DRAFT MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING OF THE
CITY OF ALAMEDA TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2020
Chair Soules convened the meeting at 7:00pm.
1. ROLL CALL
Present: Chair Soules, Commissioners Kohlstrand, Nachtigall, Hans, Johnson, Yuen, Weitze.
Absent: None.
2. AGENDA CHANGES
Gail Payne, Senior Transportation Coordinator, requested that Staff Communications be moved to the front of the meeting in order for the City Engineer to give a status report on recent and upcoming Public Works actions.
Commissioners expressed unanimous support for moving item 6, Staff Communications, to the front of the agenda.
*6. STAFF COMMUNICATIONS*
Scott Wikstrom, City Engineer, gave an update on near term actions taken in response to the collisions involving children that occurred in Fall 2019 as well as some near term safety and maintenance projects.
Commissioner Kohlstrand noted that the warrants used for decisions like new stop signs seem skewed towards automobiles and asked if we can look at updating the criteria we use when evaluating safety for people walking and biking.
Lisa Foster, Transportation Planner, gave a brief update about Vision Zero planning and implementation efforts.
Commissioner Johnson referenced a news story about success Norway has had with safety by reducing and enforcing speed limits.
3. ANNOUNCEMENTS/PUBLIC COMMENT
3-A Transportation Commission Special Meeting: Wed, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m.
3-B Save the Date: Grand Opening Celebration of the Cross Alameda Trail (Main Street to Jean Sweeney Park) - Sat, Feb. 29, 10 a.m. to 12 noon, Webster Street Plaza by Ralph Appezzato Pkwy. Event Listing: https://www.facebook.com/events/1770417466416590/
3-C Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) 2020 Trainings: https://www.alamedaca.gov/Departments/Fire-Department/Alameda-CERT
3-D Alameda Active Transportation Plan • Web page: www.ActiveAlameda.org • Existing conditions map link for input: https://tooledesign.github.io/F0061-Alameda-City-ATP/
3-E Emergency Alerts for Alameda - Subscribe at AC Alert web page: https://www.acgov.org/emergencysite/
3-F Regional Emergency Transportation Alerts - Subscribe: <https://511.org/alerts/emergencies/511Alert>
3G. Clipper Card (adults) - order on line or at Walgreens or set up Autoload to add value automatically: https://www.clippercard.com/ClipperWeb/getTranslink.do
3H. Clipper Card Discounts for youth, seniors and people with disabilities - https://www.clippercard.com/ClipperWeb/discounts/index.do
3I. Mastick Senior Center Transportation 101 - Tues, Feb 11 at 1 p.m.
3J. FasTrak or new toll tag for upcoming I-880 Express Lanes scheduled to open late summer 2020: on line or at Walgreens (except not Park Street location) and then register on line: <https://www.bayareafastrak.org/en/signup/signUp.shtml>
4. CONSENT CALENDAR
4-A 2020-7648
Approve Meeting Minutes - November 20, 2019
Commissioner Kohlstrand moved approval of the minutes; Commissioner Nachtigall seconded the motion. The motion passed 7-0.
5. NEW BUSINESS
5-A 2020-7649
Endorse the Transportation Choices Plan Year 2 Annual Report and the West Alameda Transportation Management Association Year 5 Annual Report (Andrew Thomas, Director of Planning, Building and Transportation)
Commissioner Yuen recused herself from the discussion regarding the West Alameda TMA because she is a resident of Alameda Landing.
Staff Member Payne gave a presentation. The staff report and attachments can be found at: <https://alameda.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4306960&GUID=6660FA4F-B751-454E-9296-7EA4262ED671&FullText=1>.
John Atkinson, Executive Director of the West Alameda TMA, spoke about the history of the TMA.
Commissioner Weitze asked about the Line 96/96x changes and ending of the Target shuttle. He asked how we would decide if the change has been a failure and trigger returning to what has been a very successful shuttle program for Alameda Landing.
Staff Member Payne listed some of the benefits of the change including expanding hours, service areas, access to the ferry, eliminating competition between a private shuttle and a public transit route, and serving our lowest income and most transit dependent neighborhoods with increased service.
Commissioner Weitze noted that the nature of the shuttle only having two stops may have been what attracted people from the new development and worried that the ridership could drift if the service was part of a longer line.
Commissioner Kohlstrand expressed support for consolidating the TMAs. She said there is a lot of good data available for the commercial users and asked if there would be a way to identify trip origin and destination solutions.
Commissioner Nachtigall asked if the Line 19 would serve a similar role for the Northern Waterfront developments as the Line 96 does, increasing frequency with fees from new developments.
Staff Member Payne said that the Line 19 is actually the model, and the peak hour increased service is a result of funding from the new residents.
Commissioner Hans made a motion to endorse the West Alameda TMA Annual Report. Commissioner Kohlstrand seconded the motion. The motion passed 6-0.
Commissioner Yuen rejoined the dais.
Staff Member Payne gave presentation on the Transportation Choices Plan Annual Report.
Chair Soules opened the public comment.
Susie Hufstader recommended that the Transportation Commission get involved in some of the regional and Oakland planning efforts underway and expressed strong support for the public bus options over maintaining private shuttles.
Chair Soules closed the public comment.
Commissioner Kohlstrand said we need to have better measures of effectiveness to see if we are making the most cost effective decisions needed to achieve climate change goals.
Chair Soules said she was looking for rigorous criteria on how to prioritize the numerous “high priority” items in the Transportation Choices Plan. She said we need to be more accountable in measuring success and failure for our own projects and create a sense of competitiveness to see which would achieve the greatest impacts.
Commissioner Weitze said the light timing changes are needed when infrastructure changes, mentioning the changes at Pacific and Appezzato on Main Street.
Staff Member Payne responded to some of the issues raised by Commissioners.
Commissioner Kohlstrand added that being able to put the impact into clear soundbytes for public consumption would be really helpful.
Commissioner Nachtigall made a motion to endorse the Transportation Choices Plan Annual Report. Commissioner Hans seconded the motion. The motion passed 7-0.
5-B 2020-7650
Endorse the 2019 Annual Report on the Climate Action and Resiliency Plan (Patrick Pelegri-O’Day, Climate Action Coordinator)
Patrick Pelegri-O'Day, Climate Action Coordinator, gave a presentation. The staff report and attachments can be found at: <https://alameda.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4306974&GUID=3E3FA250-7C90-42E6-B6CC-82030620D359&FullText=1>.
Chair Soules expressed appreciation for the realistic approach taken in the report as to which items are achievable in given time periods.
Commissioner Weitze suggested tying the scary flooding and sea-level rise maps to the recently passed infrastructure bond to show how the two are connected for residents in a concrete, understandable way.
Commissioner Yuen said the dashboard should reflect changing health outcomes from these type of climate related actions.
Commissioner Kohlstrand said so much of this discussion is determined by land use policy which needs to be part of the climate action equation.
Commissioner Kohlstrand made a motion to endorse the report. Commissioner Yuen seconded the motion. The motion passed 7-0.
5-C 2020-7651
Provide input on Active Transportation Plan Draft Vision and Goals, and Receive Project Update (Rochelle Wheeler, Senior Transportation Coordinator)
Rochelle Wheeler, Senior Transportation Coordinator, gave a presentation. The staff report and attachments can be found at: <https://alameda.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4306999&GUID=0F41AD7D-39A1-4465-B886-583743D11DBC&FullText=1>.
Chair Soules opened the public comment.
Susie Hufstader, Bike East Bay, said Alameda’s community is the most engaged she has seen after watching many of these plans be developed. She said the city is ready for some big transformations and difficult choices ahead.
Chair Soules closed the public comment.
Commissioner Yuen gave feedback on using consistent language and connecting these issues to the need for transit connectivity.
Commissioner Kohlstrand suggested inserting the community health impacts into this language.
Commissioner Nachtigall provided active words to improve the vision statement.
Commissioner Weitze suggested splitting the goals into on-island and off-island trips because of the different challenges each pose.
6. STAFF COMMUNICATIONS
6-A Potential Future Meeting Agenda Items
1. Vision Zero Policy Implementation in Response to City Council Referral
2. Central Avenue Concept - Webster Street Area and Environmental Clearance
3. General Plan Updates
6-B Future Meeting Dates for 2020 - Meetings start at 7 p.m.
1. Wednesday, February 26 (Special Meeting)
2. Wednesday, March 25
3. Wednesday, May 27
4. Wednesday, July 22
5. Wednesday, September 23
6. Wednesday, November 18
7. ANNOUNCEMENTS/PUBLIC COMMENT
Jim Strehlow asked if he was allowed to cross a solid white line to enter the newly re-striped bike lane on Broadway at Clement.
8. ADJOURNMENT
Chair Soules adjourned the meeting at 9:05 p.m.