Traffic and Transportation Committee

Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Hernan E. Peña, Jr. Mayor Director City of Charleston South Carolina Department of Traffic & Transportation Traffic & Transportation Committee 80 Broad Street, First Floor Conference Room Tuesday, July 15, 2014 4:15 p.m. Chair, Councilmember William Moody, Jr. Vice-Chair, Councilmember Marvin Wagner Councilmember Michael Seekings Councilmember Kathleen Wilson Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr. AGENDA 1. Invocation Councilmember Seekings 2. Approval of Minutes June 17, 2014 3. Application for Original Certificate of Public Convenience Robert Somerville and Necessity Certificate for Taxi Cab/Limousine • Pernetta Brown, DBA Pernetta’s Paradise Transportation (Taxi) • Richard D. Johnson, DBA Holy City Transportation Services (Taxi) 4. Approval of Traffic Calming Speed Humps Robert Somerville • North Central Neighborhood – Peachtree Street & Simon Street • Harleston Village Neighborhood – Franklin Street 5. Discussion  Committee on Traffic and Transportation June 17, 2014 page 2 COMMITTEE ON TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORTATION June 17, 2014 A meeting of the Committee on Traffic and Transportation was held this date beginning at 4:18 p.m., at Grace on the Ashley Baptist Church, 2014 Bees Ferry Road. Notice of this meeting was sent to all local news media. PRESENT Councilmember Wagner, Vice Chair; Councilmembers Seekings, Wilson and Mayor Riley Staff: Janie Borden, Assistant Corporation Counsel; Robbie Somerville, Assistant Director of Traffic and Transportation; and Sgt. Heath King, Police The meeting was opened with a moment of silence by the Vice Chair. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: On the motion of Councilmember Seekings, seconded by Councilmember Wilson, the Committee voted unanimously to approve the minutes of the May 27, 2014 meeting. APPLICATION FOR ORIGINAL CERTIFICATE OF PUBLIC CONVENIENCE AND NECESSITY CERTIFICATE FOR TAXI CAB/LIMO • Hashim M. Alkanaan, DBA Easy Transportation (Taxi) On the motion of Councilmember Seekings, seconded by Councilmember Wilson, the Committee voted unanimously to approve the Application for Original Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity Certificate for Taxi Cab/ Limo. DISCUSSION Sgt. King stated that he was at the meeting to discuss additional rickshaw staging areas. He stated that Mr. Somerville has entered into an agreement with CARTA. Mr. Somerville stated that the rickshaw companies continue to ask for locations to be able to stage the rickshaws so that they can conduct their business. He stated that he and Sgt. King were looking at locations and walked King Street. He stated that he got into communication with CARTA. He stated that the last bus that runs in the City leaves at 9:45 p.m., so they were thinking they could use the CARTA bus stop locations from 10 p.m. through 3 a.m. to let the companies stage until they get a call to pick up a customer. He noted that CARTA is onboard with it. City ordinance says that T&T can determine a location, so it doesn’t require the T&T Committee’s approval, but we wanted to bring it before you to see if there are any questions or concerns about establishing these spaces as rickshaw staging locations. Councilmember Seekings stated that this is a really good idea and is needed. If you go up there late at night, there’s a congregating area in front of O- Ku at the corner of Radcliffe and King. He stated that this will give them the opportunity to be more visible in the street and be much safer. He stated his belief that this is something that needs to be done as soon as possible. The Vice Chair confirmed that the Legal Department and Police Department are in favor of this. Councilmember Seekings asked how long it will take to implement this. Mr. Somerville replied maybe a week. He stated that the signs just need to be made and installed. Councilmember Seekings asked if the rickshaw stand sign on Hutson Street is going to be integrated into the taxicabs at some point. He stated that it’s never used by the rickshaws. Mr. Somerville stated that’s because they want to be right on King Street. He stated that they could look at taking it out. He stated that the construction of the hotel on the corner is going to take up a lot of that parking. Mayor Riley confirmed the location of the rickshaw stand. He asked if we could take it out and put a parking meter there. Mr. Somerville stated that it’s a part of the commercial loading zone. Mr. Somerville stated that they conducted the study for the traffic calming on Conservancy Lane. We recorded about 1,000 vehicles traveling on that street and the average speed was about 26-28 mph, which  Committee on Traffic and Transportation June 17, 2014 page 3 meets the requirements. He stated that the petition packet was received, so we have to wait on the residents to provide a petition to meet the 75% petition requirement. He stated that they will look at putting it on the budget calendar for 2015. The Vice Chair stated that that’s fine with him. He noted that his emails should slow down tremendously. Having no further business, the meeting adjourned at 4:24 p.m. Techina Jacques Council Secretary