Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-MATC-2019-11-25 MOBILITY, ACCESSIBILITY AND TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION MINUTES PRESENT: Chair Lerner Commissioners (6) Chang, Brouwer, Barden, Parkes, Powers, Roberts OTHERS PRESENT: Common Council Liaisons – McGonigal and Nguyen Information Management Specialist – Myers EXCUSED: Commissioner Lyczko Approval of the October 28, 2019 Mobility, Accessibility, and Transportation Commission Meeting Minutes- Resolution By Commissioner Chang: Seconded by Commissioner Powers RESOLVED, That the minutes of the October 28, 2019 Mobility, Accessibility, and Transportation Commission meeting be approved as published. Carried Unanimously Statements From the Public: No one from the public appeared to address the Commission. Commissioner’s Comments: None CC Liaison Report: CC Liaison Nguyen reported that Common Council, at their December meeting, will be approving a new location for “OurBuses” to drop off and pick up passengers. I will be located at 130 E. Seneca Street in front of Starbucks. OurBus will pay $25,000 to move the existing fire hydrant there to a new location. This approval of this location is for a four month pilot program after Common Council votes on it at their December 4th meeting. Not all of Common Council is happy with the proposed location either. CC Liaison McGonigal further reported that OurBus will reimburse the City $80,000 because they sued the city. Discussion followed on the floor regarding the pros and cons of the new location as well as concerns relating to the operation of these buses. Chair’s Report:  Matcom still has a vacancy; he reviewed the applications that were provided to all the chairs by Chief of Staff Cogan. He has made a recommendation to the Mayor to appoint Srikar Srivatsa to fill the vacancy left by Sarah Brylinsky at Council’s December 4th meeting. He has also talked with Commissioner Roberts about the new member being paired with him to work on the ADA Coordinator proposal and he is supportive of that recommendation. Commissioner Parkes arrived at 6:30 p.m. Date: November 25, 2019 Time: 6:00 PM Location: Common Council Chambers, 3rd Floor, City Hall Mobility, Accessibility and Transportation Commission Meeting Minutes November 25, 2019 2  Reappointments – Chair Lerner polled all the members present regarding their interest in being reappointed to the commission since their terms expire at the end of December. All present were interested in being reappointed; except for one member who was not prepared to make a decision.  December meeting date – due to the Christmas Holiday the next meeting of Matcom will be Monday, December 16th at 6:00 p.m. in the second floor conference room.  Vice Chair for the month of December – Commissioner Parkes  City transportation plan coordination – the first meeting with Transportation Engineer Hathaway was last week. In attendance were himself, Commissioner Barden and the Council liaisons. He felt the meeting went quite well. Commissioner Barden reported on how the transportation plan and the parking study will intersect or Mr. Hathaway’s anticipation of that. Public outreach for both done simultaneously to see how it interfaces. Goal for end result of the plan is that it is something that is implementable. For example, how much will it cost, how it will look, who will do the work and can the recommendation be implemented within the next 3-5 years. They also need to plan for and incorporate the future costs of maintenance with each decision made to make sure there is a plan down the road to pay for it. The other two things not related to those studies that Mr. Hathaway was excited to share relate to a “Pedestrian Safety Action Plan” from New York State which would include painting crosswalks, new pedestrian signals, and money made available to the City for more specific upgrades. The funding from New York State will cover half of the cost of those signals. Commissioner Barden further reported that there will be highway money available from the Federal government. It is for programs that the Federal Government wants to collect more data on or new programs that are useful but not implemented - innovative proposals. Mr. Hathaway is working on a proposal which has to be submitted this week. Some of the ideas include upgrades to 20 traffic signals downtown with visual cameras that can detect whether a car, pedestrian or bike is at the intersection and adjust phases in real time to respond to different traffic loads. The last would be installing transit system priority signals which would enable TCAT buses to have equipment that could adjust signals at intersections to improve traffic flow in an effort to help them stay on schedule. The only concern along with proposal is that NYS Department of transportation did not want to enable that type of signal on the roads they own; however, they did agree that they could be installed to collect data. Mobility, Accessibility and Transportation Commission Meeting Minutes November 25, 2019 3 Discussion followed on the floor regarding the sophistication of new traffic and pedest rian signals available and features that would improve traffic and pedestrian flow in the City. They also discussed the best way to make this commission and Mr. Hathaway’s work gradually converge, how topics will get incorporated both now and in the future from the two studies and ongoing work with NYS and the Federal Government to improve safety and the flow of all kinds of traffic. Commissioner Parkes asked how Matcom’s work will fit into these two plans as they are developed. He is working with the consultant and would like to determine how to navigate the two studies and topics that Mr. Hathaway is involved with to find a niche for Matcom. Commissioner Barden explained that Mr. Hathaway said his department is having weekly meetings with the consulting firm to talk about the scope of work which they hope to have outlined within a month. He was aware that Matcom wants to be involved and will provide as much information as he can and if not in person then through e-mail. Commissioner Roberts expressed his opinion that the real issue is the capacity of the consultants to conduct public outreach. Especially since now it appears that there is one consultant for both projects and both projects are being managed by different staff of the Department of Public Works. He wants to insure that there is in place a robust plan for public participation. His past experience with public outreach by the City is that it has been poor and the results lacking. It is incumbent upon those staff members or commission members to interface with the Department of Public Works and the consultant to push vitality and robustness of public outreach. Commissioner Barden stated that Mr. Hathaway hopes that in the window between when the plan is scoped and drafted that he will be able to present it to Matcom for their review and input. ADA Issues - ADA Coordinator Commissioner Roberts had no report at this time. E-Scooters Follow -Up Commissioner Powers stated that after Transportation Engineer Hathaway did a presentation at the September meeting, he had no data for bicycle incidents, near incidents or actual data . She was thinking that is something that this commission could work on and came up with plan to make it happen. She talked with Mr. Hathaway about it and they ultimately came up the idea that she and Commissioner Barden should look into how other cities collect this data and be where they focus their energy. This is in response to the “Vision Zero Initiative” (zero deaths period from car/pedestrian accidents). The data collected could help develop a recommendation for the City of Ithaca. Mobility, Accessibility and Transportation Commission Meeting Minutes November 25, 2019 4 Chair Lerner suggested that data on near misses and hospitalizations be included in the data collected. He feels this is good project for Commissioners Powers and Barden and fully supports it. DPW Parking Analysis - Way Finding Chair Lerner explained that this topic was discussed at the last meeting. Some research has been done by the Downtown Ithaca Alliance and Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce. He will bring the topic up at the next meeting with Transportation Engineer Hathaway in December. Commissioner Chang reported that the Chamber of Commerce did a report in 2013 about it. They contacted his office, The Center for Community Transportation, for funding for the signage because there is no particular highway fund to access for pretty signs. Commissioner Parkes stated that he is not sure how the City feels about wayfinding signs or what kind of money it could designate related to transportation plan study. Chair Lerner responded that his understanding is that different departments and staff have information but no way to bring it all together. That could be a task for Matcom to work on. Pedestrian Snow Removal Public Input: Commissioners Brouwer and Chang distributed flyers for commissioners to post in places that they think would be helpful. Commissioner Chang reported that more than 300 people have taken the survey since it was launched on November 22nd. He shared some demographic information about who had completed the survey. Chair Lerner suggested that the flyers also be distributed at local schools and colleges to get input from as many different people as possible. Commissioner Brouwer stated that he would make sure the survey is provided to all the listserves for all elementary schools, and will also reach out to the principal and PTA head. The survey will close on December 6. Meeting Wrap Up: The next meeting is Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6:00 p.m. in the Second Floor conference room. Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 7:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Sarah L. Myers, Information Management Specialist