SAN FRANCISCO COUNTY TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Transcription

1 DRAFT MINUTES 1. Roll Call SAN FRANCISCO COUNTY TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY Tuesday, September 10, 2013 Chair Avalos called the meeting to order at 11:08 a.m. He reported that he would call for a recess at 1:30 p.m. if the meeting had not yet adjourned by that time. The following members were: Present at Roll Call: Commissioners Avalos, Breed, Chiu, Cohen, Farrell, Kim, Mar, Tang, Wiener and Yee (10) Absent at Roll Call: Commissioner Campos (entered during Item 3) (1) 2. Approve the Minutes of the July 23 and July 30, 2013 Meetings ACTION There was no public comment. The minutes were adopted by the following vote: Items for Direct Board Consideration Ayes: Commissioners Avalos, Breed, Chiu, Cohen, Farrell, Kim, Mar, Tang, Wiener and Yee (10) Absent: Commissioner Campos (1) 3. Certify the Final Environmental Impact Report; Approve the Findings of Fact; Approve the Statement of Overriding Considerations; Adopt the Mitigation, Monitoring, and Reporting Program; and Approve Center-Lane Bus Rapid Transit with Right Side Boarding/Single Median and Limited Left Turns as the Preferred Alternative for the Van Ness Avenue Bus Rapid Transit Project ACTION Chair Avalos introduced this item. He thanked the Authority and San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) project team for this major project development milestone. He said that he was glad that Authority and SFMTA staff were able to find a locally preferred alternative that brought BRT to the middle of the roadway where it would be less impeded by turning and parking traffic. He said that on the San Francisco delegation s tour of bus rapid transit (BRT) systems in Mexico City, it was clear how much the bus slowed down when it moved into the right lane. He stated that the LPA was the right alternative for this project on a number of levels. Chair Avalos recognized the good work that went into this Environmental Impact Report (EIR). He lauded it as a well-written and informative document that had disclosed the potential impacts in a way that the Board could make a measured decision about project approval and certification. He remarked that the margin bars and pull quotes made reading it M:\Board\Board Meetings\MINUTES\2013\09 Sep Bd Mins.docx Page 1 of 9

2 much easier than a standard document of this size and nature. Chair Avalos also recognized the large amount of outreach that staff had done on this project. He said the Authority always strived to do more as it seemed inevitable that the methods still left some people unaware of proposed changes, but he appreciated the 17,000 address mailing that the Authority did for the Final EIR, as well as the direct outreach to neighborhood groups. He also thanked the members of the Citizens Advisory Committee for their service. Maria Lombardo, Interim Executive Director, concurred with Chair Avalos remarks. She thanked Authority and SFMTA Boards, as well as SFMTA Director of Transportation Ed Reiskin. She underscored that this was a project that the City and the two bodies should be very proud of. She highlighted that it this was the highest ranked Small Starts project in the nation for project justification, and it would provide a brand new mode of transportation for San Francisco. She thanked Tilly Chang, Deputy Director for Planning, and the interagency team that really delivered the EIR, including some of the many SFMTA staff that worked on the project, such as Tim Papandreou, Peter Gabancho, and Paul Bignardi, and the Authority staff, such as Michael Schwartz, Sharareh Tavafrashti, and Rachel Hiatt. Michael Schwartz, Senior Transportation Planner, presented this item per the staff memorandum. Joél Ramos, District 4 resident and member of the SFMTA Board of Directors, said that he had been a long-time transit rider and San Francisco resident. He stated that the 47 and 49 bus lines provided one of the most tedious rides in the city and delays caused it to be one of the most expensive lines to run in the city. He said that when he learned about this particular project, he couldn t be more excited, particularly about the 30 percent reduction of operations cost. Mr. Ramos underscored that this project had tremendous potential to be a paradigm shift for transit in San Francisco, as the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system, the streetcar system, or the light rail transit system had been in the past. He said that BRT effectively could become the primary way that riders move around in the city, in corridors such as 19th Avenue, Lombard Street, Mission Street, and Geneva Avenue, and would be an easier, more reliable, more efficient, and more cost effective method. He said that the SFMTA was turning over every dollar within its budget to make sure it could deliver service with the minimal resources that it had, which had been constrained over the past few years. He said that BRT was one of the best returns on investment it allowed savings on operations costs, created a safer corridor for bicyclists and pedestrians, and most importantly, it delivered fast, frequent, and reliable service. Mr. Ramos said that he would happy to speak more about the partnership between the SFMTA and the Authority. He acknowledged the work of Ms. Chang, Mr. Schwartz, and Mr. Papandreou, as well as all staff that had worked on this project. He said that the SFMTA was very excited about moving forward together on not just this project but on exploring BRT and other corridor improvements to deliver better transit service that would allow more people to leave their cars at home. He said that the city needed to plan for more growth, and with the streets at capacity, BRT was one of the ways to do more with existing infrastructure. Commissioner Yee stated that sometimes improvements were made without adjustments to balance the impact caused, such as removing parking from the neighborhood in order to make transportation improvements for riders, including those outside of the neighborhood.

3 He said he was glad that alternative parking in impacted areas was being considered, to adjust the balance. Commissioner Yee asked for clarification on the drawing shown on page three of the presentation. He said that the drawing showed Sutter Street and Van Ness Avenue, and it was clear how pedestrians would get to the southbound stop. He noted, however, that for the northbound direction, the drawing showed the stop as being in the middle of the street and it was unclear how pedestrians would get to that stop. He said pedestrian access to the stops were clear on page four, but the drawing on page three made it appear as though the pedestrian needed to jaywalk in order to get to the stop. Mr. Schwartz responded that the drawings were conceptual in nature and weren't able to convey every design detail. He explained that the entrance in the drawing was at the next block farther north (Bush Street) for the northbound station. He stated that the pedestrians would not enter through Sutter Street when traveling northbound on the BRT. Commissioner Yee said that BRT had been described as the future of transportation. He said that in general, it was great to have middle lanes and it was practical and safe for pedestrians to access bus stops by crossing the street. He said that for a corridor like 19th Avenue, however, it would make more sense to move the bus stop away from the center because it would be unsafe for pedestrians to access the bus stop by crossing the street. He said that a perfect example was the loading and unloading of riders near San Francisco State University, with several hundred people crossing the street at once. He said that he hoped Van Ness Avenue wouldn t have a situation where a large number of riders were simultaneously unloading beyond the capacity of nearby facilities. Commissioner Mar thanked Mr. Schwartz, Mr. Gabancho and other TA and SFMTA staff for their work. He said that he was very anxious to make sure the BRT systems in San Francisco were moving forward as quickly as possible. He said that Chair Avalos mentioned the San Francisco delegation s visit to Mexico City s BRT systems, and how he had been surprised by how long this approval process was in comparison. Commissioner Mar said that the BRT network being created in San Francisco was critical for many areas that lacked strong public transit support, like the west side of the city. He said that with what would hopefully be a speedy implementation of the Van Ness Avenue BRT, the city could work toward the Geary BRT and a network in the southeast area of the city as well. He said that he was appreciative that the center lane alternative had been proposed, as it was the superior, more effective, BRT. He noted that other BRT systems that had cut corners and didn t support the center lane alternatives usually received weaker ratings and were not as effective in connecting up the city. He added that he was glad Van Ness Avenue BRT was including some of the safety improvements that Commissioner Yee mentioned, as well as a number of tremendous streetscape improvements. He said that he looked forward to supporting the certification of the EIR and the approval of the alternatives presented today. Commissioner Breed said that this project had been underway for some time. She said she personally would have preferred to see an approach toward underground opportunities. She said that while she supported the project, her biggest concerns about moving this project forward was the loading zone for some of the small businesses. She said that there weren t alleys for loading and unloading into certain businesses, but she understood that it was a continual problem. She added that parking being removed would also present a challenge, with the significant number of tickets that many of the delivery trucks were receiving for

4 double parking. She said that parking was a challenge in the city, especially when changes were made to put in bike lanes and take out parking. She said she wanted to make sure that the concerns of the impacted businesses were being taken seriously. Commissioner Breed expressed concern that the City had not done a very effective job of looking at landscape that was sustainable and more importantly, putting the appropriate trees in the places where they didn t negatively impact or damage infrastructure like sidewalks and underground pipes. Commissioner Breed said she was looking forward to see this project and BRT in general move forward, but she would like more of a focus on moving projects underground, in consideration of the large number of people using the transit system and parking availability. Commissioner Chiu said that he had been supportive of the project for years, and Van Ness Avenue was his main area of commute. He said half of the travel time was spent loading and unloading passengers, so it was important to move forward with real change, which this proposal represented. He said that Van Ness Avenue BRT would reduce travel time by 33 percent and increase ridership by 37 percent, with half of those new drivers being former drivers. Commissioner Chiu said that he planned to make a motion to add a northbound station at Vallejo Street as part of the locally preferred alternative. He thanked the community members that worked with his office on this, as well as the Authority and SFMTA staff. He explained that the need for the northbound station stemmed from the fact that this project would be eliminating existing bus stops at Broadway. He said that this would impact hundreds of low income seniors that lived within a block of the Van Ness Avenue and Broadway Street intersection. He noted that the northbound Vallejo station had been environmentally cleared, but was not currently part of the LPA definition and he would move to add it, to ensure safe and convenient access for seniors, disabled residents and others in that neighborhood. He underscored that without this station, seniors and others who relied on public transit would have to walk up the steepest grade of Van Ness Avenue to get to that the next closest northbound station at Pacific, and with two double left turns at Broadway Street, seniors would have to cross a dangerous intersection to get to the Pacific Avenue station, and the only alternative was to walk three blocks south to get the next northbound station at Union Street. He said that the addition of the northbound Vallejo station would not significantly add travel time to the route it was estimated to be no more than 16 seconds for that stop and wouldn't create other impacts. He said that seniors used that route to go to Safeway and other places to buy groceries and access other goods, and access to public transit in that particular area was vital. He said that he would later ask the Board for support in a motion to add the local northbound Vallejo station to the northbound alternative. Commissioner Wiener thanked everyone who had a hand in moving this project forward. He said that it had been a long process and he hoped the city was moving in a positive direction in terms of improving project delivery. He said it was a transformational project for public transportation in San Francisco and he was excited for this to be the first BRT in the city. He said that while he concurred with Commissioner Breed that subway systems provided certain benefits, they were also extremely expensive and challenging in their own ways, so while the city should not give up on building subways, BRT was also a very good and cost effective way of making Muni run faster. He said that the BRT was a key part in implementing the

5 Transit Effectiveness Project. He said that Muni had the slowest average speed of any major transit agency in the west at approximately eight miles per hour on average. He said that the TEP was designed in a large part to improve those speeds and BRT was a key part of that. He said that he was a fairly regular user of the Van Ness Avenue transit lines, be it during the day, during non-rush hour, or during rush hour, and it was a traffic cesspool. He said that the BRT needed the center lane option and putting in a side lane would have meant the buses would get caught behind every right turning car and consequently be far less effective. He added that for any project where significant public money was invested, significant tradeoffs were required to get it right for the first one out of the gate. He expressed concern regarding Commissioner Chiu s proposal of adding the northbound Vallejo stop. He asked what the additional cost would be for adding that stop to this project. Mr. Schwartz responded that the high level estimated was about $500,000 for another station. Commissioner Wiener asked whether the project was already short on budget. Mr. Schwartz responded that there was currently a budget short fall. Commissioner Wiener asked whether staff would be able to guarantee that there would not be additional requests for additional stops on various parts of the line. Mr. Schwartz responded that he could not. Commissioner Wiener asked whether there had been discussion about what kind of precedent this might create in terms of adding additional stops. Mr. Schwartz responded that it was a point that Authority and SFMTA staff took very seriously. He said that the Transit Effectiveness Project would be proposing stop consolidation on a number of lines. He said that as part of the BRT project, about a third of the stops would be removed, and that was partly why the southbound, from a technical standpoint, was justified due to the ridership. He said that the northbound was cleared environmentally but was not included in the LPA due to the very issue raised by Commissioner Wiener regarding setting precedent. Commissioner Wiener said that meant the stop was not in the locally preferred alternative. Tilly Chang, Deputy Director for Planning, added that the circumstances surrounding the northbound station were unique on several levels. She said that there had been deliberation on how this context may apply citywide. She said that there was a vulnerable and sensitive population and a few other factors were unique to this particular location, such as the 10 percent grade and a remaining double left turn, which was the only one being retained on the corridor in the southbound direction. She added that since it was near the end of the line, there were fewer riders at this point so it was not particularly burdensome from a travel time standpoint. Commissioner Wiener stated that the agencies did not add that stop in the LPA. Ms. Chang responded in the affirmative, for the northbound. She said that the southbound had higher ridership. She said that was in recognition of the five block gap that would have been left, had the stop been taken away. Commissioner Wiener said that in terms of precedent, there was a significant senior population as well as hills throughout San Francisco. He asked whether there had been any

6 analysis, in terms of implementing the BRT, on significant senior populations in relation to hills. He said that $500,000 was a significant increase to add a stop and there could be additional requests. Commissioner Farrell thanked District 2 residents for providing input on the project. He noted that the project had taken a long time to implement, and he agreed with Commissioner Wiener's comments regarding project delivery. He spoke in support of Commissioner Chiu s proposal. He said that modifications such as the addition of this stop had to be evaluated on an individual basis. He said that Lombard Street was an important intersection to Van Ness Avenue and District Two, and was the gateway to San Francisco from the north. He said he planned to take the opportunity to re-envision that street in addition to Van Ness Avenue. Commissioner Kim concurred that Lombard Street and Van Ness Avenue was a very important intersection and the improvements in the city all needed to connect. She spoke in support of this item. She noted that there were many good east-west/west-east connections in the city but north-south/south-north options had been lacking. She said that the Van Ness Avenue BRT was going to be an incredibly important piece of the transit system. She said that this project was a great example of the Authority and the SFMTA working together to be creative about a design that works and overall addressed many concerns. She concurred with Commissioner Chiu on adding a northbound Vallejo stop. She said that this was not a bad thing that this created some sort of precedent. She said that the senior citizen community was large there and both current and future riderships both needed to be considered. She noted that there was also a lot of new development on Van Ness Avenue and this project was moving alongside that. She said she looked forward to supporting and certifying this EIR. Commissioner Campos thanked Authority and SFMTA staff for their work. He spoke in support of consideration for addressing the needs of seniors with respect to this project. He said he was very proud to be a part of the project. He acknowledged the work of former Executive Director José Luis Moscovich, who was largely responsible for thinking outside the box in terms of how the project got here. Commissioner Breed asked, in terms of the efficiency of the BRT with the addition of the stop, what the percentage change in travel time would be. Mr. Schwartz said that the TEP had developed a set of rule of thumb for what additional stations and stops would be in terms of travel time, and it could be up to 15 seconds. He said that since this was a northbound stop with a lower ridership, the change could be less than 15 seconds added to the travel time impact of adding a station. Commissioner Breed said that based on this project, the percentage in terms of increase in efficiency was mentioned at 33 percent. She asked what that changed to as a result of an additional stop. Mr. Schwartz said he couldn t calculate it precisely at the moment, but that it would likely be approximately 1-2 percent. Commissioner Breed asked whether any surveys had been done on the senior population in the area. She said that she did not receive any information or feedback from potentially impacted residents. She said she was trying to get more information to determine whether or not this was an additional stop was something that she could support.

7 Commissioner Chiu said that Commissioner Wiener had expressed a concern about creating a precedent. He said he understood the concern and it was one he had deliberated himself over a better part of six months. He said that adding one stop did not create that much of a precedent for a number of reasons. He said that this was the steepest grade at this particular site, a dangerous intersection by the one major double left turn along Van Ness Avenue. He said that staff provided a time standpoint of about 15 seconds. He said that from a cost point, while it was true that this was going to cost about $500,000 for the stop, in another part of the plan there was another stop that was taken out. He said that it would be a wash. He said that regarding the point that had been raised about the senior population all over the city and the fact that it was growing, he said his district had the highest number of low income seniors. He said that hundreds of those seniors lived near that corner, didn t own cars and relied on Muni to get around. Commissioner Breed said that there was a large senior population, but there was also mobility support that went directly to the doors of the seniors to pick them up. She said that it was not clear what the number of seniors were that actually used Muni as their primary source of transportation. She said that she was concerned about making a decision so significant, especially considering the project budget shortfall. She asked whether this decision needed to be made today. Mr. Schwartz said that the analysis had the automatic passenger count data, which had 450 boardings a day at the existing southbound Vallejo stop and 70 boardings at the northbound Broadway stop. He said that the analysis did not provide specifics on whether those riders were seniors, but staff were aware that the Notre Dame seniors themselves did do a poll amongst residents, which might come up during public comment. Commissioner Breed asked whether the decision needed to be made today, or if the amendment could be made in the future. Mr. Schwartz said that the decision could be made later through a minor approval action. Commissioner Kim asked about the boarding count data. She asked whether there was data on alighting riders. Mr. Schwartz said he could check and get back to her. He said that both the boardings and alightings were lower at the end of the line. Commissioner Chiu asked if the data was for boardings at Broadway or Vallejo. Mr. Schwartz said that there was a northbound stop at Broadway and data southbound stop at Vallejo, with the data representing those two stops. During public comment, Michelle Brant of the Van Ness Avenue Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) and the Gough Street Property Association; Stephanie Chang; Tim Donnelly; and Jeff Simko spoke in opposition to this project, citing concerns with further necessary review, the removal of parking, and the removal of bus stops. During public comment, Sylvia Leung Kam Yuet, senior living at Van Ness Avenue and Broadway Street; Adel Goldenberg, senior at Notre Dame Apartments; Liang Shu Ji, senior at Notre Dame Apartments; Chi Lan Chung, senior at Notre Dame Apartments; Luo Song Nian, senior at Notre Dame Apartments; Sito Zi Lou, senior at Notre Dame Apartments; and Grace Gin, Chinatown Community Development Center (CCDC) Resident Services Manager spoke in support of adding the Vallejo Northbound Station Variant.

8 During public comment, George Sery; Jon-Edmond Abraham; Barbara Vincent, Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District; Komal Panjwani, San Francisco Beautiful; Madeleine Savit, Folks for Polk; Andy Bosselman; Peggy da Silva, San Francisco Transit Riders Union; Eric Carlson, Rescue Muni; Jackie Sachs, Authority Citizens Advisory Committee; Robyn Huey, San Francisco Transit Riders Union; and Geoffrey Johnson, TransForm; spoke in support of this project, citing its potential to improve public safety and bus and pedestrian access. Commissioner Chiu made a motion to add an amendment to include the Vallejo Northbound Station Variant in the approval of Center-Lane BRT with Right Side Boarding/Single Median and Limited Left Turns, seconded by Commissioner Yee. The motion to amend was approved by the following vote: Ayes: Commissioners Avalos, Breed, Campos, Chiu, Cohen, Farrell, Kim, Mar, Tang and Yee (10) Nays: Commissioner Wiener (1) The item, as amended, was adopted by the following vote: Ayes: Commissioners Avalos, Breed, Campos, Chiu, Cohen, Farrell, Kim, Mar, Tang, Wiener and Yee (11) Chair Avalos called for a recess at 1:18 p.m. to allow commissioners to attend the San Francisco Board of Supervisors meeting. Chair Avalos called Items 5 and 6 after this item. Items from the Personnel Committee Other Items 4. [CLOSED SESSION] Appoint/Hire Public Employee: Executive Director INFORMATION/ACTION Chair Avalos called this item following Items 5 and 6. Chair Avalos called the closed session to order. Chair Avalos called the open session to order and reported that the Board had taken action during closed session to select a preferred candidate and secondary candidate to be vetted for the Executive Director appointment. He said that the Personnel Committee would discuss the terms of the agreement, goal setting, a six-month and 12-month review process, a review of other departments to check in on how the candidate or the new Executive Director would be performing, and standard employment verification. Chair Avalos asked for a Personnel Committee meeting to be scheduled for September 17 to allow final approval by the Authority Board on September 24. There was no public comment. 5. Introduction of New Items INFORMATION Chair Avalos reconvened the meeting at 4:59 p.m. Chair Avalos called Items 5 and 6 following Item 3.

9 Chair Avalos requested a strategic analysis report (SAR) to review possible future models of governance for the Bay Area Bike Share program. He said that currently, the program was contracted out from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), but BAAQMD would not oversee of that program in the long-term. He said that he wanted to examine, through a SAR, how a nonprofit or other organizational structure would serve as the oversight and governing structure of that program. He stated that Jack Broadbent, Chief Executive Officer/Air Pollution Control Officer for BAAQMD, supported a process for looking at the future of the program. Commissioner Mar said that he and Chair Avalos had received a very good presentation on the program. He commented that the bike share was accessible and easy to use, especially with the kiosk right outside City Hall. He said that once Association of Bay Area Governments, Metropolitan Transportation Commission, and BAAQMD move to new offices at 390 Main Street in San Francisco, it would be easy to access by bike share as well, since a kiosk was located nearby. He said he hoped that when the program expanded in 2014, the Board would provide input on where the new kiosks would be located to be as effective as possible. He remarked that the bikes were well-built. He said that hopefully the program would receive sponsorship so that it could lead bike share programs in the nation. There was no public comment. 6. Public Comment Chair Avalos called Items 5 and 6 following Item 3. There was no public comment. 7. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 6:46 p.m.