Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission Meeting

Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission (BPAC) Approved August 16, 2016 Meeting Minutes Date: Tuesday, July 19, 2016 Time: 7:00 p.m. Place: City Council Chambers, City of Urbana, 400 South Vine Street, Urbana, IL Members Present: Kara Dudek, Cynthia Hoyle, Audrey Ishii, Susan Jones, Jeff Marino, Craig Shonkwiler and Lily Wilcock Staff Present: Kevin Garcia and Barbara Stiehl Members Absent: Annie Adams Others Present: None 1. CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL, AND DECLARATION OF QUORUM Craig Shonkwiler called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m. Roll call was taken. It was noted that a quorum of members was present. 2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Craig Shonkwiler requested that the agenda order be adjusted moving item 6a) Appointment of a Vice Chair to item number 3. Susan Jones moved to approve the amended agenda for the July 19, 2016 meeting. Cynthia Hoyle seconded the motion. The motion was approved. 3. APPOINTMENT OF VICE-CHAIR Craig Shonkwiler advised that the Vice-Chair would serve for the remainder of the 2016 calendar year. He stated that at the January 2017 meeting, a new Vice-Chair would be elected to serve for the 2017 calendar year and would be elected by a majority of the members present. Craig Shonkwiler called for a nomination of a vice-chair. Audrey Ishii nominated Cynthia Hoyle for vice-chair. Jeff Marino seconded that nomination. There was one nomination for Cynthia Hoyle and no other nominations. The Commission unanimously voted Cynthia Hoyle as vice-chair for the remainder of the 2016 Calendar year. Page | 1 The floor was turned over to Cynthia Hoyle. It was noted that Ms. Hoyle would also be the temporary chair until a chair is appointed by the Mayor. 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM PREVIOUS MEETING Cynthia Hoyle stated that she had comments and changes to the meeting minutes of June 21, 2106. She requested that approval be tabled until the next meeting. Craig Shonkwiler motioned to table the approval of minutes until the next meeting. Susan Jones seconded the motion. The motion was approved tabling the approval of minutes from the previous meeting. 5. PUBLIC INPUT There was no public input. 6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS There was no unfinished business. 7. NEW BUSINESS a) Bicycle Registration Lily Wilcock presented on the topic of bicycle registration (See attached PowerPoint presentation). She stated that the number one reason for the importance of bicycle registration was bicycle theft. She noted that theft was wide spread throughout the Champaign-Urbana (CU) community and on the University of Illinois (University) campus, which is sandwiched between the two communities. She noted she did not have the statistics on bicycle theft for this presentation. As outlined in her presentation, Ms. Wilcock noted that bicycles were also abandoned and recovered by law enforcement and were never returned by their owners because they could not be identified. Ms. Wilcock reported that there were upwards of 700 bicycles recovered each year and that the cost to repurpose these bicycles could range anywhere from $500-$900 for each bicycle. Ms. Wilcock confirmed that the University encouraged registration of all bicycles. Registration was offered in the cities of Urbana, Champaign and Savoy, but not required. She indicated that the problem with the registration process was that there was not a centralized system or database. Ms. Wilcock reported that the University was interested in improving bicycle facilities, but would need funding opportunities to support this process because of the high cost. Page | 2 Ms. Wilcock stressed that there were other options to consider in order to improve the bicycle registration process. She recommended such things like social media outlets, mobile applications and a centralized database. She directed the Commission to the University’s website for Bike at Illinois registration at go.illinois.edu/mybike and to their sign-up button on their Facebook page for University students. She also stated that the registration consisted of two parts, which included the registration and then a sticker that would be attached to the bicycle. Cynthia Hoyle made the suggestion, due to the high cost just presented, to follow what other communities have utilized to provide incentives to create an application, take a picture of the bike and upload the bike serial number and profile. Once those steps are completed a sticker could be mailed to the person registering their bike. Other ideas offered as possible bicycle registration solutions included bike tags suggested by Ms. Wilcock and ZAP tags by Ms. Hoyle, which would be further discussed in her presentation on Safe Routes to School (SRTS). b) Parking in Bicycle Lanes Ms. Wilcock asked that the commission revisit the issue on parking in bicycle lanes because it had been a reoccurring issue. She asked that Commission consider proposing an ordinance that would restrict vehicles from parking in bicycle lanes. In response to the creation of an ordinance, Craig Shonkwiler recalled conversations with the police department and their concerns about enforceability regarding the parking in bicycle lanes. He spoke about vehicles being parked in bike lanes for long periods rather than those that are just standing or picking up. He believed that the ordinance in that circumstance would then be enforceable. In addition, Craig Shonkwiler stated that the he would ask staff to research the issue on how existing ordinances on parking in bicycle lanes are handled in other jurisdictions. He expected that the information could be provided to the Commission later on this fall. He would also include in his report information on what the surrounding communities of Champaign and Savoy have done regarding the same situation, if anything. Jeff Marino would also be in favor of putting together the pros and cons of the gathered research on what other communities were doing and specifically what other gold rated bike communities have established. Craig Shonkwiler agreed that the best approach would be to gather more information before proceeding in any direction. As a representative of staff and as member of the Traffic Commission, where the ordinance would originate, it would be his goal to have staff gather the information by the end of the calendar year and provide that information at the next available meeting. He would also include any information gathered from other communities like Champaign and Savoy and collaborate with the Community Development Department to ensure they were aware of the plans. c) Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Page | 3 Ms. Hoyle explained that the Safe Routes to School Program began as an International Walk to School Day event through a partnership with the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District (CUMTD) and Safe Kids in 2003 with a total of four schools participating. (See attached PowerPoint presentation.) As a point of comparison, Ms. Hoyle reported in 2015 a majority of the K-8 schools in Champaign-Urbana were now involved. When the program started in 2003, there was no funding from the Federal Government. Since 2007, the program had been awarded a total of four non-infrastructure SRTS grants totaling $183,300, which had been distributed to the program through the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT). However in 2014, the funding was limited to a 20% local match, which was provided by the Urbana School District and CUMTD. In addition, the funds could not be applied to provide staff support, so CUMTD provided that along with office space and free bus ad space. In 2005, the Federal Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Program was created through SAFETEA- LU to focus on making it safer and easier for kids to walk and bike to school. As a side-note, Ms. Hoyle explained that there had been a huge decline in the number of kids who walked and biked to school in the last 40 years, corresponding to the increase in health issues such as childhood obesity, diabetes and even high blood pressure. She stated every state was required to have a program and had impacted 6,500 elementary and middle schools. However, the most recent funding did not require DOT’s to fund SRTS programs and that states could opt out to use the money for other programs. However, IDOT continued to use the funds granted to them to support SRTS. Ms. Hoyle explained that the goals of SRTS were to increase walking and biking to school, raise awareness and educate the community, to name a few. A steering committee was formed that initially had gone through the Champaign County Safe Kids, but they decided to change their focus and the granting agency was changed to CUMTD. Ms. Hoyle outlined the goals of the program, as it applied to the City of Urbana, by using the model of the 5E’s which stood for Education, Encouragement, Enforcement, Engineering and Evaluation. Ms. Hoyle stated that the overall goal of the SRTS was to have a citywide year-round program to education and raise awareness for safe walking and bicycle riding. In the area of education, the goal was to have bicycle safety training for every child in the school district. They also encouraged and educated the community about snow removal during the winter through the use of billboards, yard signs and busboards. Ms. Hoyle also described other past programs for encouraging the community which included park and walk/frequent walker programs with an incentive based program to receive prizes. SRTS worked with the Urbana Middle School in conjunction with the City of Urbana’s SRTS grant to put in a bicycle infrastructure within a mile and a half of the school. With the funds, SRTS helped to purchase and install a solar power reader that would scan bicycle tags. She explained that the students walked by the reader to register their trip and they could then Page | 4 see information on the website about how many pounds of greenhouse gases they had saved and how many miles they had gone. SRTS also partnered with Urbana School District and hired a coordinator to run the walking school bus program and walk specific routes with kids for six weeks in the fall and six weeks in the spring. Ms. Hoyle reported that additional educational programs included a bike rodeo, the SPLASH after school program, Active4Me Program for solar readers and a bike to school day bicycle safety programs have been offered. SRTS helped provide additional training to have more League Cycling instructors who were League Certified Instructors (LCI) through the League of American Bicyclists, by providing scholarships for the certification. Champaign also used donated county money along with SRTS grant funds to buy bicycles for safety classes. For the engineering portion of the program, Ms. Hoyle explained the importance of how the streets are constructed and how that correlated with the safety of bicyclists. Ms. Hoyle reported that the current SRTS grant ended in July and without funding they would still host the bike rodeo and the after school program. She added they were meeting to talk about a new round of funding, additional staff requirements and how the Illinois state budget would affect the funding for next year’s programs. 7. ANNOUNCEMENTS • July 19 - Senator Dick Durbin visited CUMTD for MCORE Project update • July 23 – Pop-Up Hike in Busey Woods 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. • July 29 – Opening Bids for MCORE projects 1, 2 and 3 • August 27 – C-U Across the Prairie Ride 7:00 a.m. • September 22 – Light the Night 4-7 p.m. at Illinois and Lincoln and Front of the Alma Mater on Green St. Handing out bike lights and registering. Contact Lily Wilcock, Cynthia Hoyle or Jeff Yockey for volunteer opportunities. • September 24 – River to Rail Ride at Middle Fork River Forest Preserve in Penfield • October 5 – Walk and Roll to School Day 8. FUTURE TOPICS • Bradley Avenue Bicycle Lanes • Safety Study on University Avenue by IDOT 9. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8:49 p.m. *** Respectfully submitted, Leslie Cross Recording Secretary Page | 5 Bicycle registration Why?  “In a Dayton, Ohio, police initiative, the problem was reversed, with approximately 80 percent of stolen bicycles' being recovered…” Bicycles are recovered all the time and never returned to their owners, due to proof-of-property issues. Abandoned bikes are extremely expensive garbage on campus. 700 of bikes are confiscated every summer and winter No one can find the owner This cost approx. $500-$900 to repurpose these bikes, from abandoned, to tagged, to transported, to stored, to transported again, new parts and sales fees. In comparison it costs $20 to recycle a printer, $50 to recycle a television. Medical waste (red bag) costs about $6.60 for 30 pounds (a heavier mountain bike or hybrid) Registration helps us find the owner. Many owners who register see their bicycle as an important part of their lives, like a car. Do you register your car? Yes. How would we know it was yours? Some entities, like the U of I, require registration. Urbana, Champaign, and Savoy do not. Some members of our community could be asked to register their bicycle with five different entities. This is not encouraging. Over decades of neglect the act of registering is a little known piece of property rights. The University is interested in improving bicycle facilities. Questions like: How much long-term parking does the University need? How much short-term parking? Helps us with asking for funding and finding funding opportunities for one of the most popular and cherished forms of transportation on campus. Is it easier to do this with the bicycle census or registration? Both are very helpful. In a perfect, futuristic world, one could go to an area of town or campus that has had complaints of bicycle theft and scan bike registration stickers down the line to make sure none are reported stolen. Much like running a license plate. This would be awesome and is, frankly, achievable in a life time. Safe Routes to School Cynthia Hoyle, FAICP Urbana BPAC LCI# 3053 July 19, 2016  C-U SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL PROJECT (C-U SRTS ROJECT) www.cu-srtsproject.com CHAMPAIGN-URBANA SRTS C-U SRTS PROGRAM BACKGROUND  Began with International Walk to School Day in 2003 with 4 schools  2015 – majority of K-8 schools involved  4 Non-infrastructure SRTS grants awarded since 2007 (Total-$183,300)  2014 grant required 20% local match provided by Urbana School District & CUMTD  CUMTD has provided staff support, funding, office space, free bus ad space, and more FEDERAL SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL (SRTS) PROGRAM  Created 2005 through SAFETEA-LU  Focus on making it safer and easier for kids to walk and bike to school  Every state DOT had a program  Majority of funding for infrastructure with a goal of 10% going toward non-infrastructure projects  Over 6,500 elementary and middle schools have SRTS programs  C-U SRTS PROJECT  Goals:  Increase walking to school by 5%  Increase biking to school by 1%  By:  Raising awareness  Educating the community, students, motorists  Working with law enforcement  Decreasing congestion  Improving the safety around our schools PARTNERSHIPS C-U SRTSchool Coalition Members:  Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District  Cities of Urbana & Champaign (Public Works/Police)  C-U Public Health District  Urbana and Champaign Schools  Champaign County Bikes  Urbana/Champaign Park District  Healthy Champaign County TRAFFIC CONGESTION More of this... Means less of this... ELEMENTS OF SRTS PROGRAMS THE 5 E’S  Education  Encouragement  Enforcement  Engineering  Evaluation Pictures: Cynthia Hoyle, FAICP  SUCCESSFUL SRTS PROGRAM Creation of a citywide year-round education and awareness raising program EDUCATION AND ENCOURAGEMENT SNOW REMOVAL PROGRAM  Billboards  Busboards  Radio Ads  Yard Signs  Flyers EDUCATION AND ENCOURAGEMENT PARK AND WALK/FREQUENT WALKER PROGRAMS ENCOURAGEMENT AT UMS UMS PROGRAMMING SOLAR-POWERED READER  Working with teacher and principal  UMS students signed up for full academic year program  Provide after school programs on safety and repair EDUCATION AND ENCOURAGMENT WALKING SCHOOL BUS A walking bus is a form of student transport for children who, chaperoned by adults, walk to school in much the same way a school bus would drive them to school. Like a traditional bus, walking buses have a fixed route with designated "bus stops" and "pick up times”.  BICYCLE EDUCATION PROGRAMS  Bike Rodeos  SPLASH – Urbana Middle School (UMS) after school program class  Active4Me (formerly Boltage) UMS encouragement program  Bike to School Day  League Certified Instructors  BIKE RODEOS Different groups/locations including: • At schools – both elementary and middle • At public events – farmer’s markets/concerts • Upon request - library, Playing It Safe Safety Fair • This grant cycle:  7 rodeos  230 kids  55 helmets Includes:  Check-in, helmet/bike fitting & ABC Quick Check  Starting, Stopping Straight line riding  Hazard avoidance  Scan, signal, turn  Turning and yielding TYPICAL BIKE RODEO  Snail races SPLASH – READY.SET.BIKE!  After school program at Urbana Middle School. Five to six classes 1.5 hours long  Students are supplied with:  Helmets  Bike locks  Rehabbed bikes (if they do not have one)  Bike lights CLASS 1: INTRODUCTION, OVERVIEW, TYPES OF BIKES, BIKE PARTS, BIKE FITTING, AND BIKE SAFETY Topics:  What did the first bicycle look like and when was it invented?  How many types of bikes are in use today all over the world?  How many different parts of bikes can you name?  How do I determine if my bike fits me?  Checking your bike – ABC Quick Check CLASS 2 APRIL 15: HELMET FITTING – MELON DROP Topics:  How to fit your helmet to your own or your friend's head  The thickness of your skull (it is the width of a penny)  What happens to your brain if you fall and you are not wearing a helmet (hint: squashed melon) CLASS 3 APRIL 22: BIKE GEAR/EQUIPMENT AND BASIC MAINTENANCE Topics:  How to replace a tube  How to fill a tire with air  How to clean and maintain your chain  How to adjust seat height CLASS 4 APRIL 29: BICYCLE SKILLS – STARTING, STOPPING, SCANNING/SIGNALING/TURNING, OBSTACLE AVOIDANCE Topics: Practice scanning, signaling, turning and lane positioning at intersections How to lock your bike so it isn’t stolen? Where do you install bike lights on your bike? CLASS 5 MAY 6: BICYCLE SKILLS GROUP RIDE Topics:  Different routes created to allow students to receive on-bike instruction in various neighborhood environments appropriate to their skill level  On-street practice for lane positioning, bike infrastructure, intersections, and biking with traffic ACTIVE4ME (FORMERLY BOLTAGE) Bicycling and walking incentive program: • Program combines technology with incentives to encourage students to walk or bike to school • Participants use ZapTag and pass under a solar- powered RFID (radio frequency identification) reader when they walk or bike to school (one trip/day) • Students sign up on-line • Prizes based on trips made/counted End of semester Incentives Celebration Solar-powered counter BIKE TO SCHOOL DAY Elementary Schools: • Volunteers stationed at bike racks • Bike to School Day backpack reflectors for riders Middle School: • Station with prizes and incentives 2015 BIKE TO SCHOOL DAY REGISTRATION Private, 16 2016 BIKE TO SCHOOL DAY REGISTRATION Private, Public, 8 74 Public, 87  Offered scholarship for applicants to attend Traffic Skills 101 and LCI Seminar  9 students attended LCI Seminar  5 new LCI’s for C-U!  2 received scholarships TRAINING CERTIFIED BICYCLE SAFETY INSTRUCTORS   Champaign County Bikes partnered with the Urbana Park District Summer Camp program to teach bicycle safety classes this summer  Three weeks/three days per week for 2 hours they are learning bicycle safety  Mostly on-bike! URBANA PARK DISTRICT SUMMER CAMP BICYCLE SAFETY CLASSES  ENGINEERING  Safe and connected sidewalk system  Crosswalks  Bike lanes  Road diets  Traffic calming  School zone signage  Real-time speed signs  Bike parking  Trails ENGINEERING: SPEED MATTERS High speeds lead to greater chance of serious injury & death  EVALUATION Collecting data is key!  Parent Surveys  Travel tallies  Walkability Checklists  Bikeability Checklists  Questions Cynthia Hoyle, FAICP, LCI Chair, C-U SRTS Project choyle@cumtd.com