Citizens Advisory Committee on Transportation

Citizens Advisory Committee on Transportation October 9, 2019 - 7:00 pm- 9:30 pm 300 Park Ave-Dogwood Room Draft Meeting Minutes Attendance CACT Members Member Present City Staff Andrea Caumont, Chair Yes 1. Jeffrey Sikes 2. Zak Bradley Paul Baldino Yes Bill Ackerman Yes Doug Devereaux Yes Addison Heard No Shaun Dakin Yes Dave Gustafson, Vice Chair Yes Liaisons Liaison Present David Snyder No (City Council) Melissa Teates Yes (Planning Commission) Sarah Fong No (Youth Representative) Agenda 1. Public Comment 2. Action Item: Approval of Minutes J-September 2019. 3. Committee Member Reports 4. Staff Reports 5. Information Item: CACT 2019 Priority Tracking Sheet 6. Discussion Item: Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program-Discussion of short term ideas to get projects implemented sooner, Manager’s Update 7. Information Item: W Annandale Road/Gundry Drive NTC project  8. Information Item: Scooter Policy Update 9. Discussion Item: Open Streets Events 10. Discussion Item: Safe routes to Schools-MEHMS and GMHS 11. Other items not on the agenda 12. Correspondence: a. Falls Church 29, Neighborhood Flyer b. DC to close 3 miles of Georgia Ave to cars for first open streets event c. Arlington Scooter link 1. Public Comment: A resident commented on the state of public transit in the city, and indicated support for more public transit in the city. 2. Action Item: Approval of Minutes for September 2019: The minutes for the September 2019 meeting were approved contingent upon the correction of some typing errors. 3. Committee Member Reports: Dave commented on the difficulty of finding parking in the Downtown area of the City and of the problem with predatory parking. Shaun inquired about the city’s position on Parking meters and parking apps like in some other localities. Melissa commented that the chamber of Commerce is against the installation of parking meters. Bill commented on his experience riding the 3T bus. He reported that ridership appears to be about the same as it was before service was discontinued in 2016. Jeff indicated that once the operating grant expires in late 2020, service on the extension will be discontinued. Melissa suggested that the wayfinding consultant attend a CACT meeting to discuss their work for the city. 4. Staff Reports: • Tara Reported the repaving and restriping of the Downtown Plaza parking lot. She also indicated that Rialroad Ave near the Cottages will be paved. Also on the paving schedule is a section of Hillwood Ave and small section of Broad Street. Also, the traffic signal timing report is underway for update. • Jeff reported that groundbreaking for the new GMHS took place over the summer as well as groundbreaking for the $15 Million multimodal transportation project for the WFC Economic development project. He also indicated that Friday September 20 was Parking Day and that the City would be participating at Park Ave across for the library. Any CACT members interested in helping are always welcome.  5. Information Item: CACT 2019 Priority Tracking Sheet: The Priority Tracking sheet was updated to reflect changes to Spot Improvements for Pedestrian safety and Scooter Policy. 6. Discussion Item: Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program- Discussion of short term ideas to projects implemented sooner; Manager’s Report On September 3rd, the CACT was invited to participate in a Council work session on the topics of Scooter Policy and Pedestrian Safety Spot improvements. At the September 11th CACT meeting the work session was discussed. Scooter Policy: Virginia localities have until the end of 2019 to adopt criteria for scooter operation. Jf no criteria are adopted, the scooter vendor can operate without local restrictions. At the work session the main issues raised that need to be resolved include the minimum age of scooter users, the maximum speeds allowed, where scooter can be ridden and how and where will scooters will be parked to avoid clutter on sidewalks and impede pedestrians. These issues are being worked by staff and the City Attorney and will be discussed at another Council Work session on October 21st .Spot Pedestrian Safety Improvements: The CACT developed a list of needed spot pedestrian improvements for Council consideration that was largely derived from the Walkability Survey. Staff had also identified some missing sidewalk links that would improve pedestrian safety and provide a continuous sidewalk. These items were a missing link of sidewalk on S Oak St near TJ ES that would be used by students and others, and a missing section of sidewalk on S Maple Ave near the Henderson house. In addition, crosswalks will be refreshed to make them more visible. The CACT supported the recommendation by Paul to make the CACT list of recommendation to become a part of the CACT Annual Report to Council. 7. Information Item: W Annandale Rd/Gundry Drive NTC Project • Staff provided a memo which addressed the status of the City’s Bikeshare program. Bikeshare in the city was launched in May 2019 with 10 docking stations. Funding for five years was received from the I-66 Commuter Choice program. Operating costs are $142,000 per year. • Since operations began in May, for the first 3 months 1675 rides began in the city and 921 rides ended in the city. Of the 10 stations in the city, most rides either began or ended at the station located at N Roosevelt St and Roosevelt Blvd. • In terms of revenue data, for the months of May, June and July showed an operating recovery rate of 57%, more than the expected rate of 30%.  8. Information Item: Scooter Policy Update Jeff indicated to the committee that Parking Day will be celebrated on Friday, September 20th. This year the “parklet” will be located on Park Ave at N Virginia Ave across from the library. Jeff indicated that volunteer help was always appreciated. A concept graphic of the “parklet layout was provide in the meeting materials packet. 9. Discussion Item: Open Street Events: The graphics of the project were not ready for distribution to the committee at the time of the meeting. They will be handed out to members at a later CACT meeting. 10. Discussion Item: Safe routes to School – MEHMS and GMHS: There were none. 11. Other Items not on the Agenda: There were none. 12. Correspondence and Articles: a. Falls Church 29 Neighborhood Flyer b. DC to close 3 miles of Georgia Ave to cars for first open streets event c. Arlington scooter link