{"body": "TransportationCommission", "date": "2012-09-26", "page": 1, "text": "Transportation Commission\nNovember 28, 2012\nItem 4A\nAction\nTransportation Commission Meeting Minutes:\nWednesday, September 26, 2012\nCommissioner Jesus Vargas called the Transportation Commission to order at 7:04 p.m.\n1.\nRoll Call\nRoll was called and the following was recorded:\nMembers Present:\nThomas G. Bertken\nChristopher Miley (Vice Chair)\nSandy Wong\nJesus Vargas (Chair)\nEric Schatmeier\nMembers Absent:\nMichele Bellows\nStaff Present:\nGail Payne, Transportation Coordinator\n2.\nAgenda Changes\nCommissioner Vargas made a motion to add an item before item 8 \"Adjournment\" that discussed\nthe next meeting.\nCommissioner Bertken seconded the motion. The motion was approved 4-0.\n3.\nAnnouncements / Public Comments\nMatthew Fitzgerald announced that Alameda Bicycle opened for operation in 1969 and his\nfamily took over in 1987. His family business is a good small business, which contributes to the\ncommunity. If anyone has any questions, please contact him at Alameda Bicycle Sales, Repairs,\nand Rentals at (510) 522-0070 or pay a visit at 1522 Park Street Alameda, CA.\nCommissioner Vargas acknowledged that Alameda Transportation Engineer Obaid Khan was\ndeparting and he wanted to thank him for his services.\nPage 1 of 10", "path": "TransportationCommission/2012-09-26.pdf"}
{"body": "TransportationCommission", "date": "2012-09-26", "page": 2, "text": "4.\nConsent Calendar\n4.A.\nDraft Meeting Minutes - July 25, 2012\nCommissioner Vargas asked the Commission to make comments to the July 25 minutes.\nCommissioner Bertken made a motion to approve the July 25, 2012 minutes. Commissioner\nSchatmeier seconded the motion. The motion was approved 4-0.\n4.B.\n2012 Transportation Expenditure Plan Fact Sheet\nCommissioner Vargas reviewed the 2012 Transportation Expenditure Plan Fact Sheet. He\nacknowledged that it would be a good thing to vote the right way for Measure B1.\n5.\nNew Business\n5.A. Traffic Control and Contingency Plan during Construction for I-880/29th Ave./23rd Ave.\nInterchange Improvement Project in Oakland\nVirendra Patel from Alameda Public Works introduced Garrett Gritz from RBF Consulting who\npresented an update on the project.\nCommissioner Vargas opened the floor to public comment.\nJim Strehlow, Alameda resident and local employee, explained that he was okay with everything\nelse about the project except at 23rd Avenue where the lanes should be four or five lanes. His\nmain concern was that the project is under funded and it is not the right size for the needs of\nAlameda. He said the entirety of the project would increase greenhouse gas emissions since there\nare three lanes instead of four lanes on 23rd Avenue. The three lanes would cause backups and,\naccording to the project, there would be an additional 10 percent of traffic in Alameda after the\nproject is completed. This project, therefore, should not proceed and Alameda should file suit to\nrequire that the project be properly funded.\nCommissioner Schatmeier asked about phase II of the project. He wanted to find out about the\nimpact on transit service from Park Street to the Fruitvale BART Station, especially since the\nproject would close the corridor for up to a year. He asked Mr. Gritz if they discussed\ncontingency plans regarding the routing with AC Transit.\nGarrett Gritz explained that they had conversations with AC Transit and the agency has\ncommented throughout the entire process. They have the stage construction plans and are in the\nprocess of developing additional actions that the consultants can do. He mentioned that the key\npiece to the project is to hire the contractor and then to complete their construction schedule.\nOnce the schedule is known, they can give more details.\nCommissioner Bertken felt that the whole program for taking care of traffic during construction\nPage 2 of 10", "path": "TransportationCommission/2012-09-26.pdf"}
{"body": "TransportationCommission", "date": "2012-09-26", "page": 3, "text": "is well thought out and impressive.\nCommissioner Wong asked about the triangle potion near the 7-11 convenience store and Nikko's\nCafe where the signal light would be. She wanted to know how the traffic signal would impact\nvehicles driving over the Park Street Bridge and specifically traffic feeding into 29th Avenue to\nthe roundabout and around the Park Street Bridge.\nGarrett Gritz said the existing conditions at Ford Street is a stop sign. This movement would not\nallow vehicles to turn left here. Also, under the proposal, this intersection would be signalized\nand would have crosswalks and pedestrian signal phases. Moreover, there would be durations\nwhere vehicles coming off the bridge would want to turn left that currently have a free movement\nthat would get a red light and stop. He noted that the most challenging part of the intersection is\nthe pedestrian movement, which ends up taking up a lot of time. To combat the problem, they\nwould implement a refuge area, which would allow the green time to be reduced for the\npedestrian crossing.\nCommissioner Wong asked about the type of signals proposed on 29th Avenue. She mentioned\nthat in terms of the bridge being up and potential traffic exiting on 29th Avenue versus 23rd\nAvenue what is the potential backup and study of the back up.\nGarrett Gritz explained that all of the signals on the 23rd Avenue corridor are interconnected and\nequipped with wiring to allow AC Transit to be able to have the capability when the technology\ncomes to trigger the lights with signal actuation. He mentioned that AC Transit does not have\nenough resources to equip all AC Transit buses with that technology and AC Transit is in the\nprocess of eventually receiving green prioritization. Additionally, they are coordinating with\nAlameda Public Works on the rail project, which was one of the mitigation measures. They also\nplan to have communications under the Estuary between Alameda and Oakland.\nCommissioner Wong asked about the Ford Street and 29th Avenue intersection and what studies\nwere conducted on Alameda's side. She inquired about the study because occasionally when the\nbridge goes down and depending on the time of day vehicles driving over the Park Street Bridge\ncould wait up to 15 minutes because it is backed up to Central Avenue. She wondered whether\nthe signal timing could be extended on the Alameda side so vehicles could get on the on-ramp\nSB I-880 without having to wait.\nGarrett Gritz replied that the signalization at Ford Street and 29th Avenue would not impact that\ncondition because when the bridge goes up the vehicles cannot come through there. So, the\nintersection would not be impacted. Thus, it is more about when the bridge comes down and\nwhen vehicles are approaching I-880.\nCommissioner Wong replied that she was referring to after the bridge goes down and the\npotential traffic impact.\nGarrett Gritz explained that when the intersection becomes signalized there will be an increase\ndelay regardless of whether bridge is up or not.\nPage 3 of 10", "path": "TransportationCommission/2012-09-26.pdf"}
{"body": "TransportationCommission", "date": "2012-09-26", "page": 4, "text": "Commissioner Wong asked when they remove the 29th Avenue overcrossing, would southbound\nI-880 be accessible.\nGarrett Gritz explained that during the day it would be open. However, there would be some\nnighttime closures and they would realign the on-ramp to accommodate the construction and that\nwould happen late at night. Furthermore, there would be a period of time that they would close\nthe freeway in both directions, but not at the same time.\nCommissioner Vargas asked Garrett Gritz whether the County of Alameda was included in the\ncoordination list and whether he could talk about any coordination with potential bridge\nimprovements that might happen during the construction to alleviate any concerns that\nCommissioner Wong had.\nGarrett Gritz explained the County does have a retrofit project schedule during the four-year\nconstruction period and they have participated in the coordination meetings. The seismic project\nalong with several others are all part of the traffic management plan.\nCommissioner Vargas referred to Jim Strehlow's comments about the funding and whether that\nimpacted the side of the structures and if there were any comments on the Environmental Impact\nReport on air quality impacts in terms of the traffic perspective in Alameda.\nGarrett Gritz explained that the environmental document was circulated in early 2010 and they\nhad a meeting at the Alameda Transportation Commission to let the public know that the\ndocument was circulating. Regarding the greenhouse gas emissions, the project is an operational\nand safety improvement project. Thus, the implementation of the project would decrease the\ntravel time for northbound I-880, which would increase travel flow for northbound I-880 and\ndecrease greenhouse gas emissions. He exclaimed that all funding is in place (a total of $75\nmillion) because they maintained a specific project schedule and the project is schedule driven.\nHe has personally been working on the project for several years and he has let the public know\nabout what they are trying to accomplish.\nCommissioner Vargas asked Alameda staff if they had a public awareness campaign in place to\npromote awareness of the construction changes and various detours.\nGarrett Gritz replied Staff Khan was instrumental in implementing the contingency plan. The\ncontingency plan is set up where there is a committee that meets at least a once a month and the\nmembers include a representative from the City of Alameda, City of Oakland, and Caltrans\nTraffic Management Plan Coordinator. Caltrans administers the contract and Staff Khan\nadvocated a mechanism to where everyone can communicate. So, any member of the committee\nwould be able to call a meeting whether in person or by conference call and the meeting would\nhave to happen within 12 hours. Additionally, the Caltrans Public Information Officer is required\nto attend public meetings and would answer questions from the community directed towards\nCaltrans. Ultimately, Staff Khan accomplished a lot in order to make sure communication was\nthere and the document was circulated amongst the agencies (Alameda, Caltrans and Oakland).\nCommissioner Bertken felt Commissioner Vargas was talking about putting together a public\nPage 4 of 10", "path": "TransportationCommission/2012-09-26.pdf"}
{"body": "TransportationCommission", "date": "2012-09-26", "page": 5, "text": "information program, meaning a detailed program about what is going to happen with the\nproject. This program would include how project representatives reach out to the community and\nmedia so that the public is up to speed on the project.\nGarrett Gritz said he would follow up and give more specifics in the near future. He also\nmentioned that they have a public information meeting scheduled this year in Oakland and\nAlameda and they have a public information meeting scheduled for February 2013 just as the\nproject goes out to bid to keep the public informed.\nCommissioner Bertken made a motion to approve staff recommendations in addition to a public\ninformation program.\nCommissioner Schatmeier asked that the Commission include public transit in the contingency\nplan.\nCommissioner Bertken re-amended the motion to include public transit correspondence with AC\nTransit in the Commission's comments in addition to a public information program.\nCommissioner Schatmeier seconded the motion.\nThe motion was approved 4-0.\n5.B.\nAC Transit Line OX - Reconsider Opening to Local Riders\nStaff Payne presented a summary of the report and recognized AC Transit staff - Linda Morris\nand Wil Buller - at the meeting.\nLinda Morris, AC Transit Transportation Planner, explained that AC Transit could analyze the\nlines and implement a potential change in spring 2013 because they typically conduct service\nchanges quarterly. AC Transit staff is looking at Line 631 along with Line OX, to replicate the\nLine OX on Bay Farm so that the Line 631 timing works better for the students. The agency\nanalyzed extending the last Line 631 trip, but making that four-minute connection typically will\nnot work. She emphasized that they want to re-route Line 631 to accommodate all the students\nand reinstate the local service on Line OX while monitoring the service to avoid additional\nissues.\nCommissioner Vargas opened the floor to public comment.\nJon Spangler, Alameda resident and a League of American Cycling Instructor, explained that he\ntook the AC Transit Line 51A for meetings recently and he has taken a lot of Transbay rides. So,\nbased on that he felt the City is less well served out of economic necessity than what was offered\nover 15 years ago. He felt one of the reasons was the capacity of the system as it exists is not in\nline with current demand. Ultimately, he wanted AC Transit to look at increasing the capacity of\nthe system rather than shifting a bit of a bus line here and there. Additionally, once the service\nchange is implemented next spring, he hopes local riders would be allowed to board Line OX as\nlong as the local service is adequate. He also encouraged members of the Commission along with\nPage 5 of 10", "path": "TransportationCommission/2012-09-26.pdf"}
{"body": "TransportationCommission", "date": "2012-09-26", "page": 6, "text": "AC Transit and Alameda City Council to talk about increasing transit service to the community.\nCommissioner Schatmeier said that he lives on Bay Farm Island and was a regular user of Line\nOX before the policy change. He mentioned that Line 21 was the underlying local service and\nused to serve Bay Farm from Park Street every 15 minutes. However, a couple of years ago, AC\nTransit cut the frequency in half. Yet, the Line OX service made the service cut more palatable\nbecause it was available during peak periods. AC Transit made a 75 percent service cut without\ninput from the public - it is a significant service cut. Moreover, there are around 23 frequencies\nof Line OX buses in combination of morning and afternoon and when referring to the memo\npresented by staff, there were 41 student passengers and 12 local passengers. Ultimately, the 41\nstudent passengers could be spread amongst those 23 buses, but what AC Transit is probably\ntelling us is that they are not spread out and are concentrated amongst a few buses in the\nmorning. Thus, it seemed to be a morning issue. He explained that one solution would be that\nAC Transit rescind the policy for the afternoon and evening buses and possibly create an interim\nstep to restore local service in the evening. This step would require only one change to the\nClipper card in the evening after leaving the Transbay Terminal in San Francisco. The result\nwould lead to multiple uses for the line that potentially would attract additional riders. The riders\nboarding in downtown Alameda towards Bay Farm in the afternoon/evening would be filling\nvacated seats from Transbay riders. He advised that the Commission envision a complete\npicture, which includes some of these possibilities beyond what the staff has recommended.\nCommissioner Wong asked whether the first Line 631 was available to students at 6:52 am. She\nexplained that originally, there were a lot of students boarding Line OX and she wanted to know\nwhich Line OX bus they were boarding since there were 7 am classes scheduled.\nCommissioner Vargas mentioned that AC Transit staff should review the school's class schedule\nto see what matches well for bus service. Furthermore, he mentioned that Commissioner\nSchatmeier's concerns regarding the frequency of Line 21 and evening policy modifications for\nLine OX were worth noting.\nCommissioner Schatmeier stated his past conversations with Cory Lavigne concluded that\nrestoring the local Line OX policy in the afternoon would be feasible. He asked Mr. Lavigne if\nthe policy restoration would have to wait until the next driver sign up and Mr. Lavigne stated that\nthis change would not require coordination with the quarterly service changes. Since he could not\nconfirm or deny that conclusion, he asked AC Transit staff to relay the message to Mr. Lavigne's\nsuccessor.\nLinda Morris replied that originally the agency wanted to wait for the service change because it\nis a big change and the agency wants to ensure that passengers are notified. Regarding\nCommissioner Schatmeier's conversation with Mr. Lavigne, she would have to speak with the\noperations department and Robert del Rosario, Mr. Lavigne's successor.\nCommissioner Schatmeier assumed that Mr. Lavigne was uncomfortable with doing something\ndifferent in the morning than in the afternoon because it might be confusing to the public or\ndrivers. However, he seemed receptive because of the special nature of the case. Ultimately,\nCommissioner Schatmeier did not want to wait until the spring to make the changes.\nPage 6 of 10", "path": "TransportationCommission/2012-09-26.pdf"}
{"body": "TransportationCommission", "date": "2012-09-26", "page": 7, "text": "Commissioner Bertken asked for more detail from Commissioner Wong regarding students\nattending 7 am classes. He then asked AC Transit staff if an additional Line 631 bus would be\nneeded to accommodate students attending 7 am classes and whether that was practical.\nCommissioner Wong replied a 7 am class depends on the year in terms of the number of classes.\nCurrently, there are at least three 7 am classes of 35 students and not all of the students take the\nbus, but there are quite a few that do.\nLinda Morris replied that the passenger loads analyzed were not around 7 am, but the problem\nwas centered on students arriving before the 8 am bell time.\nCommissioner Bertken said by looking at the provision to Line 631 schedule, arriving to school\nby 7 am would not be an issue.\nLinda Morris replied that they would have to look into that, but it may consist of additional\nservice.\nCommissioner Bertken said potentially a number of riders would need to arrive by 7 am.\nLinda Morris explained her point was that AC Transit's analysis found that there was an\noverflow on Line OX around 7:30 am in order to reach school by 8 am.\nCommissioner Bertken said that looking at the situation now, and since there are a number of\nclasses that begin at 7 am would it be possible for AC Transit to let students onto Line OX before\n7:30 am.\nLinda Morris explained that since they are looking at the entire line as a policy decision, she\nwould take the Commission's comments back to the agency and review and implement the final\ndecisions in the spring. Ultimately, they would not modify the policy on a trip-by-trip level.\nCommissioner Schatmeier asked staff what are the next steps once the Commission makes a\nrecommendation.\nStaff Payne replied the Commission's recommendation would be directed to AC Transit staff to\nsee how they would like to move forward.\nCommissioner Schatmeier stated the goal of his motion was to recognize the growth potential of\nridership and to pursue a policy that meets everyone's needs.\nCommissioner Schatmeier made a motion to include an interim period that would be worked out\nby staff to explore restoring local service on the evening Line OX buses as quickly as possible in\naddition to staff recommendations. Commissioner Miley seconded the motion. The motion was\napproved 5-0.\nPage 7 of 10", "path": "TransportationCommission/2012-09-26.pdf"}
{"body": "TransportationCommission", "date": "2012-09-26", "page": 8, "text": "5.C.\nAC Transit's Performance Initiative Grant - Line 51A\nStaff Payne presented a summary of the report and asked AC Transit staff to make further\ncomments.\nCommissioner Vargas asked AC Transit staff to discuss their role in the project.\nWil Buller explained that the way the entire project would be rolled out was that AC Transit\nwould oversee the development and the preliminary engineering and oversight through design.\nUpon completion of design and Memorandum Of Understanding agreements, the cities\n(Berkeley, Oakland and Alameda) would receive portions of the grant to complete construction\nbased upon the design plans. AC Transit's project manager would coordinate with each city with\nconstruction management oversight, but it would be up to the cities to complete the construction,\nprocure a contractor and close out the improvements. Construction is expected in late 2014.\n5.D. Quarterly Report on Activities Related to Transportation Policies and Plans\nStaff Payne presented the following updates regarding the quarterly report on activities related to\ntransportation policies and plans:\nEstuary Crossing Shuttle - The first year had an average of 150 boardings per day and the\nbeginning of the second year is averaging 220 boarding per day. The operation is now\nrunning with a low-floor bus.\nShoreline Drive/Westline Drive Bikeway Project - The third community meeting will take\nplace on Thursday, October 18 and the meeting's results would be presented to the\nTransportation Commission for action on Wednesday, November 28.\nPark Street Streetscape Project - The project has been completed, and they have installed 6\nadditional bike racks, resulting in 30 total bicycle racks from Central Avenue to San Jose\nAvenue.\nTSM/TDM Plan - Staff is completing the Environmental Review.\nAccessible pedestrian signals under the Pedestrian Plan - Staff received a new Freedom\nGrant and there will be a public hearing for that on Monday, October 29 in combination\nwith the Commission on Disability Issues.\nSafe Routes to School - Staff won the grant to improve the midblock crossing on Grand\nStreet at Wood School and more details will be provided later.\nNew Park Street Pedestrian Safety Improvement Program will be presented at the next\nmeeting.\nCountywide Transportation Projects will be reported after the November 2012 election.\nPage 8 of 10", "path": "TransportationCommission/2012-09-26.pdf"}
{"body": "TransportationCommission", "date": "2012-09-26", "page": 9, "text": "Traffic Calming Projects regarding the Fernside Boulevard Project - Staff scheduled a\nmeeting at Edison School on Thursday, September 27th at 7pm for the Fernside traffic\ncalming.\nAt the last meeting, the Commission approved a midblock crossing between Franklin\nSchool and Franklin Park, and staff installed the crossing with help from Alameda Unified\nSchool District staff.\nCommissioner Schatmeier mentioned that he met with Staff Payne about the Shore Line project\nto talk about the bus stop treatments along Shore Line Drive. He wanted Staff Payne to update\nthe Commission on any discussions between her and AC Transit staff.\nStaff Payne replied that they do have a recommended plan along Shore Line and Westline Drives\nbecause transit service exists between Grand Street and Willow Street. She has discussed with\nAC Transit to eliminate the midblock stop eastbound towards Broadway because a safety issue\nexists. AC Transit is fine to move the westbound bus stop on Shore Line Drive at Kitty Hawk\nRoad from the near side to the far side. Staff is recommending to not doing anything with the\nwestbound bus stop on Willow Street at Shore Line Drive. Additionally, there were some\nchallenges with distances between stops because they are taking away the eastbound midblock\nstop, but since a safety issue exists, that would be the best way to proceed.\nCommissioner Miley mentioned that since they were talking about safety issues with AC Transit,\nhe noticed that on Otis Drive at High Street, the bus has a noticeably tight turn and cars have to\nreverse to get out of the way of the bus. So, he wanted to know if the City has looked into that\nissue.\nStaff Payne explained that she has noticed that herself and she would take that up with AC\nTransit staff. Additionally, she explained that the Shore Line/Westline Drive update would be\nbrought before the public on October 18 and brought to the Transportation Commission meeting\nin November.\n6.\nStaff Communications\n7.\nAnnouncements/ Public Comments\nJon Spangler stated that he is on the BART Bike Advisory Task Force and member of the East\nBay Bicycle Coalition. He has been involved in getting the bike pilot on board BART in the\nmonth of August. At this time, there has not been a lot of news from BART since the pilot ended\non August 31. However, there was a meeting that afternoon to make sure BART continued an\nevaluation to implement what they could from the pilot. They are looking at reconfiguring the\nolder cars that have a little windscreen inside the door that completely wipes out wheelchair and\nbicycle access and looking at adding some flexibility in San Francisco during the blackout\nperiods because there is more room at Montgomery Station then Embarcadero Station in terms of\nvertical access and platform size. Furthermore, BART is looking at 12th and 19th Street Stations\nto allow bicycles on the platforms and avoid conflict with patrons. He explained that protocols\nfor pedestrians, bicyclists, skateboarders and strollers would need to be communicated with\nPage 9 of 10", "path": "TransportationCommission/2012-09-26.pdf"}
{"body": "TransportationCommission", "date": "2012-09-26", "page": 10, "text": "everyone. He exclaimed that additional signage throughout the BART system including up above\nthe platform to let people know when the train was coming and letting people know the load\nfactor would be essential. Lastly, an evaluation on the pilot program would be presented to the\nBART Board in November and he wanted the Commission to know that a lot of groups,\nincluding bike advocacy groups, BART Accessibility and Bike Task Forces are working hard on\nthis issue.\nMatthew Fitzgerald announced that he was in an accident while riding the AC Transit Line 75\nand the incident will be reported on the news. He also mentioned the commission on disability\nissues.\nCommissioner Schatmeier commended Bike Alameda's Riding the Rails activity. He felt the trip\nand historical presentations were very interesting and Bike Alameda used the activity as an\nopportunity to promote Measure B1. Thus, they should be congratulated and recognized for the\neffort.\nCommissioner Miley stated that he recently learned that Staff Khan was leaving and he wanted to\nthank him for his service. He also wanted to know if the City put out a job announcement.\nMatthew Naclerio, Alameda Public Works Director, said that he is working with Human\nResources to make sure that this is a priority recruitment. The job announcement has not been\npublished yet.\nStaff Payne explained that the Complete Street's Policy item initially proposed as a special\nmeeting in October should be presented in November. The Alameda County Transportation\nCommission's Board will be adopting their Complete Street's Policy at the end of October. She\nwould rather dovetail off of what they have done and not have to repeat something at a later date.\nCommissioner Schatmeier asked Staff Payne to include an update on the Line OX policy issue.\nStaff Payne explained that she added an item for 5a that would include the public information\nprogram with public transit added to the contingency plan for the I-880/29th Ave./23rd Ave.\nInterchange Improvement Project.\n8.\nAdjournment\n9:39 pm\nPage 10 of 10", "path": "TransportationCommission/2012-09-26.pdf"}