{"body": "TransportationCommission", "date": "2017-11-15", "page": 1, "text": "APPROVED MINUTES\nREGULAR MEETING OF THE\nCITY OF ALAMEDA TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION\nWEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2017\nChair Bellows convened the meeting at 7:02pm.\n1. ROLL CALL\nPresent: Chair Bellows, Commissioners Palmer, Hans, Miley, Bertken.\nAbsent: Vice-Chair Vargas, Commissioner Soules.\n2. AGENDA CHANGES\n*None*\n3. ANNOUNCEMENTS/PUBLIC COMMENT\nAndrea Wuttke gave a brief presentation on her proposal for aerial tramways connecting\nAlameda to BART stations in Oakland. She said it would take six minutes to reach West\nOakland BART, and would require bus system integration.\nArnold Brillinger spoke about the renamed free Alameda Loop Shuttle. He said we need\nto get the word out so people can take advantage of the service.\n3A\nClimate Action Plan Draft Work Scope to City Council: Tuesday, December 5 at\n7:00 p.m. (City Hall, Council Chambers)\n3B\nTransportation Commission Meeting: Wednesday, January 24, 2018 at 7:00 p.m.\n4. CONSENT CALENDAR\n4A 2017-4538\nApprove Meeting Minutes - September 27, 2017 (Action)\nCommissioner Miley made a motion to approve the minutes. Commissioner\nBertken seconded the motion. The motion passed 4-0-1. (Chair Bellows abstained\ndue to her absence from the September meeting.)\n5. NEW BUSINESS\n5A 2017-4939\nApprove AC Transit's Transbay Tomorrow Proposal for Alameda Except for\nReducing Line OX Frequency (Action)\nStaff Member Payne introduced the item. The staff report and attachments can be found\nat: ttps://alameda.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=3205740&GUID=3D9FE359-\n5A66-45CC-AFEB-C24E95C2EOA6&FullText=\n1", "path": "TransportationCommission/2017-11-15.pdf"}
{"body": "TransportationCommission", "date": "2017-11-15", "page": 2, "text": "AC Transit Board Member Elsa Ortiz gave an introduction to the Transbay Tomorrow\nproposal.\nLinda Morris, AC Transit, gave the presentation on the plan details.\nCommissioner Miley asked what the overall capacity changes would be for the reduced\nLine OX afternoon service.\nMs. Morris said the average ridership was in the high 20s. She said the fleet is mixed\nright now and that they would commit to using the higher capacity MCI buses due to the\nreduced frequency.\nChair Bellows asked if they are still anticipating and planning for growth on the line that\nis being reduced.\nMs. Morris said they will wait for the expansion plan to address possible growth in\nservices.\nCommissioner Palmer asked if AC Transit is working with the Planning Board to\nanticipate demand from new residents and what flexibility there is to address this\nincreased demand from new housing construction coming online after the plan is\nadopted.\nMs. Morris said the expansion plan is expected to double transbay service if the funding\n(RM3) comes through.\nCommissioner Palmer asked how much time the dedicated lanes would save when\nSalesforce Tower would open.\nMs. Morris said they are estimating a savings of 5-10 minutes per trip once the\ndedicated access bridge and lanes to the new terminal are open.\nCommissioner Bertken asked if there might be demand for even earlier eastbound\nservice on Line W, similar to Line O. He said the comparison between the time it takes to\ntravel by car and by bus was too optimistic.\nMs. Morris said they were trying to provide a very rough estimate of the competition\nbetween modes. She said they used Google Maps estimates of travel time from\nAlameda.\nChair Bellows asked what would happen if RM3 failed to pass, if there was a backup\nplan to fund the desired service expansion.\n2", "path": "TransportationCommission/2017-11-15.pdf"}
{"body": "TransportationCommission", "date": "2017-11-15", "page": 3, "text": "Ms. Morris said they want to have the service expansion plan in place for when and if\nRM3 passes. She said they could pursue other funding sources if it does not pass.\nChair Bellows asked if the new buses would have technology that would make accepting\nlocal fares on transbay routes faster.\nMs. Morris said the fare medium would be the same regardless of old or new buses and\nthere would have to be some switching back and forth for local riders. She said MTC is\ndeveloping a second generation Clipper Card system and that she is not involved, but it\nmay alleviate some of that issue.\nCommissioner Miley suggested there could be two card readers on each bus.\nThere were no public speakers.\nCommissioner Miley asked if the report was heard by the Alameda-AC Transit liaison\ncommittee.\nStaff Member Payne said the topic was heard and the same issue about Line OX service\nreduction was raised.\nCommissioner Miley said that with the growth of the island that any reduction in service\nwould be counterintuitive.\nCommissioner Palmer asked why none of the double decker buses currently are\nproposed for Alameda.\nMs. Morris said they have higher demand in Emeryville and Berkeley, which will get the\nfirst 15 double decker buses.\nCommissioner Palmer asked if there would be an issue fitting the double decker buses\nthrough the tubes.\nMs. Morris said the height of the buses would not be a problem.\nCommissioner Bertken asked if the disapproval of the Line OX reduction would impact\nthe plan elsewhere.\nMs. Morris said the cost neutral plan requires trade-offs in some areas to achieve\nservice improvements in others.\nMs. Ortiz said they would love to add more service but they do not have the money\nunless RM3 passes.\n3", "path": "TransportationCommission/2017-11-15.pdf"}
{"body": "TransportationCommission", "date": "2017-11-15", "page": 4, "text": "Commissioner Palmer asked if developers of new housing are being asked to help\nsubsidize transit.\nStaff Member Ott said that all developments pay fees to fund transit. She said the Line\n19 service at 20-minute headways was only possible because of the special taxes on\nnew developments.\nCommissioner Miley said they are really just stating Alameda's priorities tonight and not\naffecting the overall cost neutral nature of the plan, which will be worked out later.\nChair Bellows said they are moving to approve AC Transit's Transbay Tomorrow\nproposal with the exception of reducing the Line OX service. Commissioner Miley\nseconded the motion. The motion passed 5-0.\n5B 2017-4940\nReceive Status Report on Implementation of the Adopted Plan for Access to the\nHarbor Bay Ferry Terminal (Information)\nStaff Member Ott gave the staff presentation. The staff report and attachments can be\nfound at:\nhttps://alameda.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=3205741&GUID=3B82C9A7\nE63D-4F13-90BC-E7EFF40BA6DF&FullText=1\nKevin Connolly, WETA, applauded City Staff and AC Transit for their efforts to address\nthese issues and make difficult decisions. He said their business is booming and they\nare reaching their limits for their current service levels.\nCommissioner Hans asked if they had plans to implement paid parking at the Harbor\nBay Ferry.\nMr. Connolly said they originally wanted to implement paid parking at the same time the\npermit parking on Bay Farm started. He said they had some issues and decided to let\nthe permit parking roll out first and see what happened. He said they hope to have\ncharges in place in the first half of 2018. He said they are sensitive to the cost of their\nservice but understand the logic of providing a small disincentive for people to drive.\nChair Bellows asked if they could charge more for parking earlier in the day and reduce\nthe fee as the day goes on.\nMr. Connolly said that all options are on the table. He said the nature of their operations\nmeans that it will limit what kinds of things they can do.\nCommissioner Palmer asked what kind of price range they are thinking about. She said\ngoing to a machine at BART to pay for parking adds time and asked if they can keep it\nsimple and have permits.\n4", "path": "TransportationCommission/2017-11-15.pdf"}
{"body": "TransportationCommission", "date": "2017-11-15", "page": 5, "text": "Mr. Connolly said their initial study said that they should look at $2-3 per day. He said\nthat further information indicates that it might take something like $5 to get people to\nchange behavior. He said using a phone or app like Golden Gate ferry has worked very\nwell.\nChair Bellows asked if the AC Transit driver could notify the ferry to wait if they are close\nbut running behind.\nMr. Connolly said the problem is on AC Transit's end. He said the boat is 99% on time.\nCommissioner Miley said he knows Line 21 is not reliable because of the length of the\nroute. He asked if AC Transit has considered splitting the route.\nStaff Member Ott said AC Transit is looking at ways to address that issue systematically.\nCommissioner Hans asked if moving the last ferry to a slightly later time would help\nsolve the problem for parents who have to drop off kids at school.\nMr. Connolly said they have competing groups of riders that want earlier or later\ndeparture times. He said they are facing new issues at Harbor Bay every year due to\nincreased ridership.\nChristine Lok said she represents a large group of riders. She said the AC Transit\nservice does not serve the ferry riders well. She said she supports the parking permit\nidea. She says it has to coincide with other improvements and that riders will want to\nknow where the funds are going.\n*No action was required*\n5C 2017-4941\nReview Climate Plan Update Draft Work Scope (Information)\nStaff Member Garland gave the staff presentation. The staff report and attachments can\nbe found at:\nhttps://alameda.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=3205794&GUID=0CFEF934-\nA6FF-4DD8-986E-6EF13E792F30&FullText=1\nCommissioner Miley suggested staff get in touch with the State's Coastal Conservancy\nstaff on sea level rise adaptation issues.\nChair Bellows said the plan seems to be on the right track. She asked if there are any\nconcrete steps we are taking to address the transportation contribution to greenhouse\ngas emissions.\n5", "path": "TransportationCommission/2017-11-15.pdf"}
{"body": "TransportationCommission", "date": "2017-11-15", "page": 6, "text": "Staff Member Ott said the Transportation Choices Plan evaluated the reduction in GHG\nemissions the plan would result in. She said the plan should put the city on track to\nexceed the transportation-related emissions reduction targets.\nCommissioner Miley said the public would want to see the tangible items that would be\nhelping us meet the goals shown in the data.\nChair Bellows opened the public hearing.\nPat Potter, CASA and Bike Walk Alameda, said the Transportation Choices Plan does\nnot address the Bicycle and Ped Plans, which will be important for meeting our GHG\ngoals. She said we need to really talk to people to figure out what way to get people to\ntake the bus or ride a bike.\nRuth Abbe, CASA, said they have not been very active on transportation issues in the\npast. She said that acknowledging that transportation is responsible for 52% of our GHG\nemissions means they will be taking a more active role in transportation issues. She\nencouraged the commissioners to fully participate in the development of the Climate\nAction Plan to aspire to some attainable goals in the plan.\nChair Bellows closed the public hearing.\nCommissioner Miley said that the transportation share shows how our bike and\npedestrian plans need to chip away at our GHG numbers.\nStaff Member Garland asked for an informal response from each commissioner about\nwhether the plan was headed in the right direction or not.\nChair Bellows said the speaker's comments about the bike and pedestrian plan effects\non the plan. She asked to talk about the LimeBikes. She said they are everywhere, but\nthere are no helmets.\nStaff Member Ott said they are looking at ways to help get minors wearing helmets when\nriding. She said there have been over 11,000 trips since the launch with about 350 per\nday.\n6. STAFF COMMUNICATIONS\n6A Potential Future Meeting Agenda Items\n1. Alameda Transportation Management Association Annual Report\n2. Paratransit Program Annual Review\n3. One-way Carshare\n4. 2014 Parking Occupancy Goal Update\n5. Traffic Calming Draft Policy and Prioritized List 6. Alameda Point Existing\nTenant Proposed Fees\n6", "path": "TransportationCommission/2017-11-15.pdf"}
{"body": "TransportationCommission", "date": "2017-11-15", "page": 7, "text": "7. ANNOUNCEMENTS/PUBLIC COMMENT\nCommissioner Palmer asked how we can work more with the Planning Board to address\nthe traffic issues as new housing comes on board.\nStaff Member Ott said they did take the Transportation Choices Plan to City Council and\nhad a robust discussion. She said they are going to add some edits to the final plan to\ninclude some next steps on many of the big ticket long-term items. She said they can\nlook into a joint Transportation Commission/Planning Board meeting to discuss the\nbroader land use and transportation issues.\nCommissioner Miley suggested that anytime there is a big capital item or plan that could\nbe heard by both bodies simultaneously it could save a lot of staff time as well.\nAndrea Wuttke asked that the tramway system be considered at the same time the\nengineering study for a bicycle and pedestrian bridge is conducted.\nChair Bellows said operating costs would be an issue for a mass transit system. She\nsaid the tram idea has been studied in the past.\n8. ADJOURNMENT\nChair Bellows adjourned the meeting at 8:56pm.\n7", "path": "TransportationCommission/2017-11-15.pdf"}