pages: TransportationCommission/2015-02-25.pdf, 3
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TransportationCommission | 2015-02-25 | 3 | Transportation Commission March 25, 2015 Item #4B Page 3 of 10 Tony Kuttner, President of Greater Alameda Business Association, was concerned for the business community and the City's community as a whole. He would like to see a free local shuttle that serves the businesses and residents similar to the city of Emeryville's Emery Go Round shuttle. He stressed that a free, reliable transit system could be funded from a variety of funding sources, and he emphasized the goal of the plan was focusing on the Estuary crossings and reducing SOV trips because the transit plan should serve businesses and residents within the City. Kurt Petersen, Alameda resident, has been in sales for 35 years before retiring and he told the Board and Commission they are getting a hard sale. He believed the idea of the plan was great and needed, but he was concerned about the outcome of Site A and the several developments in the pipeline. He urged the Board and Commission to take some time and analyze the results. He also felt ongoing community input was not taken into consideration. Jim Strehlow, Alameda resident, explained that a plan to force people to mostly ride public transit would not work and this plan is for a transportation czar for the City. When he reviewed the statistics, he did not see how that would fit into the real world because people do not fit into statistics. If parking is not available then residents will place their vehicles in the surrounding neighborhoods. He also mentioned that recently an accident in the Webster Tube created havoc for people trying to get into the City. So, the impending month long closure of the High Street Bridge will be an experiment to see how hard it will be for residents to get off the island. Linda Morris, AC Transit Senior Transportation Planner, stated that the presentation was appreciated and she looked forward to working with the City. She said the plan was timely because AC Transit is preparing a Comprehensive Transportation Analysis (COA) and is going out to the community to elicit feedback. She will present the results at the Transportation Commission. She explained that one thing to focus on was the timeline because AC Transit created a short, medium and long range plan and in terms of the short range there will be service online starting March 15 and weekend service to the Faction Brewery. In terms of the short and medium timeline, she said there will be a public hearing in the summer of this year and the AC Transit Board will approve and implement a plan in late fall with some service increases for Alameda. Regarding the discussion of shuttles in Alameda, she said the job landscape of the City is less dense than the city of Emeryville. Staff could work with developers to create an AC Transit Easypass for residents to use the bus network. Eugenie Thomson, Alameda resident, thanked the staff and Board and Commission for addressing the TDM plan. She pointed out that the City is looking towards the biggest growth plans in quite some time. Therefore, she urged the Board and the Commission to maintain the existing good quality of life and to recognize that goals need to be set for TDM and Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) with all the upcoming growth. Trish Herrera Spencer spoke as an Alameda citizen and thanked Tony Kuttner for raising the issue of how the shuttle could support local businesses. Traffic is a problem. Carol Gottstein, Alameda resident, echoed Jim Strehlow's comments and restated that the plan | TransportationCommission/2015-02-25.pdf |