Regional Transit Coordination Subcommittee Meeting Houston ... · Regional Transit Coordination Subcommittee Meeting Houston-Galveston Area Council 3555 Timmons Lane, 2nd Floor, Conference

Regional Transit Coordination

Subcommittee Meeting

Houston-Galveston Area Council

3555 Timmons Lane, 2nd Floor, Conference Room B/C

Thursday January 11, 2018

9:30 a.m.-11:00 a.m.

Agenda

1. Introductions and Certification of Quorum (8) – Vernon Chambers, Harris County

Transit, Chair.

2. Public Comments

3. Action Item: Approval of RTCS Meeting Summary- October 12, 2017

4. Agency Highlight: American Red Cross Transportation - Steve Atchison (15 minutes)

5. Information Items:

• Job Candidate and Employee Transportation (JET) Pilot Project- Omar Fortune

(15 minutes);

• Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) Program

Commuter, Transit and Innovative Services- Requests for Proposals- Alan

Rodenstein (15 minutes)

6. Regionally Coordinated Transportation Plan (RCTP) Updates- Kari Hackett (15 minutes)

• FY 2018 Project Grant Agreement and RCTP Workshop

• Interactive Database Development- Working Group

• Regional Trip Planner/ Google Transit

7. Agency Reports (5 minutes each)

Next RTCS Quarterly Meeting- April 12, 2018, H-GAC Conference Room B/C.

Regional Transit Coordination Subcommittee

April 13, 2017 Page 1 of 1

REGIONAL TRANSIT COORDINATION SUBCOMMITTEE

MEETING SUMMARY Thursday, October 12, 2017 – 9:30 A.M.

Houston-Galveston Area Council of Government Offices

3555 Timmons Lane, Suite 120, Houston, Texas 77027

(Meeting Held – Second Floor, Agency Conference Rooms 2-B and C)

BRIEFING

1. Call to Order, Introductions and Certification of Quorum (8) – Vernon Chambers, Harris County Transit,

Chair.

2. Public Comments- None

3. Action Item: Approval of August 17, 2017 RTCS Meeting Summary- Approved

4. Information Items: (see the power point presentations for details)

RTCS Action Plan Updates; Kari Hackett described a process to update the RTCS Action Plan by

incorporating the results of the updated Regionally Coordinated Transportation Plan (RCTP). He presented an

example based on the Agency Stakeholder Survey Results.

MEMBERS PRESENT

Vernon Chambers – Harris County Transit

James Hollis – Gulf Coast Connect Center

Valerie Marvin- City of Pearland

Travis Madison-TxDOT

James Hollis- GCC/Connect Transit

Mary Fay-METRO

ALTERNATES PRESENT

Kenneth Brown-METRO

Tennille Jones – Fort Bend County Transit

Vincent Morrison – Harris County Community Services

Other Interested Parties

Steve Atchison- American Red Cross

Katrina Bayer-Houston Downtown Mgmt. District

Anthony Cochran – TxDOT

Kelly Rector-Energy Corridor District

Gretchen Stockstill- Coalition for Barrier Free Living (FBCIL)

Larna Brown-HKTransit/LAJ Transport

RTCS Members and other interested persons participating by telephone

Wendy Weedon, Brazos Transit District, Vice-Chair

Michael Worthy, City of Galveston, Island Transit – Primary

Janis Scott, Bus Rider

H-GAC STAFF PRESENT

David Wurdlow

Kari Hackett

Alan Rodenstein

Thomas Gray

Patrick Mandapaka

Greg Seal

Lucinda Martinez

Page 2

Regional Transit Framework Study and High Capacity Transit Task Force; Thomas Gray summarized the

current activities and the next steps for the Task Force and the Framework Study.

Investment Matrix and Commuter Transit Support; David Wurdlow provided an update on the Investment

Matrix and requested comments from the members within the next week. During the meeting, Vernon

Chambers requested that the Mobility Investment area in the Investment Matrix include the Regional Single

Point of Information Database which would also be used for Trip Planning.

Suggestions were submitted by email to the Chair (after the meeting) from Fort Bend County Transit on the

Investment Categories. For Vehicle Replacement and Vehicle Purchase/Fleet Expansion; we should eliminate

a Maximum Funding amount per project. Instead we should use NO Max as listed for some of the other

categories. It would be determined on a case by case basis.

5. Agency Reports (5 minutes each) Notable mentions by: 1) GCC/Connect Transit-the subcontractor for demand

response services in Galveston and Brazoria counties (Le Fleur) is going out of business. Connect transit staff

will attempt to fill in the gaps until another subcontractor is procured. Older vehicle fleet will need replacements;

2) American Red Cross is working with Harris County RIDES, City of Baytown and Chambers Health to

improve transportation services in Chambers County; 3) Harris County Transit is working with the City of

Pasadena to re-implement fixed route transit services starting in 2018; 4) TxDOT PTN 2-Year Coordinated Call

for Projects to be announced soon.

6. Other Business:

• Google Transit Updates and Future Request for Assistance-Progressing

• TxDOT PTN Regionally Coordinated Transportation Plan (RCTP) Workshop, November 2017.

Next RTCS Quarterly Meeting-January 11, 2018 (tentative), H-GAC Conference Room B/C.

Gulf CoastRegionally Coordinated

Transportation Plan Update

More Options for More People

Regional Transit Coordination Subcommittee

Action Plan Update

October 12, 2017

Kari J. Hackett

Action Plan Summary

▪ Elected Officials, Business Leaders

▪ Regional Mobility Management

▪ Seamless Fares

▪ Shared Maintenance Facilities

Action Plan Summary (cont’d)

▪ Regional Transit Information

▪ Local Match Fund

▪ Regional Volunteer Driver

–Voucher Program

Focus on RCTP Gaps

▪ Regional Service Providers

▪ Customer Comments/ Complaints

▪ Geographic, Demographic Analyses

Stakeholders’ Survey Results

▪ Transportation Needs Identified

–Access to medical, groceries, trip planning

information, weekday trips.

▪ Primary Transportation Barriers

–Access, infrastructure, resources.

Stakeholders’ Survey Results (cont’d)

▪ Obstacles to Coordination

–Lack of funding for current needs

– Inadequate fixed routes

–Lack of information about other providers.

Stakeholders’ Survey Results (cont’d)

▪ Coordination Enhancements Needed

–Encourage cooperation among providers

–Coordinate scheduling, planning,

implementation

– Increase/improve funding

–Seamless/regional fare

–Sustainability (and more).

High Capacity Transit

Taskforce

Update to RTC Subcommittee

October 2017

PURPOSE OF THE TASKFORCE

▪ Identify extent to which high capacity

transit is needed to support economic

growth, mobility and quality of life

▪ Determine if there is a “Business Case” for

investment in HCT

▪ Estimate what investment is needed

▪ Identify constraints and opportunities by

corridor

▪ Complete “findings and recommendations”

report by August 2018

2

TASKFORCE STRUCTURE

3

TASKFORCE DELIVERABLES

▪ Peer region assessment and case studies (HGAC staff)

– July-September 2017

▪ Report on economic impact of HCT (workgroup)

– Phase One: July-October 2017

– Phase Two: February 2018-April 2018

▪ Report on HCT service concepts (workgroup)

– November 2017-February 2018

▪ Report on funding opportunities (workgroup)

– Phase One: July-October 2017

– Phase Two: February- April 2018

▪ Final report and recommendations (HGAC Staff)

– May-August 2018

4

TASKFORCE TIMELINE

5

Regional Transit

Framework Study

Update to RTC Subcommittee

October 2017

PURPOSE OF THE RTFS

▪ Provide framework for examination and

discussion of future public transportation

services and policies for the region

▪ Explore potential costs and benefits

▪ Promote consensus on regional transit

priorities

▪ Support cooperation between providers

▪ Horizon year of 2040 – soon to be 2045

▪ Refine transit component of RTP

▪ Basis for modeling and other analysis

2

WHAT THE RTFS IS NOT

▪ The region’s only transit planning effort

– Must coordinate with other corridor- and

agency-level planning efforts

(ex. METRONext and HCT Task Force)

– Other transit plans will change/refine the RTFS

▪ A compulsory implementation plan

– Services and policies are conceptual and do not

compel providers to implement anything

▪ A ranking or timeline of transit projects

– Regional providers will implement new services

according to need and fiscal capacity

3

HOW THE RTFS WAS DEVELOPED

▪ Meetings with regional providers

– Short-term needs and long-term goals

▪ Review of previous planning efforts

– Regional and subregional transit plans

– Corridor and Livable Centers studies

▪ Identification transit-supportive areas

– 2016 Transit Need Index

– 2040 Population and Employment Projections

▪ Forecasted congestion conditions

4

EXISTING TRANSIT NEED AND SUPPLY

5

2040 POPULATION AND JOB DENSITY

6

2040 CONGESTION

7

RTFS COMPONENTS

▪ “Incremental Expansion” Scenario

– Financially constrained*

– For potential inclusion in future RTP

▪ “Vision” Scenario

– Unconstrained

– Contains projects that can be added to RTP as

new funds become available

▪ Policy concepts supporting both scenarios

– Improves usefulness of regional transit

– Fosters regional cooperation

*Acknowledges that new funding sources are necessary for even a

modest expansion of service

8

ELEMENTS OF RTFS NETWORK

▪ Four types of High Capacity (HCT) Services:

– HCT Peak (example: Commuter Rail)

– HCT All Day (example: METRORail)

– Express Bus (example: P&R buses using HOV)

– Signature Bus (example: METRO Quickline)

▪ HCT services supported/fed by underlying

local and regional bus network

▪ Expansion of Flex Zone (i.e. METRO’s

“Community Connector”) concept

– Anchored at HCT stations and facilities

– Provides “first mile/last mile” service

9

EXISTING HIGH CAPACITY NETWORK

10

INCREMENTAL EXPANSION NETWORK

11

VISION NETWORK

12

PRELIMINARY MODELING RESULTS

▪ Strong potential demand for expanded

transit

– Some services have more potential demand

than capacity

▪ Implementation of Incremental Expansion

Scenario decreases regional VMT:

– 3.0% decrease in AM Peak from 2040 baseline

– 2.2% decrease in PM Peak from 2040 baseline

▪ Some models (Vision Scenario, Flex Zones)

still in development

13

SCENARIO COMPARISON

14

Current Service**

Incremental

Expansion

Scenario

Vision Scenario

Number of Fixed Routes 156 235 293

Annual Vehicle Revenue

Miles (Fixed Route)47,847,917 115,165,379 144,947,224

Miles of HCT Guideway 27.6 136.9 383.1

Total Vehicles in Use 1,820 3,900 5,620

Annual Transit Demand

(Fixed Route Boardings)83,866,394 400,223,265 595,297,267^

Annual Passenger Miles 604,901,257 2,004,472,774 3,110,859,737^

Population within ¼ mile of

local transit service*47.1% 59.7% 70.8%

Jobs within ¼ mile of local

transit service*67.7% 82.7% 89.4%

Transit Mode Share (HBW) 2.4% 11.3% (tbd)

* Local bus and rail service only. Percentages may be higher if express/commuter services included.

** Current service statistics based on 2015 NTD and 2014 Census ACS data.

^ Preliminary modeling results

SUPPORTIVE CONCEPTS

▪ Seamless Services

– Regional fare media, single point of information

▪ Access to Transit

– Bicycle and pedestrian connectivity

– Full compliance with ADA

▪ Operations management

– Traffic and incident management; parking

management; transit priority; TDM strategies

▪ Leverage new services and technologies

– Potential for partnerships with Transportation

Network Companies (Uber, Lyft, etc.)

– ITS; smartphone apps; automated vehicles

15

CURRENT STATUS AND NEXT STEPS

▪ Modeling results being refined

▪ “Interim Report” to be available

▪ Anticipated data updates:

– 2045 Population and Employment Forecasts

– Census, ridership, NTD data, etc.

▪ Coordination with/incorporation of other

current transit planning efforts

(e.g. High Capacity Transit Taskforce & METRONext)

▪ Public outreach effort

▪ Revised/updated study to inform 2045 RTP

▪ Regular update cycle

16

Investment Matrix and

Commuter Transit Support

Regional Transit Coordination Subcommittee

October 12, 2017

Investment Matrix Feedback

▪ General Comments

– Simplify

– Consider removing modal divisions

– Recognize project development timelines

▪ Transit Subcommittee

– Provider coordination concerns, access to regional

travel information

Investment Areas

RTP Strategies

MANAGE

System Management & Operations

MAINTAIN

Asset Management

EXPAND

Transportation Network Capacity

Mobility Highways &

Thoroughfares

• Access Management

• Interchange/Intersection improvements

(direct connectors, geometry)

• Rail grade separations

• [PRG] Regional ITS Infrastructure

(communications, motorist /passenger

information, dynamic facility mgmt.)

• [FUT] Autonomous and Connected

Vehicle Infrastructure

• Reconstruction of principal

arterials/NHS

• Rehabilitate/Reconstruct

intermodal connectors (First

Mile/Last Mile)

• Interjurisdictional connectivity

(e.g. bridges)

• Regional Thoroughfare

Widening and New

Construction

• Innovative freight movement

Transit • Regional Fare Collection

• Transit Priority Infrastructure

• Regional/Shared Maintenance

Facilities

• [PRG] Vehicle Replacement

• Passenger Facilities (Park &

Ride/Pool, Transfer

Points/Super Stops, Shelters)

• [PRG] Vehicle Purchase

Ped / Bike • First Mile/Last Mile Gaps (access to

fixed route transit, employment, etc.)

• Pedestrian Safety Treatments

(Midblock crossing, etc.)

• ADA compliance of pedestrian

network

• Eliminate gaps between

existing facilities within the

regional bikeway system

DRAFT

Transit – Regional Fare Collection

▪ Prepare a Regional Fare Collection Plan

▪ Funding set-aside for implementation capital

costs

– Objective #1: Payment platform

– Objective #2: Fare policy coordination

Transit – Priority Infrastructure

▪ Prioritize movement of transit vehicles within

mixed traffic

▪ Eligible Activities: Bus pullouts, queue jump, stop

consolidation, ITS systems, signage

Transit – Vehicle Replacement

▪ [Annual Program]

▪ Support revenue vehicle SOGR via replacement or

overhaul

▪ Tied to provider asset management plans (TAMP)

and performance targets

▪ Leverage FTA reporting requirements (NTD)

Transit – Vehicle Purchase/Fleet

Expansion

▪ [Annual Program]

▪ Revenue vehicle fleet expansion to address

capacity constraints

▪ Leverage FTA reporting requirements (NTD)

Transit – Passenger Facilities

▪ New and expanded passenger facilities

▪ Eligible Activities: Park & Rides/Pool, Multi-route

transfer points/Super Stops, Shelters

Commuter Transit Support

Capital Support

▪ Call for Projects:

– New and expanded passenger

facilities

– Priority Infrastructure

▪ Annual Programs:

– Vehicle Replacement

– Fleet Expansion

– Ped/Bike First Mile/Last Mile

Operating Support

▪ Pilot Projects (RFI):

– First Mile/Last Mile

– Suburb-to-Suburb

– Etc.

▪ Commuter Service Expansion:

– Incentive payment for ridership growth (PMT)

– Apply to previous or next year service expansion costs

– Leverage with capital eligibility under 5307/etc.

Gulf Coast Regionally Coordinated Transportation Plan

FY 2018 Update

(UPWP Sub Task 4.3d.1-Transit Coordinated Planning)

1. Background:

a. RTCS Action Plan-approved by the Regional Transit Coordination

Subcommittee (RTCS) for FY 2015-2016. Priorities included;

i. Public Transportation Alliance with Elected Officials and

Business Leaders,

ii. Regional Mobility Manager,

iii. Seamless Fare Policy (regional fare payment app),

iv. Shared Maintenance Program,

v. Regional Transit Information (One Call/One Click),

vi. Public Transportation Local Match Fund,

vii. Baseline Public Transportation Services (county-level transit

plans)

viii. Regional Volunteer Driver Voucher Program.

b. 2017 RCTP Update- developed FY 2016-2017, approved September

2017.

a. RTCS Action Plan

•Approved for 2015-

2016

b. RCTP Update

• Approved Sept. 2017

c. Project Grant

Agreement

•Executed November 2017

for FY 2018

i. Recommendations included closer focus on financials to enable

transit service expansions as one strategy to resolve geographic

(spatial) and temporal gaps. Priorities are different for each

stakeholder group;

1. Service Providers

2. General Public

3. Elected Officials and Business Leaders.

4. Strategies also vary by areas based on Geographic and

Demographic Analyses (urban, small urban, rural).

c. FY 2018 Project Grant Agreement (PGA), executed November 2017;

i. Monitor Progress on RCTP-advanced planning. RCTP Metrics

Data Collection and Reporting (percent transit, on-time

performance)

ii. Document New Unmet Needs (ie. Post Harvey Transportation

Initiatives)

iii. Develop Strategies to resolve gaps

iv. Statewide Metrics Data Collection and Reporting to TxDOT-

PTN (document gaps, collaborations and strategies to resolve

them starting in March 2017)

v.

d. 2018-2019 Unified Planning Work Program-Products

i. Provide monitoring and planning support for the implementation

of priority projects identified in the Regionally Coordinated

Transportation Plan (RCTP)

ii. Coordinate with local transit service providers to initiate plans

for the development of new or expanded transit services in

counties adjacent to Harris County including but not limited to;

Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston, Liberty {Chambers},

Montgomery and Waller counties.

2. Next Steps

a. Management Plan for FY 2018-2019 with Timeline and Task

Assignments

b. Coordination with RTCS at Quarterly Meetings

c. Planning for the development of Pilot Projects with Stakeholders

Gulf Coast

Regional One Call/One Click

Transportation Resource Center Concept

ONE CALL ONE CLICK

United Way- 211 Transportation

Referrals

Regional Trip Planner-Google Transit

(for fixed routes)

(compatible with RideSystem software)

Regional Mobility Manager (RMM)

Partnership with Harris County RIDES,

METRO, H-GAC, others, TBD.

Online Interactive Resources Database

for Demand Response Trips

(Extension of Commute Solutions

website)

Operations Funding Needed

(UPWP PL funds?)

Regional Smart Phone- Fare Payment

App.

(Expansion of METRO Fare Payment

App.)

REGIONAL TRANSIT COORDINATION SUBCOMMITTEE

2018 MEETING SCHEDULE

HOUSTON-GALVESTON AREA COUNCIL

2ND FLOOR CONFERENCE ROOM B/C

9:30am – 11:00am

JANUARY 11, 2018

APRIL 12, 2018

JULY 12, 2018

OCTOBER 11, 2018