| Citizens Advisory Committee - April 25, 2007 |
CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEEMeeting Notice
Date: 6:00 p.m., Wednesday, April 25, 2007 6:00 1. Committee Meeting Call to Order 6:05 2. Adoption of Minutes of the March 28, 2007 Meeting - ACTION* (attachment) 6:07 3. Chair's Report - INFORMATION 6:10 Programming and Legislation4• Adopt a Motion of Support for the Allocation of $4,500 in Prop K Funds, with Conditions, to the Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA) and Appropriation of $16,300 in Prop K Funds to the Authority for the Geary Corridor Bicycle Network Review Project, Subject to the Attached Fiscal Year Cash Flow Distribution Schedule, and Amendment of the Relevant 5-Year Prioritization Program – ACTION* (attachment) The Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA) has requested Prop K funds for a bicycle demand survey and investigation of potential bicycle facility design option within the Geary Corridor. As part of the Geary Corridor Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Study, the Authority and MTA conducted a preliminary review of possible configurations for incorporating bicycle facilities on Geary. A key recommendation of the Geary Corridor BRT Study, to be presented to the Authority Board in May 2007, is additional analysis on where and how to best incorporate safe, convenient bicycle facilities on Geary or on other streets within the corridor. Results of this analysis will help to determine whether bicycle facilities would be best evaluated as part of an environmental study for a potential BRT project on Geary or as part of the citywide Bike Plan Environmental Impact Review (EIR) on a street parallel to Geary. In order to complete the subject project prior to the start of the Geary BRT EIR, the MTA has requested to utilize the Authority’s on-call planning services for the consultant portion of the project scope, to be paid for with the $16,300 in Prop K funds proposed for appropriation. The MTA will be responsible for day to day management of the consultant. We are seeking a motion of support for the allocation of $4,500 in Prop K Funds, with conditions, to the MTA and appropriation of $16,300 in Prop K Funds to the Authority for the Geary Corridor Bicycle Network Review project, subject to the attached Fiscal Year Cash Flow Distribution Schedule, and amendment of the relevant 5YPP. 5. Adopt a Motion of Support for the Appropriation of $1,183,000 in Prop K funds for Geary Bus Rapid Transit Environmental Analysis and Preliminary Engineering – Part 1, Subject to the Attached Fiscal Year Cash Flow Distribution Schedule, the Commitment to Appropriate $1,125,000 in Fiscal Year 2007/08 to Fund the Rest of the Part 1 Effort, and the Amendment of the Relevant 5-Year Prioritization Program – ACTION* (attachment) The Authority, in coordination with the Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA), has completed the Geary Corridor Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Study, including conceptual design and evaluation of BRT alternatives. The study recommends that several BRT alternatives be carried forward to the Environmental Analysis and Preliminary Engineering phase of work, to begin in fall 2007 and conclude in early 2009. Following approval of the study’s Final Report, to be considered at the April 26 meeting of the Geary Citizens Advisory Committee, the Authority, in close cooperation with the MTA, would like to initiate the Environmental Impact Report and Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS) to implement transit improvements on Geary. The EIR/EIS is intended to clear the project environmentally under state and federal rules respectively, and to comply with the Alternatives Analysis requirements under Federal Transit Administration (FTA) rules. We have agreed with MTA on a management approach for this EIR/EIS phase and subsequent design and implementation phases of the project. The Authority will lead project development through environmental clearance and preliminary engineering while final design and construction will be the responsibility of the MTA, and would be coordinated with other planned improvements on Geary Boulevard with the goal of opening at least a first phase of the project for service in 2011. The proposed appropriation would keep this significant Prop K project moving forward, helping to advance the Prop K mandate for a network of BRT routes, and would position the Geary BRT project to compete for FTA Small Starts funds. We are seeking a motion of support for the appropriation of $1,183,000 in Prop K funds for Geary BRT Environmental Analysis and Preliminary Engineering – Part 1, subject to the attached Fiscal Year Cash Flow Distribution Schedule, the commitment to appropriate $1,125,000 in Fiscal Year 2007/08 to fund the rest of the Part 1 effort, and the amendment of the relevant 5-Year Prioritization Program. 6. Prop K Fiscal Year 2007/08 Annual Allocations – Part 1 – INFORMATION* (attachment) (applications) Each spring the Authority issues an annual call for Prop K projects with the intent of bringing as many of the programmatic and other individual capital project allocations to the Authority Board for approval in June. This allows project sponsors to incorporate the level of Prop K funding in their annual budget processes, and to put into place the staff and other resources necessary to deliver Prop K projects and programs. Project sponsors that can demonstrate need and project readiness can also receive allocations for individual projects and programs during the year. We are presenting 18 applications received by March 28, requesting over $19 million in Prop K funds to the Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) for information this month and for action in May. At the April CAC meeting, we will highlight any issues or policy choices that we foresee, as well as project delivery successes, as appropriate. We have invited project sponsors to attend the meeting to answer any questions that the CAC may have. We expect to bring the second batch of annual requests, including bicycle, pedestrian, traffic calming, and street resurfacing projects to the CAC as an information item in May and as an action item in June. The other major grouping of annual requests that we have not received is part of Caltrain’s capital improvement program. We expect to receive these applications in mid to late summer, corresponding to Caltrain’s annual budget process. We are seeking guidance and input from the CAC. This is an information item. 6:45 Planning 7. Status Report on the On-Street Parking Management and Pricing Study – INFORMATION The Authority's Countywide Transportation Plan called for better parking management through a variety of means, including pricing mechanisms. The voter approved Expenditure Plan for Prop K includes a Transportation Demand Management/Parking Management program (Category D1) which supports innovative strategies to manage transportation system capacity in San Francisco, and encourages the use of alternatives to the automobile. In 2006, the Authority initiated the On-Street Parking Management and Pricing Study to review San Francisco’s existing on-street parking programs and investigate the potential of using innovative strategies such as dynamic pricing to increase on-street parking availability. The purpose of the study is to manage on-street parking supply in neighborhood commercial and residential districts at the neighborhood level. The Authority is leading the study which includes participation from the MTA and Planning Department and coordination with the Port of San Francisco, which is also undertaking its own Parking Management Study. To date, the study has reviewed current city policies and programs, documented existing parking conditions in several typical neighborhoods and identified parking shortages and needs, performed extensive market research to obtain data about individuals’ preferences, opinions and attitudes about parking, and surveyed best practices elsewhere in the state and nation. Based on these findings, the study team is developing alternative parking management strategies including increasing parking meter rates and times, deploying new payment and enforcement technologies and parking benefit districts that would return a portion of meter revenue to local communities for transportation improvements. Our next steps are to evaluate these strategies and implementation mechanisms, conduct further outreach, and to develop study recommendations. This is an information item. 8. Third Street Light Rail Project Status Report – INFORMATION* (attachment) This is a status report on the Third Street Light Rail Project. Closeout activities are underway on all line contracts on the Initial Operating Segment (IOS). Full revenue service commenced on April 7, 2007. The current Forecast-at-Completion (FAC) for the project is $613 million, $30.1 million over the approved budget. During the month of February, $4,968,469 in construction was performed and $710,227 was spent on construction support. As of February 28, 2007, total expenditures in construction and soft costs reached $504,879,861, which represents 86.6% of the approved budget and 82.3% of the FAC. Construction expenditures have reached $334,708,626 (79.6% of the FAC) and construction support expenditures total $106,805,593 (83% of the FAC). The T-Third was off to a rough start, with delays and malfunctions. On April 7 the on-time performance of the T-Third line was only 12%. The main causes of delays were bottlenecks at the Embarcadero turnback, the tripping of a breaker at one of the substations, and switching restrictions at the intersection of Fourth and King Streets. The bottlenecks at the turnback were caused by additional trains using the subway and exacerbated by the poor on-time performance of the T-Third. MTA has been addressing this issue by operational and control changes, and as of this writing 80% of the trains are turning back within the allotted window. The substation was brought back on-line later that same day. MTA reports that as of April 16 on-time performance on the T-Third had increased to 25%. The switching issue at Fourth and King, which is considered by MTA to be the main contributor to T-Third schedule disruptions, is being addressed by software modifications which are underway as of this writing. MTA expects that once this issue is resolved, on-time performance will increase dramatically. The lack of sufficient LRV operators systemwide to cover for sickness, vacations, or absenteeism continues to be a challenge for MTA, as is the availability of sufficient vehicles and mechanics to provide sustainable service for the new line. The Muni Metro East Maintenance Facility is now 51% complete, based on the current forecast-at-completion. Trackwork on the rail yard has been completed and roofing and siding are underway. Work on preliminary engineering for the Central Subway is now 39% complete. The FTA performed an analysis of the project’s costs, comparing them with other properties across the country, and concluded that they were within a reasonable range. The administrative draft of the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement/Report (SEIS/SEIR) was issued on March 12. The Planning Department completed its review on April 3, and provided MTA with comments. In addition to the SEIS/SEIR and community outreach, efforts continue on tunnel and station design and cost estimating. This is an information item. 7:50 9. Public Comment 8:00 10. Adjournment * Materials Attached Next Regular Meeting: May 23, 2007 CAC MEMBERS WHO ARE UNABLE TO ATTEND SHOULD CONTACT ERIKA CHENG AT (415) 522-4831 This meeting location is wheelchair accessible. In order to allow individuals with environmental illness or multiple-chemical sensitivity to attend the meeting, individuals are requested to refrain from wearing perfume or other scented products. All times shown are for information only. Items will be called at the discretion of the Chair. If you prefer receiving future agendas via email instead of regular mail, |
