETS WE KEEP SEARCHING FOR, FOR OTHER TREATMENTS THAT, YOU KNOW, MIGHT, UH, MIGHT BE A LITTLE BIT MORE, UH, POPULAR.
AND, UM, TO DATE, WE STILL HAVE NOT FOUND A TECHNOLOGY THAT'S BETTER THAN THE SEAL COAT.
AND I, I, I KNOW THAT'S AN UNFORTUNATE, UH, CIRCUMSTANCE, BUT, UH, IT'S KNOWN NATIONALLY AS BEING A EXTREMELY EFFECTIVE TREATMENT.
AND THAT'S WHY WE'RE TRYING TO DO THE BEST JOB WE CAN WITH THE VERY ROBUST SWEEPING AND TRYING TO ELIMINATE SOME OF THE KEY COMPLAINTS.
WE USE A MUCH SMALLER ROCK NOW THAN WE USED TO, UH, WHICH, UH, IS A LITTLE BIT, UH, LESS NOISY AND A LITTLE LESS, A LITTLE, UH, SMOOTHER.
AND ONCE, UH, ONCE YOU GO THROUGH A SUMMER CYCLE, IT KIND OF NESTLES THE ROCK DOWN A BIT MORE.
AND, UM, SOME PEOPLE ARE DRIVING ON SEAL COAT STREETS AND DON'T EVEN KNOW THEY ARE, BECAUSE AFTER A FEW YEARS IT REALLY GETS A LOT SMOOTHER AND SETTLES DOWN.
UM, I KNOW THAT'S, UH, A LONG TIME TO WAIT, BUT IT'S SO EFFECTIVE.
WE, WE ONLY HAVE TO DO IT ABOUT EVERY 10 YEARS.
WELL, I, I, I APPRECIATE THAT.
AND, AND I MAY HAVE TO BRING YOU TO A NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION MEETING TO EXPLAIN SOME OF THAT
AND IT'S JUST ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL.
WHAT, WHAT'S THAT ONE? THE ORIGINAL SURFACE OF THE STREET IS, IS JUST AN ASPHALT OVERLAY.
WE SOMETIMES COME BACK WITH OVERLAYS ON STREETS, BUT IT'S MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE.
UM, SO WE HAVE TO BE VERY SELECTIVE ABOUT WHICH STREETS WE OVERLAY.
IT'S, WE WISH WE COULD DO A LOT MORE OF THAT, BUT IT IS SO MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE THAN THE, UH, SURFACE SEALS ARE.
WE JUST CAN'T AFFORD TO DO THAT EVERYWHERE.
BUT IT WOULD BE A, A NEW ASPHALT OVERLAY IS THE SMOOTH SURFACE THAT YOU'RE THINKING OF.
YEAH, I MEAN, HONESTLY, I, I DON'T THINK YOU COULD TAKE A, A SKATEBOARD OVER A, A RECENTLY CHIP SEAL, UH, STREET, YOU KNOW, THAT MIGHT BE A DANGEROUS, HONESTLY, UH, UH, YOU BETTER HAVE, UH, ELBOW AND, UH, KNEE PADS ON, UH, JUST IN CASE.
BUT, UH, WELL, AGAIN, I APPRECIATE THAT.
AND LIKE I SAID, I'M, I'M ASKING MORE JUST KIND OF FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIX UNDERSTANDING.
I COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND THE ECONOMICS.
WE'RE TRYING TO BE AS EFFICIENT WITH
[01:25:01]
TAX DOLLARS AS WE POSSIBLY CAN, AND, AND THAT SOMETIMES THAT MEANS THE STREET'S GONNA BE A LITTLE ROUGHER THAN, THAN WE WOULD OTHERWISE, LIKE, BUT I, I, I JUST, I COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND IT.LIKE I SAID, I MAY HAVE TO PULL YOU IN WITH ME TO EXPLAIN THAT TO FOLKS.
IF YOU SEE THIS GENTLEMAN HERE IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD, YOU SHOULD BE VERY EXCITED BECAUSE YOU'RE GONNA GET SOME NEW, SOME NEW IMPROVEMENTS TO THE ROADS.
ARE THERE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FROM COMMITTEE MEMBERS ON THIS PRESENTATION? COUNCIL MEMBER HARPER MADISON? YEAH, I HAD A BRIEF QUESTION, AND TO YOUR POINT, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER VELA, IT'S ONE OF THOSE THINGS WHEN YOU'RE TAKING THAT WALK THROUGH THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
SO THERE'S THIS MASSIVE PATCH OF POISON IVY RIGHT IN BETWEEN AIRPORT AND, UM, STAFFORD RIGHT OFF OF MAINOR ROAD THAT I NEVER WOULD'VE SEEN.
BUT AS I'M PASSING IT AND I'M TRYING TO LIMBO UNDER IT, AND THE LADY OVER THERE IS LIMBO AND WE'RE ALL LIMBO AND AROUND THIS MASSIVE PATCH.
SHE GOES, SOMEBODY AT THE CITY OF AUSTIN, SHE DO SOME
'CAUSE THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER IS, IT'S LIKE, IN THOSE INSTANCES, WHO DO WE CALL? SO I'M ASSUMING 3 1 1 IS THE, IS THE RECOMMENDATION, BUT THAT SAID, UM, WHETHER OR NOT IT'S ACCURATE, THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO SAY THEY'VE BEEN TRYING TO CALL MY OFFICE FOR EIGHT YEARS, WHICH I KNOW IS NOT TRUE.
SO I'M GONNA SAY MAYBE IT'S NOT TRUE ALWAYS, BUT, UM, THAT LADY SAID THAT SHE HAD CALLED 3 1 1 FOR THREE MONTHS CONSECUTIVELY AND NOTHING EVER HAPPENED.
AND SO WHAT I DIDN'T, I CERTAINLY DIDN'T VOLUNTEER THAT I'M, I AM ONE OF THEM.
UM, BUT I DID SAY, YOU KNOW, I KNOW SOME PEOPLE WHO WORK THERE, I'LL GO LOOK INTO, UM, SO THE CURIOSITY IS WHAT DOES THAT FOLLOW UP LOOP LOOK BACK? SO LET'S SAY SHE CALLED ON JULY 17TH, IF SHE HADN'T HEARD BACK BY EXIT OF TIME.
AND THEN FROM AN ESCALATION PERSPECTIVE, I KNOW THAT THINGS SLIPPED THROUGH THE CRACKS, BUT I MEAN, EVEN AS A RESIDENT, MY BULK PICKUP DIDN'T HAPPEN FOR LIKE FOUR MONTHS.
I MEAN, MY FRIEND AT A RR HELPED US GET IT FIGURED OUT AND HELPED HIS GUYS GET IT ALL FIGURED OUT, BUT IT WAS LIKE A, THERE WAS A GAP BETWEEN THE 3 1 1 AND THERE WAS A TURNOVER.
AND THEN, UH, AND, AND SO HE, I, I NEVER SAY I ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE.
I WANNA SEE WHAT MY CONSTITUENTS ARE EXPERIENCING WHEN THEY TRY TO UTILIZE OUR SYSTEMS. AND I GOTTA SAY, THERE DEFINITELY ARE SOME GAPS.
SO IF, IF FOLKS ARE SAYING THERE'S A MASSIVE PATCH OF, OF POISON IVY THAT'S MAKING PEOPLE LEAPFROG ACROSS MAINA ROAD TO AVOID IT, AND I CALLED TWO MONTHS AGO NOW, WHAT I WANT THEM TO HEAR, LIKE DIRECTLY FROM THE HORSE'S MOUTH, WHAT THAT WOULD LOOK LIKE FOR THEM, OTHER THAN CALLING AND YELLING AT ME.
UH, THAT'S GONNA BE PART OF OUR REACTIVE MAINTENANCE PROGRAM, OF COURSE, UH, RESPONDING TO CSRS, WE HAVE SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS BY WHICH IN THE PERFECT WORLD, UH, WE ARE TO ADDRESS THAT ISSUE FOR OUR RESIDENT WITHIN A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF DAYS.
UM, OUR, WE, WE TRACK OUR METRICS ON THAT AND WE ACHIEVE THAT RESPONSE TIME 95 TO 98% OF THE TIME.
BUT YOU'RE RIGHT, INVARIABLY, A FEW THINGS MAY, UH, FALL THROUGH THE CRACK.
AND THEN OF COURSE, OUR OFFICE, OUR MANAGEMENT'S ALWAYS HERE TO ELEVATE THOSE, WORK WITH YOUR STAFF.
I HAVE TWO COUNCIL LIAISONS ON MY TEAM, TWO POSITIONS I ESTABLISHED, UH, LAST YEAR, UH, THE SECOND ONE, ONE BEFORE THAT.
AND WE ARE MORE THAN HAPPY TO REACH OUT DIRECTLY IF ANY RESIDENTS ENCOUNTER THAT EXPERIENCE.
AND, AND I APPRECIATE THAT YOU, YOU CALLED IT REACTIVE MAINTENANCE.
'CAUSE THAT WAS ONE OF THE THINGS.
SO WE OFTEN HAVE CONSTITUENTS THAT REALLY WANNA HELP.
THEY WANNA DO SOMETHING, THEY'RE JUST NOT SURE WHAT THEY'RE PERMITTED TO DO, YOU KNOW, WHAT'S APPROPRIATE TO DO, IN WHICH CASE, I JUST WONDER IF THAT'S ONE OF THOSE THINGS, YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU'RE ON YOUR WALKS, HERE'S A MAP OF OUR DISTRICT AND, YOU KNOW, SITES ONE THROUGH 18.
IF, YOU KNOW, IF IT'S AT A THREE FROM A ONE TO FIVE SCALE, LET ME KNOW.
THEY DON'T HAVE TO LET YOU KNOW.
JUST IS THERE A SYSTEM WHERE CONSTITUENTS CAN HELP US? 'CAUSE I'M IMAGINING, AS, YOU KNOW, AS YOU WERE TALKING, YOU SAID, I FORGET EXACTLY HOW YOU SAID IT.
FIRST OF ALL, COUNCIL MEMBER SAID WIGGLY SQUIGGLY LINES.
UM, OH, YOU SAID CONDITIONS AND ASSESSMENTS, MAPPING HOW ON EARTH, I MEAN, DISTRICT ONE ALONE IS 46 SQUARE MILES.
HOW CAN YOU COMPREHENSIVELY DO CONDITIONS AND ASSESSMENTS MAPPING IT IN A WAY THAT'S LIKE, YOU KNOW, THIS IS THE PROTOCOL, THIS IS THE STRATEGIC APPROACH.
AND, YOU KNOW, IT JUST DOESN'T SEEM, IT'S UNTENABLE WITHOUT THE, LIKE A REAL ROBUST COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTION THERE.
BUT IF THERE'S NO SYSTEM, HOW DO THEY HELP US? WE, YEAH.
SO FOR EACH OF OUR INDIVIDUAL ASSET CLASSES, WE'VE GOT, UM, A NUMBER OF TEAM MEMBERS THAT ARE WORK AS ASSET OWNERS AND MANAGERS OF THAT ASSET, AND A LOT OF 'EM ARE ON THOSE ASSET CLASSES.
STREETS, BRIDGES, SIDEWALKS ARE ON A, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, RECURRING, UH, UH, INSPECTION AND ASSESSMENT SCHEDULE.
SO EVERY TWO YEARS, OUR MAJOR STREET, OUR MAJOR BRIDGES ARE INSPECTED, UM, ARE STREETS ARE, UM, WE DO DATA COLLECTION ON OUR STREETS, UH, THIRD OF THE NETWORK EVERY YEAR.
[01:30:01]
THAT TO HALF OF THE NETWORK EVERY YEAR.AND SO WE'LL COLLECT DATA ON OUR STREET SURFACES, UM, EVERY YEAR.
I, I THINK MAYBE I DIDN'T ARTICULATE WHAT I WAS TRYING TO SAY.
WELL, I'M NOT ASKING ABOUT YOUR PROCESS.
I'M CERTAIN YOU GUYS HAVE A PROCESS WITHIN WHICH, YOU KNOW, TO THE BEST OF YOUR CAPACITY YOU OPERATE.
BUT WE HAVE OVER A MILLION PEOPLE WHO CAN HELP US OUT HERE.
SO I'M JUST TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW DO WE BEST DIRECT THEIR EFFORTS.
AND THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER IS, I DON'T KNOW THAT THE SYSTEM EXISTS, DIRECTOR MENDOZA, AND IN, IN WHICH CASE, YOU KNOW, JUST IN THINKING WHAT I'M THINKING ABOUT SUCCESSION PLANNING, A LOT OF WHAT I'M THINKING ABOUT IS OPERATIONS.
IF THAT'S ONE OF THOSE THINGS THAT WE COULD COME UP WITH A SYSTEM FOR THEM TO HELP US BETTER, THAT WOULD JUST BE ONE OF THE THINGS TO ADD TO THE WISHLIST.
SO FOR VEGETATION IN THE RIGHT OF WAY, UM, ACTUALLY BY CODE, IT'S THE ADJOINING PROPERTY OWNERS RESPONSIBILITY TO MANAGE, UH, VEGETATIVE OVERGROWTH FROM THEIR PROPERTY LINE UP TO THE EDGE OF CURB.
AND, UH, WHEN WE'RE MADE AWARE THAT THERE IS AN OBSTRUCTION, UH, TO THE PEDESTRIAN NETWORK CAUSED BY OVERGROWTH, UH, WE HAVE A TEAM OF, UH, INSPECTORS THAT WILL GO OUT PROACTIVELY, UH, TRY TO CONTACT THAT PROPERTY OWNER.
IF THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE, WE'LL LEAVE DOOR HANGERS TO THAT EFFECT.
IF IN OUR JUDGMENT, THAT OVERGROWTH PRESENTS AN IMMEDIATE, IN OUR PROFESSIONAL OPINION HAZARD, EITHER TO THE PEDESTRIAN, UH, OR THE, UH, MOBILITY, UH, TRAFFIC, IF IT'S CREATING A SITE OBSTRUCTION CAUSING PEDESTRIANS TO HAVE TO VEER OUT INTO THE ROADWAY, UH, TO NAVIGATE THEIR WAY DOWN, THEN WE WILL MITIGATE THAT OURSELVES, UM, WITHIN OUR DEPARTMENT.
UM, BUT WE DO, UH, CAMPAIGN AROUND EDUCATION AND CERTAINLY, UH, ARE HERE TO HELP OUR RESIDENTS UNDERSTAND, UH, THEIR RESPONSIBLE ROLE IN KEEPING VEGETATIVE OVERGROWTH MAINTAINED IN FRONT OF THEIR PROPERTIES.
AND I'M GONNA DO A QUICK TIME CHECK.
IT IS 2 37, AND WE ONLY HAVE THE ROOM FOR 23 MORE MINUTES.
WE HAVE ANOTHER PRESENTATION TO GET THROUGH AND A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT BRIEFINGS.
UM, I THINK WE'VE GOT A QUESTION FROM COUNCIL MEMBER LANE TO CLOSE US OUT.
NOT A QUESTION, JUST A THANK YOU, UH, FOR THE WORK TO BRING THESE LAYERS AND DIFFERENT PIECES OF INFORMATION TOGETHER THAT'LL MAKE IT EASIER FOR US TO, TO SERVE OUR CONSTITUENTS AND ANSWER THE QUESTIONS.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT PRESENTATION.
WE COULD PROBABLY SPEND TWO HOURS ON CHIP SEAL, FOG SEAL, AND ALL THE OTHER FUN THINGS THAT OUR STREETS GET TO GET TO EXPERIENCE.
[6. Briefing on new technology related to electric takeoff and landing vehicles and its future. ]
NOW WE HAVE A CM MIKE ROGERS JOINING US TODAY.WELL, GOOD AFTERNOON, AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR, UH, HAVING ME HERE TODAY, MADAM CHAIR AND, AND COUNCIL MEMBERS.
UH, I WANT TO TALK ABOUT THE, THE RISE OF THE ELECTRIC VERTICAL TAKEOFF AND LANDING AIRCRAFT IN THE UNITED STATES.
I I WILL SAY SOMETIMES EB TOLL, I'LL SAY SOMETIMES AIR TAXIS WHEN I'M TALKING ABOUT THIS, BUT THEY, THEY ARE THE FLYING VEHICLES, BUT THERE'S ALSO THE DRONES THAT ARE OUT THERE TODAY AS WELL AS AN INTRODUCTION TO THIS PARTICULAR TOPIC WE WANTED THERE, THERE, AND THIS IS A GREAT, UM, AVENUE TO DISCUSS THIS AS WE JUST TALKED ABOUT TRANSIT.
NOW I WANT TO TALK ABOUT SOMETHING NEW THAT'S OCCURRING WITHIN THE TRANSPORTATION INDUSTRY, A NEW MODE.
AND SO WITH THESE EV TOOLS, THEY'RE PROMISING A FASTER OR QUIETER AND A CLEANER TRAVEL.
UH, CITIES RIGHT NOW ARE EXPLORING WAYS TO TRY TO INTEGRATE THESE INTO THEIR EXISTING SYSTEMS. UH, AND, AND REALLY THE MAIN TAKEAWAY THAT I WANT TO BE ABLE TO LEAVE WITH TODAY IS TO REALLY START TO TALK ABOUT THE IMPACT THAT THIS CAN, THIS TECHNOLOGY CAN HAVE ON LAND USE AND LAND USE PLANNING.
AND THERE CAN BE MANY UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES THAT, THAT DO TAKE PLACE WITH THIS.
SO WE ARE IN A NEW FRONTIER RIGHT NOW WHEN IT COMES TO EV TOLL.
UM, THERE'S A RAPID INVESTMENT THAT IS TAKING PLACE WITHIN THIS COUNTRY.
THERE'S MULTIPLE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS THAT ARE BEING, UH, INVESTED IN A COUPLE OF, OF OF COMPANIES.
THERE'S, THERE'S MORE THAN TWO, BUT TWO MAJOR COMPANIES AND THEIR STOCKS ARE, ARE, ARE WILDLY GOING CRAZY AT THIS PARTICULAR TIME.
BUT THERE'S ALSO, UM, THE PRESIDENT ALSO, UM, PASSED AN EXECUTIVE ORDER.
THAT EXECUTIVE ORDER IS MAKING, OR, OR, OR ALLOWING THE FAA TO, UH, SPEED UP THE CERTIFICATION PROCESS NOW THAT, THAT'S HUGE.
[01:35:01]
AND YOU'LL SEE THAT IT, IT HAS HAD AN IMPACT IN THE INFLUX OF DOLLARS THAT HAVE ACTUALLY GONE TO THESE COMPANIES AS WELL.AND WE'RE ALSO SEEING A, A HUGE SHIFT ALSO FROM, YOU KNOW, GROUND BASE PLANNING TO LOOKING AT OUR VERTICAL NETWORKS.
AND WHAT I MEAN BY THAT IS, YOU KNOW, YOU HAVE COMPANIES LIKE AMAZON THAT ARE NOT JUST LOOKING AT GROUND TRANSPORTATION, THEY'RE ALSO LOOKING AT HOW TO DO DELIVERIES THROUGH DRONES.
AND SO NOW WE'RE TALKING ABOUT DELIVERIES OF PEOPLE TO ONE PLACE, TO ANOTHER, NOT IN AN AIRPLANE, BUT IN THE AIR.
AND THERE'S A LOT OF, UH, MOVEMENT EMERGING PUBLIC DEMONSTRATIONS AS YOU SEE RIGHT HERE.
AND I'M NOT TALKING A DEMONSTRATION POSE, BUT THE COMPANIES HAVING DEMONSTRATIONS.
AND THIS IS WHAT THIS PICTURE IS THAT WAS TAKEN A, A FEW WEEKS AGO, UH, IN LOS ANGELES AREA WHERE THE COMPANIES ARE GOING OUT, THEY'RE DOING LOTS OF FLIGHTS RIGHT NOW.
THEY HAD THEIR FIRST FLIGHT GOING FROM, UH, TWO AIRPORTS IN CALIFORNIA.
AS A MATTER OF FACT, WE'VE HAD THESE EV TOLLS HERE IN, UH, AUSTIN, AT SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST, AND THEY WERE DOING FLIGHTS THERE.
SO THIS IS HAPPENING, THIS IS REAL.
AND UM, JUST WANTED TO GIVE YOU SOME HIGHLIGHTS OF THE THINGS THAT ARE GOING ON IN THE COUNTRY.
UM, LOOK AT THE SECOND BULLET, ARCHER, WHICH IS ONE OF THE COMPANIES, UH, MAJOR COMPANIES THAT'S COMING OUT WITH THE, THE FLYING TAXIS UNVEILS PLANS FOR NEW YORK CITY AIR TAXI NETWORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE UNITED AIRLINES.
SO THEY'RE, THEY'RE, THEY'RE FAR AHEAD OF, OF US.
ANOTHER, UM, UH, VERY IMPORTANT ASPECT OF THE BULLET THAT TALKS ABOUT AIR TAXIS TO FERRY FANS AND VIPS TO VENUES AT THE 2028 LOS ANGELES OLYMPICS.
WELL, THEY'VE ALREADY STRUCK DEALS IN THE OLYMPICS.
FLYING TAXIS ARE GOING TO BE TRANSPORTING ATHLETES, VIPS AND, AND OTHERS FROM AREAS, UH, IN LOS ANGELES COUNTY.
AS THE OLYMPICS IS BEING HELD IN LOS ANGELES COUNTY, THE, THE, THE VENUES ARE SPREAD FAR APART.
AND SO THE DEALS HAVE ALREADY BEEN STRUCK TO HAVE, UH, FLYING TAXIS THAT ARE THESE EV TOLLS TO TO, TO SHUTTLE PEOPLE.
THERE'S, THERE'S A HUGE DEADLINE THAT'S LOOMING IN THIS COUNTRY TO GET THESE ALL, ALL SET AND READY TO GO.
AND THEN, AS I TALKED ABOUT THE, THE FINANCIAL SITUATION, ARCHER, WHICH IS THE OTHER, THE SECOND LARGEST, UM, UH, OTHER COMPANY THAT'S DEALING WITH THESE EV TOLLS, THEY RAISE 850 MILLION AFTER THE TRUMP EXECUTIVE ORDER THAT, THAT I TALKED ABOUT.
SO WHAT, WHAT DO WE HAVE TO REALLY START THINKING ABOUT, UM, IS WHAT, HOW DO THESE EV TOLL OPERATE? THEY NEED A PLACE TO LAND, AND GENERALLY THEY LAND AT, UH, VERTI PORTS.
AND SO WHERE DO THESE LANDING PLACES OCCUR? THEY GENERALLY LAND AT, UH, ON ROOFTOPS AND IN DOWNTOWN AREAS.
THEY WILL LOOK AT GARAGE CONVERSIONS FOR AREAS THAT THEY CAN TAKE OFF AND LAND.
AS A MATTER OF FACT, UH, WHILE I WAS IN DALLAS OVER FIVE YEARS AGO, I WAS WORKING WITH ONE OF THESE COMPANIES TO, TO, UH, LOOK AT, WE HAD TO A HELIPORT AND HOW TO CONVERT THAT HELIPORT INTO A VERTI PORT.
UH, THE VERTI PORT HAS TO HAVE AREAS FOR, UH, GATHERING AND GENERALLY THOSE VERTI PORTS NEED TO, TO ALSO HAVE SOME MUL MULTIMODAL CONNECTION, UH, FOR PEOPLE TO GET TO THE LAST MILE.
SO THERE'S SOME THINGS FROM A A, A LAND USE STANDPOINT THAT WE REALLY, TRULY NEED TO START, UH, THINKING ABOUT AS WE MOVE FORWARD.
AND THIS IS JUST A RENDERING HERE, UH, OF WHAT A POTENTIAL, UH, VERTI PORT COULD LOOK LIKE, UH, THAT, THAT INTEGRATES WITH, UH, THE TRANSIT SYSTEM THAT HAS A WAITING AREA.
UH, AND SO THERE'S SO MANY COMPLEX ITEMS THAT, UM, THESE TYPES OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES BRING TO THE TABLE.
THERE'S CHALLENGES WITH POTENTIALLY ZONING ACCESS.
PARKING IS ONE OF THE OTHER ITEMS. LAND VALUE SHIFTS.
ALSO RETROFITTING, UH, EXISTING STRUCTURES TO MEET AVIATION STANDARDS, UH, IS SOMETHING THAT IN THE FUTURE THAT WE REALLY HAVE TO START THINKING ABOUT.
AND WITH THIS NEW TECHNOLOGY, THERE, THERE WILL BE RIPPLE EFFECTS.
AND, AND, AND THE FIRST ONE, AS THESE VEHICLES ARE CALLED ELECTRIC VERTICAL TAKEOFF AND LANDING, THE IMPACT THAT IT COULD HAVE ON OUR GRID SYSTEM AS WE ALREADY HAVE, UM, WITH AI DATA HUBS TAKING SO MUCH OF THE, THE, THE GRID SYSTEMS
[01:40:01]
POWER, THESE AREAS WHERE VERTA PORTS OR VERTA STOPS OR VERTA HUBS WOULD TAKE PLACE, IS ALSO AN AREA IN WHICH THESE NEW VEHICLES, THE AIRCRAFT HAVE TO CHARGE.SO IT'S, WHEN YOU'RE LOOKING AT THE RETROFITTING OF WHETHER IT'S AN AIRPORT, AND GENERALLY YOUR AIRPORTS WOULD HAVE ALL THE INFRASTRUCTURE THAT'S NECESSARY TODAY, BUT YOUR DOWNTOWN BUILDING TOPS, YOU KNOW, HOW DO YOU GET CHARGING STATIONS UP THERE? HOW DO YOU, DO YOU HAVE THE PARKING INFRASTRUCTURE THAT'S NECESSARY? DO YOU HAVE THE OTHER MULTI MOBILITY, UM, AREAS, THE HUB RIGHT THERE TO, TO GET PEOPLE TO THEIR LAST MILE? AND THEN THE VERTA STOPS? AND THIS IS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT, YOU KNOW, WHEN, WHEN THEY GO ELSEWHERE TO A, A, SAY A SUBURBAN COMMUNITY OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, WHAT DOES THAT VERUS STOP LOOK LIKE? WHERE IS IT GONNA GO? HOW DOES IT, UH, HOW IS IT INTEGRATED WITHIN THAT COMMUNITY? THESE ARE SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS THAT TRULY NEED TO BE DISCUSSED BEFORE.
UM, WE GET TO A POINT OF HAVING THIS FULL INTEGRATION OF THESE EV TOOLS THROUGHOUT OUR COUNTRY.
UM, LOOKING AT THE GOVERNANCE AND, AND PLANNING, WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE DIFFERENT STRATA OF WHERE AIR, UH, IS REGULATED RIGHT NOW, AT THAT HIGHEST LEVEL YOU HAVE WHERE THE COMMERCIAL AIR OPERATES.
AND THEN AS WE START TO WORK OUR WAY DOWN, YOU HAVE THE HELICOPTERS AND THE GENERAL AVIATION.
WELL, THIS NEXT STRATA WOULD BE POTENTIALLY WHERE YOU'RE GONNA SEE THESE EV TOLLS.
HOWEVER, THESE EV TOLLS, IF THEY'RE COMING DOWN TO, UH, ROOFTOPS, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A CORRIDOR THAT YOU HAVE TO START THINKING ABOUT PLANNING FOR THAT.
AND THEN AS WE GO DOWN FURTHER INTO THE STRATA, YOU EVEN HAVE YOUR DRONE SYSTEMS. THESE ARE COMPLEX SITUATIONS THAT WE ARE GONNA HAVE TO GET OUR HANDS AROUND.
THINK ABOUT IT RIGHT NOW OF JUST WITH OUR PLANNING, WITH OUR, OUR GROUND NETWORK, WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH FHWA, UH, TXDOT, ALL OF THE OTHER AGENCIES.
AND SO WHEN WE GET INTO THESE CONVERSATIONS, WE'RE GONNA HAVE, UH, MORE FAA STATE LOCAL AGENCIES HAVING TO REALLY, UM, WORK TOGETHER TO DEVELOP THESE STANDARDS.
AND WE NEED TO REALLY START LOOKING AT HOW ARE WE GONNA INTEGRATE THIS AIRSPACE AND LAND USE PLANNING.
'CAUSE RIGHT NOW, UM, WITH THE STRATA THAT WE HAVE NOW UP AT THE TOP WHERE THE, THE AIR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT, UH, IN THE COMMERCIAL, WE DON'T NECESSARILY EVEN HAVE THE MODELS THAT EXIST TODAY TO, UH, LOOK AT THE PREDICTION OF THESE TRAVEL PATTERNS AND THE IMPACTS THAT THEY'RE GONNA HAVE.
AS WE TALKED ABOUT EOA LITTLE BIT EARLIER, THERE'S ANOTHER ASPECT OF, OF WHAT YOU COULD SEE IN POTENTIALLY ETON.
SO WHAT HAVE BEEN THE REACTIONS THUS FAR? 'CAUSE LIKE I SAID, THIS IS COMING AND LA HAS ALREADY INKED THE DEAL.
AND THIS IS COMING FOR THE OLYMPICS IN 2028.
UM, AND THIS, THIS ALL COMES FROM THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, AND THERE'S A LOT OF PUBLIC SKEPTICISM ABOUT THE NOISE, SAFETY AND PRIVACY.
EVEN THOUGH THESE VEHICLES, UM, AIRCRAFT, I SHOULD SAY ARE, ARE LESS NOISIER THAN, UH, WHAT WOULD BE A HELICOPTER, BUT THEY'RE STILL CONCERNED, ESPECIALLY FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN'T SEEN OR WITNESSED, UH, WHAT THE EV TOLLS ARE.
THEY'RE ALWAYS GONNA BE SKEPTICAL ABOUT THIS.
AND THOSE COMMUNITIES ARE, ARE RIGHT NOW DEALING WITH THEIR ZONING AND THEIR PLANNING BOARDS, AND THEY'RE CONSIDERING RULES.
AND THEY'RE ALSO DEALING WITH THE, THE ASPECT OF, YOU KNOW, THAT THEY WANT THEIR, THEIR COMMUNITIES TO EMBRACE INNOVATION, BUT THEY ARE LOOKING AT THE COMMUNITY WELLBEING.
AND I THINK WHAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT FOR THESE COMMUNITIES AND FOR OUR COMMUNITY SPECIFICALLY, IS TO LOOK AT LESSONS FROM HISTORY.
OUR TRANSPORTATION NETWORK HAS GROWN, OUR TRANSPORTATION NETWORK HAS HAD SOME MAJOR MILESTONES AS WELL.
AND ONE OF THOSE MAJOR MILESTONES THAT HAS HAPPENED, IT'S HAPPENED THROUGH THE ADVANCEMENT OF OUR HIGHWAY NETWORK.
AND I THINK WE REALLY NEED TO LOOK AT, WITH THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY SYSTEM WHAT HAPPENED.
AND WITH THAT NATIONAL HIGHWAY SYSTEM, THERE WERE UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES.
OR MAYBE THEY WERE INTENDED BY SOME, I DON'T KNOW, BUT THERE WERE CONSEQUENCES TO IT.
THERE WERE INEQUITIES THAT EXISTED.
AND WE HAVE THIS OPPORTUNITY, AS WE KNOW, WE'RE, WE'RE PROBABLY NOT GONNA SEE THIS UNTIL 2028.
WE COULD TAKE THIS TIME TO PROACTIVELY START TO PLAN.
[01:45:01]
WANT TO GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE, AND THIS IS A PERSONAL EXAMPLE OF HOW THESE LESSONS OF HOW OUR TRANSPORTATION NETWORK CAN HAVE A NEGATIVE EFFECT ON A COMMUNITY.NOW, MY GRANDPARENTS CAME TO DETROIT FROM ARKANSAS AND MISSISSIPPI IN THE 1940S.
WHY THEY CAME TO, UH, DETROIT AND MANY OF THE RUST BELT CITIES FOR JOBS, GREAT PAYING JOBS IN THE AUTO INDUSTRY, UNION JOBS IN THE AUTO INDUSTRY, THAT THAT PROVIDED THEM WITH, UH, GREAT QUALITY OF LIFE, LIVING IN THESE WONDERFUL NEIGHBORHOODS THAT WERE WALKABLE, THAT WERE AREAS THAT, YOU KNOW, WE COULD MODEL TODAY, WHERE YOU DIDN'T NEED TO HAVE A CAR TO GET TO WORK.
EVERYTHING THAT YOU NEEDED WAS THERE.
NO, NO DESERTS OF, UH, NOT BEING ABLE TO DEFINE GROCERIES.
AND SO HERE'S A MAP OF DETROIT, AND YOU'LL SEE SOME RED LINES THAT ARE ON THIS MAP.
BUT YOU LOOK, LOOK AT THE DENSITY OF THE CITY OF DETROIT PRIOR TO, UM, PRIOR TO THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY SYSTEM.
I DON'T KNOW IF YOU KNOW THIS, BUT THE CITY OF DETROIT AT THAT TIME, WAS THE FOURTH LARGEST CITY IN THE UNITED STATES BEFORE THE FREEWAY SYSTEM CAME IN.
BUT TAKE A REALLY HARD LOOK AT WHERE THOSE LINES ARE.
THOSE LINES ARE WHERE THE FREEWAY SITS TODAY.
THOSE LINES ARE AREAS WHERE MY GRANDPARENTS LIVED.
AND THOSE LINES ARE GOING THROUGH AREAS THAT WERE PREDOMINANTLY BLACK, PREDOMINANTLY PEOPLE OF COLOR.
AND WHEN THOSE FREEWAYS CAME IN, AND I JUST WANTED TO SHOW YOU A A LITTLE EXAMPLE.
THIS IS PARADISE VALLEY IN THE CITY OF DETROIT, THRIVING AREA, LOTS OF, UH, ACTIVITY, PEOPLE OUT ON THE STREET, EVERYTHING YOU NEEDED TO, TO HAVE THERE.
UM, AND THE HOMES ARE RIGHT BEHIND HERE SO PEOPLE COULD WALK TO, TO WHERE THEY NEEDED TO GO.
WELL, THAT FREEWAY CAME RIGHT THROUGH THOSE AREAS IN THE RED THAT I, THAT I SHOWED YOU.
THAT'S BEFORE THOSE FREEWAYS CAME IN.
LOOK AT THE PICTURE AT THE BOTTOM.
WHEN YOU HAVE SOMETHING THAT GOES THROUGH THE HEART OF A COMMUNITY, IT WILL DIE.
AND I'M NOT SAYING IT DIES IMMEDIATELY, BUT IT WILL.
AND THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT AREA.
AND THIS AREA, EVEN TODAY, STANDS AT A A A POINT WHERE IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE HOW IT USED TO, BUT THE MAIN THING, NOT ONLY IT LOOKS DIFFERENT, IT FEELS DIFFERENT.
THIS SENSE OF COMMUNITY IS NOT THERE WAS NOT THERE.
AND THIS STORY THAT I'M TELLING YOU RIGHT NOW HAS HAPPENED THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY WITH THIS HIGHWAY SYSTEM.
WE CANNOT AFFORD TO MAKE THOSE SAME MISTAKES.
AND THIS IS, THIS IS ONE OF THE FACTORIES RIGHT HERE, AS YOU COULD SEE, THAT PEOPLE USED TO BE ABLE TO WALK TO.
AND IF, IF I, IF THEY HAD A PICTURE, JUST A LITTLE BIT TO THE, THE RIGHT OF WHERE THAT IS, THAT'S WHERE YOU'LL SEE THE FREEWAY THAT WENT THROUGH THAT, THAT NEIGHBORHOOD THERE, WHICH KILLED THAT NEIGHBORHOOD.
SO I, I SAY THIS, I SAY THIS, AND I'M SO EXCITED TO BE HERE IN AUSTIN BECAUSE WE HAVE PHENOMENAL LEADERSHIP WITH YOU ALL.
AND WE HAVE TO, TO REALLY APPROACH THIS IN A WAY THAT IS GOING TO BE FOLLOWED THROUGH THE, THE, THE, THE, THE FIVE EES.
WE HAVE TO LOOK AT THIS FROM AN EMPATHY STANDPOINT, UNDERSTAND WHAT OUR COMMUNITY IMPACTS WILL POTENTIALLY BE BY A NEW TECHNOLOGY.
I'M GONNA TELL YOU, I'M A TECHNOLOGY WONK.
BUT WE HAVE TO LOOK AT THE IMPACTS THAT THIS CAN HAVE.
AND WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE PLANNING FOR THIS CORRECTLY FROM AN ETHICS STANDPOINT.
ENSURE THAT THERE'S TRANSPARENCY.
ENSURE THAT THERE'S FAIRNESS AS WE LOOK AT HOW THESE SYSTEMS CAN DEVELOP, MAKING SURE THERE'S EXCELLENCE THAT WE SET A NUMBER ONE PRIORITY, SAFETY, UH, FOR ALL SAFETY, FOR THOSE ON THE GROUND SAFETY THAT ARE THERE IN THE AIR.
AND MAKING SURE THAT THE DESIGN STANDARDS ARE, ARE FOLLOWED.
ENGAGEMENT, NOT ONLY ENGAGING WITH OUR, WITH OUR COMMUNITY, BUT ALSO ENGAGING WITH THE, THE, THE, THE INDUSTRY.
I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO WORK WITH THE INDUSTRY.
AND HERE'S A, ANOTHER ONE OF THE HISTORIC EXAMPLES THAT WE HAVE TODAY.
LOOK AT THE AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE SITUATION.
[01:50:01]
WE DIDN'T WORK WITH THEM, AND THEY WENT AND GOT THEIR REGULATIONS.I'D RATHER SIT WITH THEM ACROSS THE TABLE NOW AND HELP TO DEVELOP THIS TECHNOLOGY WHERE IT DOESN'T HARM OUR CITIES AND OUR COMMUNITY.
SO I THINK THAT ENGAGEMENT IS IMPORTANT AND EQUITY.
WE HAVE TO LOOK AT THIS AND, AND MAKE SURE THAT, HEY, IF WE'RE, WE'RE GOING TO, UH, HAVE THIS TYPE OF TECHNOLOGY IN OUR CITIES, WE'RE, WE'RE PROMOTING ACCESS FOR ALL OF OUR COMMITTEES AS WELL.
VERY IMPORTANT NOT TO LEAVE OUT ANYBODY.
AND SO WHAT'S THE FUTURE OUTLOOK OF THESE EV TOLLS, AS I'VE TALKED ABOUT, THEY'RE COMING.
IT'S NOT A, A MATTER OF OF WIN.
IT'S A MATTER OF HOW THEY'RE GONNA BE COMING ACROSS THIS COUNTRY.
AND YOU'RE GONNA SEE, LIKE I SAID, IN 28 FOR THE OLYMPICS, THEY WILL BE HERE.
THE ADMINISTRATION AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL HAS ALREADY CLEARED A PATHWAY FOR THIS.
AND SO THERE ARE SOME, SOME THINGS THAT WE CAN DO.
FAA RIGHT NOW, UM, HAS DEVELOPED.
THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION IS DEVELOPING A NEW EV TOOL AND ADVANCED AIR MOBILITY I INTEGRATION PILOT PROGRAM DESIGNED TO TEST AND INTEGRATE, UH, NEW AIRCRAFT INTO THE NATIONAL AIRSPACE.
THIS PROGRAM IS, IS, IS GONNA HELP TO, UH, DEVELOP THE REGULATORY FRAMEWORK, UH, THROUGH A PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS.
SO THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THIS CITY POTENTIALLY TO BE A PART OF THAT.
UH, I DON'T KNOW HOW THE SELECTIONS WILL BE MADE, BUT I, I WOULD, I WOULD LOVE TO BE A PART OF THE DISCUSSIONS INSTEAD OF HAVING SOMETHING JUST BE THRUST UPON US AS A COMMUNITY.
UH, SO AS WE PREPARE FOR TAKEOFF, THE CALL FOR ACTION THAT I DO HAVE IS OUR CITIES.
WE, WE REALLY MUST GET PROACTIVE IN, IN, IN, IN ADDRESSING OUR LAND USE AND OUR INFRASTRUCTURE IMPACTS THAT, THAT THIS NEW TECHNOLOGY COULD HAVE.
UM, WE CAN'T REPEAT THE SAME MISTAKES THAT HAPPEN WITH THE HIGHWAY SYSTEM, AND WE NEED TO TRY TO INTEGRATE OUR EV TOLL PLANNING INTO THE LONG RANGE TRANSPORTATION AND ZONING DOCUMENTS.
'CAUSE WE HAVE, AS IMAGINE AUSTIN MOBILITY PLANS ARE COMING UP AND, AND ULTIMATELY COLLABORATE WITH THE, WITH THE AVIATION COMMUNITY, WITH THE UTILITIES, WITH OUR COMMUNITY AND, AND MAKE SURE WE ARE A PART OF THE PROCESS.
AND THE PROCESS DOESN'T JUST, YOU KNOW, AFFECT OUR COMMUNITY.
I THINK THE, THE FUTURE OF THESE FLYING VEHICLES IS NOW AND NOW'S OUR OPPORTUNITY TO REALLY START TO OPEN UP THAT DISCUSSION.
I AM OPEN TO ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU MAY HAVE.
ALL RIGHT, WELL WE ONLY HAVE LIMITED CAPACITY TO BE ABLE TO CLOSE OUT THIS ITEM.
WE'VE GOT JUST A TWO, TWO MINUTES, LESS THAN TWO MINUTES LEFT OF NOT EVEN A QUESTION.
WHY, WHY DON'T YOU GO AHEAD AND KICK IT OFF.
I PROMISE YOU WON'T EVEN BE A QUESTION.
I JUST HEARD YOU IMPLY THAT THERE COULD BE SOME LAND USE AND OR, UM, ZONING CONSIDERATIONS AROUND THE JETSONS, UH, TAXIS.
SO I JUST, MY HOPE IS THAT YOU'LL BE IN TOUCH WITH THE OFFICE AND WE'LL START HAVING SOME DISCUSSIONS, UH, FOR HOUSING AND PLANNING COMMITTEE PURPOSES.
THAT'S WHY I WANTED TO, I WANTED TO START THE CONVERSATION OFF TODAY SO WE CAN HAVE FUTURE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT THIS.
YEAH, WE APPRECIATE BEING MADE AWARE OF THIS.
I KNOW THERE'S ALWAYS THE DELICATE BALANCE OF TRYING TO WORK WITHIN DIFFERENT LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT.
YOU KNOW, THE CITY OF AUSTIN MAY NOT HAVE CONTROL OVER EVERYTHING.
WE'D LOVE TO HAVE CONTROL OVER.
UM, I FIRST AND FOREMOST WILL CARE MOST ABOUT SAFETY ISSUES.
I'VE SEEN THE WAY PEOPLE OPERATE VEHICLES OUT ON THE ROADS AND I I'M VERY FEARFUL THAT THERE COULD BE SOME SITUATIONS WHERE SOME OF THESE AIR TAXIS, YOU KNOW, ACCIDENTALLY BUMP INTO EACH OTHER.
WHAT DOES THAT LOOK? YOU KNOW, I'M JUST, WE DON'T HAVE TO ANSWER THAT RIGHT NOW, BUT I'M JUST VERY CONCERNED THAT THINGS ARE GONNA BE FALLING OUT OF THE SKY.
AND I THINK THAT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT ANYBODY WANTS HERE IN AUSTIN, TEXAS.
UM, BUT I'M AWARE THAT THERE ARE DIFFERENT LEVERS AND MECHANISMS THAT WE HAVE, UH, BETWEEN THE FEDERAL AND THE STATE LEVEL THAT WE HAVE TO BE ABLE TO WORK WITH AND IN BETWEEN.
I HOPE WE CAN RIGHT THE WRONGS OF THE PAST AND MAKE BETTER DECISIONS, YOU KNOW, AS A NATION ON HOW WE GET FROM POINT A TO POINT B, HOW WE DO THAT SAFELY.
UH, WE JUST WE'RE ABLE TO CELEBRATE 10 YEARS OF VISION ZERO, WHICH IS VERY EXCITING.
YOU KNOW, IT'S A PROGRAM THAT IS MEANT TO KEEP PEOPLE SAFE AS THEY COMMUTE ABOUT OUR TOWN.
AND I APPRECIATE YOUR FOCUS ON THIS TO REALLY UNDERSTAND IT, UNPACK IT, AND TRY TO MAKE SURE THAT, UH, WE GET THE BEST OF THE BEST OUT OF A PROGRAM LIKE THIS.
ARE THERE ANY OTHER FINAL COMMENTS? WE'VE STILL GOT FUTURE ITEMS AND THINGS LIKE THAT TO GET THROUGH.
[01:55:01]
ALRIGHT, THAT[7. Report by the Austin Transportation and Public Works related to ongoing mobility programs and projects in the Central Texas region, including construction and service updates.]
WILL TAKE US TO OUR CITY OF AUSTIN MOBILITY REPORT.IF THERE'S NO FORMAL PRESENTATION, I MAY JUST READ THE, READ THE HEADLINES.
UM, THERE IS SOME INFORMATION ABOUT THE FUTURE OF SIXTH STREET ITSELF AND WHAT WE WANT TO DO TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT STREET IS SAFE FOR FOLKS, WHAT THE CAR AND PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE ACCESS FOR THAT AREA LOOKS LIKE.
SO THAT SURVEY IS STILL LIVE AND ONLINE.
UM, CITY OF AUSTIN AND CAT METRO CELEBRATE INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS AT MAINOR AND 51ST STREET.
GREAT NEWS HIKE AND BIKE TRAIL HAS SOME DETOURS IN PLACE DUE TO THE CONSTRUCTION ON I 35.
I KNOW THEY'RE DOING SOME WATER QUALITY WORK IN THAT AREA AND IT'S AFFECTING THE TRAIL ACCESS, HELP TEACH STUDENTS ABOUT BICYCLES BY BECOMING A BIKE CLUB ASSISTANT VOLUNTEER.
UM, THERE'S A LOT OF GREAT BIKE CLUBS AND BIKE BUSES THAT ARE BEING COORDINATED THROUGHOUT TOWN, UM, THAT ARE REALLY BRINGING A LOT OF JOY TO THE KIDS.
AND SO I REALLY WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THOSE ARE HIGHLIGHTED, UM, AS WE MOVE THROUGH THE BEGINNINGS OF THE SCHOOL YEAR.
AND CITY SEEKS, CITY SEEKS EMPLOYEE INPUT ON COMMUTING HABITS.
AIRPORT BOULEVARD HAS SOME PROJECT UPDATES.
ROSS ROAD HAS CONSTRUCTION UPDATES, UM, WEST MARY AND EVERGREEN ROUNDABOUT UPDATES.
AUSTIN BERGSTROM INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT IS DOING NEW PUBLIC ART INSTALLATION AND A NUMBER OF OTHER COMMUNITY RESOURCES THAT ARE LINKED IN THAT, UM, DIRECTOR'S REPORT.
SO THERE'S A LOT OF GREAT WORK HAPPENING,
[8. Identify items to be discussed at future meetings.]
UM, THAT TAKES US TO FUTURE ITEMS. I WON'T READ THE LONG BUCKET LIST, BUT JUST KNOW THAT I MEET, ME AND MY TEAM MEET WITH CITY STAFF ON A VERY REGULAR BASIS TO HELP ADDRESS WHAT ARE THE NEXT PRESSING TOPICS FOR US TO PUT ON OUR MOBILITY COMMITTEE AGENDAS.I KNOW THAT COUNCIL MEMBER VELA HAD BROUGHT ONE THING UP THAT HE WAS THINKING ABOUT THAT HE WANTED TO ADDRESS ON FUTURE ITEMS. THANK YOU, CHAIRMAN.
I KNOW WE'VE HAD THE, THE, THE SCOOTER KIND OF, UH, UH, WE CLOSED THE SCOOTER MARKET AND AT THE TIME WE HAD, UH, I THINK FOUR COMPANIES.
AND I KNOW WE'RE DOWN TO, UH, TO TWO COMPANIES.
UH, AND, UH, I, I WOULD AT SOME POINT LIKE TO, UH, TO TALK ABOUT THAT AND SEE WHERE WE ARE, WHEN WE'RE GONNA OPEN IT UP AGAIN, WHAT IT'S GONNA LOOK LIKE, UH, AND EVEN WHERE THE SCOOTERS ARE GONNA GO, THAT, THAT KIND OF, UH, OF STUFF LIKE THAT.
SO I JUST WANTED TO KIND OF PUT THAT OUT THERE FOR A FUTURE ITEM.
I KNOW THAT, UH, ABOUT A PROBABLY YEAR AGO, I THINK IS WHEN WE SAID, HEY, THERE'S ABOUT 3000 DEVICES THAT ARE DEPLOYED OUT HERE THAT ARE DOCKLESS MOBILITY.
AND SO THERE WAS A BIG CONVERSATION AROUND CURBSIDE MANAGEMENT.
WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE? AS, AS I'VE RESEARCHED WHAT O OTHER CITIES ARE DOING THAT IS HAVING A LITTLE MORE SUCCESS IS, YOU KNOW, WHERE DO YOU ACTUALLY PUT THE SCOOTER AND PEOPLE ARE PUTTING THEM IN THE BIKE RACKS AND THAT IT'S HARD TO GET THE SCOOTER OUTTA THE WAY SO THAT YOU CAN PUT YOUR BIKE THERE.
AND SO I THINK THERE'S SOME GOOD CONVERSATIONS TO BE HAD, BUT I'M ALSO CURIOUS ABOUT WHAT, WHAT IS THE CURRENT NUMBER OF SCOOTERS DEPLOYED IN THE AREA.
AND I THINK IT'S PROBABLY TIMELY, GIVEN THAT SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST WILL NOT HAVE A CONVENTION CENTER FOR MARCH, AND THAT WILL PROBABLY LOOK A LITTLE MORE DECENTRALIZED.
I'M, I'M JUST GUESSING I HAVE NO, UM, INFORMATION ABOUT WHAT THEIR PLAN IS, BUT WITHOUT A CONVENTION CENTER, OBVIOUSLY THERE HAS TO BE SOME OTHER PLAN AND I THINK SCOOTERS ARE GONNA BE A PART OF THAT CONVERSATION.
SO WE'LL JUST FLAG THAT IN OUR LONG LIST OF FUTURE ITEMS. MM-HMM
BUT ON THAT NOTE, IT IS 3:03 PM AND I WILL ADJOURN THE MOBILITY COMMITTEE FOR OCTOBER, 2025.