N.C.
CAPITAL AREA
METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION
TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE
June 18, 2008
4:00 pm –
6:00 pm
Wake County
Commons
4012 Carya Dr
Raleigh, NC
AGENDA
1. Preliminaries
2. Adjustments to the Agenda
3. Public Comments
This is an opportunity for
comments by those in attendance on items not on the agenda. Please limit
comments to three minutes for each speaker.
Consent Agenda
All items on the
consent agenda are considered to be routine and may be enacted by one motion.
If a member requests discussion on an item, the item will be removed from the
consent agenda and considered separately.
4. Approval of Minutes of the May 21, 2008 Joint TAC Meeting.
The
minutes of the May 21, 2008 Joint TAC meeting are enclosed as Attachment
4A. The minutes of the May 21, 2008 TAC meeting are enclosed as Attachment 4B.
TAC
Action: Approval of the minutes of the May 21, 2008 Joint
TAC meeting. Approval of the minutes of the May 21, 2008 TAC meeting.
5. 2007-2013 Metropolitan Transportation Improvement
Program – Administrative Modification – Capital Area Transit
Capital Area Transit has requested that an
administrative modification be made to the 2007-2013 Metropolitan
Transportation Improvement Program to reflect funding changes that have been
identified. Attachment 5A is the funding table reflecting the proposed changes. Attachment 5B is the
resolution of approval for the proposed changes. At its June 5, 2008
meeting, the TCC voted unanimously to recommend TAC approval of this request.
TAC Action:
Approve Capital Area Transit’s requested
administrative modification to the 2007-2013 Metropolitan Transportation
Improvement Program.
6. 2007-2013 Metropolitan Transportation Improvement
Program – Administrative Modification – Triangle Transit
Triangle Transit has requested that an
administrative modification be made to the 2007-2013 Metropolitan
Transportation Improvement Program to reflect funding changes that have been
identified. Attachment
6A is the funding table reflecting the proposed changes. Attachment
6B is the resolution of approval for the proposed changes. At
its June 5, 2008 meeting, the TCC voted unanimously to recommend TAC approval
of this request.
TAC Action:
Approve Triangle Transit’s requested administrative
modification to the 2007-2013 Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Program.
7. Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Program (MTIP) – FY
2009 - 2015
In
response to several submittals by our MPO to the NCDOT in late 2007 and early
2008, including our MPO’s top priority roadway, transit, STP-DA and CMAQ projects
and programs for inclusion in the next
update of the State Transportation Improvement Plan (STIP),
on June 5, 2008, the NC Board of Transportation adopted the FY 2009-2015 STIP. A fully corresponding draft FY 2009-2015
Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Program (MTIP) has been prepared
(enclosed as Attachment 7A) which
should now be released for public review and comment. The TCC received this
document at its June 5, 2008 meeting and voted unanimously to recommend that
the draft FY 2009-2015 MTIP be released for a public review and comment period,
including the TAC conducting a public hearing to receive comments at its
meeting on August 20, 2008. The comment
period is recommended to begin on June 21 and end on August 15, 2008 so that
all comments submitted prior to the public hearing have been received prior to
the TAC meeting. A public hearing
should be scheduled to be conducted at the August 20, 2008 TAC meeting to
receive comment on the 2009-2015 MTIP.
TAC Action:
Approval to schedule and give notice of a period of
opportunity for the public to review and comment on the draft FY 2009-2015 MTIP
beginning on June 21, 2008 and ending on August 15, 2008 with a public hearing
to be conducted at the August 20, 2008 TAC meeting.
8. Job
Access/Reverse Commute Grant (JARC) Funding
On
February 20, 2008, the TAC was given a presentation on the Job Access / Reverse
Commute Grant Funding program. At that time, the City of Raleigh (as lead
planning agency for the MPO) was designated as the recipient for disbursement
of these funds. Subsequent to that meeting, applications were received and reviewed.
The JARC committee met on several occasions to determine which submittal(s) should
be funded. Attachment 8A
shows the projects recommended for funding.
The TCC at its May 1, 2008 meeting received this information and voted
unanimously to recommend TAC endorsement.
TAC Action: Endorse funding of JARC projects as proposed.
THIS IS THE END OF THE CONSENT AGENDA
9. MPO Staff Expansion and Reorganization
The
N.C. Capital Area MPO conducted an organizational study in 2003 that lead to a
number of recommendations for possible changes in the MPO’s organization
including among others consideration of merging our MPO with the Durham-Chapel
Hill-Carrboro (DCHC) MPO to form a single MPO for the Triangle region. Our TAC voted to explore such a merger, but
after preliminary discussions, the proposal was not supported by the DCHC MPO’s
TAC.
After
more than one year of discussions and subsequent approvals, in October, 2005,
our MPO was officially expanded to include portions of four counties
surrounding Wake (Franklin, Granville, Harnett, and Johnston) and six
municipalities (Angier, Bunn, Clayton, Creedmoor, Franklinton, and Youngsville). This action increased the number of member
governments from thirteen (13) to twenty three (23) and approximately doubled
the land area covered in the MPO from 860 to 1,600 square miles.
At
planning retreats held on July 13, 2006, and February 6, 2008, the TCC discussed
current and anticipated MPO planning work requirements as well as MPO members’
desires for enhanced MPO planning services.
The objective was to evaluate these MPO planning services needs and
desires against the MPO’s current staff to develop a plan for possibly
expanding and reorganizing the MPO staff.
Over
the past few months the TCC has worked with staff to develop a detailed MPO
staff expansion and reorganization proposal (enclosed as Attachment
9A) that would;
1)
Expand the full-time staff positions from seven (7) to eleven (11).
2)
Establish two new MPO deputy director positions (Pay Grade 40), one in charge
of planning and the other in charge of member services (to increase senior
management oversight capabilities while also increasing opportunities for MPO staff
career advancement).
3)
Establish four cross-trainable transportation planner positions (Pay Grade 37),
one existing, one upgrade (from 36), and two new, whose roles would be delineated
as follows:
- two planners to
specialize in working at the district level, (tentatively defined as
northern and southern with the supervising deputy director position
serving in that capacity for the central district) that would be able to
work more closely on a day-to-day basis with member governments as well as
to provide the resources needed to move forward on the major work efforts
needed to integrate systems level and project level transportation planning
to improve and streamline environmental studies (referred to as CTP/NEPA
integration).
- one planner to
specialize in multi-modal planning and public outreach as well as to
oversee the MPO’s efforts on providing members’ education and training
opportunities.
- one planner to
specialize in fiscal management including grants administration.
4)
To improve the ability for the MPO to attract and retain key personnel, pay
grade increases are proposed for the MPO Director (42 to 44), the Transportation
Engineer / Modeler (36 to 38), and the Administrative Assistant (25 to 31).
At
its meeting on December 19, 2007, the TAC approved utilizing an increased
portion of its federal STP-DA funds to cover the expenses associated with
increasing and reorganizing the MPO staff, so that the MPO members’ annual
share of the MPO’s Work Program costs would not need to increase because of the
staff increase. Both NCDOT’s approved FY
2009-2015 STIP and our MPO’s draft FY 2009-2015 MTIP now include this increased
STP-DA funding.
The
TCC has recommends that the TAC authorize taking the necessary steps to place
these proposed staffing changes into the City of Raleigh budget for 2008-2009
be undertaken as soon as practicable.
TAC Action: Approval.
10. 2035 LRTP Update -
Special Transit Advisory Commission
Recommendations
At the May 21, 2008 Joint meeting of the Capital
Area MPO and Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro MPO Transportation Advisory Committees
copies of the Special Transit Advisory Commission (STAC) report were
distributed to members in attendance and, a presentation was made by STAC
officials regarding the recommendations contained in the report. The Executive Summary from the report is
enclosed as Attachment
10A and the full report can be downloaded at http://www.transitblueprint.org/stac.shtml.
TAC Chair Joe Bryan has identified five principles
for emphasis in future work efforts associated with the STAC’s findings,
briefly summarized as follows:
1)
More uniform and transit-supportive land use
planning and development oversight must be implemented to ensure that any investment
in a better transit system is successful.
2)
The STAC’s recommended improvements need to be prioritized
with consideration of proportionality so that the location, timing and costs
associated with all transit improvements are commensurate with the amount and
geographic source of revenue being generated and utilized to pay for those
improvements.
3)
More emphasis is needed in providing high quality
transit services to outlying areas.
4)
Follow-up work involving “due diligence” activities
need to be carried out by the appropriate agencies as soon as practicable to bring
greater certainty to critically important variables such as cost estimates and
predicted ridership.
5)
Any voter referendum to secure revenue for a transit
system should be designed in a manner to ensure the widest possible measure of
long-term, continued public support by being sure to be able to “over-deliver”
on any commitments promised.
With regard to incorporating the STAC’s
recommendations into the MPOs’ Long-Range Transportation Plans (LRTPs), staff
of the Capital Area MPO has been working with those of the Durham-Chapel
Hill-Carrboro MPO, Triangle Transit, Triangle J Council of Governments and
Triangle Regional Model Service Bureau in preparing the 2035 LRTP update. Attachment
10B is a copy of the current LRTP update schedule.
The Capital Area MPO TCC held a work-session on June
5, 2008 to discuss the LRTP, funding projections and strategies for project
selection for the update. Attachment
10C is a copy of the funding presentation provided to the TCC
during the work-session which can be briefly reviewed at this meeting, if
desired.
As
a part of the 2035 Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) update process, the staffs
of the two MPOs in the region are jointly developing several alternatives
incorporating a variety of roadway and transit system improvements for detailed
analyses over the next two months. These
alternatives incorporate varying degrees of the STAC’s recommended transit
system in order to provide forecasted ridership and cost information. The results of these analyses will serve as
the basis for public review and comment on the STAC’s findings as well as any
emerging LRTP recommendations.
This
agenda item is primarily intended to allow TAC members to discuss the STAC’s findings
and recommendations and to provide any questions, comments, or guidance to the
MPO staff for follow-up work as a part of what is already planned for the LRTP
update process.
Beyond
the LRTP itself, it may also be appropriate at this time to discuss the STAC’s
recommended implementation measures and process, including if, when, and how it
might be best to proceed with developing a more detailed plan of action for
taking a proposed sales tax increase through to actual voter approval(s). The
next agenda item is related to this as well.
TAC
Action: Receive
information on preliminary revenue forecast and process for analyzing STAC
recommendations for discussion, questions, comments, and/or direction to staff
as may be deemed appropriate.
11. 21st
Century Transportation Committee - Congestion Relief/Intermodal Transportation Fund
– Support for Legislative Bills Introduced (H2323, S1894)
The
General Assembly established the 21st Century Transportation Committee to study
transportation
infrastructure needs in the State. Meeting agendas and copies of presentations
are posted on the committee’s website at:
http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/DocumentSites/browseDocSite.asp?nID=32.
The committee has also formed four subcommittees: Finance,
Intergovernmental, Prioritization/Best Practices/Efficiency, and Intermodal. An
interim report for the committee was submitted on May 1, 2008 and the final
report is due December 31, 2008.
Attachment
11A is a report from the Intermodal subcommittee.
The Intermodal subcommittee has proposed new legislation titled the
Congestion Relief/Intermodal Transport Fund which has subsequently been filed
as House Bill 2363 and Senate Bill 1894 (enclosed as Attachment
11B) which, if approved, would move forward on providing
the ways and means for funding for public transportation, freight and passenger
rail, and ports.
A number of organizations, including the DCHC MPO (Attachment
11C) and Triangle Transit Attachment
11D), have expressed support for these bills being
approved by the N.C. General Assembly.
The DCHC MPO’s position paper, which provides a very good brief overview
of the bill’s intent, urges that the bill be amended to ensure the opportunity
for greater financial support of improved local transit services. All of the local transit service providers
have expressed their support for being able to utilize a portion of these
potential transit revenue sources. In
response, the original language of the proposed legislation was amended to
include a requirement that the MPOs must approve the financial plan.
Although this recognition of MPOs as the forum for governmental
coordination in transportation planning, the means for developing and approving
the bill’s referenced financial plan are not specifically delineated as
currently worded. As such, it could be helpful for the bill to make reference to
the financial plan’s inclusion in the MPOs’ approved fiscally-constrained
Comprehensive Long-Range Transportation Plans (LRTPs) and Metropolitan
Transportation Improvement Programs (MTIP) as the MPOs’ primary means of carrying
out their approval responsibilities, although MPO approval of other more
specifically detailed financial plans may be needed as well.
TAC
Action: Receive
information for discussion and action as appropriate.
REPORTS:
12. Reports from the TCC Chair
Chip Russell, TCC Chair
13. MPO Staff Reports
Ed Johnson, MPO Director
14. NCDOT Reports
Scott Walston/Rupal Desai –
Transportation Planning Branch
Richard Greene - Division 4
Wally
Bowman/Joey Hopkins - Division 5
Terry Gibson
- Division 6
15. Other
Business and Pending Items
Adjourn
INFORMATIONAL ITEMS
PENDING ITEMS
Item #01 – Comprehensive Transportation Plans (Spring/Summer 2008)
UPCOMING MEETINGS
August 7, 2008 - Capital Area MPO TCC Meeting - 10:00 AM – 12:00
PM
Room
809 - One Exchange Plaza, Raleigh, NC
August 20, 2008 -
Capital Area MPO TAC meeting – 4:00 PM- 6:00 PM
Wake County Commons Building, Carya Drive,
Raleigh, NC
In compliance with the
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), accommodations will be provided for
persons requiring assistance in order to participate in the N.C. Capital Area
MPO’s meetings. If such assistance is
needed, or to request this document in an alternative format, please contact
the MPO’s office at 919-807-8511 (voice), 919-807-8517 (fax), or 919-890-3107
(TTY located at City of Raleigh Public Affairs Dept.) at least 72 hours in
advance of the meeting.