Title
Approve Meeting Minutes - November 15, 2017 (Action)
Body
Transportation Commission
Date of Meeting (03/28/2018)
Item #4A
(ACTION)
Approve Meeting Minutes - November 15, 2017
DRAFT MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING OF THE
CITY OF ALAMEDA TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2017
Chair Bellows convened the meeting at 7:02pm.
1. ROLL CALL
Present: Chair Bellows, Commissioners Palmer, Hans, Miley, Bertken.
Absent: Vice-Chair Vargas, Commissioner Soules.
2. AGENDA CHANGES
*None*
3. ANNOUNCEMENTS/PUBLIC COMMENT
Andrea Wuttke gave a brief presentation on her proposal for aerial tramways connecting Alameda to BART stations in Oakland. She said it would take six minutes to reach West Oakland BART, and would require bus system integration.
Arnold Brillinger spoke about the renamed free Alameda Loop Shuttle. He said we need to get the word out so people can take advantage of the service.
3A Climate Action Plan Draft Work Scope to City Council: Tuesday, December 5 at 7:00 p.m. (City Hall, Council Chambers)
3B Transportation Commission Meeting: Wednesday, January 24, 2018 at 7:00 p.m.
4. CONSENT CALENDAR
4A 2017-4538
Approve Meeting Minutes - September 27, 2017 (Action)
Commissioner Miley made a motion to approve the minutes. Commissioner Bertken seconded the motion. The motion passed 4-0-1. (Chair Bellows abstained due to her absence from the September meeting.)
5. NEW BUSINESS
5A 2017-4939
Approve AC Transit’s Transbay Tomorrow Proposal for Alameda Except for Reducing Line OX Frequency (Action)
Staff Member Payne introduced the item. The staff report and attachments can be found at: <https://alameda.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=3205740&GUID=3D9FE359-5A66-45CC-AFEB-C24E95C2E0A6&FullText=1>
AC Transit Board Member Elsa Ortiz gave an introduction to the Transbay Tomorrow proposal.
Linda Morris, AC Transit, gave the presentation on the plan details.
Commissioner Miley asked what the overall capacity changes would be for the reduced Line OX afternoon service.
Ms. Morris said the average ridership was in the high 20s. She said the fleet is mixed right now and that they would commit to using the higher capacity MCI buses due to the reduced frequency.
Chair Bellows asked if they are still anticipating and planning for growth on the line that is being reduced.
Ms. Morris said they will wait for the expansion plan to address possible growth in services.
Commissioner Palmer asked if AC Transit is working with the Planning Board to anticipate demand from new residents and what flexibility there is to address this increased demand from new housing construction coming online after the plan is adopted.
Ms. Morris said the expansion plan is expected to double transbay service if the funding (RM3) comes through.
Commissioner Palmer asked how much time the dedicated lanes would save when Salesforce Tower would open.
Ms. Morris said they are estimating a savings of 5-10 minutes per trip once the dedicated access bridge and lanes to the new terminal are open.
Commissioner Bertken asked if there might be demand for even earlier eastbound service on Line W, similar to Line O. He said the comparison between the time it takes to travel by car and by bus was too optimistic.
Ms. Morris said they were trying to provide a very rough estimate of the competition between modes. She said they used Google Maps estimates of travel time from Alameda.
Chair Bellows asked what would happen if RM3 failed to pass, if there was a backup plan to fund the desired service expansion.
Ms. Morris said they want to have the service expansion plan in place for when and if RM3 passes. She said they could pursue other funding sources if it does not pass.
Chair Bellows asked if the new buses would have technology that would make accepting local fares on transbay routes faster.
Ms. Morris said the fare medium would be the same regardless of old or new buses and there would have to be some switching back and forth for local riders. She said MTC is developing a second generation Clipper Card system and that she is not involved, but it may alleviate some of that issue.
Commissioner Miley suggested there could be two card readers on each bus.
There were no public speakers.
Commissioner Miley asked if the report was heard by the Alameda-AC Transit liaison committee.
Staff Member Payne said the topic was heard and the same issue about Line OX service reduction was raised.
Commissioner Miley said that with the growth of the island that any reduction in service would be counterintuitive.
Commissioner Palmer asked why none of the double decker buses currently are proposed for Alameda.
Ms. Morris said they have higher demand in Emeryville and Berkeley, which will get the first 15 double decker buses.
Commissioner Palmer asked if there would be an issue fitting the double decker buses through the tubes.
Ms. Morris said the height of the buses would not be a problem.
Commissioner Bertken asked if the disapproval of the Line OX reduction would impact the plan elsewhere.
Ms. Morris said the cost neutral plan requires trade-offs in some areas to achieve service improvements in others.
Ms. Ortiz said they would love to add more service but they do not have the money unless RM3 passes.
Commissioner Palmer asked if developers of new housing are being asked to help subsidize transit.
Staff Member Ott said that all developments pay fees to fund transit. She said the Line 19 service at 20-minute headways was only possible because of the special taxes on new developments.
Commissioner Miley said they are really just stating Alameda’s priorities tonight and not affecting the overall cost neutral nature of the plan, which will be worked out later.
Chair Bellows said they are moving to approve AC Transit’s Transbay Tomorrow proposal with the exception of reducing the Line OX service. Commissioner Miley seconded the motion. The motion passed 5-0.
5B 2017-4940
Receive Status Report on Implementation of the Adopted Plan for Access to the Harbor Bay Ferry Terminal (Information)
Staff Member Ott gave the staff presentation. The staff report and attachments can be found at: <https://alameda.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=3205741&GUID=3B82C9A7-E63D-4F13-90BC-E7EFF40BA6DF&FullText=1>
Kevin Connolly, WETA, applauded City Staff and AC Transit for their efforts to address these issues and make difficult decisions. He said their business is booming and they are reaching their limits for their current service levels.
Commissioner Hans asked if they had plans to implement paid parking at the Harbor Bay Ferry.
Mr. Connolly said they originally wanted to implement paid parking at the same time the permit parking on Bay Farm started. He said they had some issues and decided to let the permit parking roll out first and see what happened. He said they hope to have charges in place in the first half of 2018. He said they are sensitive to the cost of their service but understand the logic of providing a small disincentive for people to drive.
Chair Bellows asked if they could charge more for parking earlier in the day and reduce the fee as the day goes on.
Mr. Connolly said that all options are on the table. He said the nature of their operations means that it will limit what kinds of things they can do.
Commissioner Palmer asked what kind of price range they are thinking about. She said going to a machine at BART to pay for parking adds time and asked if they can keep it simple and have permits.
Mr. Connolly said their initial study said that they should look at $2-3 per day. He said that further information indicates that it might take something like $5 to get people to change behavior. He said using a phone or app like Golden Gate ferry has worked very well.
Chair Bellows asked if the AC Transit driver could notify the ferry to wait if they are close but running behind.
Mr. Connolly said the problem is on AC Transit’s end. He said the boat is 99% on time.
Commissioner Miley said he knows Line 21 is not reliable because of the length of the route. He asked if AC Transit has considered splitting the route.
Staff Member Ott said AC Transit is looking at ways to address that issue systematically.
Commissioner Hans asked if moving the last ferry to a slightly later time would help solve the problem for parents who have to drop off kids at school.
Mr. Connolly said they have competing groups of riders that want earlier or later departure times. He said they are facing new issues at Harbor Bay every year due to increased ridership.
Christine Lok said she represents a large group of riders. She said the AC Transit service does not serve the ferry riders well. She said she supports the parking permit idea. She says it has to coincide with other improvements and that riders will want to know where the funds are going.
*No action was required*
5C 2017-4941
Review Climate Plan Update Draft Work Scope (Information)
Staff Member Garland gave the staff presentation. The staff report and attachments can be found at: <https://alameda.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=3205794&GUID=0CFEF934-A6FF-4DD8-986E-6EF13E792F30&FullText=1>
Commissioner Miley suggested staff get in touch with the State’s Coastal Conservancy staff on sea level rise adaptation issues.
Chair Bellows said the plan seems to be on the right track. She asked if there are any concrete steps we are taking to address the transportation contribution to greenhouse gas emissions.
Staff Member Ott said the Transportation Choices Plan evaluated the reduction in GHG emissions the plan would result in. She said the plan should put the city on track to exceed the transportation-related emissions reduction targets.
Commissioner Miley said the public would want to see the tangible items that would be helping us meet the goals shown in the data.
Chair Bellows opened the public hearing.
Pat Potter, CASA and Bike Walk Alameda, said the Transportation Choices Plan does not address the Bicycle and Ped Plans, which will be important for meeting our GHG goals. She said we need to really talk to people to figure out what way to get people to take the bus or ride a bike.
Ruth Abbe, CASA, said they have not been very active on transportation issues in the past. She said that acknowledging that transportation is responsible for 52% of our GHG emissions means they will be taking a more active role in transportation issues. She encouraged the commissioners to fully participate in the development of the Climate Action Plan to aspire to some attainable goals in the plan.
Chair Bellows closed the public hearing.
Commissioner Miley said that the transportation share shows how our bike and pedestrian plans need to chip away at our GHG numbers.
Staff Member Garland asked for an informal response from each commissioner about whether the plan was headed in the right direction or not.
Chair Bellows said the speaker’s comments about the bike and pedestrian plan effects on the plan. She asked to talk about the LimeBikes. She said they are everywhere, but there are no helmets.
Staff Member Ott said they are looking at ways to help get minors wearing helmets when riding. She said there have been over 11,000 trips since the launch with about 350 per day.
6. STAFF COMMUNICATIONS
6A Potential Future Meeting Agenda Items
1. Alameda Transportation Management Association Annual Report
2. Paratransit Program Annual Review
3. One-way Carshare
4. 2014 Parking Occupancy Goal Update
5. Traffic Calming Draft Policy and Prioritized List 6. Alameda Point Existing Tenant Proposed Fees
7. ANNOUNCEMENTS/PUBLIC COMMENT
Commissioner Palmer asked how we can work more with the Planning Board to address the traffic issues as new housing comes on board.
Staff Member Ott said they did take the Transportation Choices Plan to City Council and had a robust discussion. She said they are going to add some edits to the final plan to include some next steps on many of the big ticket long-term items. She said they can look into a joint Transportation Commission/Planning Board meeting to discuss the broader land use and transportation issues.
Commissioner Miley suggested that anytime there is a big capital item or plan that could be heard by both bodies simultaneously it could save a lot of staff time as well.
Andrea Wuttke asked that the tramway system be considered at the same time the engineering study for a bicycle and pedestrian bridge is conducted.
Chair Bellows said operating costs would be an issue for a mass transit system. She said the tram idea has been studied in the past.
8. ADJOURNMENT
Chair Bellows adjourned the meeting at 8:56pm.