Everett Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC)

TAC MINUTES August 16, 2018 In attendance: Members Staff Guests Renee Quistorf Tim Miller, Public Works William Weber Ryan Sass, Public Works Victor Harris Scott Bader, City Council Tyler Rourke Sabina Popa, Transit Richard Smith Brock Howell, Transit Timothy Morgan, Police Brett Yeadon, Police Kelsey Svaren, Public Works Meeting called to order at 8:04 a.m. Chaired by Tyler Rourke  M/S/P for July 2018 Minutes. Announcements & Requests to Add Agenda Items  Victor, as a member of The Snohomish County Transportation Coalition (SNOTRAC), announced the Launch Event of the Duvall-Monroe Shuttle provided by Snoqualmie Valley Transportation. Victor noted that this is a cross-county service that will serve the east side of Snohomish County and will link up with many other transportation services within the region.  Tyler provided some feedback from residents of the Delta neighborhood regarding sidewalks. He noted that many people wondered what triggers installation of ADA ramps. He asked for clarity on the topic to inform TAC members so they can readily answer questions from citizens.  A brief discussion ensued regarding ADA compliant ramps within the City of Everett, including grant restrictions, state and federal legislation, and the evolving standards of PROWAG.  Ryan informed the committee that the City of Everett is developing an ADA webpage that will have links to our inventory that will be accessible to the public.  Brock Howell introduced himself to TAC. Brock is the new Customer Service & Communications Program Manager for Everett Transit. He will be attending meetings regularly moving forward. Citizen’s Comments  None Engineering Report  Ryan informed the committee the City Council approved a purchasing proposal for new handheld enforcement technology that was primarily developed by Information Technology and Municipal Court. The devices will provide the following benefits:  o Ability to scan license plates and geo-tag. o Assist with permit parking. o Will work with pay to park systems. o May assist in alleviating complicated ticketing process.  Ryan also brought the committee up to speed regarding an accident at 110 th & the Bothell Everett Highway in which a vehicle crashed into a tree and caught fire. The heat from the fire melted signal wiring in the nearby traffic pole. Signal Techs were on site by 4pm and had everything re-wired by midnight. Ryan expressed his appreciation to everyone involved for their hard work in resolving the situation as quickly as possible.  Ryan also announced that the annual pavement overlay project is nearing completion. There is still striping, detection loop splicing and some work on Lowell Larimer Road that needs to be finished.  Ryan noted the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for consultant selection for the Maple Heights Bridge Seismic Retrofit is being prepared.  There was a short discussion regarding the Department of Ecology’s arsenic abatement project on SR 529. The construction sequencing has switched so that Phase 2 will be completed first. Traffic revisions will begin on August 22, 2018. Police Report  Sergeant Morgan informed the committee about EPD involvement in the accident mentioned by Ryan. He noted that the time of the accident required EPD to deploy approximately eight officers for traffic control. This occurred during a high call out time, and resulted in a high impact on response to emergency calls.  Sergeant Morgan also updated the committee about the pedestrian and crosswalk enforcement effort that is currently taking place. In a four-hour period, Everett Police cited 28 violations of failing to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk. They will continue enforcement over the next three weeks.  There was a brief discussion regarding illegally modified vehicles that produce carcinogenic smoke, which directly affects pedestrians and cyclists in their path. Officer Morgan stated that EPD cites drivers with illegal vehicle modifications when they can, but traffic conditions often impede this. He also noted that emergency calls take priority over citations, but the two motorcycle officers in the department are incredibly efficient and write several hundred infractions per week.  A short discussion ensued regarding lack of resources for the Everett Police Department. Sergeant Morgan noted that population within the City of Everett skyrockets during the daytime due to employment, resulting in more than one emergency call per person per year, an unusually high rate. Richard noted that some issues will never be solved by the Police Department, no matter the size and resources available. Victor mentioned that EPD is the same size as the City of Spokane’s police force, which does not face the same challenges of increased daytime employment population increases that Everett endures. Transit Report  Sabina brought copies of the final draft of the Transit Development Plan, which is slightly revised from the draft discussed at our meeting in July.  M/S/P to recommend that City Council accept the final draft of the Transit Development Plan.  Sabina informed the committee that Transit is moving forward with the North Broadway Transit Improvement Project. City Council has approved the plan to go out to bid. She expects bids to take place in September with work starting in October.  Richard asked how the updated budget estimate of the North Broadway Transit Improvement Project affects which elements are value engineered out and how it is influencing the artistic aspect of the project. Sabina stated that Transit has established bare minimum standards that are built into the project, including a shelter, bicycle rack and bus schedule at each stop. She noted that both the Cultural Arts Department and Transit have finances to put toward the artistic element of the project, but that it will have to be scaled back from the original plan. Sabina said that she would update the committee as more information becomes available.  There was a brief discussion regarding potential cost saving and cost generating ideas for Transit, including advertisements on busses and at bus stops. Sabina mentioned that City policy currently prohibits advertisements at bus stops and that a study would need to take place before considering a change to the policy. Agenda Items: Item 1: Seattle Bike Share Preliminary Report Informational Briefing - Tim Miller  Due to interest from TAC regarding the possibility of bringing a bike share program to Everett, Tim put together a presentation to share preliminary findings regarding Seattle’s pilot program from July 2017-December 2017. This report showed that: o There was a large increase in bike share bikes from 1,500 in July to 10,000 in December. o 0.84 average Rides per Bike per Day o 3.9 bike trips per day per 1,000 residents (0.39 of 1% of residents) o Ridership peaked in October 2017 with 131,971 rides for the month. o The number of rides per bike per day trended down from July to December, which may be a correlation with the increasing number of overall bicycles during that period. o Study shows no increased risk of head injury with the bike share program. o User demographics show that 62% of riders are male, while 38% are female, with most users between the ages of 25 and 44. o 75% of bike riders used them to access transit o According to surveys, approximately 1/3 of the equivalent of Seattle’s population has tried the bike share program, 1/3 has shown interest in trying the program, and 1/3 is not willing to try the program. o Parking is the biggest challenge, with about 70% parked correctly Item 2: Bike Share Info from Other Cities Informational Briefing - Tim Miller  Tim also presented information regarding bike share programs in other cities around the United States. He provided a handout with the following information: o Name of city and population. o Length of time of bike share operation within the City. o Total number of bicycles in program. o Permit fees, rates for program. o Number of city staff involved in program. o Amount of city staff time involved in program.  Tim also briefly spoke about the Jump Bike, an electric bike share program used by some major cities, but not Seattle. The integrated lock could potentially reduce incorrect parking and vandalism.  Tim reported Seattle just announced a $250,000 per company fee, the highest in the nation. This resulted in Ofo announcing it was pulling out of the Seattle bike share market. Seattle intends to use the bike share company fees to construct about 150 – 200 designated parking zones for bike share at an estimated cost of $400,000. These would be on sidewalks and streets throughout the city.  There was a short discussion regarding the actual costs for implementing and maintaining a bike share program and complexity of bringing it to Everett.  Ryan noted that new programs like this go through a rapid experimentation phase where it can be difficult to track patterns until the programs mature. Ryan also mentioned that the Transportation Advisory Committee is the group that would deliberate and advocate for or against a pilot program within the City of Everett.  Tyler stated that the Bicycle Master Plan is the authority on bicycles within the City and it may be prudent to review it for possible updates in light of recent Metro Everett updates.  Adjourned at 9:53 am Next Scheduled Meeting: September 20, 2018