WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.920 >> Good morning, mobility committee. I'm Rachel wood, deputy director of capital projects. 00:00:08.920 --> 00:00:15.400 I will be serving as the primary staff liaison for today's meeting in Becky's absence, but 00:00:15.400 --> 00:00:21.720 just wanted to say good morning and I'll turn it over to chairman Meltzer to begin the meeting. 00:00:21.720 --> 00:00:29.840 >> Good morning. Seeing that we have a quorum present, I invite you to watch as we convene 00:00:29.840 --> 00:00:34.440 the mobility committee for this morning. Our first item for individual consideration 00:00:34.440 --> 00:00:40.200 is item a, considering approval of the minutes and I'll entertain a motion. Councilmember 00:00:40.200 --> 00:00:44.680 McGuire. >> I move to approve the minutes. 00:00:44.680 --> 00:00:49.960 >> As written. >> Councilmember Bertha, I realize I didn't 00:00:49.960 --> 00:00:56.120 fully see if your hand was up or not, so if you could make it real big because I'm only 00:00:56.120 --> 00:01:04.600 seen you on a little screen. Is there a second? >> I second. 00:01:04.600 --> 00:01:12.480 >> Thank you. All in favor, please raise your hands. Okay. Minutes are approved. So we have 00:01:12.480 --> 00:01:20.600 -- we're moving on to item b. Receiving nominations and electing a chair and vice chair. Because 00:01:20.600 --> 00:01:26.020 this is almost an entirely new committee now. We have two new members that I'm happy to 00:01:26.020 --> 00:01:37.080 welcome today, so I'll entertain nominations for chair. Councilmember McGuire. 00:01:37.080 --> 00:01:41.160 >> I would like to nominate Mayor Pritz and Meltzer for chair. 00:01:41.160 --> 00:01:55.240 >> I'll accept. Let's see. Look for any other nominations. Is there a second? Well, I suppose 00:01:55.240 --> 00:02:02.840 I can second my own nomination. >> I second. 00:02:02.840 --> 00:02:12.880 >> Okay. Thank you. All in favor of Meltzer continuing as chair, please raise your hands 00:02:12.880 --> 00:02:22.600 where I can see him. Okay. So I'll continue as chair and now I'll entertain a nomination 00:02:22.600 --> 00:02:30.880 for vice chair. And councilmember McGuire. >> I would like to nominate councilmember 00:02:30.880 --> 00:02:35.200 Byrd for vice chair. >> Councilmember Byrd, do you accept? 00:02:35.200 --> 00:02:39.600 >> Yes. >> It's a weighty responsibility. You sure 00:02:39.600 --> 00:02:46.160 not? >> I promise I'll get here on time next time. 00:02:46.160 --> 00:02:54.720 >> That's a good goal. I'll second that nomination. And all in favor of councilmember Byrd as 00:02:54.720 --> 00:02:59.440 vice chair of the mobility committee, please raise your hands. And that is unanimous. We 00:02:59.440 --> 00:03:09.120 have a new chair and a new vice chair. We're excited to welcome this whole team to this 00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:18.200 mobility committee meeting. Now, I believe we have some scheduling pressures that would 00:03:18.200 --> 00:03:23.760 favor us taking item D before item C. So I'm going to call that one first unless there's 00:03:23.760 --> 00:03:31.360 any change to that. Rachel? >> Correct. We are still planning if the 00:03:31.360 --> 00:03:38.160 committee is open to it, we'd like to have item D, the DCTA item go prior to item C just 00:03:38.160 --> 00:03:42.460 because there are some schedule conflicts with the DCTA team who's presenting today. 00:03:42.460 --> 00:03:50.160 >> Okay. Without objection, I'll open item D, receive a report and hold a discussion 00:03:50.160 --> 00:03:54.640 regarding updates from the Denton County Transportation Authority. 00:03:54.640 --> 00:04:09.160 >> Well, I see, Randy, I see Nicole. >> Thank you, councilmember. I think I'm going to go 00:04:09.160 --> 00:04:18.160 first. And then Raymond and Nicole are both on the call as well. So you've got the whole 00:04:18.160 --> 00:04:22.760 gang here. So we're going to certainly tackle this as a team. But I'm going to just pull 00:04:22.760 --> 00:04:40.160 up the presentation if you'll give me just a moment. 00:04:40.160 --> 00:05:05.360 Okay. It's coming up now. There we go. Can you all see my screen at this point? 00:05:05.360 --> 00:05:13.160 Yes, and I should clarify, Randy, you don't actually represent DCTA, you're -- 00:05:13.160 --> 00:05:19.160 >> I do not. I was going to mention that in just a moment. So thank you for that. So I 00:05:19.160 --> 00:05:26.240 am actually the city's consultant on transit-related issues, have been for the past three years 00:05:26.240 --> 00:05:32.000 now for both the cities of Louisville and Denton. So I presented to council the last 00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:37.280 time in April. So councilmembers McGuire and Byrd, this is my first time before you, so 00:05:37.280 --> 00:05:45.200 thank you for having me. And I -- after hearing the presentation last week on the GoZone to 00:05:45.200 --> 00:05:50.800 council, a city staff asked me to present this presentation to you today just to give 00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:57.240 you a little more historical context and some of the data that really led to the DCTA board 00:05:57.240 --> 00:06:02.480 and staff making this recommendation and going down this path. So that's really my goal today. 00:06:02.480 --> 00:06:08.760 And again, I said you've got the whole DCTA team here, so please feel free to just interrupt 00:06:08.760 --> 00:06:12.280 me if you all have questions. We definitely want this to be interactive and make sure 00:06:12.280 --> 00:06:20.320 that the council gets the information you're looking for. 00:06:20.320 --> 00:06:26.060 So this first slide really just gives you an overview of some of the historical trends 00:06:26.060 --> 00:06:32.720 that we've seen in the past five years. And you'll notice that this is all pre-COVID ridership, 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:40.040 so intentionally left off FY20 in order to really look at pre-COVID numbers. This is 00:06:40.040 --> 00:06:46.800 something that the DCTA board has been focused on for the last couple years. This is A train 00:06:46.800 --> 00:06:51.640 ridership, it's connect bus ridership, so including Denton, Louisville and Highland 00:06:51.640 --> 00:06:57.440 Village. And then the sales tax contributions only from the city of Denton, just to show 00:06:57.440 --> 00:07:01.760 you that those numbers continue to increase and so the funding streams are continuing 00:07:01.760 --> 00:07:12.340 to increase. I also wanted to mention of course that COVID ridership certainly is much below 00:07:12.340 --> 00:07:17.800 these numbers. But again, I really wanted to show you the pre-COVID numbers and to focus 00:07:17.800 --> 00:07:22.440 on the fact that the board has really been focused on pre-COVID ridership in order to 00:07:22.440 --> 00:07:29.840 make these decisions. I next just wanted to go through the existing 00:07:29.840 --> 00:07:35.320 bus routes in the city of Denton very quickly. I know you're all very familiar with them, 00:07:35.320 --> 00:07:39.200 but this will just give you a quick overview of the ridership numbers on each of these 00:07:39.200 --> 00:07:46.080 routes. So this is route number one. Again, this is FY19, so pre-COVID ridership. This 00:07:46.080 --> 00:07:55.560 particular route carried 5.7 passengers per hour. This route goes from the downtown Denton 00:07:55.560 --> 00:08:04.000 Transit Center down to Unicorn Lake. And I did want to mention as well that in the information 00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:09.360 that council member Armenter sent, the analysis from Dr. Fisher, I thought she made a lot 00:08:09.360 --> 00:08:15.240 of great points and one of them I wanted to mention. So the analysis and the article that 00:08:15.240 --> 00:08:18.480 she sent from Jarrett Walker, I don't know if you had a chance to read that, I'm sure 00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:26.000 you did. He's a very well-known transit consultant in the business. He is brilliant. The stuff 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:30.880 that he did in Houston was fantastic with their bus network redesign. He's actually 00:08:30.880 --> 00:08:37.180 doing a project for Dart right now. He's working on their bus network redesign and very excited 00:08:37.180 --> 00:08:42.540 about what I've seen out of that project so far. But one of the points that he makes in 00:08:42.540 --> 00:08:47.800 his analysis is that the worst performing suburban routes around the country at least 00:08:47.800 --> 00:08:53.280 carry 10 passengers per hour. And that's, I think, an important benchmark because that's 00:08:53.280 --> 00:08:59.200 the same benchmark that Accenture used in their analysis of the DCTA bus routes. And 00:08:59.200 --> 00:09:05.760 so you'll see that in a moment. But you'll see that there's only two routes in the system 00:09:05.760 --> 00:09:10.360 in the city of Denton that come anywhere close to that number. And there's really only one 00:09:10.360 --> 00:09:16.160 route 7 that actually exceeds that 10 passengers per hour benchmark. And then of course all 00:09:16.160 --> 00:09:23.880 of the UNT routes, which are very efficient and have very high ridership. This is route 00:09:23.880 --> 00:09:33.960 number 2 and it carried in 2019 7.4 passengers per hour. It runs every 60 minutes Monday 00:09:33.960 --> 00:09:39.640 through Saturday. So the thing that I wanted to mention most about the days of the week 00:09:39.640 --> 00:09:46.320 of all of this current service is that the via on demand service that's being considered 00:09:46.320 --> 00:09:53.760 by the DCTA board, that will also run on Sundays and holidays. So 365 days a year, which I 00:09:53.760 --> 00:09:59.160 think just provides predictability, which is important for increasing ridership. The 00:09:59.160 --> 00:10:07.720 current service runs six days a week, Monday through Saturday and does not run on holidays. 00:10:07.720 --> 00:10:13.560 This is route three and this is the second highest ridership route in the city of Denton 00:10:13.560 --> 00:10:21.400 in the system. This route carried 9.5 passengers per hour pre COVID. And this is one of two 00:10:21.400 --> 00:10:31.760 routes that the DCTA board is considering keeping as fixed service because of the high ridership. 00:10:31.760 --> 00:10:41.640 This is route number four in the city of Denton. It carried five passengers per hour pre COVID. 00:10:41.640 --> 00:10:47.280 This route, I think is a perfect example of some of the initiatives that the current DCTA 00:10:47.280 --> 00:10:52.840 board has been focused on and Raymond and Chris can add to this later in the discussion. 00:10:52.840 --> 00:11:00.160 But the DCTA board has been very focused on increasing frequency on the highest ridership 00:11:00.160 --> 00:11:05.800 routes. And so this particular route during COVID was reduced down to 60 minutes all the 00:11:05.800 --> 00:11:12.360 time, all day. And as part of the discussion last summer, the DCTA board insisted that 00:11:12.360 --> 00:11:16.600 this route and several of the other higher ridership routes in Denton and Lewisville 00:11:16.600 --> 00:11:21.040 be returned to 30 minute frequency. Because everyone understands of course that the higher 00:11:21.040 --> 00:11:26.000 the frequency, the higher the ridership. And so this is certainly something that the board's 00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:32.080 been focused on. And they're actually having conversations now about the fixed route service 00:11:32.080 --> 00:11:37.380 that is going to remain in Denton, the higher ridership routes, about increasing the frequency 00:11:37.380 --> 00:11:46.600 on those bus routes as well. This is route six. And so it carried 6.6 passengers per 00:11:46.600 --> 00:11:56.400 hour pre-COVID. It runs from the DDTC up to Discovery Park. It runs every 50 minutes currently 00:11:56.400 --> 00:12:04.080 from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. And then this is route seven. This is the highest ridership route 00:12:04.080 --> 00:12:09.280 in all of DCTA's system and of course in the city of Denton as well, excluding the UNT 00:12:09.280 --> 00:12:13.680 routes. So the UNT routes obviously have the higher ridership. This is the highest ridership 00:12:13.680 --> 00:12:20.560 route of the Connect service. So it carried 14.5 passengers per hour pre-COVID. It currently 00:12:20.560 --> 00:12:27.120 runs every 30 minutes. This is the other route that is going to remain a fixed route bus 00:12:27.120 --> 00:12:34.040 service because of the high ridership. It certainly justifies the fixed route service. 00:12:34.040 --> 00:12:40.240 And then I wanted to just cover quickly a little bit about the process that the DCTA 00:12:40.240 --> 00:12:46.200 has gone through to get to this point. So Accenture did an efficiency study to look 00:12:46.200 --> 00:12:51.960 at all aspects of DCTA's operations. And part of that analysis was to look at all of 00:12:51.960 --> 00:12:59.440 the fixed route service and recommendations for how to increase ridership on that service. 00:12:59.440 --> 00:13:03.160 And so this slide is a little busy, but I'll try to walk you through it. So I apologize 00:13:03.160 --> 00:13:09.040 for that. But this came directly from Accenture. This was the result of their analysis and 00:13:09.040 --> 00:13:14.600 this was really kind of the crux of what led the DCTA board to consider going down this 00:13:14.600 --> 00:13:21.600 path and making this a very large service change. So here you're seeing eight routes, 00:13:21.600 --> 00:13:26.160 one through eight in the city of Denton, the two Lewisville Connect routes, and then North 00:13:26.160 --> 00:13:31.560 Texas Express, which is a route that goes from Denton down to Fort Worth. This is showing 00:13:31.560 --> 00:13:41.440 you the average daily boardings per hour pre-COVID in blue and then during COVID in green. So 00:13:41.440 --> 00:13:47.880 prior to the board even considering this change to on-demand during COVID, DCTA had already 00:13:47.880 --> 00:13:52.720 eliminated routes five and eight because they were duplicative of other routes that were 00:13:52.720 --> 00:13:58.360 already included in the system. So those riders were already served by other routes in the 00:13:58.360 --> 00:14:04.080 system. So the only two routes remaining that meet this threshold of 10 boardings per hour. 00:14:04.080 --> 00:14:09.160 And again, remember, according to Jarrett Walker and his analysis, 10 boardings per 00:14:09.160 --> 00:14:13.980 hour is the minimum threshold for fixed route bus service, the worst performing routes in 00:14:13.980 --> 00:14:20.040 his terminology. So the only routes pre-COVID that meet that criteria are three and seven, 00:14:20.040 --> 00:14:25.360 the two fixed routes that the DCTA board is considering keeping as fixed routes because 00:14:25.360 --> 00:14:31.160 the ridership justifies it. And then post-COVID you'll see or during COVID, post-COVID I should 00:14:31.160 --> 00:14:37.560 not say, during this particular pandemic, none of the routes meet that threshold, except, 00:14:37.560 --> 00:14:44.120 I mean, you can see route seven gets very, very close, but none of them currently meet 00:14:44.120 --> 00:14:48.120 that threshold. But the board certainly has not been focused on COVID ridership. We all 00:14:48.120 --> 00:14:53.280 expect that that will come back at some point and hopefully very soon. And so they're making 00:14:53.280 --> 00:15:01.040 this decision based on the pre-COVID ridership. So this slide just gives you a little bit 00:15:01.040 --> 00:15:06.920 of a cost and ridership comparison. And this is not at all apples to apples. I'm just trying 00:15:06.920 --> 00:15:12.320 to give you some ability to compare the two services. They cannot be directly compared 00:15:12.320 --> 00:15:19.440 certainly, but I did want to present a little bit of the numbers and the data that the DCTA 00:15:19.440 --> 00:15:26.220 has been looking at and making this decision. So annual cost for VIA for the base service 00:15:26.220 --> 00:15:32.320 and phase one add-ons, which you have been presented to by DCTA several times. And I 00:15:32.320 --> 00:15:36.320 think Nicole can cover that more in a minute if you have any questions about what's included 00:15:36.320 --> 00:15:43.400 in that base and phase one. But the annual cost is 5.3 million. The ridership misses 00:15:43.400 --> 00:15:50.360 a low end and a high end range of ridership. This is estimated obviously based on coming 00:15:50.360 --> 00:15:55.640 out of COVID. They're certainly looking at what the ridership is today on the system 00:15:55.640 --> 00:16:01.040 and estimating the speed at which people will then come back to the system. And with all 00:16:01.040 --> 00:16:06.320 the additional service that's being offered by the VIA on-demand program, how many additional 00:16:06.320 --> 00:16:14.760 riders the service might attract. The cost per trip varies very widely based on the ridership 00:16:14.760 --> 00:16:20.360 numbers. So depending on how this service actually performs, we'll determine the cost 00:16:20.360 --> 00:16:25.760 per trip. But based on their estimated ridership, the cost per trip would be somewhere between 00:16:25.760 --> 00:16:34.240 $11.85 and $7 per trip. And that just gives us a benchmark of the efficiency of the service. 00:16:34.240 --> 00:16:39.720 So it's obviously not the only factor, but something important just to be able to compare 00:16:39.720 --> 00:16:44.840 the efficiency of the two services. And then the vehicle hours that are going to be delivered 00:16:44.840 --> 00:16:53.560 as part of this base and phase one add-ons is 129,941 annually. That's the annual vehicle 00:16:53.560 --> 00:17:00.000 hours. So just to give you a little bit of a comparison, the Connect bus service, and 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:06.480 this is again in Denton, Lewisville, and Highland Village. So all of those services combined, 00:17:06.480 --> 00:17:13.320 not just the city of Denton, but the total annual costs of that service is $6.3 million. 00:17:13.320 --> 00:17:19.600 The ridership, and I'm just giving you a range here as well so that you can compare the two. 00:17:19.600 --> 00:17:30.800 So current ridership or fiscal year 20 ridership, so during COVID was 347,174. And then on the 00:17:30.800 --> 00:17:36.040 high end, looking at the last six years, the highest Connect bus service ridership that 00:17:36.040 --> 00:17:43.480 we encountered in any year was 589,404. So that just gives you a range in order to compare 00:17:43.480 --> 00:17:50.440 the two. And then based on that ridership, the cost per trip ranges from $18 down to 00:17:50.440 --> 00:17:57.520 1070. And then the vehicle hours that were provided as a result of that service were 00:17:57.520 --> 00:18:06.320 73,107. So I should mention a couple of things about this. One, it's not at all an apples 00:18:06.320 --> 00:18:12.760 to apples comparison because the VIA service includes greater coverage, it includes greater 00:18:12.760 --> 00:18:20.000 frequency. It also includes the service on Sundays and holidays that I mentioned. And 00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:25.280 it includes better connections to DART because there's a component of the Phase 1 add-ons 00:18:25.280 --> 00:18:31.840 that the DCTA staff and board have been working on that will allow people to connect to the 00:18:31.840 --> 00:18:38.320 DART Greenline in the extra hours. So the DART Greenline runs till 1 a.m. DCTA A train 00:18:38.320 --> 00:18:43.360 ends at 10. So there's a gap there. And we have heard from citizens in Lewisville and 00:18:43.360 --> 00:18:48.200 Denton that that's an issue in taking the DART train back to Trinity Mills, they can't 00:18:48.200 --> 00:18:53.920 get home. So part of this service is to provide on-demand that will connect to Trinity Mills 00:18:53.920 --> 00:18:57.940 and take people either to Lewisville, Highland Village or Denton so that they can better 00:18:57.940 --> 00:19:04.120 utilize DART and get home during that gap hours. The other thing I wanted to mention 00:19:04.120 --> 00:19:10.660 on the connect service and the cost is that there's a wide range. This includes both direct 00:19:10.660 --> 00:19:16.600 and indirect cost. And there is certainly a question about how much indirect cost will 00:19:16.600 --> 00:19:23.760 be eliminated as part of the VIA service. And so that's a savings that can be quantified. 00:19:23.760 --> 00:19:30.000 So the range that connect service or the bus service could be as high as 10.1 million, 00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:34.720 and it could be as low as 5.4 million. So the number that you're seeing here reflects 00:19:34.720 --> 00:19:44.820 35% of the indirect cost being achieved as savings as part of that connect service. So 00:19:44.820 --> 00:19:50.880 I wanted to mention one other thing and then I will stop and we are all available for questions 00:19:50.880 --> 00:19:58.320 and we certainly want to leave plenty of time for that. So this slide just gives you a snapshot 00:19:58.320 --> 00:20:03.380 of the cost per passenger trip of the DCTA connect service. This does not include the 00:20:03.380 --> 00:20:08.680 UNT routes, but just the connect service in Denton, Lewisville and Highland Village comparing 00:20:08.680 --> 00:20:14.200 it to the other agencies around the state. And I will say this is not an apples to apples 00:20:14.200 --> 00:20:19.420 comparison either. The other agencies are much larger and they have higher ridership 00:20:19.420 --> 00:20:24.480 and the ridership really determines the cost per trip because there's a significant amount 00:20:24.480 --> 00:20:29.940 of fixed costs associated with fixed route bus service. And so the ridership really drives 00:20:29.940 --> 00:20:35.520 that cost per trip. It's not a reflection on DCTA at all, because again, the ridership 00:20:35.520 --> 00:20:40.240 is really what drives that cost per trip. But I did want to mention it to you because 00:20:40.240 --> 00:20:45.160 I do think it's a benchmark that we should aspire to at some point in the future. And 00:20:45.160 --> 00:20:51.240 I should mention as well, the highest performing route, so route seven and all of the UNT routes 00:20:51.240 --> 00:20:59.380 do have comparable if not less cost per trip than these numbers of the peer agencies at 00:20:59.380 --> 00:21:04.680 Dart, Trinity Metro and Capital Metro. Route three does not, but it's very close. And again, 00:21:04.680 --> 00:21:09.040 it's the second highest ridership route. And so the board certainly feels like it's on 00:21:09.040 --> 00:21:15.800 the cusp and should remain as fixed route. So I will just pause there and we are all 00:21:15.800 --> 00:21:24.840 available to answer any questions you may have. 00:21:24.840 --> 00:21:25.840 This is- 00:21:25.840 --> 00:21:26.840 Questions. 00:21:26.840 --> 00:21:29.640 Okay, go ahead. I'm sorry. 00:21:29.640 --> 00:21:33.400 Council Member Byrd? 00:21:33.400 --> 00:21:36.360 Yes. I'll go first. 00:21:36.360 --> 00:21:37.360 Yep, sure. 00:21:37.360 --> 00:21:47.800 Okay, I just had a couple of questions here. I was looking at the cost per trip, and my 00:21:47.800 --> 00:21:54.920 question is, what all entails, you know, what's the details in that number? It looks like 00:21:54.920 --> 00:21:59.960 it's a little higher. Does it have anything to do with just the number of people that 00:21:59.960 --> 00:22:08.200 are riding or does it have some salaries included in all of that? 00:22:08.200 --> 00:22:13.640 It does, yes. So when I said direct and indirect cost, so the direct cost would be the direct 00:22:13.640 --> 00:22:21.820 cost of providing the service. So labor, the buses themselves, the indirect cost would 00:22:21.820 --> 00:22:27.320 be facilities, all of the additional administrative staff that go into administering the entire 00:22:27.320 --> 00:22:32.840 program. DCTA staff can certainly add some detail there and elaborate on it as well, 00:22:32.840 --> 00:22:38.400 but that is the difference. So that cost per trip includes all of those costs fully loaded 00:22:38.400 --> 00:22:43.640 to understand what is the cost per passenger trip to deliver that service. 00:22:43.640 --> 00:22:54.560 Okay, so I'm concerned about the- my primary concern at this particular point is the advent 00:22:54.560 --> 00:23:03.920 of losing the labor part of it. I know that I have had a number of people to connect with 00:23:03.920 --> 00:23:12.760 me about the opportunity for them to lose their jobs, so I understand that these same 00:23:12.760 --> 00:23:22.320 people will have an opportunity to apply for this other particular service, but is that 00:23:22.320 --> 00:23:31.920 a weighty factor on this $11 in- I don't have the number in front of me, but the $11 for 00:23:31.920 --> 00:23:43.280 the ridership is the- it's a cost for the employees, a heavy rider, on that. So if we 00:23:43.280 --> 00:23:54.320 were to go with the other- if we want to go with the other route system, the other system, 00:23:54.320 --> 00:23:58.920 I'm just thinking about those people that might lose their job right now for this question. 00:23:58.920 --> 00:24:05.520 Absolutely, and that's a concern that's shared by everyone. So I will tell you, my understanding 00:24:05.520 --> 00:24:11.200 is that the hourly rates are comparable to what is currently being paid to DCTA drivers, 00:24:11.200 --> 00:24:16.460 and there is a huge shortage of CDL drivers around the state, so both Dart and Trinity 00:24:16.460 --> 00:24:23.320 Metro are always seeking additional CDL drivers, but DCTA certainly may want to add some additional 00:24:23.320 --> 00:24:38.060 to that question. I noticed that the ridership was higher, estimated higher for the new system. 00:24:38.060 --> 00:24:43.820 How does that happen? How do you justify such a significant number? I do understand that 00:24:43.820 --> 00:24:52.000 you say it is not tit for tat exactly, but the numbers just seem so much higher with 00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:57.320 this new system. I'm not understanding the justification for that. 00:24:57.320 --> 00:25:02.120 So I'm happy to answer that question. These are ridership projections that have been provided 00:25:02.120 --> 00:25:08.900 by VIA based on the level of service that's being proposed, as well as density within 00:25:08.900 --> 00:25:12.640 the zones that are being proposed. But they are just estimates. 00:25:12.640 --> 00:25:13.640 Just estimates. 00:25:13.640 --> 00:25:19.680 And I will add to that as well, Councilmember, that the coverage area for the VIA service 00:25:19.680 --> 00:25:24.800 is so much larger, that there's so many more citizens that will have access to the service. 00:25:24.800 --> 00:25:31.120 I think that's a huge driver behind the difference in ridership. 00:25:31.120 --> 00:25:41.560 You said -- so it looks like a portion of this did not include the UNT riders. I was 00:25:41.560 --> 00:25:48.360 just trying to see if this is also part of that higher ridership. I can hear you, but 00:25:48.360 --> 00:25:55.600 I can't really, really hear you very clearly. Did you say that as part of justifying the 00:25:55.600 --> 00:26:03.440 higher ridership? At some point, you said something about the UNT connect is not a part 00:26:03.440 --> 00:26:08.000 of a number. Can you go back and tell me what that's about? 00:26:08.000 --> 00:26:16.920 Yes, absolutely. So this entire analysis is focused on the City of Denton connect service. 00:26:16.920 --> 00:26:22.480 So the UNT routes are not being considered to convert to on-demand because they have 00:26:22.480 --> 00:26:27.920 such high ridership that they're already very efficient service. So those routes, all of 00:26:27.920 --> 00:26:34.480 the UNT routes will continue as fixed route bus service as well as routes 3 and 7 in Denton 00:26:34.480 --> 00:26:38.800 because those are the highest performing routes. I'm sorry. I hope you can hear me okay. 00:26:38.800 --> 00:26:41.760 I can hear you because I know what I'm listening for now. 00:26:41.760 --> 00:26:43.480 Okay, good. 00:26:43.480 --> 00:26:50.360 That definitely helps. Now, what about the marketing program, the marketing side of all 00:26:50.360 --> 00:26:57.000 of this? I just seem like, you know, just as a regular citizen, which I was just a few 00:26:57.000 --> 00:27:03.520 weeks ago, it just seemed like I didn't hear a lot about DCTA that would make me want to 00:27:03.520 --> 00:27:13.720 get to use the system. Tell me about your marketing program prior to this proposal. 00:27:13.720 --> 00:27:20.520 Pardon me. I mean, you're welcome to answer, but I just want to remind you, Council Member 00:27:20.520 --> 00:27:28.040 Byrd, we're also going to hear from DCTA. Ms. Byrd, who's not related to you, I don't 00:27:28.040 --> 00:27:29.040 believe. 00:27:29.040 --> 00:27:30.040 No, not. 00:27:30.040 --> 00:27:33.880 Doesn't represent DCTA. She's our consultant, and we've actually got the marketing. 00:27:33.880 --> 00:27:34.880 Okay, thank you. 00:27:34.880 --> 00:27:38.200 But, you know, go ahead as you wish. 00:27:38.200 --> 00:27:42.400 No, I'm sure Nicole would love to answer that question. They have a very robust marketing 00:27:42.400 --> 00:27:48.520 plan planned for this launch of this service, and Nicole can add to that. 00:27:48.520 --> 00:27:55.720 Sure. I'm happy to provide some details. So we have explored new marketing techniques 00:27:55.720 --> 00:28:02.800 to promote the public involvement plan for the GoZone service and to educate passengers 00:28:02.800 --> 00:28:09.440 on what the final service will be and educate them about the launch and how you ride. We 00:28:09.440 --> 00:28:14.840 will be mirroring a lot of our existing activities that we've been using for the public involvement 00:28:14.840 --> 00:28:20.920 period. I will tell you from a data perspective and an engagement perspective, we have seen 00:28:20.920 --> 00:28:26.240 incredible results from our public involvement outreach. And so we feel pretty confident 00:28:26.240 --> 00:28:31.780 that mirroring those activities will result in a widespread education of the community 00:28:31.780 --> 00:28:38.240 on how to utilize the service. Additionally, we plan to provide kind of on-site and virtual 00:28:38.240 --> 00:28:43.280 trainings for folks that need assistance with how to purchase, whether it's via the mobile 00:28:43.280 --> 00:28:48.240 app, or actually at a facility or over the phone. So we'll kind of have some on-site 00:28:48.240 --> 00:28:54.120 and virtual assistance if someone needs a one-on-one walkthrough. So we plan to, again, 00:28:54.120 --> 00:28:58.160 just like we did for the public involvement plan, to have a widespread education plan 00:28:58.160 --> 00:29:04.920 that would support the service that our board approves for launch on September 7. 00:29:04.920 --> 00:29:15.300 - Thank you. - Anything else, Council Member Perk for now? 00:29:15.300 --> 00:29:19.600 - I'm done. Thank you. - Yeah. Okay. Council Member McGuire. 00:29:19.600 --> 00:29:27.680 - Thank you, Mayor Perkett and Meltzer. So I wanted to ask about the sort of overall 00:29:27.680 --> 00:29:33.680 costs. And I know that you mentioned it's sort of, these are just projections and it's 00:29:33.680 --> 00:29:42.680 not apples to apples. But I believe I recall Mr. Suarez telling us in the work session 00:29:42.680 --> 00:29:50.120 last week that... Sorry, I'm trying to find the numbers here. I recall him saying that 00:29:50.120 --> 00:30:01.120 the VIA service would be slightly more expensive than the Connect service. But if I can find 00:30:01.120 --> 00:30:07.360 the dang slide, you just showed us a slide saying it would cost less. So I was wondering 00:30:07.360 --> 00:30:11.720 if you could, if you or Raymond or Nicole could speak to that a little bit. 00:30:11.720 --> 00:30:16.680 - Yes. And we both can. So Raymond and Nicole, please add to this as well. The difference 00:30:16.680 --> 00:30:21.760 is whether you're talking about just the base service that's being provided by VIA or the 00:30:21.760 --> 00:30:26.960 phase one or phase two add-ons. So the numbers that I showed you today are just the base 00:30:26.960 --> 00:30:31.680 service and phase one add-ons, because that's really the service that the board has discussed 00:30:31.680 --> 00:30:38.140 so far and seems to have support for. Obviously that final decision has not been made yet. 00:30:38.140 --> 00:30:43.280 The phase two add-ons, when you add that in, it does make it more expensive than the Connect 00:30:43.280 --> 00:30:50.000 service. So that's really the question. And certainly on the numbers that I showed you, 00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:56.840 if the phase two add-ons are added, we don't yet have that comparison as far as the access 00:30:56.840 --> 00:31:01.740 service, because that's something that's being contemplated in phase two. And those cost 00:31:01.740 --> 00:31:05.920 numbers, I don't know that the board has seen yet, but staff certainly may want to elaborate 00:31:05.920 --> 00:31:07.080 on that as well. 00:31:07.080 --> 00:31:12.520 - And I would just add to that, that the costs that Brandy is sharing today are those direct 00:31:12.520 --> 00:31:19.320 costs, specifically related to labor, wages and fuel. There are also those indirect costs 00:31:19.320 --> 00:31:23.840 related to like facilities and the staff to manage programs and the customer service and 00:31:23.840 --> 00:31:28.080 all of that, that is not included. And so when you combine the direct costs and the 00:31:28.080 --> 00:31:33.480 indirect costs, there is a slight increase in the cost of overall service, but the number 00:31:33.480 --> 00:31:37.880 of service hours of what's being proposed is higher than what we're currently operating 00:31:37.880 --> 00:31:38.880 today. 00:31:38.880 --> 00:31:47.800 - Okay, thank you. Yeah, that clarifies that for me. I appreciate that. So I also, if I 00:31:47.800 --> 00:31:54.880 remember council member Byrd correctly, I thought she was asking about DCTA's marketing 00:31:54.880 --> 00:32:01.320 of the connect service, like pre-COVID, which if that was what you were asking council member 00:32:01.320 --> 00:32:10.880 Byrd, that kind of ties into my next question, which is, prior to this proposal of the via 00:32:10.880 --> 00:32:21.320 on demand service, what steps did DCTA take to improve ridership on fixed routes? Was, 00:32:21.320 --> 00:32:29.400 I mean, was there an effort made to sort of tweak the current system and improve ridership 00:32:29.400 --> 00:32:33.240 as opposed to sort of abandoning it abruptly? 00:32:33.240 --> 00:32:39.000 - Sure. I'm happy to answer that question. So I would say it's a combination of many 00:32:39.000 --> 00:32:44.720 things. So from a grassroots level, the promotion of services as well as programs that tie into 00:32:44.720 --> 00:32:49.400 those services. So whether it's like our discount pass programs for social service agencies 00:32:49.400 --> 00:32:55.600 or groups, or even with the schools, like we provide like a summer pass for the students 00:32:55.600 --> 00:33:03.740 and we had various programs that were promoted and developed in order to drive ridership. 00:33:03.740 --> 00:33:09.840 We also participated in a comprehensive operational analysis about four years ago that looked 00:33:09.840 --> 00:33:14.480 at the existing connect routes across our system and modified them in order to gain 00:33:14.480 --> 00:33:22.120 additional ridership. And then most significantly, we put together two different fare systems 00:33:22.120 --> 00:33:29.280 in place that did show increased ridership. So the first of that being the A train free 00:33:29.280 --> 00:33:33.800 fare zone, that would be from Hebron to the Trinity mill station, as well as from Medpart 00:33:33.800 --> 00:33:38.280 to the DDTC, where we provide free service if you're just traveling between those two 00:33:38.280 --> 00:33:44.400 kind of mini destinations. And then the additional fare modification that we made about a year 00:33:44.400 --> 00:33:51.000 and a half ago is that when the regional fare increased, we are part of a regional fare 00:33:51.000 --> 00:33:56.680 program with the other transit agencies in the area. DART leads the development of any 00:33:56.680 --> 00:34:01.680 fares as part of the regional perspective. And so they were promoting and recommending 00:34:01.680 --> 00:34:07.640 an increase to their regional fare. And DCTA chose to go ahead and accept that fare so 00:34:07.640 --> 00:34:13.200 that our passengers got the benefit of the entire system. But we decreased our local 00:34:13.200 --> 00:34:18.600 fares so that we could give passengers the option to buy like one local DCTA pass and 00:34:18.600 --> 00:34:23.440 a local DART pass. And it would actually be cheaper than what the previous regional fare 00:34:23.440 --> 00:34:29.160 pass was. And we did see a significant increase in ridership. Just from that, we also saw 00:34:29.160 --> 00:34:34.120 an increase in our fare revenue from that specific fare adjustment as well. 00:34:34.120 --> 00:34:40.480 There wasn't long after that that COVID hit, so we saw a reduction there. I also mentioned 00:34:40.480 --> 00:34:50.760 during our presentation that fixed route bus can be impacted by a lot of different things. 00:34:50.760 --> 00:34:57.840 As we talked about during the conversation, amenities, sidewalks, curb cuts, those types 00:34:57.840 --> 00:35:03.600 of investments are really important because they can be barriers to fixed route. The other 00:35:03.600 --> 00:35:10.000 big initiative that I guess data point that really hasn't been shared in the analysis 00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:15.000 and we've shared with our board is when our board asked us to put together the metrics 00:35:15.000 --> 00:35:20.520 in the five-year history, they asked for some context about what were some of the impacts 00:35:20.520 --> 00:35:28.400 that caused the reductions in service. And I would say more so in Denton than in the 00:35:28.400 --> 00:35:34.600 rest of our service area, there's been significant amount of infrastructure, road infrastructure 00:35:34.600 --> 00:35:42.400 on University, on Hickory, on Bonnie Bray over the last three to four years that while 00:35:42.400 --> 00:35:47.120 we're making improvements in the service, there's no question there's a lot of stops 00:35:47.120 --> 00:35:53.520 that were not accessible. Trying to get through those corridors really caused a lot of on-time 00:35:53.520 --> 00:35:58.200 performance issues. And so when you just look at the data, the data doesn't necessarily 00:35:58.200 --> 00:36:05.360 tell the whole story. And so to Nicole's point, there's a lot of different variables that 00:36:05.360 --> 00:36:15.720 go into it. I do believe to Councilman Davis's comments around fair pricing, just in typical 00:36:15.720 --> 00:36:22.120 economics, if you have inventory, drop your price, make it more competitive, people will 00:36:22.120 --> 00:36:28.560 use it. We actually did that. He had provided some comments. I want to say it was pre-COVID, 00:36:28.560 --> 00:36:32.900 we went back, we looked at pricing, we talked to the board about it. They were in favor 00:36:32.900 --> 00:36:40.100 of reducing the cost for the fares and we did see to Nicole's point a significant increase. 00:36:40.100 --> 00:36:46.880 So it's hard to say that marketing alone won't necessarily change things. It's a combination 00:36:46.880 --> 00:36:52.120 of things, but I wanted to provide that additional data point because the infrastructure improvements, 00:36:52.120 --> 00:36:56.820 while they've helped the city in so many ways, they certainly didn't help on-time performance 00:36:56.820 --> 00:37:01.400 and the speed and accuracy of our service. And that, in my opinion, was probably the 00:37:01.400 --> 00:37:10.000 biggest contributor over the last three to four years in the performance concerns and 00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:13.560 ridership barriers on the system. 00:37:13.560 --> 00:37:20.840 Specifically to the Denton construction, we had to reroute the majority of our fixed routes, 00:37:20.840 --> 00:37:26.600 probably anywhere between four and six times over a period of about two years to accommodate 00:37:26.600 --> 00:37:32.000 the construction. So to Raymond's point, that did have significant impact and communicating 00:37:32.000 --> 00:37:41.760 that obviously to our passengers was a fairly large struggle, but luckily we have very dedicated 00:37:41.760 --> 00:37:46.080 riders and so they sign up for rider alerts and we're able to target them directly based 00:37:46.080 --> 00:37:51.120 on the route that they ride, but it did have impacts to our overall ridership for sure. 00:37:51.120 --> 00:37:56.760 And as I mentioned, one of the benefits of VIA is with a big bus, it's really hard to 00:37:56.760 --> 00:38:03.480 make left and right turns on alternative roads. With vans, it's much easier to get around 00:38:03.480 --> 00:38:09.080 those types of situations and pick people up. So it has a lot more flexibility and ability 00:38:09.080 --> 00:38:16.000 to access, provide accessibility on the system than the bus service, but I just wanted to 00:38:16.000 --> 00:38:19.520 provide that additional context since you're asking the question about what we did to market 00:38:19.520 --> 00:38:25.200 the existing system. Hopefully that helps. Yeah, it does. And I really appreciate that 00:38:25.200 --> 00:38:30.040 you're, you know, taking a broader view that it's not just about what DCTA has done, that 00:38:30.040 --> 00:38:37.240 the city bears a great deal of responsibility for, you know, making DCTA services accessible. 00:38:37.240 --> 00:38:46.320 So yeah, I appreciate that. Just while we're on the topic that you raised, 00:38:46.320 --> 00:38:56.120 business-wise, would you mind sharing what percent of DCTA revenues Fairbox does represent? 00:38:56.120 --> 00:39:04.200 Because I really don't know. Percentage-wise, it's a smaller, I'm sorry. 00:39:04.200 --> 00:39:14.360 I'm sure it's overwhelmingly sales tax. It's overwhelmingly, it's 51% sales tax, about 00:39:14.360 --> 00:39:20.360 40, I want to say 43%. It's changing. I was looking at budget numbers this morning for 00:39:20.360 --> 00:39:30.960 FY22. I'd say the Fairbox revenue is less than 10% of the revenue that comes in to support 00:39:30.960 --> 00:39:34.640 the system. I don't have the exact number in front of me. My apologies. I'll look it 00:39:34.640 --> 00:39:39.720 up more on this conversation. That scales it anyway. So if we don't have 00:39:39.720 --> 00:39:47.760 any more questions right now for Ms. Burt, do you want to go ahead and give the DCTA 00:39:47.760 --> 00:39:52.240 presentation? If you had planned to do one? Yeah, I would be happy to. 00:39:52.240 --> 00:39:56.840 Nicole, before I wrap it up, I was just going to turn it over to the DCTA Board Chair, Chris 00:39:56.840 --> 00:40:11.840 Watts, if you wanted to say a few things before we finish. 00:40:11.840 --> 00:40:19.680 Thank you. Thank you for that. Just to share with you a couple of thoughts from the Board, 00:40:19.680 --> 00:40:27.360 you know, basically is what the philosophy has been. And I understand about the construction 00:40:27.360 --> 00:40:33.880 and I understand about that that may have impacted ridership to some degree. But I think 00:40:33.880 --> 00:40:38.360 it's a combination of a lot of things. If you look at the data, we're back up to the 00:40:38.360 --> 00:40:45.120 ridership pre-COVID that we were back in 2015, which is about 500 and something thousand 00:40:45.120 --> 00:40:50.800 riders, which let's make sure we understand when we talk about riders, as illustrated 00:40:50.800 --> 00:40:59.520 in the slides, you have to do some calculations to try to get how many people that that represents. 00:40:59.520 --> 00:41:05.920 You know, how many individuals? And as you could tell, it was, you know, five or six 00:41:05.920 --> 00:41:15.560 per hour. The board has been totally committed. Prior to this new board, the old board was 00:41:15.560 --> 00:41:22.040 totally committed to that main mission of how do we provide the best public transportation 00:41:22.040 --> 00:41:28.440 system for the dollars that we have and for the capabilities that we have as an agency. 00:41:28.440 --> 00:41:34.040 DCTA is a very unique agency. There's not very many agencies that are situated with 00:41:34.040 --> 00:41:39.600 member cities that, you know, sort of have not autonomy, but, you know, different levels 00:41:39.600 --> 00:41:44.760 of service for each member city. So when you look at other agencies and you try to compare 00:41:44.760 --> 00:41:50.280 things, as Brandy said, it's not necessarily an apples to apples. But what we all have 00:41:50.280 --> 00:41:57.520 in common is we want people to have an alternative. We want people to have a choice that will 00:41:57.520 --> 00:42:02.960 get them where they need to go in an efficient manner that will motivate them to use public 00:42:02.960 --> 00:42:08.000 transportation instead of using a vehicle. Now, for those who don't have a vehicle, it 00:42:08.000 --> 00:42:12.920 becomes even that much more critical that we provide those kind of services and those 00:42:12.920 --> 00:42:19.760 kind of efficient services to get them where they need to be on a timely manner. So this 00:42:19.760 --> 00:42:25.680 has not been something that this decision has not happened overnight. It's certainly 00:42:25.680 --> 00:42:31.480 not happened in a vacuum. There's been a lot of analysis on this, understanding that 00:42:31.480 --> 00:42:37.920 it is a very far departure from the paradigm that we've been operating on over the last 00:42:37.920 --> 00:42:44.880 10 years since DCTA has come into existence with the Denton bus service. But when you 00:42:44.880 --> 00:42:51.640 look at the data and you look at our ridership pre-COVID in 2019 was at the level a little 00:42:51.640 --> 00:42:59.160 higher than 2010 or 2015. And you look at the sales tax dollars that were paid in 2010 00:42:59.160 --> 00:43:04.480 to support that ridership, which it did support it. I mean, there wasn't a budget issue. The 00:43:04.480 --> 00:43:12.080 DCTA staff and board at that time, I mean, they managed the finances in such a way that 00:43:12.080 --> 00:43:19.880 they were able to do that. So this is an attempt to try to figure out how do we provide better 00:43:19.880 --> 00:43:25.600 service? I mean, the service hours, what is it? I think it's 129,000 for Via roughly and 00:43:25.600 --> 00:43:34.600 173 for Denton Connect. That's almost, that's over a 50% increase in service hours, if my 00:43:34.600 --> 00:43:43.120 math is correct. Plus in Denton and in Lewisville, you have your zones where people can pick up 00:43:43.120 --> 00:43:50.880 those on-demands have increased, especially with the add-ons. So that certainly and the 00:43:50.880 --> 00:43:58.040 headways are 15 minutes and the location. So I understand the concerns and quite frankly, 00:43:58.040 --> 00:44:02.720 I really appreciated the feedback last Tuesday because one thing that I heard that I'm going 00:44:02.720 --> 00:44:08.680 to make a recommendation to the board is I think it's, and it's not that it hasn't been 00:44:08.680 --> 00:44:13.560 said before, but you know, sometimes my memory fades me that, you know, how long will the 00:44:13.560 --> 00:44:20.960 fixed routes that are proposed to sort of transition out, how long will they be running 00:44:20.960 --> 00:44:27.520 concurrently with the on-demand system? And I thought I heard two weeks or something. 00:44:27.520 --> 00:44:33.120 That's not been a board decision. The board has not made a decision on that. So I don't 00:44:33.120 --> 00:44:37.840 know where that number came from, but I think it's a worthy discussion of the board to say, 00:44:37.840 --> 00:44:42.400 hey, we need to make sure that there's a big enough transition period to where we give 00:44:42.400 --> 00:44:51.540 everyone the opportunity to be fully educated and not just the passengers, but DCTA to understand 00:44:51.540 --> 00:44:57.840 what are our gaps because the concern that I heard last Tuesday was, okay, those, and 00:44:57.840 --> 00:45:03.600 I heard the term middle-class, you know, they'll, I guess, figure it out. But what about those 00:45:03.600 --> 00:45:08.420 people who are in social services agencies, those that, you know, may not have access 00:45:08.420 --> 00:45:13.960 to telephones, you know, those that are experiencing homelessness, how do we help those people? 00:45:13.960 --> 00:45:19.800 How will they take advantage of the system? And I can tell you, the board and DCTA staff 00:45:19.800 --> 00:45:30.120 is 100% committed, more than 100%, to determine what those needs are and how we address those 00:45:30.120 --> 00:45:36.360 needs. So I feel confident that we will be able to do that in a way that's even more 00:45:36.360 --> 00:45:40.520 efficient than the way that we're meeting those needs today. 00:45:40.520 --> 00:45:48.840 So the philosophy has always been, how do we move more people conveniently that helps 00:45:48.840 --> 00:45:53.800 them get where they need to be? I have, you know, we're looking at what would it cost 00:45:53.800 --> 00:46:00.720 to take the bus service to a 15-minute headway? You know, to try to compare, well, if you're 00:46:00.720 --> 00:46:07.040 doing a fixed route system and you've got a 15-minute headway on on-demand, what would 00:46:07.040 --> 00:46:13.040 that cost with a fixed route system? Understanding, though, that the on-demand will provide more 00:46:13.040 --> 00:46:19.560 locations for pickup and more locations for drop-off. 00:46:19.560 --> 00:46:26.800 So the feedback has been wonderful. I think we have time as we move forward to take a 00:46:26.800 --> 00:46:35.520 look at it. But just rest assured that I don't think that DCTA over the last four years or 00:46:35.520 --> 00:46:41.800 the City of Denton have, have there been some things happen that have contributed to lower 00:46:41.800 --> 00:46:48.240 ridership with construction and all those kinds of things? Yes. I mean, that goes without 00:46:48.240 --> 00:46:55.840 saying. Is that the crux and the totality of the issue? I don't think so. I think what 00:46:55.840 --> 00:47:00.880 the issue is people are having to wait. And I will tell you, the City of Denton has also 00:47:00.880 --> 00:47:07.520 asked and DCTA has complied in the capacity that they have that they can. What do we do 00:47:07.520 --> 00:47:13.920 with our bus stops? I mean, I'm not sure how many covered shelters we have in the City 00:47:13.920 --> 00:47:18.360 of Denton. I've lost track of that number. But, you know, you often see people standing 00:47:18.360 --> 00:47:29.640 out just along a right of way or on a sidewalk or sitting, you know, on the ground. And that 00:47:29.640 --> 00:47:34.120 has been something that the City and DCTA have worked on for many years to try to figure 00:47:34.120 --> 00:47:39.800 out and continue to figure out how can we do more of that. But as technology has advanced 00:47:39.800 --> 00:47:44.020 and as these other types of modalities, I mean, Councilmember Davis made a statement 00:47:44.020 --> 00:47:50.000 that, you know, some people depend on fixed route buses. And I made the comment, well, 00:47:50.000 --> 00:47:53.700 that's because that's all they've been offered. That's because that's all that we've sort 00:47:53.700 --> 00:48:01.860 of tried to create. There are people who do depend on public transportation. And to me, 00:48:01.860 --> 00:48:09.720 that is the theme. That is the statement that has to be at the crux of every deliberation 00:48:09.720 --> 00:48:18.100 and every analysis we do when we're looking at how do we move more people. So the feedback 00:48:18.100 --> 00:48:24.120 has been great. I think that we can take some of that and tweak some of this with some additional 00:48:24.120 --> 00:48:30.280 data. I certainly know that DCTA staff is committed to continuing their mission in the 00:48:30.280 --> 00:48:36.320 best way possible. I know that the Board is doing the same thing. So I just would simply 00:48:36.320 --> 00:48:43.100 say keep the questions coming because it spurs that kind of collaboration and dialogue and 00:48:43.100 --> 00:48:50.860 brainstorming that really is what creates the maximum decision. I mean, we're not making 00:48:50.860 --> 00:48:56.180 this decision in a vacuum. We're still the decision, you know, we've moved it down this 00:48:56.180 --> 00:49:03.580 path because the data, the data at least that we have available seems to indicate that this 00:49:03.580 --> 00:49:07.820 is worth a shot. Now, does that mean I'm going to be honest with you and this is the first 00:49:07.820 --> 00:49:18.080 time I've ever said this? My fear, my fear on all this is it will be widely successful. 00:49:18.080 --> 00:49:24.980 And if it's widely successful, then guess what? We'll have to come back and figure out, okay, 00:49:24.980 --> 00:49:29.260 how do we, you know, if it's widely successful, you know, does the on-demand costs grow to 00:49:29.260 --> 00:49:33.640 a point where, you know, there's some you can bring back in a fit? I mean, there's so many 00:49:33.640 --> 00:49:40.780 options that are available. And that's why I don't want us to get locked into this thought 00:49:40.780 --> 00:49:47.440 process of this is a one and done thing. This is simply an option that we're moving forward 00:49:47.440 --> 00:49:53.200 based upon the data, based upon the feedback of people who also there's feedback who don't 00:49:53.200 --> 00:49:59.700 share the same sentiment. And those are the people that we want to really hear from so 00:49:59.700 --> 00:50:05.740 we can try to craft a decision. Personally, during the transition of this where you're 00:50:05.740 --> 00:50:10.760 having the buses and the on-demand running concurrently, I think we need to figure out 00:50:10.760 --> 00:50:16.500 a way to put people on each bus who can answer questions, who can either, you know, take 00:50:16.500 --> 00:50:21.500 down, here's my, here's my obstacle. I don't have a phone. I don't have this, you know, 00:50:21.500 --> 00:50:26.080 get some contact names. It's, I mean, really get at the grassroots level to where we're 00:50:26.080 --> 00:50:32.140 hearing the actual needs. And that will help us better address it because it's going to 00:50:32.140 --> 00:50:36.060 be a, it's going to be a transition, but I think we're going to be able to do it. And 00:50:36.060 --> 00:50:43.220 there will be kinks, there will be, you know, some obstacles, but the more we can resolve 00:50:43.220 --> 00:50:48.420 on the front end, the less we have to resolve, you know, once it gets implemented. So I think 00:50:48.420 --> 00:50:54.420 the board is open to doing everything that we can to make this as, as smooth a transition 00:50:54.420 --> 00:51:02.620 and to meet the needs that, that, that are out there in a way that after a while people 00:51:02.620 --> 00:51:08.020 will say, well, gosh, I can get in on this corner and I don't have to wait 30 minutes 00:51:08.020 --> 00:51:15.180 for a bus and I can get dropped off, you know, 20 yards, 30 yards, 40 yards from where I'm 00:51:15.180 --> 00:51:22.940 going. That, that is appealing if everything else is even just equal, you know, or even 00:51:22.940 --> 00:51:30.300 if it's even a little bit slider cost, because I think those intangibles are what the customer, 00:51:30.300 --> 00:51:35.620 and let's not lose fact of it's really the customer, it's the rider that we're really 00:51:35.620 --> 00:51:42.780 trying to benefit here. And I feel confident that whatever, however this turns out, we 00:51:42.780 --> 00:51:48.460 will find a way that better helps the rider get where they're going. So that's really 00:51:48.460 --> 00:51:52.940 all I have. I mean, I, I really can't answer a lot of these specific detailed questions 00:51:52.940 --> 00:51:57.140 like the, like Nicole and Raymond can, but I certainly can share with you sort of the 00:51:57.140 --> 00:52:05.060 thoughts from the board as far as the thought process of moving in this direction. 00:52:05.060 --> 00:52:11.540 If I can offer some individual input and I appreciate the fact that, you know, you're 00:52:11.540 --> 00:52:17.980 really making an effort to soak it all in. And I'm, I'm really speaking more frankly 00:52:17.980 --> 00:52:29.100 as a guy who introduced new products for 30 years. I would encourage resisting the idea 00:52:29.100 --> 00:52:38.140 that it must be a transition when what you're trying to meet a whole array of needs. And 00:52:38.140 --> 00:52:45.500 I think if you want to, in almost any industry, any service offering, if you want to maximize 00:52:45.500 --> 00:52:50.900 the coverage of, you know, of the needs that are out there, you would, you would think 00:52:50.900 --> 00:52:58.100 in terms of a product portfolio that suggests to you that a fixed route meets a somewhat 00:52:58.100 --> 00:53:03.460 different need. I mean, it's all transportation, but within that category fixed route meets 00:53:03.460 --> 00:53:10.140 a different need than on demand. And it also meets a slightly different need than payable, 00:53:10.140 --> 00:53:17.300 right? That, and that if you really want to maximize the opportunity and minimize the 00:53:17.300 --> 00:53:24.220 risk that you're going to screw something up big, you would add features, add components 00:53:24.220 --> 00:53:29.340 to your product portfolio and then adjust the mix. What you're trying to do is maximize 00:53:29.340 --> 00:53:36.540 what they call turf, total unduplicated reach and frequency, right? Some, some people, you 00:53:36.540 --> 00:53:40.940 know, are going to like two of the three options. Some are going to use all three, but what 00:53:40.940 --> 00:53:47.300 you want is the, is the portfolio that, that gives you the maximum coverage of the, of 00:53:47.300 --> 00:53:51.900 the customer demand. So I, you know, I would suggest, I mean, and I'm somebody who is quite 00:53:51.900 --> 00:53:58.460 persuaded that for many people, you going on my schedule instead of me having to go 00:53:58.460 --> 00:54:04.140 on yours is going to be more convenient. I'm quite persuaded that for some people, you 00:54:04.140 --> 00:54:09.740 going on my route is more convenient than me having to go on your route. So I totally 00:54:09.740 --> 00:54:14.900 get that. There's a difference between, now I'm going, I've worked in several industries 00:54:14.900 --> 00:54:19.260 and one was baked goods. Okay. So this, I would just say to you, there's a difference 00:54:19.260 --> 00:54:24.660 between a brownie and a brownie mix. Some people said you can't, Pepper Farm can't do 00:54:24.660 --> 00:54:28.860 a brownie cause you can get really good brownie mixes. Well, they're totally different consumer 00:54:28.860 --> 00:54:35.000 decision-making processes. If I knew, if I want to step off the train, you know, and, 00:54:35.000 --> 00:54:39.540 and get my ride, that's halable. And that is entirely different need than, Oh, I got 00:54:39.540 --> 00:54:43.540 to plan this thing and figure out how to work this app and all that. It's just a different 00:54:43.540 --> 00:54:47.340 consumer decision-making process. So that, that, that's my main point. If you add, add 00:54:47.340 --> 00:54:52.100 the elements, there's absolutely, well, I wouldn't say absolutely, but there's no apparent 00:54:52.100 --> 00:54:56.820 need to say we're committed. We already know that the other thing is bad and this thing 00:54:56.820 --> 00:55:00.820 is good. And it's only a matter of the transition. In fact, this had originally been presented 00:55:00.820 --> 00:55:09.060 to this committee as, as a pilot to test our way in. And, you know, that, that, you know, 00:55:09.060 --> 00:55:13.060 desire seems to have evaporated, but I think that that was, that, that was right. So I'll, 00:55:13.060 --> 00:55:17.980 I'll, I'll have more comments later, but I just wanted to, you know, respond to that 00:55:17.980 --> 00:55:27.860 point. Cause I know we've got some more to hear from DCTA. Thank you, chair. Chairman, 00:55:27.860 --> 00:55:32.060 if I may, let me, let me answer a question that was asked earlier about revenue. Sales 00:55:32.060 --> 00:55:38.900 tax revenue is 51%. Our federal grants for operating capital roughly are 42% of the revenue 00:55:38.900 --> 00:55:46.700 that comes in. Contract services, which is revenue. A portion of that you consider Fairbox 00:55:46.700 --> 00:55:52.980 is 6.2%. The actual passenger revenues that are more attributable to the Fairbox is less 00:55:52.980 --> 00:55:57.540 than 1%. So when I was saying it was less than 10%, it was actually, I was thinking 00:55:57.540 --> 00:56:04.420 about the contract revenue and the, and the passenger revenue. So it was less than 10%. 00:56:04.420 --> 00:56:10.140 Yeah, it was less than 10%. So it wasn't necessarily wrong, but it was a, it's significantly less 00:56:10.140 --> 00:56:14.820 than, than 10%. Yes. Almost, almost a rounding error, it sounds like. Yes, that's correct. 00:56:14.820 --> 00:56:20.780 Which reminds me of how we seem to be summoning council member Davis to mind a lot today. 00:56:20.780 --> 00:56:26.020 So I don't know if he's listening, but you know, to his point, it does make you wonder, 00:56:26.020 --> 00:56:32.420 this is another bit of input. You know, should the idea of taking Fair out of the question 00:56:32.420 --> 00:56:38.260 to maximize the ridership, you know, is that worth considering when you consider that it's, 00:56:38.260 --> 00:56:43.260 you know, almost undetectable as a revenue source. Now, I would just add one more point. 00:56:43.260 --> 00:56:49.580 If you take Fair out of the picture, well, first of all, you're talking, you're the concern 00:56:49.580 --> 00:56:56.000 you raised when we spoke last, President Suarez was that people would view the buses housing 00:56:56.000 --> 00:56:59.620 instead of transportation. But when you're talking about a little vehicle, it seems a 00:56:59.620 --> 00:57:03.900 little less likely. That's just an opinion. But then also if you take Fair out of the 00:57:03.900 --> 00:57:10.020 issue, you become hailable. You don't have to add technology to be able to take a swipe. 00:57:10.020 --> 00:57:19.380 And if you only on, let's say on the facts, if your opinion and the opinion of consultants 00:57:19.380 --> 00:57:25.260 is that you still need to run a big dang bus for three people or five people, whatever 00:57:25.260 --> 00:57:33.300 it is, you could experiment with running the little vehicle on the fixed route. Maybe it'll 00:57:33.300 --> 00:57:37.940 be electric someday too and not be polluting. And you could try that without the ability 00:57:37.940 --> 00:57:42.900 to collect fares for a week or two. I'm just putting that out there. Anyway, thanks for 00:57:42.900 --> 00:57:46.380 that perspective about how we've certainly captured the feedback and we'll provide that 00:57:46.380 --> 00:57:53.740 back to the board. Thank you very much for the input. All right, chairman, chairman patient 00:57:53.740 --> 00:58:12.020 to call your turn. I will go ahead and just share my screen. And I promise I will only 00:58:12.020 --> 00:58:20.380 take less than 10 minutes to kind of go through this. But I will say that city staff did ask 00:58:20.380 --> 00:58:26.980 that I provide just at least in the packet, an update based on the feedback that we received 00:58:26.980 --> 00:58:32.900 at the June 8th council meeting. And so while I will not go over all of that feedback in 00:58:32.900 --> 00:58:39.660 detail, it is included in your packet should you want to review it. So just as a reminder, 00:58:39.660 --> 00:58:45.040 we are still in the public involvement feedback process. And so we have dctafeedback.net as 00:58:45.040 --> 00:58:51.460 an option. If you know, council members or the public stakeholders organizations would 00:58:51.460 --> 00:58:57.500 like to provide that feedback, we are still doing a wide array of stakeholder presentations 00:58:57.500 --> 00:59:02.260 for holding virtual town halls. We're also attending a lot of community meetings. So 00:59:02.260 --> 00:59:08.340 in fact, we will be at the Juneteenth celebration in Denton talking about the proposed service 00:59:08.340 --> 00:59:13.220 and collecting feedback as well. And so all of those outreach efforts have proven to be 00:59:13.220 --> 00:59:18.700 very successful. We have gotten an incredible amount of comment back from the public and 00:59:18.700 --> 00:59:23.060 our stakeholders, which we plan to share with our board. And as I mentioned, city staff 00:59:23.060 --> 00:59:28.100 asked that I just kind of provide a recap of the information that I sent out after the 00:59:28.100 --> 00:59:34.420 June 8th Denton city council meeting. So I did send out an email of follow up items after 00:59:34.420 --> 00:59:39.620 that meeting that I knew city staff forwarded to the council. And there were a lot of attachments 00:59:39.620 --> 00:59:45.300 in there. So I just kind of wanted to talk about them high level. Based on your feedback 00:59:45.300 --> 00:59:50.500 for the council's feedback, we did hear that many of the council members had not necessarily 00:59:50.500 --> 00:59:54.980 concerns with the actual service itself, but the implementation of the service, and that 00:59:54.980 --> 01:00:00.420 perhaps a more hybrid approach might be appropriate. So we did go ahead and add an item to our 01:00:00.420 --> 01:00:06.380 June 24th dcta board meeting to have a preliminary conversation with our board about some of the 01:00:06.380 --> 01:00:11.220 feedback that we've collected thus far. So we will be sharing kind of a preliminary feedback 01:00:11.220 --> 01:00:16.260 report with the board. It does not capture all of the feedback that we've captured, you 01:00:16.260 --> 01:00:19.980 know, through the end of the public involvement period, because that ends on the 25th and 01:00:19.980 --> 01:00:24.140 our board meeting is on the 24th. But it will capture the feedback that we've collected 01:00:24.140 --> 01:00:29.900 from April 19 through June 11. And so we do plan to have a discussion with our board next 01:00:29.900 --> 01:00:34.180 Thursday to talk about some of that feedback, the trends in that feedback, and to see if 01:00:34.180 --> 01:00:38.980 any sort of modification in the service delivery would be required prior to bringing it back 01:00:38.980 --> 01:00:45.380 to the board in July for adoption. And Chair Watts had requested during that city council 01:00:45.380 --> 01:00:52.300 meeting that we provide that final transformation initiative report from Accenture. And so I 01:00:52.300 --> 01:00:57.140 did include that as well. And that's also included in your packet. And this is a presentation 01:00:57.140 --> 01:01:03.060 that was presented to the DCTA board of directors in December of last year that just captures 01:01:03.060 --> 01:01:08.280 all of their analysis that they conducted on both our overall efficiency as an agency 01:01:08.280 --> 01:01:14.020 as well as well as route and train performance. And so I did call out a few of the pages within 01:01:14.020 --> 01:01:18.700 that study that you might find helpful. So the ridership and boarding details which Brandi 01:01:18.700 --> 01:01:23.580 actually shared in her presentation can be found in that final report from Accenture 01:01:23.580 --> 01:01:30.020 on pages 46 and 47. And then there were some additional route recommendations that Accenture 01:01:30.020 --> 01:01:36.460 made based on their analysis. And so they put several options together based on density 01:01:36.460 --> 01:01:41.540 and route productivity. So you can read through those. That's on pages 36 through 61. It's 01:01:41.540 --> 01:01:47.740 not captured on a singular slide. But if you were interested in what Accenture's analysis 01:01:47.740 --> 01:01:52.980 resulted in in regards to our route performance and some of their recommendations, you can 01:01:52.980 --> 01:01:58.780 reference those pages. I also provided via case studies that I followed up after last 01:01:58.780 --> 01:02:03.300 month's mobility committee meeting. And I did want to reference that those case studies 01:02:03.300 --> 01:02:09.700 were based on Chair Meltzer's request about case studies regarding ridership. So those 01:02:09.700 --> 01:02:14.860 via case studies are not related to programs that are similar to DCTA. Those are specifically 01:02:14.860 --> 01:02:20.860 about where ridership has been much higher than anticipated and then also where ridership 01:02:20.860 --> 01:02:25.860 did not meet the estimations and they had to modify the programs post launch to increase 01:02:25.860 --> 01:02:31.020 ridership. I will be following up with the council with specific via case studies about 01:02:31.020 --> 01:02:36.540 programs that are similar to ours. And then Mayor Hutzpick had asked for just some more 01:02:36.540 --> 01:02:41.040 information about the promotional materials that we've been sharing as part of our public 01:02:41.040 --> 01:02:46.580 outreach efforts. And so we did provide kind of an advertisement that's in your packet. 01:02:46.580 --> 01:02:51.660 But also you can go to DCTAfeedback.net, go to our media center and hit the promotional 01:02:51.660 --> 01:02:57.700 materials download and you can find sample content for any medium, graphics, anything 01:02:57.700 --> 01:03:00.860 that you're looking for there. And so we've been working really closely with the City 01:03:00.860 --> 01:03:04.980 of Denton staff and they've been an excellent partner in helping us share that message so 01:03:04.980 --> 01:03:11.140 that we can get as much feedback as possible. So those next steps, as I mentioned, so we 01:03:11.140 --> 01:03:17.420 are still on schedule to take the final proposed plan back to our board on July 22nd for review 01:03:17.420 --> 01:03:21.980 and consideration of approval. We do have some time between now and then, and based 01:03:21.980 --> 01:03:27.100 on feedback that we receive from our board next month as to any modifications that need 01:03:27.100 --> 01:03:32.980 to be made. I will say that if they are some minor modifications, so whether that's extending 01:03:32.980 --> 01:03:38.340 the time period in which fixed routes and GoZone operate at the same time, or if it's 01:03:38.340 --> 01:03:43.460 a slight modification in the zone, we would have the time to make those modifications 01:03:43.460 --> 01:03:48.860 and then bring it back to the board for approval on July 22nd. If it does come back from our 01:03:48.860 --> 01:03:52.900 board that they would like to look at more significant changes, maybe particularly to 01:03:52.900 --> 01:03:57.460 the Denton zone, that will require additional time to model the service and then we would 01:03:57.460 --> 01:04:02.300 be required to take it back out to the public and follow that public involvement process 01:04:02.300 --> 01:04:06.300 before we can take it back to our board for formal adoption. So I will say that there 01:04:06.300 --> 01:04:14.140 are kind of two paths we could take based on DCTA board feedback at next week's meeting. 01:04:14.140 --> 01:04:17.780 And then, as I mentioned earlier, we will have a comprehensive marketing communications 01:04:17.780 --> 01:04:24.100 education campaign to ensure that those who are transitioning over to this GoZone service 01:04:24.100 --> 01:04:29.820 have all of the tools necessary to do so successfully, and that will also include kind of virtual 01:04:29.820 --> 01:04:33.740 and in-person trainers. We will have people on vehicles, we'll have people stationed at 01:04:33.740 --> 01:04:40.420 our downtown Denton Transit Center and to Chair Watts's point, it is our high priority 01:04:40.420 --> 01:04:45.180 to make sure that this transition is as easy as possible for passengers. They're our first 01:04:45.180 --> 01:04:51.340 priority and so we'll certainly be focusing our attention to specifically the education 01:04:51.340 --> 01:04:57.860 of passengers. I did want to provide just some other DCTA updates for the new committee 01:04:57.860 --> 01:05:03.020 members. I typically attend every single month and provide general DCTA news. It just so 01:05:03.020 --> 01:05:07.740 happens to be focused on GoZone the last couple of months. But I did want to mention that 01:05:07.740 --> 01:05:12.140 we have just reopened our downtown Denton Transit Center. If you'll recall, we had closed 01:05:12.140 --> 01:05:17.780 the downtown Denton Transit Center due to COVID. And so we did a soft opening on June 7th. 01:05:17.780 --> 01:05:21.980 We now have core hours, so it's open in the morning. There's a break during lunch and 01:05:21.980 --> 01:05:26.020 then it's open in the afternoon and the evening. And we have that break in the middle of the 01:05:26.020 --> 01:05:30.200 day in order to make sure that deep cleans are conducted in the facility. We're also 01:05:30.200 --> 01:05:36.240 limiting capacity and requiring masks and social distancing and doing high touch point 01:05:36.240 --> 01:05:42.780 cleans during those operating hours. And so far, that soft opening has been very successful. 01:05:42.780 --> 01:05:48.660 And so we continue as the mask mandate is lifted, we hope to bring the DDTC back to 01:05:48.660 --> 01:05:53.380 our full operating hours. And we'll also be looking at potentially increasing those hours 01:05:53.380 --> 01:05:59.100 and days of operation with the GoZone plan because the GoZone service now is operated 01:05:59.100 --> 01:06:04.020 more days of the week and longer hours of the day. I also wanted to mention that the 01:06:04.020 --> 01:06:08.980 A-Train's 10th birthday is coming up. This Friday, we will be doing free A-Train rides 01:06:08.980 --> 01:06:13.340 all day with the code word A-Train birthday. We are doing goodies for passengers who are 01:06:13.340 --> 01:06:18.180 on the train. We've got a virtual scavenger hunt, a lot of really fun activities in order 01:06:18.180 --> 01:06:23.100 to celebrate the A-Train's 10th birthday. So we encourage everyone to participate and 01:06:23.100 --> 01:06:28.700 again, free rides on the A-Train on the 18th. I wanted to mention our community outreach 01:06:28.700 --> 01:06:35.060 education campaign. We launched this at the start of COVID to provide some virtual resources 01:06:35.060 --> 01:06:39.860 to those who are doing at-home schooling, our teachers who are looking for some additional 01:06:39.860 --> 01:06:46.380 curriculum. We have been updating our community education resources available at ridedcta.net. 01:06:46.380 --> 01:06:51.380 And we just recently launched a new safety book, which is also a coloring book and new 01:06:51.380 --> 01:06:57.180 summer related coloring sheets that are available. So those are available for easy download. 01:06:57.180 --> 01:07:02.260 They're great resources. Our social service agency round table that we hold quarterly, 01:07:02.260 --> 01:07:09.420 both in Lewisville and in Denton is coming up. So mark August 17th and August 19th on 01:07:09.420 --> 01:07:14.820 your calendars. Anyone is welcome to attend, but we typically have anywhere between 20 01:07:14.820 --> 01:07:20.460 and 30 social service agencies attend where we talk about DCTA news that would be of interest 01:07:20.460 --> 01:07:24.580 to them, how we can assist them with their clientele, and then any general challenges 01:07:24.580 --> 01:07:30.780 that they have to see how we can work collaboratively to get them a solution. And then just a reminder 01:07:30.780 --> 01:07:36.900 that even though the governor lifted the mask mandate, DCTA still falls under the federal 01:07:36.900 --> 01:07:42.420 mask mandate. And so we are still requiring masks in all of our vehicles, at our stops 01:07:42.420 --> 01:07:48.540 and stations, as well as in our operating facilities. So just a little reminder there. 01:07:48.540 --> 01:07:51.980 So I know I went through that really quickly. That concludes my update, but I'm certainly 01:07:51.980 --> 01:07:57.080 happy to answer any questions that the committee may have. 01:07:57.080 --> 01:08:08.240 Okay. Questions, comments? And Council Member McGuire, if you're, I mean, Bird, if your 01:08:08.240 --> 01:08:09.980 hand is up, I can't see it. 01:08:09.980 --> 01:08:21.920 Yes, I had one question about the, the liability cost with, you know, using buses versus cars 01:08:21.920 --> 01:08:25.500 how is that, how is that weighted? How is that going to work for us? 01:08:25.500 --> 01:08:31.500 Sure. So DCTA has been working with our insurance company and as well as our legal representation. 01:08:31.500 --> 01:08:38.020 We have specific liability thresholds in place. And so in order for VIA to even be pre-qualified 01:08:38.020 --> 01:08:42.700 as a potential vendor for us to consider, they had to either meet or exceed those liability 01:08:42.700 --> 01:08:49.780 requirements. So we do have that in place. And I think Raymond might want to add something. 01:08:49.780 --> 01:08:55.300 Many of our contractors, whether it be rail or private contractors are also typically 01:08:55.300 --> 01:09:00.700 covered under our liability insurance. So there's multiple layers of coverage. We're 01:09:00.700 --> 01:09:09.060 also, we have tort liability so that much like the police cities do. So it limits the 01:09:09.060 --> 01:09:14.840 exposure, but typically we'll have our insurance in place. The contractor has their insurance 01:09:14.840 --> 01:09:21.740 in place. So it shouldn't be much different than what we're operating today. 01:09:21.740 --> 01:09:29.060 The only other question that I have is I heard you say something about central location pickup. 01:09:29.060 --> 01:09:35.540 And this is where the, this is where that goes on. And the door to door pickup, is this 01:09:35.540 --> 01:09:41.900 a true door to door pickup or is there certain areas that you want people to be at? 01:09:41.900 --> 01:09:48.380 Sure. So this, this service is considered curb to curb. They also provide door to door 01:09:48.380 --> 01:09:53.540 service if you are, if you self-select in the booking process as having a wheeled mobility 01:09:53.540 --> 01:09:58.780 device or if you're ADA qualified. And so then it would take you door to door. But in 01:09:58.780 --> 01:10:04.020 most cases, this is a curb to curb service. It's quite more convenient than our existing 01:10:04.020 --> 01:10:09.740 bus stops because what they consider for door to door or curb to curb is much closer than 01:10:09.740 --> 01:10:14.540 what our actual bus stop location provides. So I like, always like to provide the example. 01:10:14.540 --> 01:10:18.900 If you're going to a Walgreens, they're going to drop you off in the parking lots to Walgreens. 01:10:18.900 --> 01:10:23.820 They're not going to drop you off in the street outside of Walgreens. If you are ADA qualified 01:10:23.820 --> 01:10:28.220 or you self-select and so having a wheelchair device, they will actually take you to the 01:10:28.220 --> 01:10:32.780 door. They would also provide you service like at your, at the front of your house. 01:10:32.780 --> 01:10:37.700 So it does provide both. At this point in time, we are not recommend, recommending kind 01:10:37.700 --> 01:10:45.060 of centralized like hailing zones. Via's recommendation is for us to provide the curb to curb and 01:10:45.060 --> 01:10:50.940 door to door service and be able to look at data that would show us kind of the hot points 01:10:50.940 --> 01:10:57.020 of where people are primarily, you know, requesting rides or requesting a drop off. And then based 01:10:57.020 --> 01:11:02.300 on that data, we could create kind of hailable zones that would be available so that you 01:11:02.300 --> 01:11:06.100 wouldn't have to book up front. You could actually just go to that location where we 01:11:06.100 --> 01:11:11.020 would most likely have a bus stop with a shelter in place and you could go to that location 01:11:11.020 --> 01:11:16.860 and you could just wait for the next vehicle to drive by. The cost of that addition to 01:11:16.860 --> 01:11:22.320 service would be, you know, based on how often we would want a vehicle to drive by. So there 01:11:22.320 --> 01:11:29.300 are a lot of parameters regarding that, but it is definitely a potential as a future phase. 01:11:29.300 --> 01:11:30.300 Thank you very much. 01:11:30.300 --> 01:11:38.180 Did you have any further questions or comments? Not at this time. Thank you. 01:11:38.180 --> 01:11:52.780 I have a little more to add. I do not envy Chair Watts in having to convey the guidance 01:11:52.780 --> 01:12:01.700 from seven different voices. Yet again, Councilmember Davis made quite a good point in response 01:12:01.700 --> 01:12:09.540 to another Councilmember saying we don't speak as a body unless we vote. So you've got seven 01:12:09.540 --> 01:12:19.020 voices plus all the voices from the public. But I think it would be meaningful if we could 01:12:19.020 --> 01:12:34.860 find a way to, in work session and then ultimately with a resolution, craft our instruction or 01:12:34.860 --> 01:12:41.380 wishes or guidance, I guess I would say, our guidance to our representative. And I would 01:12:41.380 --> 01:12:46.900 further suggest that it is probably not all that helpful if it is just like split decision 01:12:46.900 --> 01:12:53.380 four to three or whatever, but to see where as a body we have at least like a super majority 01:12:53.380 --> 01:13:04.180 if not unanimity to provide guidance as a Council. And now the timing becomes complicated 01:13:04.180 --> 01:13:12.580 for doing that since you've got a meeting next time we meet, your meeting. My opinion, 01:13:12.580 --> 01:13:19.100 it's only an opinion, is that you'd be pretty safe if you wanted to suggest that you're 01:13:19.100 --> 01:13:27.580 representing a consensus. You'd be pretty safe in moving forward to add something, but 01:13:27.580 --> 01:13:35.040 I would say there's at least a diversity of opinion or not clear guidance yet, maybe by 01:13:35.040 --> 01:13:40.280 next Tuesday, but not in time for your meeting probably. There's not clear guidance on taking 01:13:40.280 --> 01:13:50.540 anything away or carving anything in stone about how much or when, transitioning. And 01:13:50.540 --> 01:13:56.140 I realize you're responding to your staff input and all that, but if you wanted to have 01:13:56.140 --> 01:14:02.420 clear guidance from Council to you, my opinion is it'd be great if we could craft a resolution, 01:14:02.420 --> 01:14:10.740 if you felt, I think you'd be on completely uncontroversial grounds to, and I look to 01:14:10.740 --> 01:14:18.100 my fellow committee members, I think you'd be on controversial grounds to say, yeah, 01:14:18.100 --> 01:14:25.380 let's start trying this thing. Certainly the parallel part, but I invite comment from my 01:14:25.380 --> 01:14:30.420 colleagues on that point. Council Member McGuire, sorry, I saw her hand first because it's bigger 01:14:30.420 --> 01:14:38.060 on my screen. Yeah, I think that you characterized that well. To be honest, I think that I'm probably 01:14:38.060 --> 01:14:46.420 the most, well, Council Member Arminter and I are probably the most suspicious of a plan 01:14:46.420 --> 01:14:53.740 that includes cutting significant numbers of fixed bus routes, but yeah, I do think 01:14:53.740 --> 01:15:00.360 that Council Member Mayor Pratam Meltzer has accurately characterized my position that 01:15:00.360 --> 01:15:13.380 I'm not opposed to trying out an on-demand service as an addition or as part of a multimodal 01:15:13.380 --> 01:15:18.500 system that still includes significant fixed routes, although they may not look like they 01:15:18.500 --> 01:15:25.340 do look now. But yeah, I think that that's one thing, I don't want to speak for the council 01:15:25.340 --> 01:15:29.060 members who aren't here, but I suspect that you're right, that we are all in agreement 01:15:29.060 --> 01:15:36.460 that some kind of multimodal system that includes on-demand service is something we would all 01:15:36.460 --> 01:15:37.460 be interested in. 01:15:37.460 --> 01:15:45.820 My opinion is, hey, if they're both out there or multiple things are out there and nobody 01:15:45.820 --> 01:15:52.180 takes the fixed bus route anymore and everybody is on on-demand, I think that we might reach 01:15:52.180 --> 01:15:56.380 a different conclusion, but my point is we haven't reached that conclusion. Council Member 01:15:56.380 --> 01:15:59.980 Bird, do you have a comment as well? 01:15:59.980 --> 01:16:06.540 I just want to say that I really appreciate the opportunity for the on-demand service. 01:16:06.540 --> 01:16:18.500 I was very skeptical of it earlier, but as we think about the way that our system, our 01:16:18.500 --> 01:16:26.580 lifestyle is changing and we are meeting the needs of a whole new crop of people out there, 01:16:26.580 --> 01:16:35.660 I'm thinking about the millennial people that are used to on-demand everything. So it just 01:16:35.660 --> 01:16:41.660 sounds fairly reasonable to me. I appreciate the opportunity to have a little bit of input 01:16:41.660 --> 01:16:48.980 on it personally. Looking forward to being able to use this service myself whenever I 01:16:48.980 --> 01:16:54.180 don't want to really drive my car. So yeah, I'll just leave it there. Thank you all so 01:16:54.180 --> 01:17:02.780 much for everything that you all have done and being new to the council, I'm just really 01:17:02.780 --> 01:17:09.620 appreciating learning all of the aspects of in the details of what it takes to make things 01:17:09.620 --> 01:17:14.980 happen. So I'll keep that with me and I'll appreciate the opportunity to ride when it's 01:17:14.980 --> 01:17:17.240 time. Thank you. 01:17:17.240 --> 01:17:24.300 Council Member Bird, if I can press you a little, would you support or not support the 01:17:24.300 --> 01:17:31.880 idea that this committee would ask staff to communicate to council that we'd like to discuss 01:17:31.880 --> 01:17:37.380 a resolution to give guidance to our representative on this? 01:17:37.380 --> 01:17:40.700 Sir, I would definitely support that. Thank you. 01:17:40.700 --> 01:17:48.260 Okay. So staff, if you'll note that, I appreciate that. Anything else would be good on this 01:17:48.260 --> 01:17:51.180 item? Council Member McGuire? 01:17:51.180 --> 01:17:57.700 I just wanted to, I guess, specify that yes, I'm definitely in favor of hammering out a 01:17:57.700 --> 01:18:03.820 resolution because this is nuanced, it's complex. I think even those of us who have strong feelings 01:18:03.820 --> 01:18:09.980 about it one way or another still have a pretty nuanced position on it. So I think, yes, I 01:18:09.980 --> 01:18:16.980 think we need to really work out what we as a body want to see from DCTA on this. 01:18:16.980 --> 01:18:26.440 Well, I thank all of you for coming and sharing the data and your thoughts and all the great 01:18:26.440 --> 01:18:34.820 insights and very optimistic prospects for really meeting our residents transit needs. 01:18:34.820 --> 01:18:37.340 Thank you. Well, thank you. And if the committee or 01:18:37.340 --> 01:18:41.140 the council has any further questions, please feel free to reach out. We're always happy 01:18:41.140 --> 01:18:46.700 to respond. All right, then. I think we can go backwards 01:18:46.700 --> 01:18:53.220 now and that'll close item D and go back to item C. Receive a report and hold the discussion 01:18:53.220 --> 01:19:00.420 regarding City of Denton transportation slash mobility project status report. 01:19:00.420 --> 01:19:10.460 Mr. Poulster with us today? Can I request a 60 second break? 01:19:10.460 --> 01:19:18.120 That is 45 seconds. Okay. So we'll take a break at 1027 for how 01:19:18.120 --> 01:19:24.780 about five minutes? That should be enough. That's more than I need, but yes. 01:19:24.780 --> 01:19:31.780 We'll time it. Okay, Mr. Chair, we are ready to reconvene 01:19:31.780 --> 01:19:37.640 the meeting. Great. Okay. We are back from break at 1033 01:19:37.640 --> 01:19:42.900 and open item reopen, I guess, item D, receive a report and hold the discussion regarding 01:19:42.900 --> 01:19:53.180 updates regarding City of Denton transportation slash mobility project status report. 01:19:53.180 --> 01:20:03.260 Okay. Hello, my name is John Poulster. I'm with Innovative Transportation Solutions 01:20:03.260 --> 01:20:09.980 and I'll be going over, not really sure, let's look that way, I guess, where to look, but 01:20:09.980 --> 01:20:16.460 this is the report. We'll start with for the new folks that haven't 01:20:16.460 --> 01:20:24.300 seen this, this is a summary sheet of the projects that were listed, the pertinent information 01:20:24.300 --> 01:20:28.940 that we have and then the total cost of the construction that we know at this time on 01:20:28.940 --> 01:20:39.220 the projects that we're tracking for the city. So the first project we'll go with is 2181. 01:20:39.220 --> 01:20:44.140 This is a project from basically 2499 in the south all the way up to Lillian Miller in 01:20:44.140 --> 01:20:49.780 the north. The project was originally awarded to MCM. 01:20:49.780 --> 01:20:56.900 Back in the day, they defaulted. And so Zachary got the contract and the current construction 01:20:56.900 --> 01:21:02.740 report from TxDOT states that we're continuing to move forward for a summer of next year 01:21:02.740 --> 01:21:07.140 completion date. All the current activity you see there primarily 01:21:07.140 --> 01:21:13.780 tells you that we've been having some minor utility conflicts that we are dealing with 01:21:13.780 --> 01:21:21.220 on a day-to-day basis. They are minor. They just happen fairly regularly and we're continuing 01:21:21.220 --> 01:21:26.820 to work on the southbound concreting of the paving of the main lanes. So if you drive 01:21:26.820 --> 01:21:33.060 the area, you should be able to see that there's quite a bit going on now that the concrete's 01:21:33.060 --> 01:21:38.380 beginning to be poured. Before our drive project is complete, we left 01:21:38.380 --> 01:21:45.140 it in one month from the last report. We wanted to put the big completed sign on it. We had 01:21:45.140 --> 01:21:52.940 our ribbon cutting back in April and we will be removing this project off of the list once 01:21:52.940 --> 01:21:57.820 staff tells me that they're ready to not see it anymore. 01:21:57.820 --> 01:22:01.860 Right now, this just tells you they're doing punch list closeout items for the contract, 01:22:01.860 --> 01:22:10.260 that the road itself is operational. Okay, your Mayhill 35 project, initially this 01:22:10.260 --> 01:22:19.300 project was going to be let in late '21, early '22, but in designing the project, we realized, 01:22:19.300 --> 01:22:25.100 I think everybody that drives this corridor realizes, that the brinker signal was minimizing 01:22:25.100 --> 01:22:32.540 the throughput of the frontage roads to Loop 288. So TechStat in the county and the city 01:22:32.540 --> 01:22:42.960 looked at that design and will be adding a bypass lane over brinker. It'll be basically 01:22:42.960 --> 01:22:48.580 a frontage road that comes up, attaches to the main lanes and then drops back down north 01:22:48.580 --> 01:22:54.460 of brinker and then the same in the reverse going southbound so that if you want to exit 01:22:54.460 --> 01:22:58.780 to go to Loop 288, you don't have to sit at the light at brinker. If you don't want to, 01:22:58.780 --> 01:23:06.880 you can go up and over. So that added five more parcels that we needed 01:23:06.880 --> 01:23:12.540 to acquire. They were environmentally cleared back in 2012, so there wasn't an environmental 01:23:12.540 --> 01:23:16.620 clearance issue. It was just that we weren't intending on acquiring those initially and 01:23:16.620 --> 01:23:24.700 now we are and that pushed our right of way date to January of next year, which then again 01:23:24.700 --> 01:23:32.580 pushes the utilities and that's the reason for the push in the date. The difference between 01:23:32.580 --> 01:23:42.500 the ready to let date of January 23 and June 25 is just a procedural process. We're putting 01:23:42.500 --> 01:23:47.820 June 25 because if you look up on the TxDOT system, you'll find that it says June 25 and 01:23:47.820 --> 01:23:53.620 they just put it there because it's outside the four-year window for funding and these 01:23:53.620 --> 01:24:00.460 funds are more than what they had in the first four years. The good news is that RTC, when 01:24:00.460 --> 01:24:06.540 they met last week, they approved the difference between the $62 million that we currently 01:24:06.540 --> 01:24:14.180 had on the project and funded the $77.6 million that's needed to complete the work. So again, 01:24:14.180 --> 01:24:23.300 after our next report, we'll show you that the Category 2 dollars match the construction 01:24:23.300 --> 01:24:28.700 cost. So here you see in the report, those are 01:24:28.700 --> 01:24:34.380 all the utilities we're working with in that corridor to get this utility clearance date 01:24:34.380 --> 01:24:45.380 of January 23. So this is the Dallas Drive Interim. We're keeping it on the report until 01:24:45.380 --> 01:24:54.020 TxDOT figures that if you drive through their northbound exiting to go to Dallas Drive, 01:24:54.020 --> 01:25:00.080 the bollards, the plastic bollards that preclude people from crossing from the frontage road 01:25:00.080 --> 01:25:07.460 to go northbound on the frontage road are installed but they have a yield sign that's 01:25:07.460 --> 01:25:14.380 protected by some construction barrels and the city's asked TxDOT to figure out what 01:25:14.380 --> 01:25:17.540 they're going to do with those construction barrels so that they don't have it look like 01:25:17.540 --> 01:25:23.180 a permanent construction project. So we're still working on how to keep that sign there 01:25:23.180 --> 01:25:28.900 without people not seeing it. So that's why it's still up. Essentially, what we wanted 01:25:28.900 --> 01:25:33.180 to accomplish has been accomplished but we just haven't gotten rid of those barrels yet. 01:25:33.180 --> 01:25:43.860 Okay, so this is the big project, 35E, 35W Merge, all the way up to US 77. We have completed 01:25:43.860 --> 01:25:54.060 the right-of-way on this project and we are now moving into full utility relocation coordination. 01:25:54.060 --> 01:25:59.980 There are significant utilities in this corridor including City of Denton, actual utilities 01:25:59.980 --> 01:26:06.260 and the DME's, electrical lines that we're meeting I'd say every two to three weeks. 01:26:06.260 --> 01:26:12.940 City staff is with TxDOT to try to figure out how to coexist in that environment once 01:26:12.940 --> 01:26:23.260 we start to widen the road and that essentially is what you'll see in the wording there. We're 01:26:23.260 --> 01:26:35.100 still on track for the June 22 so far and the funding was increased to match the estimated 01:26:35.100 --> 01:26:40.100 construction costs and we'll reflect that in the next report at the last RTC meeting, 01:26:40.100 --> 01:26:45.660 all of them were. Good news here, this is the other trauma project. We're only showing 01:26:45.660 --> 01:26:52.420 you half of the drawing because it would take up multiple pages but we are making improvements 01:26:52.420 --> 01:26:59.180 to 35 north of the merge, south of 380 where all that congestion is on the main lanes and 01:26:59.180 --> 01:27:05.140 frontage road. We're basically flipping the ramps, adding an auxiliary lane on the main 01:27:05.140 --> 01:27:11.940 lanes, adding an auxiliary lane on the frontage roads and making some improvements at the 01:27:11.940 --> 01:27:18.620 intersection of the frontage roads and 380 such that it'll allow dual lefts going westbound 01:27:18.620 --> 01:27:26.780 to through in an extended right turn lane going eastbound and we anticipate that project 01:27:26.780 --> 01:27:33.500 to start in July next month. It'll be a maintenance contract and we expect to be done by December, 01:27:33.500 --> 01:27:42.220 January, December of this year or January of the next year. So about six months. January 01:27:42.220 --> 01:27:52.940 22, just noting it. My parents live out there so I drive it all the time. Okay, 35 north 01:27:52.940 --> 01:28:00.500 is the big project north of here from 77 all the way to the county line. It's about 800 01:28:00.500 --> 01:28:10.420 million dollars. Again, the difference between the 600 and 800 has been met at the last RTC 01:28:10.420 --> 01:28:14.980 meeting and we'll reflect that in the next report. But again, we have a ready let of 01:28:14.980 --> 01:28:23.060 March 23 and a December 24 let date and that's an actual let date because some of the dollars 01:28:23.060 --> 01:28:32.780 that we have on this project aren't available until that fiscal year. Okay, so 35 main lanes. 01:28:32.780 --> 01:28:39.260 The main thing we want to point out here on this project is that the schematic essentially 01:28:39.260 --> 01:28:48.740 for the main lanes have been approved, which is good. That means we can move on to the 01:28:48.740 --> 01:28:55.060 finalizing the environmental document, which is probably going to be next month. And that's 01:28:55.060 --> 01:29:01.220 just for the main lane portion. And I'll go to the next one and show you that the next 01:29:01.220 --> 01:29:10.420 project that we're doing that we're focusing on more are the frontage roads and HNTB has 01:29:10.420 --> 01:29:20.220 been contracted to do the plan specifications and estimates. That's what PSNE stands for. 01:29:20.220 --> 01:29:28.020 And they basically had to suspend their work until September 1st because Austin ran out 01:29:28.020 --> 01:29:32.700 of develop authority funding. And so they have to wait till a new fiscal year to give 01:29:32.700 --> 01:29:38.460 them notice to proceed. But come September 1 HNTB will begin the design work. We're focusing 01:29:38.460 --> 01:29:47.260 on a portion of 35W frontage roads from 407 North on both sections. And I don't know if 01:29:47.260 --> 01:29:53.620 I've ever pointed out the logic on why we're doing the frontage roads first and not the 01:29:53.620 --> 01:29:58.540 main lanes. And the logic is the frontage roads are going to be where the frontage roads 01:29:58.540 --> 01:30:03.460 are always going to be once it's ultimately built. They'll be in the same location. And 01:30:03.460 --> 01:30:10.580 it allows development to occur along the interstate because you have frontage roads. And the reason 01:30:10.580 --> 01:30:16.700 we're not pursuing the main lanes right now is because when we cleared the main lanes, 01:30:16.700 --> 01:30:21.740 as we went through the clearance of it, it was initially planned to be a what we called 01:30:21.740 --> 01:30:28.900 a 3223 configuration, which is three general purpose lanes going northbound with two toll 01:30:28.900 --> 01:30:34.260 manage lanes, two toll manage lanes going south, and three general purpose. Currently 01:30:34.260 --> 01:30:40.660 what you have out there are four general purpose lanes, two in each direction. And that 3223 01:30:40.660 --> 01:30:47.100 configuration matches what is coming up from the south out of Tarrant County. But we weren't 01:30:47.100 --> 01:30:55.540 cleared for a managed lane facility and the paradigm shifted on tolls versus non tolls. 01:30:55.540 --> 01:31:00.420 People not understand the difference between a managed lane or toll road. So we just converted 01:31:00.420 --> 01:31:11.740 the project to a rural freeway. And if rural freeway has a 500 or so foot footprint, and 01:31:11.740 --> 01:31:17.340 we're doing that because we feel that the paradigm will shift before we actually get 01:31:17.340 --> 01:31:22.340 to build the main lanes and we'll convert it back to a toll manage lanes. And the footprint 01:31:22.340 --> 01:31:29.140 for a rural freeway is the same as a footprint for a 3223 toll manage lane. I don't know 01:31:29.140 --> 01:31:34.100 if I've ever explained that. And if anybody needs help because I'm not very clear, I can 01:31:34.100 --> 01:31:43.100 help them with pictures, some other point. Sure. It sounds like to me what you just said 01:31:43.100 --> 01:31:49.020 is that the justification for it, thank you, the justification that we'll see is all of 01:31:49.020 --> 01:31:57.300 this extra wide space between those lanes. So what you normally see in a rural freeway, 01:31:57.300 --> 01:32:02.660 like what you see out there now with the four lanes, that's a rural freeway. So what you 01:32:02.660 --> 01:32:07.260 have is you have two lanes. If you had frontage road, you'd have the frontage roads and a 01:32:07.260 --> 01:32:12.300 wide parkway between the frontage roads and the main lanes, and then a wide parkway between 01:32:12.300 --> 01:32:18.460 the main lanes, which is what you have now for the main lanes. And there's all the drainage 01:32:18.460 --> 01:32:30.820 is trench flow on an urban facility. All of that goes into storm sewers. And you don't 01:32:30.820 --> 01:32:36.780 need as much room for the for the lanes and the drainage so you can put more lanes in 01:32:36.780 --> 01:32:42.380 that same footprint. It just kind of reminds me of what happened on 35 E down there in 01:32:42.380 --> 01:32:49.140 Louisville where we sat for years and years watching all that open wide space wondering 01:32:49.140 --> 01:32:54.020 what was going to happen with that. Well, so now that's the net what you see there now 01:32:54.020 --> 01:33:00.020 is an interim project to we're waiting for the permanent. And if you unfortunately, starting 01:33:00.020 --> 01:33:04.320 next year, if you're driving into Dallas, from the county line south, they're going 01:33:04.320 --> 01:33:11.700 to be doing the ultimate and that's 4224 toll manage lanes. And so we just finished the 01:33:11.700 --> 01:33:16.100 interim and now we're going to go back and break it for the ultimate, but not in didn't 01:33:16.100 --> 01:33:30.420 county yet. Did my thing go away? I think I know how to do that. I think. Right. Oh, 01:33:30.420 --> 01:33:39.300 right there it is share. See, I'm not totally helpless. I get other skills. Alright, so 01:33:39.300 --> 01:33:44.380 that's the 35 W main lanes versus the frontage roads. And that's why you got two separate 01:33:44.380 --> 01:33:47.460 projects. Because the frontage roads will always be where they're going to be in either 01:33:47.460 --> 01:33:57.660 case. Alright, US 380 77 project. This is a segment that's under construction. And the 01:33:57.660 --> 01:34:02.460 news on this, I don't know if it made the report because it just happened. But last 01:34:02.460 --> 01:34:14.300 week, the county requested that text dot consider a work zone speeds reduction in this corridor 01:34:14.300 --> 01:34:24.380 and we've been concerned about it. But after the accident, they're near 377 North, the 01:34:24.380 --> 01:34:30.180 county asked text dot because it's not their policy anymore to reduce the speed limit as 01:34:30.180 --> 01:34:37.300 a work speed. You can go to those work zones. Their their argument is they design the road 01:34:37.300 --> 01:34:42.140 to be able to be under construction at its current speed. That may be true, but the optics 01:34:42.140 --> 01:34:52.140 are pretty bad. And so we asked them to reconsider their policy and they have reconsidered it. 01:34:52.140 --> 01:35:00.540 And so they're doing the work right now to get the commission approval to do work zone 01:35:00.540 --> 01:35:07.020 speed limit of I think 50 miles an hour from loop 288 all the way to the county line because 01:35:07.020 --> 01:35:15.580 the next project is fixing to start. And it'll be it'll have to be approved by each of the 01:35:15.580 --> 01:35:24.420 communities, right? So if the city of Denton, Crossroads, Little Elm and Frisco don't agree 01:35:24.420 --> 01:35:30.160 with the speed study, I mean, the speed reduction during construction, then they can have their 01:35:30.160 --> 01:35:34.900 say at that point. But we're, we're asking the state to at least allow the cities to 01:35:34.900 --> 01:35:43.980 consider it. But we're still moving on with the November 23 completion date. And other 01:35:43.980 --> 01:35:53.220 than the speed reduction, there are minor issues that we're dealing with, but they're 01:35:53.220 --> 01:35:59.260 they're only minor. And so we're we're going pretty good on that project. Now the big project 01:35:59.260 --> 01:36:06.180 further east, this is the one where we're adding five grade separations at Navo, Teal, 01:36:06.180 --> 01:36:14.800 Legacy, 423 and 720. And an additional general purpose lane in each direction. We currently 01:36:14.800 --> 01:36:20.620 are showing a let date of Asterik because we had some issues with Upper Trinity that 01:36:20.620 --> 01:36:28.180 impacted co-serve and co-serve and then impacted AT&T, Grande, Verizon, Suddenlink and the 01:36:28.180 --> 01:36:36.980 Dominote. But we were thinking that it would be next year that we would let the project, 01:36:36.980 --> 01:36:45.180 but I'm hearing that the district is intending to let this project in August of this year 01:36:45.180 --> 01:36:48.580 because they've got some assurances from the utility providers that they'll be able to 01:36:48.580 --> 01:36:54.060 be out of the way in time. So we'll get you an update when we know it for sure. But the 01:36:54.060 --> 01:37:01.060 good news on this section of 380 is we may be letting it sooner than we originally anticipated. 01:37:01.060 --> 01:37:09.700 And all that there you see is all the utilities we're dealing with. Okay, so we're building 01:37:09.700 --> 01:37:15.120 $140 million worth of improvements to 380, but we also got to figure out what we're going 01:37:15.120 --> 01:37:21.400 to do with 380 in the future. So TechStat did a 380 feasibility study that essentially 01:37:21.400 --> 01:37:31.420 had a multiple alignments, many of which caused anguish and trauma for city staff because they 01:37:31.420 --> 01:37:39.100 all came into your thoroughfare plan and they were just lines on a map. So the feasibility 01:37:39.100 --> 01:37:45.380 study will be closed out at the end of the year and the study is recommending that the 01:37:45.380 --> 01:37:53.500 alignment stay on 380, the new future alignment, and that it be a freeway. So we'll be able 01:37:53.500 --> 01:38:00.900 to close this feasibility study out I guess soon, for lack of a better word. It may be 01:38:00.900 --> 01:38:07.300 December, it may be October, depending upon TechStat's schedule. And then we'll be able 01:38:07.300 --> 01:38:18.060 to put it to bed. All right, Loop 288 West, we have finalized our negotiations with Cheney 01:38:18.060 --> 01:38:23.660 Patel. So in about two weeks, we'll have that contract. It's a little over $5 million to 01:38:23.660 --> 01:38:32.500 do the plan specifications and estimates for the loop. And that will then update our schedule 01:38:32.500 --> 01:38:39.100 accordingly. And we are still looking, we've submitted this project for Clear Lanes funding. 01:38:39.100 --> 01:38:44.780 In Clear Lanes funding, our funding is a category, in Category 12, the commission selects for 01:38:44.780 --> 01:38:51.940 those projects that help reduce congestion on the interstates. And a bypass route such 01:38:51.940 --> 01:38:58.580 as the Loop is eligible for Clear Lanes funding. So once we get the PSNE started, we will start 01:38:58.580 --> 01:39:09.980 to submit the money we need for the Loop 288 construction. 1515, again, same there. We've 01:39:09.980 --> 01:39:16.900 gotten our agreement with LTRA. The only thing that we're working on now is we're coordinating 01:39:16.900 --> 01:39:30.100 with Peterbilt and TechStat and city staff regarding a change in the schematic to minimize 01:39:30.100 --> 01:39:37.940 the impact to the Peterbilt facility. And they've come up with some design ideas. We're 01:39:37.940 --> 01:39:47.020 going to be meeting with those folks at TechStat soon, but it shouldn't do much to the schedule. 01:39:47.020 --> 01:39:53.380 And again, we've entered into a contract with LTRA to do the plan specifications and estimates 01:39:53.380 --> 01:40:04.820 for this project. The county has. My apologies. FM 1173, the project is anticipated to be 01:40:04.820 --> 01:40:11.260 environmentally cleared in July. There are 63 parcels. Ultimately, they'll have to be 01:40:11.260 --> 01:40:16.380 acquired. Once it's environmentally cleared, the city, the county, and the state will get 01:40:16.380 --> 01:40:19.620 together to determine whether or not they want to proceed with the right of acquisition 01:40:19.620 --> 01:40:27.560 now or wait until we know more what's going to happen on the 35 project that's being funded 01:40:27.560 --> 01:40:34.340 and built in the next couple of years. And then there's your glossary of terms and acronyms 01:40:34.340 --> 01:40:43.380 that I use. If I've said anything you don't understand, I apologize. So I'm going to stop 01:40:43.380 --> 01:40:50.500 sharing. Is that what I need to do? Yeah, thanks. All right. We've got some questions 01:40:50.500 --> 01:40:58.140 along the way. Other questions, Councilmember McQuire? I have so many questions. Maybe I'll 01:40:58.140 --> 01:41:06.660 have less questions as I start to understand more. But perhaps I will not. So Teasley, 01:41:06.660 --> 01:41:13.260 I'm definitely really plugged into that one. That is my area. I live like feet from where 01:41:13.260 --> 01:41:19.460 concrete is being poured there. So you mentioned that there are some utility conflicts that 01:41:19.460 --> 01:41:26.340 are kind of maybe causing some minor delays. Can you speak to that a little bit more? And 01:41:26.340 --> 01:41:31.540 is there anything that the City can do to help move that along? Yes, ma'am. The minor 01:41:31.540 --> 01:41:38.900 delays that we're talking about are where you have a franchise utility or such as mostly 01:41:38.900 --> 01:41:47.380 franchise where they said they were on plans and where they were in the ground weren't 01:41:47.380 --> 01:41:55.820 the same. And so the contractor was relying on the plans and found the utility in the 01:41:55.820 --> 01:42:02.660 ground in a different location. And so which just stops them for a short period for them 01:42:02.660 --> 01:42:08.580 to have to come in and repatch and reroute the utility. But those are hourly impacts. 01:42:08.580 --> 01:42:14.140 They're minor. Days impacts, weeks impacts. Those are the ones we concern ourselves with. 01:42:14.140 --> 01:42:22.020 All right. Thank you. That clear set up for me. I have had a hard time finding this information 01:42:22.020 --> 01:42:27.860 and now that you're in front of me I'm going to ask, are there plans for sidewalks or protected 01:42:27.860 --> 01:42:37.500 bike paths along Teasley? So federal requirements require all federally funded assisted projects 01:42:37.500 --> 01:42:46.300 to have five foot minimum five foot sidewalks in both directions on all roadways. Historically 01:42:46.300 --> 01:42:53.660 up until about a year ago, they also required the outside lane to be 14 feet. And that was 01:42:53.660 --> 01:43:00.140 a hard and fast requirement that the feds required. Now they're allowing you to have 01:43:00.140 --> 01:43:08.900 some flexibility on that 14 foot outside lane. And the argument that the roadway guys make 01:43:08.900 --> 01:43:15.220 is that from what they see from the bicycling community, they don't ride on the outside 01:43:15.220 --> 01:43:20.460 part of the lane. If they're knowing what they're doing and they're on a roadway, they're 01:43:20.460 --> 01:43:26.900 in the middle of the lane. And so if they have to share the road, they're going to share 01:43:26.900 --> 01:43:33.180 a 14 foot road by being at the middle line of seven feet. And if it's a 12 foot, they're 01:43:33.180 --> 01:43:37.260 going to be at six feet because that's where they ride. So the argument wasn't against 01:43:37.260 --> 01:43:46.460 accommodations. It was that the one size fit all criteria wasn't working. So but the state, 01:43:46.460 --> 01:43:52.700 the feds do I'm sorry, go ahead. Oh, I'm sorry. So just to be clear, how wide will the outside 01:43:52.700 --> 01:43:59.420 lane be on Teasley? So this one was part of the projects that were mandated before the 01:43:59.420 --> 01:44:08.140 flexibility came in. So the outside line on 2181 is 14 feet. Okay, does that give y'all 01:44:08.140 --> 01:44:16.540 enough room to do like a bollard protected lane? Or or no? Are we just counting on bicyclists 01:44:16.540 --> 01:44:22.620 sharing that lane? So I just want to be clear on one thing, I actually worked for you. This 01:44:22.620 --> 01:44:27.380 I just happened to be exposed to the state enough to where I make it sound like I'm part 01:44:27.380 --> 01:44:34.740 of their team, but I'm not. So you sound like you're part of our team when you talk to them, 01:44:34.740 --> 01:44:46.380 right? Yes, too. So the state doesn't have the same philosophy about bicycle lanes as 01:44:46.380 --> 01:44:51.940 say most of the communities do. So you'd you'd the only time you'd see an actual protected 01:44:51.940 --> 01:44:59.840 bicycle lane on a facility like Teasley or 2181 is if it was taken off system and then 01:44:59.840 --> 01:45:02.940 maintained by the city and then they could do with it what they want. But as a state 01:45:02.940 --> 01:45:12.380 facility, they don't do that. Okay, thank you that that clears that up for me. Do you 01:45:12.380 --> 01:45:20.020 know what the speed limit is going to be on Teasley? Like, sorry, make sure I'm looking 01:45:20.020 --> 01:45:27.700 at the right area. So like from Southridge or from Lillian Miller, so I can I can save 01:45:27.700 --> 01:45:34.540 a little bit of time on that. Your city has the authority to set the speed limit on these 01:45:34.540 --> 01:45:40.300 state facilities by ordinance. Now they got to follow what's called the 85th percentile 01:45:40.300 --> 01:45:49.100 rule, which means that you open the road to traffic, it's unimpeded by congestion or 01:45:49.100 --> 01:45:53.260 construction, and then you do a speed study where you hide in the bushes and you take 01:45:53.260 --> 01:45:59.140 radar and see what people are actually doing when nobody's looking. And then they take 01:45:59.140 --> 01:46:05.620 the 85 the 15% fastest people and throw them out considering their reckless drivers. And 01:46:05.620 --> 01:46:13.260 so whatever that 85th percentile is, that the speed set that then you can set that speed 01:46:13.260 --> 01:46:21.020 limit on that road seven miles plus or minus what the speed study calls for rounded to 01:46:21.020 --> 01:46:30.980 the next five or zero digit. It makes sense if you do it in math, but so let's say the 01:46:30.980 --> 01:46:38.380 speed study says that it needs to be 55 miles an hour. And you don't want it to be 55. You 01:46:38.380 --> 01:46:46.380 could reduce it by seven and then round it down. So you could have it go to 45 in that 01:46:46.380 --> 01:46:54.020 case. Or if you wanted it to go up, you could go, you know, 65 because it'd be the seven 01:46:54.020 --> 01:47:02.420 plus rounded up. So you just got to do the study but mostly the city of Denton sets the 01:47:02.420 --> 01:47:09.300 speed limits on the state facilities. For example, 2499 it would be as it's a sister 01:47:09.300 --> 01:47:15.820 project and it's I think the city's got that speed limit at 45 miles an hour. And the speed 01:47:15.820 --> 01:47:22.420 setting came in at 55. I will I will look more closely at that 85th percentile rule 01:47:22.420 --> 01:47:30.700 another time. Okay, my next question is just sort of a general question about sidewalks 01:47:30.700 --> 01:47:37.860 along I-35 frontage roads. I know that there are some areas that do have sidewalks, not 01:47:37.860 --> 01:47:45.020 very many. Who builds those sidewalks? Who owns those sidewalks? How is the decision 01:47:45.020 --> 01:47:49.180 made to build a sidewalk in some areas and not in other areas? 01:47:49.180 --> 01:48:00.500 So TxDOT builds the sidewalks when they construct the road. In I-35E's case, that was an interim 01:48:00.500 --> 01:48:05.980 project so there were areas through Denton in particular because of the right-of-way 01:48:05.980 --> 01:48:12.500 constraints where the frontage roads weren't impacted by the improvements to add capacity 01:48:12.500 --> 01:48:17.140 to the main lanes and so those frontage roads weren't upgraded. But if you look across like 01:48:17.140 --> 01:48:26.340 Lake Louisville where we go across the lake, we put sidewalks there, well actually it's 01:48:26.340 --> 01:48:34.980 a walking path, it's a 10-foot path on both directions because we were impacting both 01:48:34.980 --> 01:48:40.540 of those sections of the freeway and frontage roads. So anywhere where we impact the frontage 01:48:40.540 --> 01:48:48.160 roads, we being whoever's wanting the project, the state comes in and adds sidewalks in both 01:48:48.160 --> 01:48:53.460 directions. So the reason you don't have some in areas is because those sections of road 01:48:53.460 --> 01:49:03.140 haven't been upgraded. Okay, so in general going forward when TxDOT 01:49:03.140 --> 01:49:08.220 sort of redos the frontage road, we should expect that there will be sidewalks to add 01:49:08.220 --> 01:49:12.220 to the frontage roads within the city. That one project that I was showing you on 01:49:12.220 --> 01:49:18.540 the report from Mayhill up through Brinker to 288, we are impacting the frontage roads 01:49:18.540 --> 01:49:23.700 on both sides. So that schematic shows pedestrian accommodations. 01:49:23.700 --> 01:49:32.300 Excellent. I'm really glad to hear that. Okay, another question. So the project for 01:49:32.300 --> 01:49:37.660 like the 35 east-west merge going north, I know I've seen some pretty extensive plans 01:49:37.660 --> 01:49:43.540 for a new underpass for Windsor, that's underpass, correct? 01:49:43.540 --> 01:49:44.860 Correct. Okay. 01:49:44.860 --> 01:49:47.700 I believe it's going underpass. Can you speak to... 01:49:47.700 --> 01:49:53.340 I'm sorry, I think it's going over. Okay, so Windsor will go over 35. 01:49:53.340 --> 01:50:00.420 I think that's the case, yes ma'am. Okay, okay. Can you speak to what other under 01:50:00.420 --> 01:50:08.700 or overpasses are going to be either rebuilt or added as part of that project? 01:50:08.700 --> 01:50:14.220 So everything from the merge, everything from the merge all the way to the county line is 01:50:14.220 --> 01:50:20.820 ultimate construction. So I can't tell you off the top of my head, but everything that 01:50:20.820 --> 01:50:30.980 is there now will be upgraded. And typically we try to keep the stack for lack of a better 01:50:30.980 --> 01:50:38.740 word as it was before, but in some cases we flip the stack because the old paradigm was 01:50:38.740 --> 01:50:44.180 you make the minor road go over the major road. The new paradigm is the major roads 01:50:44.180 --> 01:50:49.860 going from Mexico to Canada. So it has a longer time to run out its grade, right? And so you 01:50:49.860 --> 01:50:54.900 allow development to occur at the corners by taking the interstate up as opposed to 01:50:54.900 --> 01:51:03.260 the cross street. So I can get that information for you. I'm certain the staff has the schematic 01:51:03.260 --> 01:51:08.300 that was approved for these, but I don't remember off the top of my head. 01:51:08.300 --> 01:51:15.580 Okay, yeah, I'd be fine to take that in an email, just to see where those underpasses 01:51:15.580 --> 01:51:19.460 overpasses are going to be located. 01:51:19.460 --> 01:51:25.620 So just one more on that. So for example, your thoroughfare plan shows the outer loop 01:51:25.620 --> 01:51:34.540 tying in to 35 roughly around Milam Road. So what we're doing at Milam Road on the new 01:51:34.540 --> 01:51:40.420 project is we're building what's called the box for the direct connects. And so what the 01:51:40.420 --> 01:51:46.260 box is, is if I don't know if you go south into like Louisville where you get to 121 01:51:46.260 --> 01:51:52.060 Sam Rayburn, and you let's say you want to go to the airport, but before you go to the 01:51:52.060 --> 01:51:56.460 airport you want to stop at Steak and Shake and get a drink. To get to Steak and Shake 01:51:56.460 --> 01:52:01.880 you exit, you run the frontage road, hit the signal and turn on on to Sam Rayburn to exit 01:52:01.880 --> 01:52:06.100 to get to Steak and Shake. That's the box. If you just want to go to the airport, you 01:52:06.100 --> 01:52:10.900 get up on the direct connects and you never stop, you continue to move. So what we're 01:52:10.900 --> 01:52:19.940 building in the 35 project for the outer loop where the city's thoroughfare plan shows it 01:52:19.940 --> 01:52:25.900 to be on their plan is near Milam and they're building that box as part of the project. 01:52:25.900 --> 01:52:33.220 So all those great separations all along through your city limits should be consistent with 01:52:33.220 --> 01:52:34.980 your thoroughfare plan. 01:52:34.980 --> 01:52:45.980 Yeah, thank you so much. Okay, I also had some questions about the I-35 West. You were 01:52:45.980 --> 01:52:52.300 talking about, you know, changes to what the plan was going to be and I just want to make 01:52:52.300 --> 01:52:57.940 sure I'm clear about what those changes are going to be. So will there be storm sewers 01:52:57.940 --> 01:53:01.580 or will there be like ditches? 01:53:01.580 --> 01:53:07.980 So the frontage roads will have the outside part of the frontage roads will have storm 01:53:07.980 --> 01:53:13.500 sewers. The inside part of the frontage roads because we're not touching the main lanes 01:53:13.500 --> 01:53:21.020 yet will have open ditch similar to what you see out there now between the two main lanes. 01:53:21.020 --> 01:53:29.420 But ultimately when we come in with the main lanes, everything will be in system. It'll 01:53:29.420 --> 01:53:36.580 be in a storm system underneath the frontage roads or the main lanes or in between. But 01:53:36.580 --> 01:53:42.340 it'll instead of shrinking the footprint because the reason you have an urban design is when 01:53:42.340 --> 01:53:47.980 you come through an urban area typically you need a smaller footprint. And so you house 01:53:47.980 --> 01:53:54.620 the the water, those are the storm sewers underneath the frontage roads so that you 01:53:54.620 --> 01:54:01.180 don't take as much right away. But at where we're at now, the right away is there. There's 01:54:01.180 --> 01:54:06.820 no development. And so we're going to take that rural cross section and convert it to 01:54:06.820 --> 01:54:11.980 an urban by adding essentially four more lanes. 01:54:11.980 --> 01:54:20.860 Okay, yes. That I understand now. Thank you. So you you did say in part of your explanation 01:54:20.860 --> 01:54:28.060 earlier about the I-35 West frontage roads and main lanes that like there would be frontage 01:54:28.060 --> 01:54:32.660 road lanes and then a parkway and then and then the main lanes. Can you just define the 01:54:32.660 --> 01:54:42.380 term parkway for me in this context? It's grass. Okay. Okay. Okay. And so just to be 01:54:42.380 --> 01:54:52.740 clear, you said there are not going to be toll lanes on this part of the 35 West project. 01:54:52.740 --> 01:54:58.260 Will there be non-tolled express lanes that are separated from the main lanes? So I'm 01:54:58.260 --> 01:55:03.860 going to be clear on this. What we're doing now is focusing primarily on the frontage 01:55:03.860 --> 01:55:11.060 roads. And we are moving forward with the environmental clearance of the main lanes. 01:55:11.060 --> 01:55:15.060 And the reason we're doing that is because we have to justify being able to acquire all 01:55:15.060 --> 01:55:19.120 of the right away, both the main lanes and the frontage roads by being environmentally 01:55:19.120 --> 01:55:28.700 clear. But there's no intent by the region at this point, or TXDOT, to build the main 01:55:28.700 --> 01:55:36.340 lanes as general purpose lanes only. They're going to they're going to build when they 01:55:36.340 --> 01:55:40.220 build a general purpose lanes, they'll do it after the paradigm shift and we can add 01:55:40.220 --> 01:55:46.800 our toll managed lanes. And there's no benefit to a non-tolled managed lane. And I'll give 01:55:46.800 --> 01:55:53.260 you the perfect example of where the only non-tolled managed facility I know of in the 01:55:53.260 --> 01:55:59.700 state of Texas is and that's the elevated section of 35 through Austin. And if you've 01:55:59.700 --> 01:56:03.660 been down there, you know that those lanes don't work any better than the ones under 01:56:03.660 --> 01:56:10.740 them. So the region and so that brings me to a point I probably need to explain. There 01:56:10.740 --> 01:56:15.540 is a group called the North Central Texas Council of Governments, and they are basically 01:56:15.540 --> 01:56:25.620 both a federal authority entity and a state authority entity that represents also local 01:56:25.620 --> 01:56:31.740 governments. So they're basically a regional entity that has both federal and state authority. 01:56:31.740 --> 01:56:36.900 When it comes to transportation projects in a metropolitan area boundary, which is basically 01:56:36.900 --> 01:56:46.060 eight counties within the Dallas-Fort Worth area, your MPO, the Metropolitan Planning 01:56:46.060 --> 01:56:51.540 Organization, which in this case in North Texas is the Regional Transportation Council, 01:56:51.540 --> 01:57:00.060 they set the priorities on what can and can't be done inside that metropolitan area boundary. 01:57:00.060 --> 01:57:07.980 So the fact that Tex.Austin right now doesn't want to do any tolled managed lanes means 01:57:07.980 --> 01:57:13.380 that they can't build anything in the region that the RTC doesn't agree with. And so we're 01:57:13.380 --> 01:57:19.380 not the region has said they are not building any more freeways that don't have tolled managed 01:57:19.380 --> 01:57:26.460 lanes on them because they're a congestion tool. And so they're simply moving forward 01:57:26.460 --> 01:57:37.580 with the frontage roads. Okay, yes. Thank you. I think I understand now. Okay, the next thing 01:57:37.580 --> 01:57:44.260 I just wanted to kind of express my support for the county's request for a work zone speed 01:57:44.260 --> 01:57:58.120 limit on 380. I would also like to see that. Okay, so I wanted to ask about there was something 01:57:58.120 --> 01:58:06.180 in the 380 discussion that I did not quite understand. So you said that Tex.DOT is providing 01:58:06.180 --> 01:58:12.980 an advanced funding agreement to the city of Denton for a 10-foot sidewalk component 01:58:12.980 --> 01:58:19.620 on the funding agreement has a fixed cost of $95,000 to be transferred to Tex.DOT. Can 01:58:19.620 --> 01:58:27.140 you just explain what that is? So your staff, y'all had a bike czar back in the day, or 01:58:27.140 --> 01:58:32.100 I don't know if that's what you call them, but that's what I called her. She met with 01:58:32.100 --> 01:58:39.100 cog when we were designing 380 and essentially got the council of governments to agree to 01:58:39.100 --> 01:58:47.940 pay 80 cents on the dollar for a 10-foot path out to the green belt, I think is where it 01:58:47.940 --> 01:58:52.820 ends. And so what those notes are referencing is that agreement and that's part of the project 01:58:52.820 --> 01:59:00.620 that's currently under construction. And then the city went and asked, so I think your local 01:59:00.620 --> 01:59:05.980 match was like $95,000. And then your city staff asked the current county commissioner 01:59:05.980 --> 01:59:16.380 at the time to participate. And he put, I think, $50,000 in that account. And so that's 01:59:16.380 --> 01:59:22.740 the 95, the city's portion was 45, the money was transferred, and the project is being 01:59:22.740 --> 01:59:31.040 built that includes your 10-foot shared path. Thank you. I just wasn't quite clear on all 01:59:31.040 --> 01:59:36.600 of the lingo, but I understand now. Yeah, I think that was all my questions. That was 01:59:36.600 --> 01:59:42.420 all my questions. Thank you so much. Sorry to eat up all of your time. That's all you 01:59:42.420 --> 01:59:51.540 had? Come on. All right. Councilmember Byrd, questions? Additional questions? I appreciate 01:59:51.540 --> 01:59:56.420 all of those questions because I have my little check marks off and the things in my head 01:59:56.420 --> 02:00:04.660 that I wanted to ask about, so I appreciate you, Councilwoman, for getting that information 02:00:04.660 --> 02:00:15.580 for me. I had a question about the 288 West. Let me ask you about 288 as it is now. It 02:00:15.580 --> 02:00:21.540 appears as though it's under some construction work. I haven't driven around there here in 02:00:21.540 --> 02:00:28.420 the last couple of weeks or so. 288 up going north, Kings Row area. I think that might 02:00:28.420 --> 02:00:33.980 just be maintenance. Just regular maintenance on that? Because right now, the reason you 02:00:33.980 --> 02:00:42.100 see 288 work well from basically 380 on around to 35 is because the city had made a deal 02:00:42.100 --> 02:00:48.740 years ago to protect that corridor as an actual bypass. And so the city of Denton protects 02:00:48.740 --> 02:00:57.260 that road by precluding development to be able to attach directly to the lanes on 288 02:00:57.260 --> 02:01:04.420 so you don't have another Golden Triangle issue. What we're proposing to do going forward 02:01:04.420 --> 02:01:10.020 on that segment is if you saw in that feasibility study, 380 feasibility study, you saw that 02:01:10.020 --> 02:01:16.260 the green line, 380 hit 288, and there was a brown line. That brown line means the Metropolitan 02:01:16.260 --> 02:01:24.140 Planning Organization, the RTC, has said that they believe that it's now time to actually 02:01:24.140 --> 02:01:32.660 put frontage roads on 288 northeast so that you don't have to protect it by ordinance. 02:01:32.660 --> 02:01:39.900 It'll be protected by design. So that's what we're planning to do there so that you'll 02:01:39.900 --> 02:01:44.660 be able to, if you want to get to Denton, you'll take the outer loop, you drop down 02:01:44.660 --> 02:01:52.220 423, you come in, you go to town. If you come in 380 and you want to go north, you'll be 02:01:52.220 --> 02:01:59.660 able to take the 288 and go north and allow the city to preclude more forcefully all the 02:01:59.660 --> 02:02:05.620 truck traffic that currently comes down through town on 380 business. 02:02:05.620 --> 02:02:16.020 Okay. So then the new section there starting from 35 and going west, is that going to look 02:02:16.020 --> 02:02:18.620 like what we're seeing right now? 02:02:18.620 --> 02:02:24.420 No, it will be, I apologize. It'll be a controlled access facility. And what a controlled access 02:02:24.420 --> 02:02:29.540 facility means, you'll have main lanes and frontage roads. So if you're driving on loop 02:02:29.540 --> 02:02:36.500 288 west and you exit 35 and you want to go all the way down to 24 or 49, you'll be able 02:02:36.500 --> 02:02:41.900 to drive nonstop because all of the main lanes, so where it crosses the railroad track, there'll 02:02:41.900 --> 02:02:47.860 be a grade separation. Where it crosses 380, it'll be grade separated. So all of the approach 02:02:47.860 --> 02:02:53.940 streets will have to tie into a frontage road, go to the next crossing to come back if they 02:02:53.940 --> 02:03:00.020 want to come back. So you'll have a free flow movement of traffic on the main lanes and 02:03:00.020 --> 02:03:05.860 access to the frontage road for your commercial development to the inside, whatever's going 02:03:05.860 --> 02:03:09.940 to happen on the outside, will come and develop to the frontage roads. 02:03:09.940 --> 02:03:10.940 Okay. 02:03:10.940 --> 02:03:11.940 So it'll be a freeway looking project. 02:03:11.940 --> 02:03:12.940 It'll look like a freeway? 02:03:12.940 --> 02:03:13.940 Yes, ma'am. 02:03:13.940 --> 02:03:18.500 As opposed to what 288 looks like right now, it doesn't really look like a freeway. 02:03:18.500 --> 02:03:26.220 So loop 288 from 35 to 380 is an arterial, and so the difference between an arterial 02:03:26.220 --> 02:03:31.740 and a freeway are controlled access facilities. An arterial provides more access and less 02:03:31.740 --> 02:03:39.500 mobility because it's the only thing a road can do is access and mobility. 288 northern 02:03:39.500 --> 02:03:45.180 part is more mobility because there's nothing to access because you control it by permit. 02:03:45.180 --> 02:03:49.860 Access will be controlled on the main lanes. You'll have mobility on the frontage. You'll 02:03:49.860 --> 02:03:50.860 have access. 02:03:50.860 --> 02:03:51.860 Okay. 02:03:51.860 --> 02:03:52.860 It's both. 02:03:52.860 --> 02:03:56.380 Okay. It's going to look a little different. I wanted to ask about the -- can you answer 02:03:56.380 --> 02:04:01.780 the question about the brinker area because right now it's just pretty much terrible. 02:04:01.780 --> 02:04:02.780 Terrible. 02:04:02.780 --> 02:04:07.140 To get off of. It looks like you just want to kind of roll over to the -- in the little 02:04:07.140 --> 02:04:08.140 pond there. 02:04:08.140 --> 02:04:12.940 And you can't go to the inside because I've tried. There's a ditch about five feet deep. 02:04:12.940 --> 02:04:21.580 That's absolutely right. So I believe that you answered that question for me. Mayhill. 02:04:21.580 --> 02:04:30.380 Mayhill. Do you have anything -- I'm trying to understand why the construction work stopped 02:04:30.380 --> 02:04:36.220 at a certain point in Mayhill. What was the delay? What was the delay for that? And how 02:04:36.220 --> 02:04:39.260 is that road going to kind of connect into 2499? 02:04:39.260 --> 02:04:45.620 That's a good question. So the City of Denton, years ago, partnered with the Metropolitan 02:04:45.620 --> 02:04:56.340 Planning Organization, in this case RTC, and the county to fund Mayhill from 380 to 35. 02:04:56.340 --> 02:05:06.460 And it was a $40 million commitment from the RTC, which required a $10 million commitment 02:05:06.460 --> 02:05:11.900 from the locals. And so City of Dent put in five, and then two county commissioners put 02:05:11.900 --> 02:05:19.360 in two and a half million apiece for the five to get the 10 for the match for the 40. 02:05:19.360 --> 02:05:25.740 They designed it and moved along. As they -- as the previous staffs moved along, they 02:05:25.740 --> 02:05:31.780 found out that the project was going to cost more than they anticipated. So at that point 02:05:31.780 --> 02:05:38.340 in time, staff decided to simply truncate the project prior to the railroad track because 02:05:38.340 --> 02:05:48.780 that was a significant cost increase and just tie it back in as it is. Future administrations 02:05:48.780 --> 02:05:55.660 come in and go, that's silly. Let's see what we can do to fix it. So they asked me to go 02:05:55.660 --> 02:06:01.980 see if we can find five million bucks laying around. So we went and made a pitch to the 02:06:01.980 --> 02:06:07.580 RTC. They said, in for a penny, in for a pound. City, if you'll pick up the $4 million it 02:06:07.580 --> 02:06:14.620 takes to buy the right-of-way, we'll put the $14 million we need for the remaining grade 02:06:14.620 --> 02:06:20.620 separation over Mayhill. But they were already constructing the first phase with Zachary, 02:06:20.620 --> 02:06:27.340 so they decided to just let that go and do this second phase as a second phase. So we're 02:06:27.340 --> 02:06:33.700 now in the process of reevaluating the cost, and we have some issues with the project that 02:06:33.700 --> 02:06:40.700 may require an additional $5 million. And your staff has already been working with the 02:06:40.700 --> 02:06:47.780 RTC, and we've gotten a verbal commitment, I think about a week and a half ago, from 02:06:47.780 --> 02:06:55.700 the MPO, that they would fund the $5 million. So we're back cooking with gas on that one. 02:06:55.700 --> 02:07:02.140 So that's why it's broken up, because of funding issues and just different thought processes. 02:07:02.140 --> 02:07:10.180 But when we're done, it will continue up and over the DCTA. It will be grade separated 02:07:10.180 --> 02:07:16.460 over the track, and then it will tie straight in to where Colorado and Mayhill are. If you're 02:07:16.460 --> 02:07:19.700 coming up Mayhill and you have to stop and go left or right, and you go, "Man, it would 02:07:19.700 --> 02:07:23.660 be nice just to go straight," you're about to be able to go straight. And then you'll 02:07:23.660 --> 02:07:31.060 curve back over, and it'll all be grade separated. And then we'll tie Edwards in further to the 02:07:31.060 --> 02:07:36.300 north so that there's no at-grade crossings at the railroad track, which was very important 02:07:36.300 --> 02:07:41.340 to both the city and the RTC. They wanted to make sure there was no at-grade crossings. 02:07:41.340 --> 02:07:47.980 So from now on, if you're coming to Edwards, you'll take a little veer north, TN, and then 02:07:47.980 --> 02:07:56.260 you'll get on to Mayhill and come up and over the track to get back to 35. So funding, I 02:07:56.260 --> 02:07:59.340 guess, is the way to basically say it. 02:07:59.340 --> 02:08:04.540 So I have a big smile on my face, and that is totally genuine right there. So I live 02:08:04.540 --> 02:08:09.060 kind of over in that area, and I use that area quite a bit, so I really appreciate that. 02:08:09.060 --> 02:08:13.900 I'll make sure I tell my husband that. Let, L-E-T. 02:08:13.900 --> 02:08:22.180 Okay, I'm sorry. So TechStat has contracts every month, and their term is they let them 02:08:22.180 --> 02:08:27.340 out to the contractors to bid on them. So they literally let the project out, and when 02:08:27.340 --> 02:08:36.580 it says the let of June of 2022, every month the state has to spend so much money every 02:08:36.580 --> 02:08:41.180 month. And so they have to do whatever they got to do. And so the way the city and the 02:08:41.180 --> 02:08:44.660 county has been successful is we've been getting our projects where you see there's a ready-to-let 02:08:44.660 --> 02:08:49.100 date, and then there's a let date. There'll be times where we're working towards a ready-to-let 02:08:49.100 --> 02:08:54.060 date where we don't have any money, but we get it ready-to-let because somewhere else 02:08:54.060 --> 02:08:58.860 somebody's project didn't get ready-to-let. They had a let date and had money. They don't 02:08:58.860 --> 02:09:03.260 get unfunded. They just get pushed out a year, but they still have to spend that money in 02:09:03.260 --> 02:09:09.740 that year, and we step in. So that's the difference between ready-to-let and then let. 02:09:09.740 --> 02:09:11.820 I was looking forward to that to be an acronym. 02:09:11.820 --> 02:09:13.620 It will be now. It will be now. 02:09:13.620 --> 02:09:19.100 Yes. Okay. All right. Thank you. And I believe that is all the questions that I have. I was 02:09:19.100 --> 02:09:20.100 just so excited. 02:09:20.100 --> 02:09:21.100 We're starting to get hot in here. 02:09:21.100 --> 02:09:22.100 Thank you. 02:09:22.100 --> 02:09:29.660 Well, I am really disappointed that my colleagues couldn't come up with any more questions. 02:09:29.660 --> 02:09:36.580 Okay. That's great. Thank you very much for that. We'll close this item and move to item 02:09:36.580 --> 02:09:42.460 E. Receive a report and hold a discussion regarding the proposed Bell Avenue pedestrian 02:09:42.460 --> 02:09:48.660 corridor for the portion of the roadway through T.W.U. from Administration Drive to just south 02:09:48.660 --> 02:10:06.300 of Chapel Drive. 02:10:06.300 --> 02:10:10.740 Good morning, committee members. I'm pleased to be here presenting. It was a great morning 02:10:10.740 --> 02:10:16.740 listening to all the topics, and you all have some fantastic questions. I hope you can hear 02:10:16.740 --> 02:10:21.740 me clear, and if not, I can't see you anymore. We've got the presentation up. 02:10:21.740 --> 02:10:27.620 So hopefully, and my hope for myself is that you've run out of questions, but I hope to 02:10:27.620 --> 02:10:31.780 answer all of them. I'm here happily today to present a new project that the city's been 02:10:31.780 --> 02:10:37.020 working on for a few years. It's called the Bell Avenue pedestrian corridor. My name is 02:10:37.020 --> 02:10:41.260 Tracy Beck, and I'm the project manager for this project. A little bit of the project 02:10:41.260 --> 02:10:46.500 history on this is that it kicked off in about 2018. There was a traffic study that was prepared 02:10:46.500 --> 02:10:52.100 for the entire T.W.U. area when T.W.U. suggested maybe closing down Bell Avenue. When they 02:10:52.100 --> 02:10:56.540 suggested the closure, we said, "Why don't we share in a traffic study?" We started collecting 02:10:56.540 --> 02:11:02.700 some data and numerous intersections, numerous roadway links spanning from the Carroll Street 02:11:02.700 --> 02:11:08.500 over to Mockingbird throughout all the areas in this, I don't know, peachy, fleshy color. 02:11:08.500 --> 02:11:14.800 We shared a traffic study with T.W.U. sharing the costs, and then the city in 2020 initiated. 02:11:14.800 --> 02:11:20.020 This is in the fall. What we are calling is a T.W.U. area program, where we started looking 02:11:20.020 --> 02:11:24.860 at the study, and it said, "We can surely close down the Bell Avenue Road. There won't 02:11:24.860 --> 02:11:30.540 be any traffic issues, but in the future, there's going to be some discussions that 02:11:30.540 --> 02:11:35.740 we'd like to talk about on some roadway capacities." We started looking at the roadways in this 02:11:35.740 --> 02:11:43.860 T.W.U. area program. In 2021, this past March, we kicked off some of the projects within that 02:11:43.860 --> 02:11:48.100 program, and I'll go over those in a minute. Unfortunately, the flood, I've got a little 02:11:48.100 --> 02:11:52.780 mosquito in here, they love me. We had it, so I'm going to probably hit and swipe. You 02:11:52.780 --> 02:11:57.420 don't see me, but if I hit the mic again, I apologize. We've got the design started 02:11:57.420 --> 02:12:02.220 in March, but then we went into a huge rainstorm that kind of delayed all of our traffic data 02:12:02.220 --> 02:12:06.940 collections. Here's the T.W.U. program overall. The completed 02:12:06.940 --> 02:12:10.780 projects are the traffic study I mentioned a moment ago, and then we're also working 02:12:10.780 --> 02:12:16.220 on a way we worked on a wastewater line. If you can see the map off to the right, Bell 02:12:16.220 --> 02:12:19.860 Avenue is going to be the green line. Then under construction right now that you may 02:12:19.860 --> 02:12:24.480 have seen driving by is the Bell Avenue water line. This spans from approximately University 02:12:24.480 --> 02:12:31.780 South to McKinney. Then under contract, which is what started in March of 2021, is the Bell 02:12:31.780 --> 02:12:36.540 Avenue pedestrian corridor that we'll focus on today, as well as some additional projects 02:12:36.540 --> 02:12:41.060 were shown in the map, which are the yellow line showing the Mingo, a southern section 02:12:41.060 --> 02:12:47.220 of Mingo, a northern section, and this is split at the Riddell intersection, an improvement 02:12:47.220 --> 02:12:51.860 at the Riddell and Mingo roadway, and improvements to Riddell. 02:12:51.860 --> 02:12:56.380 And the benefits of these corridor projects is we're working with T.W.U. closely to see 02:12:56.380 --> 02:13:01.260 about getting the right-of-way necessary. If you guys have traveled through this area, 02:13:01.260 --> 02:13:04.860 you'll know that right-of-way is very tight. We have a railroad on one side, and we have 02:13:04.860 --> 02:13:09.600 homes on the other side, and where we don't have homes, we have a T.W.U. campus. So they 02:13:09.600 --> 02:13:14.020 have been wonderful to work with lately. We've built a lot of working relationships with 02:13:14.020 --> 02:13:19.360 their staff coordinating these projects. And the final project within this group of projects 02:13:19.360 --> 02:13:24.540 that we've gone under contract is the Mingo Quiet Zone. So these are, you can see little 02:13:24.540 --> 02:13:29.500 Xs and 0s along the lines. Those are going to be the quiet zones that we're looking at. 02:13:29.500 --> 02:13:34.220 Taking away the train horns as best as we can and replacing them with the signal, the 02:13:34.220 --> 02:13:39.180 intersection horns. This does not stop the horns from honking on the train. I've been 02:13:39.180 --> 02:13:43.160 told so many times by all the railroad people, they can still honk the horns if they want 02:13:43.160 --> 02:13:47.180 to, and that's only if they see people on the tracks or some obstruction. But on the 02:13:47.180 --> 02:13:51.960 everyday uses, they're going to have those intersection horns that sound a little foggier. 02:13:51.960 --> 02:13:57.000 To me, they sound a little foghorned such. So T.W.U. projects, they have their own projects 02:13:57.000 --> 02:14:00.980 that we talk about, and we have monthly meetings. The Frame Street access, where they want to 02:14:00.980 --> 02:14:04.380 have an access here on the Star. And then we also have some drainage studies that we're 02:14:04.380 --> 02:14:10.380 looking at. And then we have future potential projects, including Oakland Street. Jumping 02:14:10.380 --> 02:14:15.340 into the point of today's discussion is the goals and purposes. We have, if you're looking 02:14:15.340 --> 02:14:19.240 at the map, I think I can describe it a little better. University on the north side. Chapel 02:14:19.240 --> 02:14:25.060 is currently an intersection. Traveling a little bit further south, there is an intersection 02:14:25.060 --> 02:14:32.140 with the dining hall. And T.W.U. would like to stop Bell Avenue at the dining hall driveway, 02:14:32.140 --> 02:14:35.900 letting people in and out of the dining hall, stopping that corridor, shutting it down to 02:14:35.900 --> 02:14:41.900 through traffic to administration. This corridor would be opened to vehicle emergency vehicle 02:14:41.900 --> 02:14:46.580 access so fire and police could get through, as well as keeping that corridor wide open 02:14:46.580 --> 02:14:51.220 for pedestrians and bicycles. The whole point of this is that the university has been reaching 02:14:51.220 --> 02:14:56.620 out to us for years saying, the students crossing back and forth for campus activities, there's 02:14:56.620 --> 02:15:00.380 no single point of access. They'll walk across as they feel. They're not going to walk up 02:15:00.380 --> 02:15:06.380 to a signal. So they'd love to have this area just cordoned off for pedestrian and bicycle 02:15:06.380 --> 02:15:11.740 access. The concerns that the city had is to keep that corridor open to serve the police 02:15:11.740 --> 02:15:16.020 and the fire. We are working closely right now with the police and fire to see what are 02:15:16.020 --> 02:15:21.980 the issues that they have. And fortunately, the fire department's main access in service 02:15:21.980 --> 02:15:26.580 area is on the south side. They don't typically go through Bell. However, when they have big 02:15:26.580 --> 02:15:31.180 events, they do want to cut through Bell to get to the north side. So we've been working 02:15:31.180 --> 02:15:35.780 closely with them as well as police to make sure that we have the emergency component 02:15:35.780 --> 02:15:40.060 of this. Closing the road is not a big deal for cars because fortunately, as we've gone 02:15:40.060 --> 02:15:44.580 through COVID, we've noticed no complaints. We've noticed no issues with traffic backing 02:15:44.580 --> 02:15:49.540 up. When the water line project went through and when the COVID has worked through, there 02:15:49.540 --> 02:15:57.020 have been minimal impacts to traffic. So that's been great and very positive. Moving through, 02:15:57.020 --> 02:16:01.100 the hurdles that we have right now that we're looking at is temporary versus permanent. 02:16:01.100 --> 02:16:04.900 Do we temporarily shut the road down or do we permanently shut it down? And then the 02:16:04.900 --> 02:16:11.080 construction funding, we're looking at funding in the fiscal year '21-'22 as a CFP request. 02:16:11.080 --> 02:16:15.220 And then we also are concerned a little bit about potential pushback from residents regarding 02:16:15.220 --> 02:16:20.660 the closure. So that's part of today's discussion too is just to open up a dialogue and not 02:16:20.660 --> 02:16:26.260 asking any permission today and what to do. We have ongoing meetings and discussions with 02:16:26.260 --> 02:16:31.540 our city staff, but to find out what the best solution would be to move forward with this 02:16:31.540 --> 02:16:37.140 closure. And here's some examples real quick is that this is the intersection looking at 02:16:37.140 --> 02:16:41.820 administration on the top and then on the bottom is a chapel. And these are unfortunately 02:16:41.820 --> 02:16:45.900 my sad little cheesy designs here with the little red sticks. Those are kind of the little 02:16:45.900 --> 02:16:50.480 bollards that we've seen before. I heard about them talked earlier where they delineate the 02:16:50.480 --> 02:16:54.540 cars from switching lanes on the highways. And you can see a little picture on the right 02:16:54.540 --> 02:16:59.700 where they flip over, they bend over if a fire truck hits it and they spring back up. 02:16:59.700 --> 02:17:03.280 So we're talking about something such as those types of bollards. There was a discussion 02:17:03.280 --> 02:17:08.300 about possibly the bollards in the middle that go up and down a little bit more sturdy, 02:17:08.300 --> 02:17:12.860 stronger and they would definitely stop a vehicle. However, the concern is they go up 02:17:12.860 --> 02:17:17.180 and down into the ground and they can also not go up and down in the ground. So if a 02:17:17.180 --> 02:17:21.180 fire truck was coming through and they do not retract and they expect them, they can 02:17:21.180 --> 02:17:26.880 do some significant damage to the fire truck. So a little costly option and also we're looking 02:17:26.880 --> 02:17:31.660 into a little bit more. Is there a way to make sure that these have retractable? Some 02:17:31.660 --> 02:17:37.020 of the discussions we'll have with staff are is that the right solution? Other solutions 02:17:37.020 --> 02:17:40.140 on the very bottom that we're discussing, and none of these are set in stone at this 02:17:40.140 --> 02:17:44.100 point. We're having a big I'm calling it a Come to Jesus meeting where we all sit down 02:17:44.100 --> 02:17:49.140 and talk about our pros and cons. A gate, similar to what you see in the apartment complexes, 02:17:49.140 --> 02:17:52.700 but we could set it up in a way that we could still allow the bicycle and pedestrians to 02:17:52.700 --> 02:17:56.540 get through the gate without having to open it. We'd have them offset, but it would be 02:17:56.540 --> 02:18:01.700 an extra discouragement to the vehicles. So again, administration, we would have the road 02:18:01.700 --> 02:18:07.100 closed off on the north side of the intersection. We're also looking at signal studies to remove 02:18:07.100 --> 02:18:12.060 the traffic signals because at this point it would operate as a three-way stop, all 02:18:12.060 --> 02:18:17.660 stop signs. And then similarly at Chapel and Bell, we're looking at removing that signal 02:18:17.660 --> 02:18:22.100 too. And we'll do the correct studies to make sure that is the appropriate move. Now 02:18:22.100 --> 02:18:26.780 this is a picture of what it's going to look like potentially, where we have the pedestrian 02:18:26.780 --> 02:18:31.100 bicycle emergency only access. Again, this is stemming from administration is on your 02:18:31.100 --> 02:18:35.500 left going to the right, which is just south of the dining hall. And what we'd implement 02:18:35.500 --> 02:18:39.980 for this turnaround is because we don't have an intersection such as administration to 02:18:39.980 --> 02:18:43.900 have folks turn to the left and right. If somebody goes rogue, and there's also a little 02:18:43.900 --> 02:18:47.660 tiny driveway you might see at the tail end, it's a little bit small here, is that we 02:18:47.660 --> 02:18:51.960 have to get access to the end, get access into the dining hall with semi-trucks loading 02:18:51.960 --> 02:18:57.620 deliveries, and then turn them around. Originally this was presented as a possible roundabout 02:18:57.620 --> 02:19:01.760 and we're not excited about the roundabout options. They have their place, but this was 02:19:01.760 --> 02:19:06.820 not a place. We looked at this more as a U-turn. So it's a teardrop is what we're calling it. 02:19:06.820 --> 02:19:11.860 The reds inside would match what the existing pavement looks like. It would be the stamped 02:19:11.860 --> 02:19:17.780 concrete so it would be pleasing to the eye as well as functional emergency vehicles as 02:19:17.780 --> 02:19:22.100 well as delivery trucks could roll over that. And then we'd also have some curb options. 02:19:22.100 --> 02:19:26.900 And if I move down, these are some simple curb options, a little bit of a blow up. And 02:19:26.900 --> 02:19:31.380 I spoke about temporarily, we can add a temporary curb such as what they call tough curb, the 02:19:31.380 --> 02:19:35.340 yellow one at the side. There's a flexible curb that's kind of a hard rubber that we 02:19:35.340 --> 02:19:40.340 can mount down and remove. And then those typically run at about the same price as a 02:19:40.340 --> 02:19:46.300 concrete curb. And the concrete curb is a standard at the top. And TW has, it's said 02:19:46.300 --> 02:19:52.180 that they do not need these parking spaces, that that is their available space to use. 02:19:52.180 --> 02:19:56.020 And we would try to salvage at least three of these, but with the new parking lot that 02:19:56.020 --> 02:20:00.500 they've built, those parking spaces would no longer be needed on Bell. And then on the 02:20:00.500 --> 02:20:05.140 south, not south side, but on the bottom side of this picture would be the dining hall entrance. 02:20:05.140 --> 02:20:08.780 So these are the designs that we have today. We're working through the material options. 02:20:08.780 --> 02:20:13.180 We're working through the police, the fire, talking to parks. We're talking to the streets 02:20:13.180 --> 02:20:19.380 department. We're talking to the traffic department, trying to get all the vetted out concerns. 02:20:19.380 --> 02:20:22.520 Because I can tell you, if you just talked to somebody in the grocery store about this, 02:20:22.520 --> 02:20:26.820 they do have an opinion about Bell. And a lot of them don't see the need for it to stay 02:20:26.820 --> 02:20:32.340 open. They're just curious. They're very curious and they love the idea of the pedestrian component. 02:20:32.340 --> 02:20:36.940 So the next activities that we're doing, continue stakeholder engagement. We have a meeting tomorrow 02:20:36.940 --> 02:20:43.820 with some TWQ staff. A meeting Friday with more of all hands on board with the city staff. 02:20:43.820 --> 02:20:48.300 We are working on completing the designs. And then we will proceed with construction. 02:20:48.300 --> 02:20:52.740 We need some funding. We're working through those hurdles as well. But at this point, 02:20:52.740 --> 02:21:02.000 I'm going to open up for questions. And I think I stopped sharing. Oh, it stopped sharing 02:21:02.000 --> 02:21:05.860 for you. I love it when it happens. It's like our new DENT development services, all the 02:21:05.860 --> 02:21:14.260 doors and lights open by themselves. Yeah. Shocker. I have a few questions. Can I get 02:21:14.260 --> 02:21:21.700 a closer look at you showed kind of a map, but it was like at a crazy angle of what's 02:21:21.700 --> 02:21:29.920 what the future plans are for the area around like Riddell and Mingo and Willis and Lattimore. 02:21:29.920 --> 02:21:36.680 So North Riddell. So it's Riddell is going to connect across Mingo. And that's going 02:21:36.680 --> 02:21:42.860 to be aligned. Was I seeing that correctly? Correct. The Riddell intersection is looking 02:21:42.860 --> 02:21:50.860 to move. As Tracy is pulling up her screen, Councilmember Maguire, this is Rachel, just 02:21:50.860 --> 02:21:55.900 wanted to make a few notes there. So as Tracy mentioned in her presentation, there is an 02:21:55.900 --> 02:22:01.700 overall TWU area program that we're currently working on taking several of those projects, 02:22:01.700 --> 02:22:08.300 some of which were part of the 2014 bond program to 30% design. And then in the future, hopefully 02:22:08.300 --> 02:22:13.740 later this summer or early fall, we'll be presenting those to full city council to get 02:22:13.740 --> 02:22:19.220 feedback from a prioritization perspective on which projects we should be pursuing first 02:22:19.220 --> 02:22:23.700 so that then we can identify the necessary gap funding. Unfortunately, because of the 02:22:23.700 --> 02:22:27.860 age of some of these projects, of course, there have been significant cost escalations 02:22:27.860 --> 02:22:32.560 just in the cost of construction, right of way acquisition. So we want to get some feedback 02:22:32.560 --> 02:22:38.460 from you on of those projects, which should we be focusing on first to get those completed? 02:22:38.460 --> 02:22:42.940 Tracy's moving forward with the quiet zones. As she mentioned, the Bell Avenue corridor 02:22:42.940 --> 02:22:49.320 was requested as Tracy mentioned from TWU, just from a pedestrian safety perspective due 02:22:49.320 --> 02:22:53.740 to students crossing across Bell. So that is why we have moved forward with that more 02:22:53.740 --> 02:22:59.340 quickly. We actually met with Chancellor Phaeton and several of her leadership staff on May 02:22:59.340 --> 02:23:05.940 27th to discuss this. And the sentiment or the request from TWU, particular to Bell Avenue's 02:23:05.940 --> 02:23:12.540 closure is because there have been those closures already as a result of the water line project. 02:23:12.540 --> 02:23:16.460 And as Tracy mentioned, yes, we have gotten some feedback. And of course, we've gotten 02:23:16.460 --> 02:23:22.020 some positive and negative feedback from residents regarding that closure. There already have 02:23:22.020 --> 02:23:26.980 been adjustments to people's traffic patterns. They've gotten used to not using Bell over 02:23:26.980 --> 02:23:33.860 the past few months. And so the ask of TWU is, is there any way that we could expedite 02:23:33.860 --> 02:23:39.900 the potential closure? And this truly what Tracy presented, at least as currently concepted, 02:23:39.900 --> 02:23:45.460 would be an interim solution to close Bell Avenue. So it would be a pilot that if we 02:23:45.460 --> 02:23:50.460 wanted to make additional investment, you know, Tracy mentioned those collapsible ballers. 02:23:50.460 --> 02:23:54.220 Maybe we start with the plastic option and then move to something more permanent. That 02:23:54.220 --> 02:24:00.500 is something we could do. So we're still in the design, early design phases, but the waterline 02:24:00.500 --> 02:24:06.260 project that utilities currently has is set to complete at the end of this calendar year. 02:24:06.260 --> 02:24:12.900 So the request of TWU is, is there a way for us to potentially keep Bell Avenue closed, 02:24:12.900 --> 02:24:17.700 have that true pilot project in place? But then from a larger perspective, and I think 02:24:17.700 --> 02:24:22.880 Tracy may be ready to pull up the screen now, we have that overarching TWU area program 02:24:22.880 --> 02:24:29.020 where Tracy is serving as the project manager, meeting on a monthly basis with TWU. And as 02:24:29.020 --> 02:24:33.780 I mentioned, the thought process is either later this summer or early fall, we'll be 02:24:33.780 --> 02:24:38.900 coming back to you with an overview with those 30% design schematics of all of the projects 02:24:38.900 --> 02:24:43.500 that Tracy mentioned, and getting some feedback from the city council on what we should be 02:24:43.500 --> 02:24:50.100 prioritizing in our capital investment plan. 02:24:50.100 --> 02:24:59.380 Thank you, Rachel, very much. And I'm hoping that I'm sharing screen. Very good. Fantastic. 02:24:59.380 --> 02:25:03.700 So this is the area. It is a skewed because it's a kind of a fun graphic for colors just 02:25:03.700 --> 02:25:08.860 kind of get the whole area on the square. But I believe if I understood you, you're asking 02:25:08.860 --> 02:25:14.220 about the Riddell and the mingo intersection, which is this area, is that correct? Yes. 02:25:14.220 --> 02:25:19.180 Okay. This intersection currently today exists as a T intersection, Riddell comes in and 02:25:19.180 --> 02:25:24.220 intersects, and then you have to turn left or right at mingo. And then similarly, there's 02:25:24.220 --> 02:25:30.300 an intersection that's through this, the city didn't service center. We're looking at closing 02:25:30.300 --> 02:25:34.900 that driveway, you can see the X here, and then realigning the Riddell alignment to take 02:25:34.900 --> 02:25:39.780 the existing alignment through this orange corridor, and then tying into a four legged 02:25:39.780 --> 02:25:45.980 intersection. The reason for that is when you go through quiet zones with the railroads, 02:25:45.980 --> 02:25:50.940 they typically ask that you close one or more intersections. We're looking at the closure 02:25:50.940 --> 02:26:02.820 of pertain as well as, I want to call it Willis, it's not Willis, it's Texas. Willis. Willis 02:26:02.820 --> 02:26:09.820 is the street that connects to Riddell and intersects mingo. Correct. So what we'll do 02:26:09.820 --> 02:26:14.900 is we'll realign this and we'll add it, the proposal at this point, as Rachel pointed 02:26:14.900 --> 02:26:20.500 out, all of these plans are at a 30% level. We would propose this as a full blown intersection 02:26:20.500 --> 02:26:24.940 with all the lanes needed at the intersection. I don't know if you've driven an intersection 02:26:24.940 --> 02:26:29.420 where you say, wow, great new road, but they forgot to blow the intersection out at the 02:26:29.420 --> 02:26:34.460 crossing, and then you drive fast, quickly, and then you get to a little two lane, at 02:26:34.460 --> 02:26:39.140 two lane intersection road. So what we wanted to do is propose starting at this particular 02:26:39.140 --> 02:26:46.700 intersection, getting all the infrastructure in place, and then as well as doing that, 02:26:46.700 --> 02:26:51.700 looking at possible pedestrian corridors, looking at the sidewalks, the projects, and 02:26:51.700 --> 02:26:55.900 let me clarify real quick, we don't have a lot to share with you right now on designs 02:26:55.900 --> 02:27:00.700 because we did just start in March and the rain has set us back. Our consultants have 02:27:00.700 --> 02:27:05.900 been actively and specifically on the Riddell and mingo, they're aggressively working on 02:27:05.900 --> 02:27:10.140 the designs, collecting the data to show where the existing right of way is. We didn't even 02:27:10.140 --> 02:27:15.060 know where that was until just recently. And then looking at how many lanes can we fit 02:27:15.060 --> 02:27:19.140 in the existing, how many lanes do we need permanently, and then what types of sidewalks 02:27:19.140 --> 02:27:24.300 can we get into this area. So we'll come back to this committee and share more information 02:27:24.300 --> 02:27:28.380 as we have the details. Today was just kind of giving you a precursor, we're looking at 02:27:28.380 --> 02:27:33.740 it, and we'd love to have any input since we are early in the stages, and then work 02:27:33.740 --> 02:27:39.940 with that feedback. So this would be a line for a four legged intersection, and we would 02:27:39.940 --> 02:27:47.740 be removing two existing crossings. Okay. So just to clarify, because I've had a constituent 02:27:47.740 --> 02:27:52.820 ask me about this. Yeah, there we go. Sorry. Yeah, we need to be on screen when we talk. 02:27:52.820 --> 02:28:00.260 Okay. Yeah, so just to clarify, because I've had a constituent ask me about this, are there 02:28:00.260 --> 02:28:08.340 any plans related to extending or connecting Lattimore or Texas Street? That is not part 02:28:08.340 --> 02:28:13.460 of the current TWU program and we might have future phases, but we haven't discussed those 02:28:13.460 --> 02:28:24.100 yet. Okay, thank you. So one other question. I'm interested in the U-turn idea that you 02:28:24.100 --> 02:28:31.900 showed us south of Chapel. Would there be any kind of similar construction south of 02:28:31.900 --> 02:28:37.740 administration to sort of alert people to the fact that they can't get through Bell 02:28:37.740 --> 02:28:45.060 and they need to take another route, or would there be anything at Schmitz Avenue or Texas 02:28:45.060 --> 02:28:52.500 Street or Withers or Mingo that would alert drivers to the fact that they can't get through 02:28:52.500 --> 02:28:57.580 Bell and they need to take another route? Sure. Part of the design scope for our consultant 02:28:57.580 --> 02:29:02.600 is to take a look at the traffic patterns. When you shut a road down, of course, everyone's 02:29:02.600 --> 02:29:07.680 going to find a new route. Unfortunately, the new route going towards the west would 02:29:07.680 --> 02:29:11.380 go through administration, through campus. It's a private road and if you're familiar 02:29:11.380 --> 02:29:16.980 with the area, they have an overhead pedestrian bridge and they're concerned about large vehicles. 02:29:16.980 --> 02:29:21.900 So when this was proposed, nobody gave a lot of thought about getting any types of big 02:29:21.900 --> 02:29:28.020 trucks backwards. Small cars can travel through the roads with no issues and they can go through 02:29:28.020 --> 02:29:32.260 the campus and find alternate routes, but it's larger vehicles. So that's going to 02:29:32.260 --> 02:29:35.940 be one of the components that we're going to be working with everybody is the traffic 02:29:35.940 --> 02:29:41.580 controls, signing, giving warnings, giving people opportunities. There might be future 02:29:41.580 --> 02:29:47.620 U-turns that we can do, future roundabouts if that's the tool decided that's right. But 02:29:47.620 --> 02:29:52.820 right now, the teardrop was not proposed because it is an intersection that we would dead end 02:29:52.820 --> 02:29:56.780 and we're open to ideas at this point. Everything costs money, so we're trying to work within 02:29:56.780 --> 02:30:01.220 a budget as well as implementing as quick as possible because one of the ideas that 02:30:01.220 --> 02:30:05.220 we'd like to do is if we do closes for the students and having them coming back in the 02:30:05.220 --> 02:30:11.260 fall, reopening it when the water project is complete to turn around and close it would 02:30:11.260 --> 02:30:15.980 be awkward. It would be a little bit confusing. So we're looking at ideas as well as maybe 02:30:15.980 --> 02:30:21.060 temporary gates. What can we do temporarily to close it and still offer the safety benefits 02:30:21.060 --> 02:30:25.740 and then come back with a retrofitted permanent solution just so that we can tag along to 02:30:25.740 --> 02:30:26.740 that water line. 02:30:26.740 --> 02:30:33.260 Okay, thank you. Yeah, that answers all my questions. 02:30:33.260 --> 02:30:37.980 I'll entertain questions, but only from a TWU alumna. 02:30:37.980 --> 02:30:45.100 Hire an ear woman, hire an ear woman in the house. 02:30:45.100 --> 02:30:49.220 Is it the owls? Do you do like Hoot Hoot or something like the gigons? 02:30:49.220 --> 02:30:51.220 That is very new, so that's beyond. 02:30:51.220 --> 02:30:53.940 Is it? Okay, because I didn't realize they were owls. 02:30:53.940 --> 02:30:56.380 I didn't either. I had no idea we were owls. 02:30:56.380 --> 02:30:57.380 I knew pioneer. 02:30:57.380 --> 02:30:58.380 Hire an ear woman. 02:30:58.380 --> 02:30:59.380 Yeah, I like pioneer. 02:30:59.380 --> 02:31:07.340 You know, I'm hiring ears. Yeah, I, as you were talking about that overpass down there 02:31:07.340 --> 02:31:12.420 on Administration Drive. By the way, I worked at TWU for 23 years, so I'm very familiar 02:31:12.420 --> 02:31:19.180 with that area and lived there on campus as well. That overpass, I think that's just only 02:31:19.180 --> 02:31:25.380 about 14 feet high. I mean, it is very low and it's been hit several times and there's 02:31:25.380 --> 02:31:30.900 a lot of warning heading up to it, but people still kind of ignore it. 02:31:30.900 --> 02:31:36.140 I was thinking, oh, so the other question, the question that I initially had was when 02:31:36.140 --> 02:31:43.500 this area closes, is there going to be some type of, is it going to be, like the road 02:31:43.500 --> 02:31:52.900 is going to be bricked or just some really significant way to show that the areas are 02:31:52.900 --> 02:31:59.720 still connected to each other or is it going to stay the same and just close? That's one 02:31:59.720 --> 02:32:06.660 question. The other question is about Oakland Street. Did I hear you mention something about 02:32:06.660 --> 02:32:07.660 Oakland Street? 02:32:07.660 --> 02:32:08.660 You did. 02:32:08.660 --> 02:32:09.660 And there's not anything that's going to be going on there yet? 02:32:09.660 --> 02:32:15.300 Nothing in this phase of the project or the TWU program, that was on our sites, on our 02:32:15.300 --> 02:32:19.260 target board. And when it came to funding as well as the consultants, we were trying 02:32:19.260 --> 02:32:24.780 to expedite as quick as possible. And there's so much to be done to Oakland Street that 02:32:24.780 --> 02:32:30.100 we thought, you know what, that's going to take a little bit of a bigger stab at beyond 02:32:30.100 --> 02:32:34.660 30%. We wanted to make sure that we put a lot of time and focus on that because it's 02:32:34.660 --> 02:32:39.500 drainage, utilities, it's road, it's parking, you name it. So we do have that on our sites. 02:32:39.500 --> 02:32:45.060 We have a monthly meeting with TWU and at those meetings, we have a parking lot of projects 02:32:45.060 --> 02:32:49.120 that we talk about and we say, don't forget about these. And every time we meet, we remind 02:32:49.120 --> 02:32:53.540 ourselves where are we at and we have upcoming plans for drainage. But right now we don't 02:32:53.540 --> 02:32:57.940 have anything consulted yet, if that makes sense. 02:32:57.940 --> 02:33:08.060 The other thing is closing, I see that you're closing the north part of that, that Bell, 02:33:08.060 --> 02:33:14.780 is there any future plans to just close it all the way through? Because I remember someone 02:33:14.780 --> 02:33:21.100 getting hit there in front of the MCL building and there's just no thought to look left and 02:33:21.100 --> 02:33:26.420 right hardly anymore. People are just walking out and there's just a little bitty concrete 02:33:26.420 --> 02:33:33.380 to go from one side of the street over to the MCL building. Is there any future plans? 02:33:33.380 --> 02:33:37.420 Not at this point and what we're doing is partnering with the TWU's master plan, which 02:33:37.420 --> 02:33:42.860 did not include that closure. It was just this, this is how they envisioned their pedestrians, 02:33:42.860 --> 02:33:49.500 their area. And we also have, part of this is also finessing the closure to look at where 02:33:49.500 --> 02:33:53.340 the fire access is. There's actually beyond just the fire truck getting to the points 02:33:53.340 --> 02:33:57.860 is they have hookups to get to the building if that truck, that truck needs to get somewhere. 02:33:57.860 --> 02:34:02.900 So with the north end, there's actually driveways that if we severed it, we wouldn't have any 02:34:02.900 --> 02:34:07.660 access to the dining hall for vehicles, we wouldn't have access to the chancellor's house 02:34:07.660 --> 02:34:13.060 and she might, she might take exception to that. So I think that that's part of the plan 02:34:13.060 --> 02:34:17.540 is that this was the section where we would have the least impact to driveways, buildings 02:34:17.540 --> 02:34:23.220 and allow the students to have a point of safe crossing. And ideally it'll shorten, 02:34:23.220 --> 02:34:30.980 with less traffic traveling through, if someone crosses the northern section, there should 02:34:30.980 --> 02:34:34.780 be less traffic at that point because people are not cutting all the way through to McKinney 02:34:34.780 --> 02:34:40.580 or back from McKinney. And that's part of the strategy we have with it being a pilot 02:34:40.580 --> 02:34:44.700 project. We'll of course have signage and make sure that it's very clear that it's not 02:34:44.700 --> 02:34:49.900 a through street, even for the duration of the pilot. But as we're looking at traffic 02:34:49.900 --> 02:34:54.980 patterns that are adjusted as a result of the closure, we can certainly make adjustments 02:34:54.980 --> 02:34:59.820 based on feedback we get from TWAU, the traffic counts that we're seeing as well. And then 02:34:59.820 --> 02:35:03.340 to answer your question about the improvements that would be made, I think you were asking 02:35:03.340 --> 02:35:09.100 about essentially the pedestrian mall that would be created. That is a part of the TWAU 02:35:09.100 --> 02:35:15.500 master plan, something that we're coordinating with TWAU staff on. We do need to get our 02:35:15.500 --> 02:35:20.140 Parks and Recreation Department involved as well. But my understanding, and this is very 02:35:20.140 --> 02:35:26.420 preliminary conversations, is TWAU does have some plans to have some enhanced landscaping, 02:35:26.420 --> 02:35:31.020 some pavers to really accentuate this as a feature on campus. And so that's something 02:35:31.020 --> 02:35:35.820 because it is city right of way, we would need to work with TWAU on an agreement just 02:35:35.820 --> 02:35:40.460 in terms of who's responsible for maintenance, who's responsible for the ultimate design. 02:35:40.460 --> 02:35:44.380 But all things that we're planning on working through, we have started those preliminary 02:35:44.380 --> 02:35:56.660 conversations already. I'm going to say this. I had heard even way back when in I would 02:35:56.660 --> 02:36:03.580 say even the early 90s that this was something that was kind of on the horizon. And even 02:36:03.580 --> 02:36:12.060 as an employee then, I was envisioning them shutting down the entire street and rerouting 02:36:12.060 --> 02:36:17.300 everything over to Rue Del. That was the big talk way in the back. So it's just really 02:36:17.300 --> 02:36:24.140 interesting to see that finally 20 something years later that it's now coming into fruition 02:36:24.140 --> 02:36:29.780 as to what that long term vision was. Thank you. Those are all the questions that I have 02:36:29.780 --> 02:36:30.780 today. 02:36:30.780 --> 02:36:35.820 Super. We will be bringing back more as needed. So this is just a taste of what we're bringing 02:36:35.820 --> 02:36:40.220 to you and we'll have more details and more input from the other groups to share. 02:36:40.220 --> 02:36:50.620 Okay. I'd like to add a few comments. First of all, I think TWAU is a great partner in 02:36:50.620 --> 02:36:58.260 the City of Denton. I think it's a fantastic institution. Not only as the alma mater of 02:36:58.260 --> 02:37:05.420 one of our distinguished council members, but what they do for particularly women and 02:37:05.420 --> 02:37:12.020 social mobility, just a great presence. I love TWAU. I love my relatives too. I wouldn't 02:37:12.020 --> 02:37:21.420 give them a street. I'm only one. I don't know if you'll ever need my vote for this, 02:37:21.420 --> 02:37:27.660 but at this moment, it's very clear to me what it would do for TWAU. Not clear at all 02:37:27.660 --> 02:37:35.460 to me what it would do for the City of Denton. I'm highly skeptical of the claims that in 02:37:35.460 --> 02:37:40.300 any kind of similar numbers that there are comments in favor versus opposed. I think 02:37:40.300 --> 02:37:48.640 people have found it to be just my perception. I don't have any data, but my perception is 02:37:48.640 --> 02:37:56.200 people have found it to be a pain in the neck to have bell closed. So I think it's a meaningful 02:37:56.200 --> 02:38:03.740 traffic. Now, it's not impossible for me to imagine a conversation where something that 02:38:03.740 --> 02:38:08.820 I would view as a huge give up. We don't have a whole lot more than streets we can give 02:38:08.820 --> 02:38:14.940 up. Nobody gets a street, but it's not impossible for me to imagine a conversation where there 02:38:14.940 --> 02:38:23.340 was something so clearly of lasting and significant benefit to the City of Denton that was part 02:38:23.340 --> 02:38:32.580 of our partnership beyond kind of what we already have, where I could confidently say 02:38:32.580 --> 02:38:37.460 every day as people are annoyed that bell is closed, they can go, "Well, that's what 02:38:37.460 --> 02:38:44.620 we had to do in order to get X." Now, whatever the X is, is off posting. But that's my frame 02:38:44.620 --> 02:38:48.800 of mind. I hate to be the skunk at the party, but that's what I think. 02:38:48.800 --> 02:38:53.660 In future presentations, Mayor Pro Tem Meltzer, what we can do is bring back the results of 02:38:53.660 --> 02:38:58.500 the traffic study. And I will note, again, it's off posting, so I'll just note that we 02:38:58.500 --> 02:39:03.660 are having conversations. We did mention several of the projects that are part of that holistic 02:39:03.660 --> 02:39:09.460 TWU area program, and Tracy's managing all of those projects. There will be some asks 02:39:09.460 --> 02:39:15.220 of TWU, particularly for right-of-way, that's necessary. And so I do want to note that there 02:39:15.220 --> 02:39:21.540 will be some financial requests that will be made of TWU as we look at the implementation 02:39:21.540 --> 02:39:24.220 of the overall TWU area program. 02:39:24.220 --> 02:39:33.580 Okay. I appreciate that. Thank you. Anything else on this topic? Anyone? All right, then. 02:39:33.580 --> 02:39:39.820 Thank you for the presentation. We'll close item E and open up item F, staff reports. 02:39:39.820 --> 02:39:46.100 First, we've got item one, staff memorandum update regarding senior planner, bicycle, 02:39:46.100 --> 02:39:48.580 pedestrian, and ADA coordinator position. 02:39:48.580 --> 02:39:53.900 Yes. And Council Member, I'm sorry, Mayor Pro Tem Meltzer, in the interest of time, I'm 02:39:53.900 --> 02:39:59.240 not going to pull up the memo, but I do have great news. So I believe at the last Mobility 02:39:59.240 --> 02:40:04.860 Committee meeting, our city engineer, Rebecca Devaney, mentioned that the candidate that 02:40:04.860 --> 02:40:10.340 was our top candidate was coming in with his wife to look at schools, look at houses and 02:40:10.340 --> 02:40:15.980 spend the weekend in Denton. Since that time, we are delighted to announce that he has accepted 02:40:15.980 --> 02:40:21.820 the position and will be starting in July. Unfortunately, because he is not yet on the 02:40:21.820 --> 02:40:27.140 city's payroll, I have been advised not to share his name. However, I believe our next 02:40:27.140 --> 02:40:35.300 Mobility Committee meeting is on July 21st. And I am fairly certain, almost 100% certain, 02:40:35.300 --> 02:40:40.660 that he will be on the city's payroll at that time. And we will gladly have an agenda item 02:40:40.660 --> 02:40:45.620 or part of our staff update where we will introduce him, share his contact information 02:40:45.620 --> 02:40:50.620 at that time, because at that point, he will be on the city's payroll. But we are very 02:40:50.620 --> 02:40:54.740 excited. I know he's actually listening right now. I've been emailing with him. So he's 02:40:54.740 --> 02:40:59.740 actually listening to today's Mobility Committee meeting. And I know he's already been listening 02:40:59.740 --> 02:41:03.820 to council meetings. I know he heard some of the comments that were made at yesterday's 02:41:03.820 --> 02:41:10.180 city council meeting as well. So we are excited to have him start, which should be in mid-July. 02:41:10.180 --> 02:41:15.220 And as soon as he starts, we will share his credentials, have a big Friday report right 02:41:15.220 --> 02:41:20.200 up. And then, as I've already mentioned, he will be introduced at a Mobility Committee 02:41:20.200 --> 02:41:24.860 meeting as well as Traffic Safety Commission, Committee on Persons with Disabilities. I 02:41:24.860 --> 02:41:30.420 know he is going to be a very popular and very busy man once he starts in his role. 02:41:30.420 --> 02:41:34.700 And I know John Polster mentioned the title earlier. He is not going to be called the 02:41:34.700 --> 02:41:42.180 bike czar. He's actually, his title is Senior Planner, Bicycle, Pedestrian, ADA Coordinator. 02:41:42.180 --> 02:41:47.980 So kind of a mouthful. You may hear several people refer to him as the bike peg coordinator. 02:41:47.980 --> 02:41:53.820 I believe that was the title that Julie Andrews had and then Mark Oliphant as well. The position 02:41:53.820 --> 02:41:59.220 has been a little bit expanded past that to include the ADA components. But we are so 02:41:59.220 --> 02:42:03.660 excited to have him starting in mid-July. He's moving across the country. So that's 02:42:03.660 --> 02:42:08.380 the reason for the bit of a lag that we have in terms of him starting. 02:42:08.380 --> 02:42:16.860 And apparently coming by bike. So that's great. Congratulations. Yeah, I'm glad that he was 02:42:16.860 --> 02:42:22.540 hearing the comments. I was going to ask, related to those comments, if part of his 02:42:22.540 --> 02:42:33.100 remit will be seeing that we're thoroughly implementing the already approved 2012 bike 02:42:33.100 --> 02:42:43.960 plan in our projects. I'm sorry. Was there a question in that or was 02:42:43.960 --> 02:42:47.900 that a comment? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, 02:42:47.900 --> 02:42:55.620 will part of his remit be ensuring in alignment with the questions that were asked last night, 02:42:55.620 --> 02:43:03.140 ensuring that we adhere to and implement the approved 2012 bike plan? It was sort of alleged 02:43:03.140 --> 02:43:10.740 that and I don't know, you know, fairly or not, but I kind of trust the particular speakers 02:43:10.740 --> 02:43:16.180 we had, it was alleged that we've just not done stuff that was already approved, which 02:43:16.180 --> 02:43:21.100 is concerning. Yes. So he will be an embedded member of several 02:43:21.100 --> 02:43:24.860 of our capital project teams. And I think that's where we really have the benefit of 02:43:24.860 --> 02:43:29.700 the synergy of him being a part of the capital projects and engineering department. But yes, 02:43:29.700 --> 02:43:34.260 one of his top charges will be ensuring that we're implementing all aspects of the mobility 02:43:34.260 --> 02:43:40.020 plan, which will include the bicycle and pedestrian plan. And we've actually got a meeting scheduled 02:43:40.020 --> 02:43:44.580 for Friday of this week. Unfortunately, he won't be on board yet, where we did receive 02:43:44.580 --> 02:43:49.980 several questions from the bicycle advocacy groups. Miss rumor actually has created a 02:43:49.980 --> 02:43:55.580 Google Google document that we're kind of using to facilitate some of that dialogue. 02:43:55.580 --> 02:44:00.260 And I've got a cross departmental team focused on answering some of those questions. One 02:44:00.260 --> 02:44:05.380 of the things with several of us being new to our roles is we've inherited a lot of projects 02:44:05.380 --> 02:44:10.300 that are already midstream in terms of construction and design. So one of the things that he's 02:44:10.300 --> 02:44:14.980 going to be charged with right out of the gate is finding out ways that for these projects 02:44:14.980 --> 02:44:19.940 that we already have underway, how do we retrofit them to ensure that we're not just looking 02:44:19.940 --> 02:44:24.620 at vehicular traffic, but we're looking at the needs of pedestrians, bicyclists and those 02:44:24.620 --> 02:44:30.460 that are alternatively abled as well. And so that is going to be one of his top priorities, 02:44:30.460 --> 02:44:35.220 that he will be an active member of each of our capital projects teams, starting from 02:44:35.220 --> 02:44:40.420 initiation all the way through to construction, working with the bicycle community, working 02:44:40.420 --> 02:44:44.860 with pedestrians, also working with the committee on persons with disabilities to make sure 02:44:44.860 --> 02:44:49.100 that all of those different lenses are being looked through as we're finalizing design 02:44:49.100 --> 02:44:57.460 and constructing these important projects. Excellent questions, comments, other committee 02:44:57.460 --> 02:45:09.980 members? Councilmember McGuire. Thanks. I question, will this new coordinator have any 02:45:09.980 --> 02:45:21.660 involvement in public transit plans? Yes, he will. So I guess, let me answer that in 02:45:21.660 --> 02:45:30.380 two ways. When the city has capital projects that involve access to public transit facilities, 02:45:30.380 --> 02:45:36.100 he'll, of course, be a part of that from the city's team. But we are, of course, always 02:45:36.100 --> 02:45:40.060 working on, and I apologize, I'm doing something weird with my screen that I'm worried I'm 02:45:40.060 --> 02:45:45.380 going to mess up Zoom. Okay, hopefully that didn't mess anything up. But we are actively 02:45:45.380 --> 02:45:51.820 working with DCTA on making sure that the city's voice is heard as they're planning new facilities 02:45:51.820 --> 02:45:57.580 and new projects. And of course, we will be using him, his expertise as a transportation 02:45:57.580 --> 02:46:05.260 planner as we make those recommendations and ask of the DCTA board as well. Great, glad 02:46:05.260 --> 02:46:14.380 to hear that. I want to make sure new coordinator who is listening that you know, and I think 02:46:14.380 --> 02:46:19.340 that you do know this already, since you've been watching meetings that, you know, this 02:46:19.340 --> 02:46:27.500 is a community that's really engaged and really passionate about these issues. So we're really 02:46:27.500 --> 02:46:34.540 looking forward to having you join our team and help facilitate these projects because 02:46:34.540 --> 02:46:40.820 there is a great need and a great deal of enthusiasm from the community. I have kind 02:46:40.820 --> 02:46:47.900 of a, I guess a procedural question, I want to make sure I'm clear on, you know, the exhibit 02:46:47.900 --> 02:46:54.260 to identify items of interest for future consideration. Are you asking us right now to identify items 02:46:54.260 --> 02:47:00.100 of interest for future consideration? Is that just a list of things that have been discussed? 02:47:00.100 --> 02:47:05.180 That's an excellent segue. And I can, of course, leave it up to chairperson Mulser. 02:47:05.180 --> 02:47:10.380 But typically, I think Becky goes through the staff memo, which today was very short 02:47:10.380 --> 02:47:17.540 just involved the update on the, the senior planner bicycle pedestrian ADA coordinator 02:47:17.540 --> 02:47:22.220 position. But I was planning on transitioning, pulling that up, giving you a few quick updates 02:47:22.220 --> 02:47:26.860 and then asking you if you had any additional items that you wanted us to add and follow 02:47:26.860 --> 02:47:32.860 up in a future mobility committee meeting. So Mr. Chair, if that's your desire. 02:47:32.860 --> 02:47:53.940 Yeah, that sounds like our typical M.O. Then I will pull that up very quickly here. And 02:47:53.940 --> 02:48:00.100 this is, I apologize, a little bit small. I'm looking for zoom here, but it is also 02:48:00.100 --> 02:48:09.940 included in your backup. So I'm having trouble seeing where I can zoom in. So I do apologize. 02:48:09.940 --> 02:48:14.900 But there are really only three items on there. One we've already hit on, which is the update 02:48:14.900 --> 02:48:20.340 on the senior planner position. Second is provide future items for consideration report, 02:48:20.340 --> 02:48:24.820 which is what we're doing right now. And then the third one is provide a summary of traffic 02:48:24.820 --> 02:48:30.460 engineering related engaged in request. And I will note that I've had several conversations 02:48:30.460 --> 02:48:37.140 with the city manager's office on the capabilities of engaged in those capabilities are somewhat 02:48:37.140 --> 02:48:43.980 limited. And unfortunately, because of the way the requests that come in are categorized, 02:48:43.980 --> 02:48:50.060 it's a very manual process. If we were to create a heat map or even just create a consolidated 02:48:50.060 --> 02:48:55.780 list of all of the engaged request that we receive on a daily basis that pertain to traffic 02:48:55.780 --> 02:49:01.620 related items, not impossible. But the recommendation that I got from the city manager's office 02:49:01.620 --> 02:49:06.300 was if there are key themes, if there are key projects where you want to find out the 02:49:06.300 --> 02:49:11.980 type of information that we've received, we can of course pull those. If there is a project 02:49:11.980 --> 02:49:16.500 where we're wanting to pull specific information from the public, I believe most of you have 02:49:16.500 --> 02:49:22.300 heard of our new discuss Denton, which is kind of an interactive add on feature to the 02:49:22.300 --> 02:49:26.020 city's website. We're actually testing it and we've had a lot of great success with 02:49:26.020 --> 02:49:30.340 the all way crossing project that we have on the downtown square. So that's another 02:49:30.340 --> 02:49:34.580 way for us to get some of that feedback. But the recommendation that I received from the 02:49:34.580 --> 02:49:40.180 city manager's office was, you know, we've got the 311, which is going to have very sophisticated 02:49:40.180 --> 02:49:47.540 mapping reporting capabilities that is underway right now. And by fall of 2022 should be fully 02:49:47.540 --> 02:49:53.460 operational. So something that we can absolutely have with our new 311 system. But it may be 02:49:53.460 --> 02:49:58.060 that if it's a specific project, there's another way that we can get to that without kind of 02:49:58.060 --> 02:50:02.800 going through the manual ongoing manipulation that would be required in order to have that 02:50:02.800 --> 02:50:12.620 heat map or standing list of open engaged Denton requests. 02:50:12.620 --> 02:50:26.300 Okay. Anything else? Now we open up to open to new items. 02:50:26.300 --> 02:50:40.860 Chairman, so we have engaged in, we have discussed it, and we're going to have 311. Our community 02:50:40.860 --> 02:50:46.760 should be very, very happy that we're giving them an opportunity for all three of these 02:50:46.760 --> 02:50:55.020 ways to connect with the city. And you'd see that the for clarification, you see the engaged 02:50:55.020 --> 02:50:59.380 didn't is more of a manual. I've never used engaged in, but I have a feeling I'm going 02:50:59.380 --> 02:51:03.960 to be using it from my own little neighborhood here pretty soon. 02:51:03.960 --> 02:51:11.260 I'm so sorry to interrupt your flow, but just to kind of keep us on posting. We're really 02:51:11.260 --> 02:51:16.980 not posted to discuss the items. It's more to just to tee them up for future discussion. 02:51:16.980 --> 02:51:23.820 Okay. All right. Well, I was just going to clarify that it engaged didn't. We're manually 02:51:23.820 --> 02:51:31.300 putting in all of the information and then discuss didn't. I'm sorry. How does that work? 02:51:31.300 --> 02:51:35.260 Really quickly and I'm looking to try. So tell me if I'm getting too far off the reservation, 02:51:35.260 --> 02:51:42.100 but this was an item that we had listed as an attachment. So really quickly, the request 02:51:42.100 --> 02:51:46.820 that we're responding to was engaged and of course, as an app, you can use it on your 02:51:46.820 --> 02:51:51.460 phone. You can go online and also submit those requests. The request we had of the committee 02:51:51.460 --> 02:51:57.340 is can we aggregate the request that we're receiving as staff so that the mobility committee 02:51:57.340 --> 02:52:03.140 could see at summary level, either via a map or a report, all of the requests that come 02:52:03.140 --> 02:52:08.700 in that pertain to mobility and transportation related items. And so what I was responding 02:52:08.700 --> 02:52:14.380 with is it's a little bit more difficult than it probably sounds, but we do have alternate 02:52:14.380 --> 02:52:19.300 options to get feedback from the community. Discuss Denton through the city's website 02:52:19.300 --> 02:52:26.020 is one of those. And then long-term fall 2022, the 311 system will give us that reporting 02:52:26.020 --> 02:52:30.580 capability, which should make it very easy to provide those reports that the mobility 02:52:30.580 --> 02:52:43.380 committee requested. Okay. Other items of interest for future consideration? That's 02:52:43.380 --> 02:52:51.540 one we'll go over. Yes. You know, it's already been said, but I just want to reiterate the 02:52:51.540 --> 02:52:58.700 importance of reviewing that the by Denton plan and ensuring that all of our projects 02:52:58.700 --> 02:53:07.500 are meeting the goals that we set forth in that plan. Yeah. I'd like to suggest that 02:53:07.500 --> 02:53:19.020 a sort of status update of the key elements of that be added to the, to the sort of transportation 02:53:19.020 --> 02:53:26.940 mobility project update we get so that, you know, there's just a check-in. So I'm suggesting 02:53:26.940 --> 02:53:31.100 that for consideration that that's a way that it could come back to us. And just on my very 02:53:31.100 --> 02:53:39.180 narrow little thing that I've brought up many times on the topic of West Oak between Bradley 02:53:39.180 --> 02:53:47.740 and Thomas, I'd like to hear if it's going to be, if it's on some list could be a list 02:53:47.740 --> 02:53:51.660 of things we're going to ask about in the future, but I think we need a plan to either 02:53:51.660 --> 02:54:01.420 fix it or charge admission to it. We will add that to the list. Okay. I'd say a dollar 02:54:01.420 --> 02:54:08.580 ride ought to do it. All right. I think that's it. Unless anybody else has anything else 02:54:08.580 --> 02:54:16.940 going once, going twice. All right. We will adjourn at 1207. Thanks everyone. Thank you.