{"body": "TransportationCommission", "date": "2005-10-26", "page": 1, "text": "TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION MINUTES\nOCTOBER 26, 2005\nChair Knox White called the Transportation Commission to order at 7:35 P.M.\n1.\nROLL CALL - Roll was called and the following recorded:\nMembers Present:\nJohn Knox White\nEric Schatmeier\nRobb Ratto\nPattianne Parker\nJeff Knoth (arrived at 7:45 P.M.)\nRobert McFarland (arrived at 7:50 P.M.)\nAbsent:\nMichael Krueger\nStaff Present:\nBarbara Hawkins, City Engineer\nBarry Bergman, Program Specialist II, Public Works\nErnest Sanchez, Ferry Manager\n2.\nAPPROVAL OF MINUTES\nChair Knox White noted that at the September meeting the motion for approval of the July\nminutes was made by Commissioner Parker and seconded by Commissioner Ratto. He also\nstated that above \"staff communications\" there was a decision to table the discussion of the\nproposed task force to address input into selected Oakland projects until the October meeting.\nWith these changes, the minutes were approved unanimously.\n3.\nAGENDA CHANGES\nChair Knox White indicated that Item 7A, City of Alameda Ferry Program: Short Range Transit\nPlan (SRTP), would be taken up once Staff Sanchez arrives.\n4.\nCOMMISSION COMMUNICATIONS\nThe Multimodal Circulation Subcommittee will meet immediately after the Transportation\nCommission meeting with Staff Hawkins and Staff Bergman to discuss the comments on the draft\nproposal plan. On November 2, the Multimodal Circulation Task Force will meet in Room 391\nstarting at 7:30 p.m. The Subcommittee will then bring the draft plan to the next TC meeting on\nNovember 16th. incorporating feedback from the Task Force. The next two months the TC\nmeetings will be held on the 3rd Wednesday of the month instead of the 4th due to the holidays.\nSince the December meeting is currently scheduled for December 21, which is close to the\nholidays, a change to December 14 will be considered at the November meeting, if there are\n1", "path": "TransportationCommission/2005-10-26.pdf"}
{"body": "TransportationCommission", "date": "2005-10-26", "page": 2, "text": "issues that need to be discussed at the December meeting. Otherwise, the December meeting\nmay be cancelled.\n5.\nORAL COMMUNICATIONS - NON-AGENDIZED ITEMS\nNone.\n6.\nOLD BUSINESS\n6A.\nI-880 Access Issues and Alameda/Oakland Coordination Activities\nChair Knox White recommended that instead of forming a task force, as was previously\ndiscussed that the TC agenda include a quarterly update on all the Oakland projects that affect\nthe tubes or bridge access.\nStaff Parker thought it was a good idea especially with the shortness of staff time and with the\nbudget. She suggested having a quarterly update on all projects for the first six months, after\nwhich there would be a quarterly written and semi annual oral report.\nChair Knox White agreed.\nStaff Hawkins responded that the recommendation will be brought to the City Manager, who will\npresent it to the City Council.\nCommissioner Parker moved to accept the recommendation and Commissioner Knoth\nseconded the motion. It was approved unanimously.\nCommissioner Parker asked if the membership in the Chinatown committee was accurate.\nStaff Hawkins said that a representative of the Alameda Planning Board as well as two\nrepresentatives city at large should also be included.\nCommissioner Parker asked that the description be modified to reflect that.\nCommissioner Ratto asked why PSBA is not part of the process for the Park Street Triangle\nproject.\nStaff Hawkins said that Oakland was asking that Alameda take responsibility for notifying\ninterested community members and will let us know when the meetings will be held.\nStaff Bergman added that he had included Commissioner Ratto's name on the list to be notified\nabout upcoming meetings for the project.\n2", "path": "TransportationCommission/2005-10-26.pdf"}
{"body": "TransportationCommission", "date": "2005-10-26", "page": 3, "text": "7B Transportation\nSystems\nManagement/Transportation Demand Management\n(TSM/TDM) Plan\nStaff Bergman summarized the staff report. He noted that there are two activities associated with\nthe TSM/TDM Plan that are currently beginning: 1) the employee sponsored transit pass, about\nwhich there have been discussions with AC Transit, which has developed some preliminary\ncosts. The program is being looked at for City of Alameda employees, but could potentially\ninclude employees of the college and the Alameda Unified School District. 2) a study exploring\nthe feasibility of shuttles. A demonstration on an electric bus was done earlier this year. Staff is\nproposing to bring a consultant in to do an evaluation on different types of technologies that are\navailable for shuttles. Any proposed shuttle would involve connecting to the regional\ntransportation system, such as especially BART and the ferries, but the proposed study would not\ninclude an analysis of routes. Staff Bergman passed out a general description as to what the\nconsultant could do to help us get a handle on the pluses and minus of the different technologies\nand operations scenarios.\nCommissioner Parker mentioned that there have been studies in the past by WABA and other\norganizations on this. She asked if these studies had been considered.\nStaff Hawkins and Staff Bergman responded that they were not aware of any such studies.\nCommissioner Parker recommended that staff to look into any work of this type that has already\nbeen completed.\nCommissioner Parker asked for clarification regarding the cost of the transit pass.\nStaff Bergman said that the number is a preliminary number depending if the schools and college\nwould be participating. Was discussed at the Inter Agency Liaison Committee Councilmember\nMatarrese suggested that we do some kind of transit pass purchase as a pilot program to see what\nresponse we would get.\nCommissioner Parker asked if the cost of the pass accounted for City costs to administer the pass\nprogram.\nStaff Bergman stated that the cost is preliminary. It could change if the College of Alameda and\nthe Alameda Unified School District decide to participate. He noted that at the October 12\nInteragency Liaison Committee meeting, Councilmember Matarresse suggested that before\nentering into a program for all City staff we could try purchasing transit passes on a trial basis for\nstaff to see what kind of response there would be.\nCommissioner Parker mentioned that there are members of City boards, commissions and\ncommittees that might be interested in participating in the program and could help to boost the\nnumber of participants if that would help to bring the cost down.\nStaff Bergman said that they were only looking at full time employees but this could be discussed\nwith AC Transit to see how it would affect the analysis.\n3", "path": "TransportationCommission/2005-10-26.pdf"}
{"body": "TransportationCommission", "date": "2005-10-26", "page": 4, "text": "Chair Knox White asked if the purpose of the consultant work would be to look at the routes or\nthe potential technologies for the shuttle.\nStaff Bergman mentioned that identifying routes would come later. The council has expressed an\ninterest in electric vehicles, so the intent of the analysis is to get a better understanding of the\ncosts and benefits of utilizing this type of technology. Looking at the routes would be the next\nphase.\nChair Knox White suggested that the program should be developed first, and then various types\nof vehicles should be analyzed in terms of how they would help meet the objectives of that\nprogram.\nStaff Hawkins said that the Council gave the direction to look at electric vehicles, but not at other\ntypes of vehicles. The intention of this work scope was to assess the advantages and\ndisadvantages of electric vehicles and provide this information to the Transportation\nCommission. The Commission could then pass along its recommendations to the Council so that\nthey could make an informed decision before making any commitments to buy or lease these\nvehicles.\nCommissioner Parker expressed similar concerns to Chair Knox White, and suggested that the\npurpose of the vehicles should be identified before trying to select an appropriate vehicle type.\nChair Knox White recommended to hold off hiring a consultant until the needs and goals of the\nshuttle program are in place especially routing ridership capacity are known.\nCommissioner Parker added that it is also important to consider how vehicles could be used by\nthe City for purposes other than operating a shuttle service.\nChair Knox White moved that the Commission recommend that the City hold off on hiring a\nconsultant to study shuttle vehicle technology until the needs and goals of the shuttle program,\nspecifically routing and ridership capacity are known. Commissioner Knoth seconded the\nmotion. Motion passed, 4-1 (Ratto).\n7A. City of Alameda Ferry Program: Short Range Transit Plan (SRTP)\nStaff Sanchez presented the staff report. He noted that that the plan assumes that the base level of\noperations would continue, that the Main Street ferry terminal would continue to remain the base\nof operations in Alameda, and that the City would continue to operate the service.\nPublic Comment Open\nBill Smith stated that CalStart did a study and a conference on Last Mile Served. He\nrecommended the development of a bus rapid transit service on the north side of the island and\nan associated feeder system.\n4", "path": "TransportationCommission/2005-10-26.pdf"}
{"body": "TransportationCommission", "date": "2005-10-26", "page": 5, "text": "Public Comment Closed\nCommissioner Parker noted that the Alameda/Oakland Ferry Service is currently running at 16%\noccupancy, and asked why the boats are so much larger than the demand.\nStaff Sanchez acknowledged that the occupancy load is low, and that the reason is partially\nhistorical. The City was able to purchase the Encinal from Blue and Gold Fleet in 1997 at a very\ngood price. The existing boat - the Bay Breeze - could carry only 250 people, so people were\nbeing left at the dock. Some runs have much higher capacity than others, especially on\nweekends during the summer along with certain holidays, so a decision was made to use the\nlarger boats to accommodate these heavier used runs. The smaller boat was sent over to Harbor\nBay to run that service. The Water Transit Authority just received bids today to build two 149\npassenger boats, and these boats could be available to the City in two years.\nCommissioner Schatmeier asked if there was any difference operating a big boat to a small boat\nwith crew and operating cost.\nStaff Sanchez said that the fuel consumption is the biggest cost. Fuel is $2.55 a gallon for diesel\nnow. The Express 2 uses about 52 gallons per operational hour and the Encinal burns 65 gallons\nper operational hour. Staffing costs are about the same, although an additional deck hand is\nrequired if there are more than 200 passengers.\nChair Knox White asked if the document is primarily a financial document.\nStaff Sanchez answered yes. The passenger goals come up in the discussion on maintaining the\n40% farebox recovery ratio.\nChair Knox White said that he felt it would be helpful to have some information about the\nnumber of people who access the ferries via AC Transit. Also, the report says that passengers\nshould pay their \"fair share\" which suggests that they are not currently doing so. He noted that a\ngoal of the plan is to achieve a significant share of trips, but asked if that goal had been\nidentified.\nStaff Sanchez indicated that it has not.\nChair Knox White noted that the plan states that transit times for ferries should be comparable to\nother modes, and asked if this is door-to-door or for the transit trip. He said that if it is for the\ntransit trip only, it would also be helpful to include information about door-to-door times.\nStaff Sanchez responded that this was for the transit trip only.\nChair Knox White also noted that the Alameda Oakland Ferry has a significantly higher farebox\nrecovery rate than other ferry services in the region.\n5", "path": "TransportationCommission/2005-10-26.pdf"}
{"body": "TransportationCommission", "date": "2005-10-26", "page": 6, "text": "Staff Sanchez noted that the farebox recovery rates for the Harbor Bay Ferry have increased from\n32% to 49%.\nCommissioner Schatmeier noted that the parking lot at the Harbor Bay Ferry seems nearly full,\nand asked if this is a constraint on future growth. He also stated that he has noticed a significant\nnumber of people commuting to Alameda, and asked if the City has looked into marketing this\nservice for commuters into Alameda.\nStaff Sanchez said that the parking limitations are not at a cap. Water transit authority has looked\nat the potential of providing shuttles, and they have funding from Measure 2 to finance shuttles.\nReverse commute has been looked at, and a free ride was offered on the ferry for riders. The\nresults of this promotion have not been determined.\nCommissioner Parker asked if the Harbor Bay recovery was money generated or if it included\ncomplimentary trips.\nStaff Sanchez said that it was calculated by actual revenue divided by actual operational cost.\nCommissioner Parker referred to Page VII. She asked why the costs varied so significantly in\nthe base operating plan from year to year.\nStaff Sanchez said it may include capital costs, but that he would look at the numbers. He also\nnoted that the City does not have money for new vessels or major facility changes, and noted that\nall vessels have been refurbished in the last 2 years. If fuel prices were to escalate, the City\nwould have to determine how to raise fares or cut expenses.\nChair Knox White noted that it is assumed that there will be an annual increase of 3 1/2 % in gas\nprices in the next 10 years. Is that low or is it a new industry standard?\nStaff Sanchez said this is a standard number but if there are significant changes in gas prices the\nCity may revisit the plan.\nCommissioner Ratto moved to accept report as written with a copy of questions and comments\nattached to it. Commissioner Schatmeier seconded the motion. Motion was unanimously\napproved - 5.\n8.\nStaff Communications\nTMP Schedule\nStaff Bergman passed out the revised TMP schedule. He noted that this includes the remaining\npart of the circulation plan, pedestrian plan and the TSM/TDM plan.\nStaff Bergman reminded the Commission that Wednesday November 2 is the Task Multimodal\nCirculation Task Force Meeting, and the following Wednesday November 9th is the Public\nWorkshop for the Pedestrian Plan.\n6", "path": "TransportationCommission/2005-10-26.pdf"}
{"body": "TransportationCommission", "date": "2005-10-26", "page": 7, "text": "Chair Knox White noted that Michael Kruger and Jeff Knoth are on the Pedestrian Plan Sub-\nCommittee but there is one more space available if anyone is interested.\nMeeting was adjourned at 9:30 P.M.\nG:\\pubworks\\LT\\TRANSPORTATIONICOMMITTEES\\TC\\2005\\1105\\102605 TC Minutes.do\n7", "path": "TransportationCommission/2005-10-26.pdf"}