ARC COMMITTEE MEETING FOLLOW-UP TRANSPORTATION & AIR QUALITY COMMITTEE September 11, 2014 Meeting Notes Members Present: Commissioner Tom Worthan, Chair Commissioner Charlotte Nash, Vice Chair Commissioner Pete Amos Mr. Kerry Armstrong Commissioner Steve Brown Mayor Eric Clarkson Mr. Tread Davis Commissioner Pat Graham Mr. Mike Houchard Mayor Bucky Johnson Ms. Liane Levetan Mayor Mark Mathews Mayor Harvey Persons Members Absent: Mr. Robert Ashe Commissioner Buzz Ahrens Commissioner Bob Blackburn Mr. Toby Carr Mr. William Cook Commissioner John Eaves Commissioner Keith Ellis Commissioner Chipper Gardner Commissioner Tommie Graham Commissioner Tim Lee Interim Chief Commissioner Kevin Little Executive Officer Lee May Mr. Dan Moody Commissioner Richard Oden Mayor Kasim Reed Commissioner Tommy Smith Mr. Steve Stephens Commissioner Steve Taylor Commissioner Jeff Turner Mr. Dave Williams (non-voting) A quorum was not present. The meeting was held for informational purposes only; no actions were taken. 1. Welcome, chair s comments, approval of 8/14/14 TAQC meeting summary, public comment period Chair Tom Worthan began with a moment of silence in remembrance of the 13 th anniversary of September 11 th. Draft 6/16/14 Page 1
He then welcomed members and noted that no comments were received on the distributed 8/14/14 TAQC meeting summary. He asked if there were any comments and, hearing none, stated the summary was accepted as previously distributed. He noted that the new representative for GRTA on TAQC will be Margaret Martin. There were no requests for public comment at this meeting. 2. ARC s 2015 Work Program John Orr, ARC, gave a brief description on the direction the ARC transportation work program is headed in calendar 2015. Work will be centered around the Commission s aspirations in the areas of world class infrastructure, innovation economy, and healthy, livable communities. In the area of world class infrastructure, ARC will be developing a new Regional Plan. In the transportation portion of that plan, targets will have to be developed for a variety of performance measures such as safety, congestion, etc. Each State will initially set their targets and then each MPO must decide within the following 6 months, to use their State s targets or set their own. The Project Delivery Task Force will also continue into 2015. Within innovation economy, a Transportation Innovation Working Group will be developed to support the implementation of emerging technologies. Also, a major update to the regional goods movement plan is needed due to changing conditions such as the impact of the Panama Canal widening, which could increase goods movement in Atlanta. To support healthy, livable communities, ARC will work closely with health organizations to identify health impacts of transportation programs. ARC will also be identifying gaps in access to essential services and conducting a major update to the bike/ped plan in order to tie together multiuse trails on a regional level. Steve Brown, Fayette County, cautioned that land use planning could inadvertently be creating transportation disadvantaged, i.e., making land use decisions that encourage transit dependent people to move from the inner city to suburban cities where there is no transit. Harvey Persons, City of Douglasville, also noted a trend with younger people being uninterested in driving, therefore, a vision for interconnectivity of biking and pedestrian paths is needed. John Orr, ARC, noted that the Atlanta region is close to having one of the finest multiuse trail networks in the nation; it just needs a vision. The draft transportation work program will be available in October for review with a request for TAQC action in November. Draft 9/15/14 Page 2
3. Project Delivery Task Force Initial Findings Kofi Wakhisi, ARC, presented the interim report of the Project Delivery Task Force. The Task Force was created, in part, because the regional projects being federally funded have not been consistently meeting the delivery goals set in MAP-21. To be successful, it is important to facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration, look at how policies and business rules may evolve, and have the ability to measure and monitor progress. Preliminary recommendations include: Procedural recommendations: o Developing an ongoing web-based training system for local governments o Looking for a better process for advancing projects such as within the comprehensive transportation plans o Streamlining the Project Framework Agreement process o More fully coordinating project schedules Technical perspective recommendations: o A more in-depth analysis prior to applying for TIP funding o Use of more databases, i.e., environmental o Improving project management Recommendations requiring additional discussion: o Administering a use it or lose it policy stating that any excess funding a project may have goes back to the region o How to obtain the commitment of project sponsors at the time regional funds are programmed o Getting more accountability placed on project sponsors for changes in project, i.e., scope o Incorporating cost contingencies into the TIP program o Providing real-time project delivery information to policy makers Bucky Johnson, MAMA, noted that a big issue in project delivery is the project changes that often occur during project development. Brian Allen, GSP, responded, saying that part of this effort is about information sharing because communication about project changes is very important. Steve Brown noted that scoping the projects on the front end will solve a lot of problems. Also, the fact that only 35% of projects advanced in 2009 is evidence that a change to the policies is needed. He added that jurisdictions need to be honest and not put projects in the TIP as place holders in case the projects they actually want do not work out. This will require a commitment Draft 9/15/14 Page 3
from jurisdictions to streamline the process. He also noted there needs to be commitment from sponsors to keep their projects on the same funding track. Chair Worthan asked how the Atlanta region compares to other regions on the percentage of projects that are delivered. Wakhisi answered that those numbers are unavailable right now, but more research is being done. Allen added that all regions struggle with delivery, but with different states having different funding sources, it is difficult to compare apples to apples. He noted that in California, they were able to get a state designation to issue environmental permits, something other states (like Georgia) may not be willing to do. Tread Davis noted that improving project delivery could potentially be a big win for everyone. Delivery is a big problem and it is important to keep the pressure on. In his opinion, most of the problem is communication. He also noted that the federal policy is shifting to push for needing more coordination among various groups and that the region could possibly get funding for experimental delivery methods. Wakhisi concluded by stating that the next steps action plan will be presented in November and that the discussion the Task Force needs to continue will include highway and transit projects. 4. Update Process for the Regional Plan s Financially Unconstrained Vision Patrick Bradshaw, ARC, gave an overview on defining aspirations for the next Regional Plan. This update of the transportation vision is being developed for major components of the transportation network. The current unconstrained project list, formerly called the aspirations plan, needs to be pared down. The list is currently over $60 B in capacity expansion projects which is definitely unaffordable. The projects on the current list are also not prioritized. Also, because it is focused on capacity, there are no safety or accessibility projects. Outreach is needed to confirm the need and purpose, level of support, scope, development status, and cost estimates of the projects on the current list. After the project list is reviewed and pared down, the updated unconstrained project list will be given vision statements and organized into investment packages with specific goals to complement the regional plan goals. They will also help guide and focus future unconstrained project lists. Tread Davis noted that funding for maintenance projects cannot be cut, so the funding amount outside of maintenance needs to be calculated. He also noted that it would be helpful to know what counties see as priorities. John Orr agreed and stressed that ARC will coordinate with the jurisdictions to understand all of their priorities. Steve Brown noted that in this era of shrinking funding, subregional and corridor planning should be used to establish priorities instead of by county. David Haynes, ARC, agreed, saying that the key investment packages will be put together at the corridor level. Haynes added that the unconstrained list will not be every project needed, but projects that will strategically move the Draft 9/15/14 Page 4
region in the right direction. He added that the unconstrained list needs to include safety and other non-expansion projects. 5. TAQC Subcommittee Update Charlotte Nash, Vice Chair, reported that the TAQC Subcommittee has been used as a sounding board for the regional planning update including the regional survey. She also noted that a use it or lose it policy must be forgiving for project changes, because sometimes those changes are out of the project sponsor s control. These changes should be looked at on a case by case basis. Nash also emphasized that project sponsors need to make sure that federal funds are needed for a particular project because typically projects with federal funding are the most difficult to deliver. Nash noted that the applications for the STP-urban and TAP project solicitations will be available later this month. 6. Other Business In January, a request to TAQC by the Metro Atlanta Mayor s Association (MAMA) for increased city representation on the Transportation Coordinating Committee, was referred to a TAQC Task Force. Bucky Johnson, MAMA, stated that per the Task Force s guidance, the mayors group has developed a recommendation and would like to know next steps. Chair Worthan responded that this recommendation should first be delivered to the Task Force for review. 7. Announcements John Orr made the following announcements: Regional Plan Survey for the 2016 RTP/TIP update is still open for input. Over 6,000 responses have been received to date. Attendees are encouraged to pass the survey request to their contacts. See What Do You Think? at www.atlantaregional.com/theregionalplan. 2014 AMPO Annual Meeting - ARC is hosting the Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations (AMPO) National Conference, Atlanta, GA, October 21-24, Westin Buckhead Atlanta. Additional information is available at www.ampo.org. 2014 State of the Region Breakfast is Friday, 11/7/14, 7:30 AM at the World Congress Center. Registration is open. ARC Staffing Orr introduced new transportation planner Daniel Studdard. He also noted that 9/11 was transportation planner Marshall Willis last day at ARC, and wished him well. Draft 9/15/14 Page 5
Handouts supplied at meeting: 9/11/14 TAQC Agenda 2015 ARC Calendar Handouts supplied in advance on ARC website (www.atlantaregional.com/taqc) 9/11/14 TAQC Agenda Presentations: o Draft 2015 Work Program o Project Delivery Task Force Update o Regional Plan Update Transportation Vision Draft 9/15/14 Page 6