Mar 23, 2022 Mobility Committee on 2022-03-23 9:00 AM

March 23, 2022 Mobility Committee
Full Transcript

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             - Good morning and welcome to this meeting
 of the Mobility Committee of the City of Denton.
 We have a quorum, but we have a full house.
 So let's begin our items for individual consideration.
 The first item is consider approval of the minutes
 of February 16th, 2022.
 I'll entertain a motion.
 - I move approval of minutes.
 - Is there a second?
 Okay, all in favor, aye.
 - Aye. - Aye.
 - The minutes are approved.
 The next item is a receiver report
 to hold a discussion regarding the City of Denton
 transportation/mobility project status report.
 Mr. Poulster, good morning.
 - Hello, hello.
 Is that ready for the meeting to go on?
 - That means soft.
 You have to very gently touch it
 for exactly half of a second.
 - I just saw that.
 See, y'all told me that, didn't ya?
 There you go.
 Uh-oh, okay.
 We'll go by Braille.
 No, no, no, we are in the roll.
 I got this stuff memorized.
 So this first sheet, for those of you who are watching,
 this is a project summary.
 It goes over the let dates, who's working on it,
 and then what the construction cost is.
 And these are essentially the projects in the report
 that we'll go over today.
 And it totals, we're chasing about
 two billion dollars worth of improvements
 in and around the City of Denton.
 FM 2181, north-south.
 - Pardon me, John.
 I have the number in my head of 2.4 billion
 for the longest time.
 - So what happens is as projects come off,
 like that 1.4 million for the 380 interim,
 as they come off, we take 'em off the list.
 - Got it.
 - So 2181, we have a completion date of October 22.
 Finally, it's been going on for like 37 years.
 And it's still looking like October will be complete.
 And we are in the last throws of our last shift
 that occurred on March 14th.
 And so from this point forward,
 it's just getting the last bit of pavement down.
 And then I would say sometime in summer,
 we'll get to what we call substantially complete,
 which is where you're driving on the lanes
 in the proper location that you should be.
 And everything else is just ancillary work,
 like growing the grass, moving the signal poles, et cetera.
 So we will definitely be coming back
 with a party on that one.
 - I have a question about that one.
 First of all, I wanna thank staff
 for pushing out the information about,
 there was a closure, where was it?
 At like Ranch Man or Briar Forest,
 somewhere in that area.
 And I know that there have been issues
 with closures in that area in the past.
 So thank y'all for communicating to residents
 so clearly about that one.
 The intersection of Teasley and Robinson
 is really a wreck.
 There's a grade difference and it's just dirt.
 And with the rain we've been having,
 it's already, the dirt is like washed out
 and there's like a huge drop-off.
 And that's a real busy intersection.
 Can we see about maybe getting like asphalt?
 - Yeah, we'll get with Travis Campbell.
 I'll do that as soon as I get out the door.
 - Great, thanks.
 Okay, so your I-35E Mayhill job,
 this is a project from Mayhill up to 288,
 including the northbound and southbound frontage roads
 to 288 and a direct connect with,
 I mean a bypass over Brinker.
 We are ready to let is September 23.
 And we are on track for that.
 If you'll note, we are in the 95% plan review
 and primarily, yeah, all of this from this point,
 we see utilities down or all the utilities
 that we're working on to get relocated
 by that September 23 timeframe.
 We believe that we will make that date.
 TxDOT and City of Dent's been working diligently
 to ensure that the additional scope of work
 that we added to the project doesn't impact
 the city's ability to move their utilities.
 And like I say, we're on track for September 23.
 And the difference between the let date
 and the ready to let is,
 ready to let is when everything's done.
 Ready to let is when the money currently is allocated
 because that's what the date they thought it would be.
 But once we show them that we can hit the 23 date,
 the funding is there.
 It's fully funded at $72 million,
 so we'll be able to move the project up
 to the ready to let date.
 Okay.
 The big job, the merge,
 we will be done with the RIDO acquisition
 at the end of this month.
 There's one parcel left that we have some legal work to do.
 The utilities are ongoing in this corridor.
 They are, you'll see in a second, quite lengthy.
 And we are pushing for a ready to let of August 23 as well.
 And again, the design's essentially done.
 We've been working with TxDOT on the aesthetics
 for this corridor 'cause we wanna be able
 to do some things in the corridor
 that we did in the 35E section
 where we added some aesthetics.
 And we are working on that packet
 to be included in the design and the construction
 of the project by TxDOT.
 And then again, here from utilities all the way down
 to the bottom of the page.
 These are all the utilities that have to get done,
 but we believe that we are gonna make that,
 what was it, August 23 date.
 The interim, that's done.
 We just wanted to leave it in one more month
 'cause it was a good project to see.
 And actually, we were waiting for a couple of the polls
 to be moved.
 And I did check from our last conversation we had
 that caution sign they have
 when there's congestion ahead, it triggers,
 it's not been triggered on this project
 since we've done the interim improvements.
 I don't know what's going on.
 All right, I-35 North, this is the $763 million one.
 It'll be ready to let in December 23.
 Again, it's fully funded.
 We get to that date, we can move the money,
 and that'll go all the way up to the county line.
 Again, lots of utilities.
 35W Frontage Road.
 So we've been waiting for TxDOT
 to enter into a contract with HNTB
 to do the design on this project
 that's environmentally cleared.
 Apparently, they couldn't get to a number,
 so TxDOT terminated that negotiations
 and they're negotiating with an alternate firm.
 They have not told us who that alternate firm is,
 but I told them they're running out of time,
 so we're kind of in a holding pattern on the design
 until TxDOT gets somebody on contract.
 You're at 380, 377 Corridor.
 That's under construction,
 and we're talking about a completion date.
 Here it is right here, December of 23.
 And right now, we're moving a little bit faster
 into phase two on the westbound side,
 and we're using daily closures to do that.
 And we're trying to get the bridges secured,
 the under abutments secured,
 so we can put that center median barrier
 because the accidents that are happening
 on this section of 380 are crossovers.
 And once we get the bridges shored up,
 we can put the physical barrier in the middle
 and it'll preclude those types of accidents.
 380 East, it's under construction.
 It's basically a lot of the dirt removal
 and stormwater work and a lot of culverts.
 And so it's mostly underground work that you're seeing done.
 And I would just say if you don't have to go out there,
 don't go out there 'cause it's pretty rough.
 Okay, the 380 feasibility study has been completed.
 And it essentially says there was a lot of stuff
 about the integrated corridor,
 a lot of stuff about the outer loop in it.
 And the 380 feasibility says we're gonna build a freeway
 on the blue section and we need to add frontage roads
 to the brown section of the loop.
 And so it's closed out and so we're gonna get back
 with TxDOT tomorrow and get some clarity
 on some of the components of your thoroughfare plan
 and the county's thoroughfare plan
 to make sure they're consistent
 with the findings of this report.
 But there'll be things coming off.
 For example, we had references to the integrated corridor.
 That's no longer a thing.
 And so we're just taking the outer loop
 all the way across to Milam.
 And 380 will be the freeway
 and 288 will be turned into a freeway.
 And so we'll get with city staff and TxDOT together
 and then we'll come back to you with recommendations
 on changing your thoroughfare plan
 to acknowledge those things.
 And speaking of Luke 28 West,
 this takes it from 35 all the way around.
 We have Chang Patel on contract.
 And they are doing the design
 and the design is anticipated to be October 23.
 We're shooting for a 26 ready to let date
 because we have a lot of utilities we have to deal with
 in this corridor and not the least of which
 are all the natural gas providers out there
 that we have to avoid.
 1515 LTRA is doing that work.
 We got the reevaluation.
 Remember we came back after we got environmentally cleared,
 removed the traffic circle, made some tweaks
 at the Peterbilt location and some other places.
 And we've got the reeval done.
 So now we're able to finalize the design set
 and go back to hit our schedule for the 1515.
 1173, we hired half associates last month.
 I can't remember to do the PS and E on this job.
 And what we're trying to do is hit a June of next,
 this year for 60% plans adequate
 because when you hit that in June,
 that allows tech stock to start the utility relocations
 on this project.
 And we're trying to get this project to be consistent
 with the 35 jobs so that when we do the 35 job,
 we can, for a billion dollars project,
 you know, 47 million dollars is a rounding error
 and we're gonna try to get that project built with 35.
 Almond Locus, so I think we're working internally on that.
 I'm gonna be quiet at this point.
 Operator Error.
 - Yes, John, thank you so much.
 So we have received plans actually yesterday from TechStot
 for the Almond Locus corridor that's south of the square.
 And then we're gonna be meeting internally to review those.
 The field meetings have been conducted
 and working through that execution plan
 and making sure that we're all in agreement
 with the path forward and the pavement repair in that area.
 So because the plans are completed,
 once we can work through those steps
 of having those internal discussions,
 turning our comments back over to TechStot,
 then they'll give us a schedule from there
 as to what they anticipate to have that area completed.
 So--
 - Pardon me, so how soon would we get to,
 at least even like a sketchy timetable?
 This is one of the areas, you know,
 we get asked about the most.
 - Sure, we do too, I feel your pain.
 Definitely, what I would anticipate
 is once we can have those internal conversations
 being that we received the plans yesterday
 and can work through that, I would anticipate
 that within the next timeframe
 of when we have the next mobility committee meeting,
 we could be able to produce you
 and provide you a schedule at that time.
 It's gonna take a little bit of time internally
 for us to have those final conversations,
 review that set of plans, but I would hope
 that we would have a rough schedule of that timeframe
 of when they could actually start the construction
 through their maintenance contract
 by the time we have the next mobility committee meeting.
 - And because it's a maintenance contract,
 it's more expeditious and, you know,
 if we get this last part done soon enough,
 I think that we're coming into a good paving season.
 You know, it'll just be a matter of us pressuring them
 to make it a priority.
 I think they already think it is.
 - That's what a priority looks like, okay.
 Can you help us with just like a short explanation
 or some language to answer the question,
 why has it taken so long?
 - Yes, the short answer?
 - Yeah, not the fully technical one,
 but when you can tell your neighbor.
 - Elm and Locust are tech stock project, our roads,
 but they are roads that were older roads
 that were basically put on the system
 when we did some stuff to 377th Street Town.
 City has always had utilities under the pavement
 and that causes problems with the pavement
 and the utilities and this last cycle
 of where the city needed to come in
 and do some very significant improvements
 to the downtown area for the utilities and drainage.
 Tech stock said, look, at one point a couple years ago,
 they held our permits hostage
 'cause they said, we're not gonna let you do the work
 until you agree to take it off system.
 Well, now they've even reversed that
 and we have to like negotiate to get it off system.
 And so that held us up for a while
 and we finally got them to give us the permits
 and then it was a matter of,
 oh, we're gonna take it off system
 but it depends on quality of the road once it's done
 'cause right now we're gonna tear it up
 and we don't wanna go back and do a base repair
 and full depth on those areas that we mess up
 and then you come back behind us and tear it all out
 and fix it to our standards and give it back to us.
 So there was a negotiated battle
 that dealt with that for about a year.
 And so it's just the process of you have a city road,
 it's a state facility with city utilities in it
 and they all have different purposes
 and they all have ways of getting in each other's way.
 - Trying to think of how to make that simpler.
 - I would just like to add to that
 because it's a textile roadway, textile gave us the permit
 to go ahead and do the construction
 for the water and sewer underneath the roadway,
 although it's a textile roadway.
 There's some terminology that we're still working through
 because the city from my understandings,
 understanding was that it was gonna be completely rebuilt
 and with TechStop working through with a maintenance program,
 it's going to have more of a rehabilitation type measure.
 So I'm looking at the types of the useful life
 of the roadway that's going to be constructed
 before the city says, yes,
 that's the path we want to go down.
 So there's a lot of conversations going back and forth,
 just simply from the standpoint
 that yes, we need the roadway completed
 and we need the roadway fixed, obviously, right?
 We all know that, we all have that same concern,
 but I also don't want,
 and I know Danny Kramer's sitting over
 in the area over there,
 but he has the individual with public works
 over the entire street operation,
 the city doesn't wanna accept and take a roadway
 into our system that doesn't meet our standards.
 And so it's a constant conversation,
 making sure that what is constructed
 is something that the city's comfortable with
 to the standard that we're comfortable with,
 because the previous conversations were
 from the understanding that
 if we did this utility work and drainage work,
 the roadway was gonna be completely reconstructed.
 It's now looking as if that's a more
 of a maintenance rehabilitation.
 So we're looking at what does that truly mean?
 And like I said, we got the plans yesterday
 so that we can now evaluate it.
 Staffs had multiple field visits,
 but I myself don't feel comfortable,
 and I know city manager's office
 and then of course, street operations,
 doesn't wanna take something on,
 nor does Textodot at this time
 want to put together that agreement
 that's not something that we can all come to terms with.
 And ultimately it impacts also,
 the roadways further north in this area.
 So it's kind of a catch-22
 because they don't typically allow you
 to have utilities in the roadway.
 Those are past history.
 Those things happen probably in the 20s, 40s.
 I have no idea when that was constructed.
 So just understand the reason
 why it's taking a little bit of time
 is because we wanna make sure if we do say yes,
 we wanna move forward with that turn back
 and take that portion of the roadway over,
 that it's built to a standard
 that the city is comfortable with.
 - So let me try, and go ahead, please.
 - I was gonna wait until you were done.
 Yeah, I just have, what's circulating in my head
 is that any citizen that is driving through,
 of course the complaint is that it's just taking so long
 versus what they actually see.
 Big pipes on the road, things opening up.
 It's obvious that they are expanding
 because the city is growing.
 That's what I say.
 It's road work because the city is growing
 and they need to put bigger pipes in.
 That seems to be the basic type of conversation.
 But now I'm thinking, as I'm hearing,
 that the utilities are literally under the road, right?
 Is that what I heard?
 - Yes, ma'am, that's correct.
 - Because we're going to be upgrading some utilities
 under some roads that are in, already here.
 I appreciate hearing that.
 So generally, where are the utilities located
 when a new road is built?
 - Utilities are always located underneath the roadway.
 - Yeah, on a city road.
 - On a city roadway.
 Elm and Locus are state roads
 and the state doesn't allow utilities under their pavement.
 They'd have a 15-foot parkway on either side of the roadway
 that they allow utilities in
 and all the drainage for the roadway itself
 can be under pavement,
 but the utilities have to be outside in the parkway.
 - So this, I'm sorry.
 - No, go ahead.
 I was just going to say that typically,
 from the city perspective, what John's describing,
 that's called the utility accommodation zone.
 Cities typically don't go
 within the utility accommodation zone.
 We purchase, as you're aware of,
 of course, with the 35 Project,
 easements that are outside the right-of-way line
 so that our facilities can go in,
 water or sewer easements outside the TxDOT roadway.
 Correct.
 - But that can't happen on this roadway
 because it's an older road.
 - Well, the outside of the roadway is the sidewalk
 and then outside the sidewalk is the building.
 - Yeah.
 - So we are--
 - So you're saying what we want.
 - Yeah, we're restricted.
 And so the good news is,
 the reason why I think the maintenance contract
 is going to go faster than we think
 is because about two months ago,
 the commission threw everybody a curve ball
 and says we may not be interested in turn back anymore.
 And so we may get the road upgraded,
 leave the utilities in the ground,
 and TxDOT come back and later go,
 we're not going to give it to you.
 So then you don't have to maintain it.
 - That's interesting.
 'Cause our call, we're clearly voting.
 I didn't vote for it, but there was a vote on council
 to say that we would take it.
 I'm sorry.
 - Yeah, so I just wanted to,
 I don't know if now is the appropriate time to bring it up,
 but I just wanted to kind of,
 you know me, I like to throw ideas out there
 regardless of whether they're realistic or not.
 But given that we've got Paul and Brittany here today,
 I wonder if now would be a good opportunity
 to talk about this section of roadway
 and the section of roadway to the north.
 I know that the, you know, the phase one area,
 there aren't currently any bus routes
 that run on that roadway,
 but this is, you know, the core of the city.
 And as bus routes change and evolve over the years,
 you know, I hope that we'll have an eye toward roadway design
 that's accommodating of buses.
 You know, maybe that could include a pull-off
 or maybe it's just, I mean,
 I don't know if there are any design standards
 as far as like the quality of the pavement
 that needs to be bolstered
 if there are gonna be buses on it,
 but something to consider I think.
 - So if it stays on system,
 a lot of that, I mean, the pavement thickness
 is gonna be what the pavement thickness needs to be.
 But if it's on system, a lot of that stuff
 to accommodate the transit won't be allowed.
 That was part of the reason why we wanted
 to get it off system because once it's off system,
 you can create it in your own image.
 - And I would also mention that as we look at the plans
 that are being evaluated that we received,
 we also are gonna be looking at
 how the roadway can be striped, right?
 We wanna continue to have the two-lane capacity.
 I realize when you're coming, you know,
 going northbound on Locust, it's actually three lanes,
 but what Nathan is evaluating is looking at
 how we can include bike lanes, pedestrian facilities.
 TxDOT's not evaluating that
 because that's not a part of their overall approach,
 but it's working on that collaboration
 of what can we do to have the roadway striped appropriately
 to make sure that that's a corridor,
 that we do have the pedestrian accommodations
 and the bicycle accommodations
 to bring that multimodal approach to that roadway.
 - So just so you know,
 the reason why they have terminated turnbacks
 is because they found out that communities
 were taking their state facilities,
 reducing capacity and doing everything that Becky just said.
 And so that's when they killed it.
 They took one back from San Antonio
 that they gave to them in 2014,
 and they were about to go to construction with it, so.
 - Because, but what?
 - How dare a city provide accommodations
 for a desk fan? - Yeah, because they added
 facilities? - No, they,
 because they went from number of lanes to less lanes,
 and then they turned them into a multimodal facility.
 So everything you want to do,
 everything that everybody wants to do
 are the things they don't want you to do.
 And I'll be careful on how I say this,
 but there is some irony, or confusion.
 Well, someone's listening.
 They want you to take the road.
 It would be like buying a house from somebody,
 and then they tell you,
 you can't do any remodeling to it, right?
 After it's yours. - Yeah, that's weird.
 - That's what we're doing.
 - You know, I'm sorry to be beating at that horse.
 I know we got more to cover,
 but just a couple loose ends on this topic.
 Am I correct in understanding that the utility work,
 it's not just a matter of upgrading,
 it's part of the PEC-4, this is a question,
 is it part of the PEC-4 deal where,
 you know, it's, where we've done necessary work
 to get that area out of the floodplain?
 Is it connected with that?
 - The utility work, water and sewer construction,
 and also the drainage construction is complete.
 And we are working through what's called
 a LOMAR process to remove the area for phase one and two
 out of the floodplain, you are correct.
 - So it is part of that.
 So it's, we can talk a little more about it offline,
 but it's a really good thing.
 But, and then just to, for me, cap it off.
 So that, that's a good thing, I understand that.
 And then it's the status that the really,
 after the utility work,
 that there hasn't really been a lot of movement
 on the ground because we're in this negotiation
 over which way it's gonna get rebuilt or, you know.
 - So just, the guy that works for me,
 he used to be the area engineer here,
 and he had an anecdotal story with it.
 When he did a resurfacing of Elmer Locus at one point,
 and he, the contractor had, part of the contract
 was to when he discovered base failure,
 he was to repair the base failure,
 and he only had like 15%, whatever.
 And there was one area of Elmer Locus
 where they uncovered the pavement,
 they found a sinkhole big enough to put a car in.
 - Wow.
 - There wasn't anything between the pavement and that hole.
 We weren't sure how the road stayed up.
 And so what the city wants to make sure is,
 is that, you know, you got a pretty two inch overlay,
 it's not on quicksand.
 - Yeah, yeah.
 - And I just--
 - I'm done, go ahead, did you?
 - Oh yeah, I'm done.
 - One last thing I just wanna mention
 with this entire conversation,
 we're only talking about the green section on the map,
 which is phase one.
 Obviously the blue section on the map,
 we still have water and wastewater utilities to improve.
 We still need a large sum of money
 to do the drainage improvements along that area.
 And then of course a similar conversation with TxDOT
 as to how the roadway will be reconstructed.
 So just wanted to clarify that the conversation
 we're having is just specifically with the areas
 of water insert that's already been completed and drainage.
 South of the courthouse.
 - Yes, sir.
 - Great, okay.
 Thanks for--
 - Just for the record, all my reports
 that I've gone over really fast.
 When we get to the one for Becky, it takes longer.
 Oh, now we're done.
 - Well, actually--
 - Actually.
 - I wonder if, you know, the other one
 that I hear the most about is Bonnie Bray,
 especially south of the university.
 Can we include a status on that when we talk about it?
 And, you know, it just, it doesn't feel
 to constituents like we're making any progress there.
 - So Bonnie Bray, phase four--
 - Bonnie Bray, south of the university.
 - And five, but are you discussing, sir,
 between 380 and say 35, Bonnie Bray?
 - Yeah, south of the university.
 - University and--
 - Sure.
 - So that's actually--
 - Yeah, we're down to one lane, you know,
 big pipes along the side and all that, you know.
 - Staff can bring you a separate report
 as part of the staff update.
 If you'd like to continue to hear updates
 on the Bonnie Bray project, we don't have an issue with that.
 It's actually not a part of Mr. Polster's report
 because he's specifically talking about on-system roadways.
 - I thought we changed that, that it was,
 like it had been that for a long, long time.
 It was just textile.
 - No, no, for a long time, it was everything,
 and the stuff that wasn't me, I didn't know anything about,
 I was just putting it in a report.
 - Yeah, yeah, 'cause it's, we used to call it
 the on-system report, but now it's
 City of Denton Transportation.
 I thought we would cover our main, just topics of interest.
 Frankly, this precedes these guys being on here.
 Senator John Ryan asked for that.
 - I think the best way--
 - It precedes you too, as a matter of fact.
 - Well, thank you.
 I think the best way for us to go about that,
 if you would be amenable to,
 is to have that as a part of our staff update,
 because it's a project that the city staff is managing,
 and it actually is something that we're collaborating
 with the county and the state on, specifically
 because of the funding, and of course because of,
 with COG, but it's not something that Mr. Polster
 would be able to have an update on.
 - Okay.
 - Yeah, if, I would appreciate it if we could get, you know,
 maybe a standing update each month from our staff,
 not from, not from John.
 - On Body, Brain, specifically?
 - Anyone but John.
 - Yes, on Body, Brain, specifically.
 - Sure, that's fine.
 - Since that's such a, such a big project,
 and it's so disruptive to a lot of folks, yeah.
 - Absolutely, we can add that as a part of the staff update.
 - Thank you.
 - Do we want to go over the acronyms?
 - Yes, absolutely.
 Thank you very much.
 - I can't turn it off.
 - Okay.
 I tend to, you know, I realize I tend to do these
 without breaks, is that, are you all right with that?
 Or would you like to take it, take, yeah, yeah, yeah.
 Okay.
 Okay, let me know.
 All right, so we'll move on to the next item.
 Receive a report and hold a discussion regarding updates
 from the Potentum County Transportation Authority.
 - Good morning.
 - Good morning.
 - Put my millennial skills to use.
 Oh, no, not like that.
 Like that.
 All right, good morning, Mayor Potem-Melzer,
 members of the council.
 My name is Brittany Farr.
 I'm the Director of Government Relations
 for Denton County Transportation Authority,
 and we are here today to provide you
 with an update of our activities at DCTA.
 I'll start by introducing our Deputy CEO,
 Mr. Paul Christina.
 As you're no doubt aware, Mr. Raymond Suarez
 submitted his resignation this month.
 As of April 1st, Mr. Christina will be taking over
 as our interim CEO.
 Seeing as how this is both of our first time
 to address this committee,
 we're going to tag team it today, safer in numbers.
 So I'll bring up Mr. Christina.
 He'll introduce himself,
 talk a little bit about our efforts
 around the comprehensive operation
 and fare structure analysis that's going on,
 and then I'll come in at the end
 to provide an overview of the Connect service changes
 that went into effect a couple of weeks ago on March 14th,
 as well as provide our response to the inclement weather
 that struck the region two times in the month of February.
 And then we'll both be here to answer any questions
 that you may have for us.
 So with that, I'll bring Paul up to the podium.
 Welcome, both of you.
 - Thank you very much.
 It's good to be with you.
 Like Brittany said, my name is Paul Christina,
 and I've been given the privilege of leading DCTA
 as an interim CEO beginning April 1st,
 and so I'm pleased to be with you today
 to provide the update on how we're moving forward
 with our comprehensive operations analysis
 that you all have been seeing in progress for some time.
 So at the core of what we're doing
 is that right now we're leveraging ridership data.
 - Do you want to take questions as you go,
 or should we hold them till the end?
 - I'm happy to have a conversation,
 so if you have questions and would like to raise your hand,
 please do, and we can talk through it,
 and that's just fine.
 Thank you for that.
 So right now what we're doing is designing
 an integrated service across all of DCTA's modes,
 and we're doing that by leveraging ridership data
 across GoZone and the Connect service
 in order to be able to make recommendations
 about the proper levels of service among those modes,
 fixed route and on demand, enabling us to implement
 what will be an integrated
 and complementary multimodal system.
 Fair pricing is part of that conversation
 because we believe that we can use the pricing
 of the GoZone service and the Connect service
 to cause riders to make decisions that are best for them
 and for the modes of service that we have available.
 So this chart here just shows
 the way that we're going to do that
 is right now we're in the process
 of looking at the fixed route network,
 and you've seen several revisions of that
 over the course of the last several months,
 and then as we think about how riders will use those
 or access those resources, it's through the GoZone app
 that will enable them to book a ride
 that uses a GoZone vehicle perhaps
 for a portion of their trip and a fixed route vehicle
 for the portion of their trip
 if that's the way that their trip aligns,
 and then like I said, we can use pricing,
 fair structure between those two modes
 to encourage the most efficient use of those resources
 and ultimately being able to deploy
 what is an intermodal solution for riders
 through the app or through the traditional means
 of purchasing tickets like they do today.
 - Does the app show alternate routes
 and estimated time of journey for each of them?
 - I think, so we're going to be going through this tomorrow
 with our board and just where we are in the process.
 It's going to be a very high level,
 but what I think you can expect to see
 is that a rider could put in their current origin,
 their destination, and provide here's the method
 by which you can use transit services
 to get from point A to point B.
 - The reason I ask that is as with any number
 of route planning apps that we all use,
 if the options are presented with the times
 and number of contacts, doesn't that provide incentive enough
 for the rider to go, oh, I want to go
 in the least amount of time
 or I want the one with the least changes.
 - Potentially, and I think that that sort of feedback
 is going to be really good for the public involvement process
 that we'll have over the course of the next 90 days.
 And so beginning about in April,
 again, our board will be briefed on this tomorrow,
 but there'll be a public comment period
 where people can provide that sort of feedback
 that could inform the way that these things get rolled out.
 Yes, ma'am.
 - Does that feedback also include comments from employees?
 - It is going to be an open public comment period
 that anyone will be able to provide input for,
 and when those channels are opened up,
 we're going to do our best effort
 to disseminate the channels for that far and wide
 so that everybody who's interested can make such comments.
 - Okay.
 So here's sort of a couple of bullets
 on where we've been and where we're going.
 It was in the December 2021 board meeting
 that we had the discussion about a COA
 that would be presented in the June 2022 meeting
 here in a few months to talk about
 the evolution of the service.
 We have on our team consultant experts from Accenture
 as well as VIA, who is the on-demand transportation provider
 for the GoZone project who are working
 to develop those alternatives.
 And we will have, like I said,
 a touch point with our board this month
 at tomorrow's board meeting to talk about
 how those things are being developed,
 then again in April and then again in May
 prior to the board making a decision in June,
 and obviously we will continue to use this forum
 as appropriate to provide updates
 on how that project progresses.
 In terms of the fare structure analysis
 and sort of the conversation that's being had,
 these are the things that we know.
 The initial GoZone program had a promotional price
 of 75 cents a ride, and then like I said before
 at the outset, the fare structure that we're considering
 will start there to determine what's the right way
 to engage riders to use the most efficient sort of trip
 to get where they're trying to go.
 We're in the process of that fare structure analysis now
 on tomorrow's conversation with the board
 will be more around what are the limits or boundaries
 of what that fare structure could be.
 - If I may, I don't know how tuned in
 you might've been to this process.
 I'm not quite sure when you joined the organization
 or whatever, but this body drafted a resolution
 that was then approved by council
 and was meant to be instruction to our representative
 at the time who wasn't that interested in representing us.
 But one of the things that was in our resolution
 was a request that we, that the idea
 of a fare free system be evaluated.
 So if you're evaluating fares.
 Now, I think at the outset, a person might say,
 well, that's completely crazy.
 But let me just say a little bit
 about why that's not necessarily the case.
 At the time, we were told that the fare contribution
 to total DCTA revenue is I believe less than half a percent.
 So essentially a rounding error.
 Your revenues are assured because they come from sales tax.
 It's nothing to do with whether you're efficient or not.
 The revenue comes in.
 - Right.
 - I'll offer you a little bit of a model.
 We've got the Thinline Festival is starting this weekend
 and then you've been a sponsor of it in the past and where
 that used to be a paper drink deal, an $8 thing.
 And I was on the board when the decision was made
 and I thought it seemed crazy at first
 to make it a free festival, but it's a game changer.
 It's just a different model.
 It doesn't mean you don't have revenues.
 It means it changes the model.
 Now in that case, the model is greater advertising revenue
 because more people will come to something
 that are free.
 For public transit, it takes away the friction
 so that instead of just providing service carefully
 to the small number of people who are dependent on transit,
 it takes away the psychological barrier.
 Free is a very powerful thing so that even people
 like the people in this room might go,
 I know I can get on.
 There's no friction.
 I don't have to know how it works.
 You know, it's something I can do.
 So that's why I think it's at least worth thinking about
 how would you configure the product
 to mitigate against whatever risks you think come with free.
 Like you have to get out at the end of a ride.
 Maybe there's a definition of what a ride is.
 It's unidirectional.
 But if you wanna meet the real goal of public transit
 of taking cars off the road and improving air quality,
 and really having transit be part of our,
 you know, much bigger part of how our community works,
 could that be evaluated?
 It's a long way to get to the end of that question.
 - I'm gonna jump in as your representative
 on the DCTA board.
 I'm well aware of that resolution, which I hope to draft.
 And this is something that I insisted on
 at our last board meeting that as one of the options
 that we consider when we discuss fare pricing options,
 I wanna see an analysis of eliminating fares,
 but I'll let Paul elaborate on that.
 - Wait, one more little, oh sorry, sorry, please go ahead.
 - And besides, people that make a lot of money
 and have a lot of money, that can afford a lot of things,
 they like free.
 So, and they probably appreciate free
 more than someone that doesn't have as much.
 So, if we're talking about taking cars off the road
 and having them to come to the city for nice free things,
 you know, this additional opportunity to do that
 and satisfy all of that, that's why I voted for it, yes.
 Thank you.
 - Just one little, before you respond to this onslaught
 of demand for free things,
 is there funding that comes to DCTA,
 federal sources I'm imagining,
 that's attached to ridership?
 That's a genuine question, I don't know the answer,
 but is there a funding benefit to increasing ridership?
 - I'm not prepared to speak on those details here today,
 but certainly as we get ready for our conversation tomorrow,
 we can talk about those sorts of things
 and we can come back to this forum
 with more details on that.
 Obviously, the mission of DCTA is to enhance ridership,
 that's the reason that we're here.
 We want as many people to use public transit as possible
 for all the good reasons that you just laid out.
 And so, if that's an interest of this body,
 then we can talk more about that in our board meetings
 and then here as well.
 - Well, I hope, you know, if there is a funding angle
 that can, you know, help in the analysis.
 - Yes, understood.
 - Okay, thanks for that.
 - So obviously, FTA wants to see ridership increase
 across transportation agencies also.
 - There you go.
 - I think that's the answer.
 Okay, so to answer the question about,
 is free going to be considered in the process?
 The answer is yes.
 We heard that feedback from our board in our last meeting
 that we would need to evaluate
 or they would like us to evaluate a no fare option
 or a no fare alternative on the Connect service.
 And so, we will be talking about that
 here in the next few months
 as we lay out this comprehensive operations analysis.
 We've started with the GoZone fare pricing
 and then next month, we'll be bringing,
 layering in GoZone and fixed route
 and that's where you'll begin to hear about
 no fare alternatives on Connect.
 - To clarify, I meant fixed routes broadly,
 including the A train.
 - Okay, very good.
 - You know, if I can strain your patience a little.
 Is there a conceptual reason
 in maybe how the compensation works, the contract works,
 why the same logic wouldn't apply to GoZone?
 Why would you say we'll look at fare-free for Connect,
 but not for GoZone?
 - I expect that could come out in our conversation
 with the board tomorrow about that idea.
 I don't know that we've gotten very far into that idea
 with our board up to this point.
 And so, it's definitely a good conversation
 for us to have as we go through this process.
 So, we'd like to maybe layer that
 into our conversation tomorrow.
 - Thanks for letting us keep you at slide six
 for 10 minutes.
 - There's only a couple more, so we're doing great.
 So, this is just a snapshot of,
 when we talk about potential pricing structures,
 the concept is that there are,
 and again, conceptual discussion only,
 there are fixed pricing models
 that no matter how far you go, this is what the fare is.
 There are variable cost models
 that kind of like an Uber that says,
 when you go this far, it's this much money.
 If you go a little bit farther, it's this much money.
 And then there's a hybrid fare sort of model
 that says the first several miles,
 whatever that might be, are a fixed cost,
 and then beyond that is a variable cost.
 And that's really what we're talking about
 when we talk about the idea of trying to entice riders
 to use fixed routes when it's possible,
 if that's the most efficient way for them
 to make their trip.
 And so here's a snapshot of the multimodal app
 that's being developed right now.
 It would be like you see there,
 a place where proposals of different,
 multiple legs of a single journey can be evaluated,
 and then the rider get to decide
 what is the best route for them.
 And again, we'll go into more conversation on this
 in our board meeting tomorrow,
 otherwise we'll have the folks from VIA on hand with us
 to talk through that.
 - I'm embarrassed that I don't already know this,
 but are we talking about an update
 to the current GoZone app
 or a new app that's being designed?
 - It's an evolution of the current app.
 - Okay, thank you.
 - Yeah, I would just, I'm not to be too repetitive,
 but do you use Google Maps or anything like that for yourself?
 - Yes, sir, I do use Waze, Google Maps.
 - So, I mean, you don't need a price incentive
 to figure out that you want to do the thing
 that's most efficient for you.
 - Correct. - Yeah, okay.
 - Okay, if no other questions,
 I'm happy to turn it over to Brittany
 to talk about the modifications from March.
 Thank you very much, it's very good to meet you,
 look forward to working with you.
 - Of course, thank you.
 - You'll notice I let Paul take the hard stuff, so.
 The kid, so I'm here to go over the changes
 that went into effect with the March service change
 that was instituted on March 14th.
 I know Mr. Suarez was here earlier this year
 to present these changes that were proposed
 and approved at the December 2nd board meeting.
 I'll start by giving you an overlay
 with the blue being what the new routes look like,
 overlaid with the gray that was the previous service.
 And then I want to show you this next slide
 that also lays in the UNT shuttles.
 So you can see even though some of the service
 was appeared to be cut in the southern portion
 that is covered by and large by the UNT shuttles,
 which are also open to the public
 and an opportunity for them to ride fixed route as well.
 Before I start going into the individual changes,
 there's just a couple of points that I want to make
 as far as trends that you'll see
 with the changes that we've made to the fixed route.
 I know Mr. Suarez has talked to you before
 about the importance of both frequency
 and on-time performance in building ridership.
 People won't take the bus if it doesn't show up often
 and if it doesn't show up on time.
 So all of the changes that were put in
 to the March service changes were done with this in mind.
 How do we take our resources and maximize them
 on the segments of ridership
 that have the highest level of ridership
 so we can get the bus there more often
 and we can get the bus there more on time?
 Another point that I want to make is that these changes
 were meant to be temporary as we work through the process
 that Mr. Christina just went over.
 As we look at GOZONE and the A-Train
 and the Connect service and the shuttles
 all working together to create
 a more integrated multimodal system.
 So these will be on all likelihood changing
 with whatever the final service plan
 the board approves later this summer.
 - Pardon me. - Yes, sir.
 - Just so I understand, they're temporary
 in order to meet what temporary objective,
 what are you solving for?
 - Well, three things really.
 Increasing on time performance, increasing frequency
 and then also working within the confines
 of the operational shortages that we have right now.
 Like DART, like Trinity Metro.
 Yeah, yeah, that's exactly right.
 Like many, like the school districts,
 like many across the country,
 we are seeing a shortage in operators.
 And so not being able to make those runs,
 not being able to put out reliable service
 is one of the driving factors
 for modifying these services
 to be able to ensure that we're meeting the demands
 of the highest ridership portions
 and we're getting those buses there on time
 and as frequently as possible.
 - So if circumstances change or the offering changed
 and you're able to recruit, you know,
 if there's a shift and you're able to recruit more operators,
 is the thought that you might, you know,
 re-flesh out the roots?
 - That's certainly a consideration
 I think the board would look into
 when making those service decisions later this summer.
 And this is a plug, if anyone knows any operators,
 please send them to ride dcta.net, so.
 - Do we pay as much as the alternate services
 that an operator might work for?
 - You know, sir, I don't know the answer to that question.
 I can certainly get with our HR department
 and find out where our starting pay measures
 with both public providers as well as private providers,
 which is really one of the industries
 that is siphoning off as more and more of us
 order from Amazon Prime
 and we expect those boxes to be there the next day.
 Those are the kinds of service,
 the CDLs that we're competing with, so.
 But I can certainly look into that
 and we will be prepared to speak to that
 at our next presentation at this committee.
 So with that, this is the new Connect route.
 You'll remember at the end of December,
 Denton Connect route one was suspended
 along with the two routes in Lewisville 21 and 22.
 Another consistent theme across the scheduling
 is that the routes tend to start a little bit later
 and end a little bit sooner.
 And that's capturing the changing shift
 in ridership patterns that we're seeing
 as a result of COVID-19.
 As more folks work from home or have a hybrid schedule,
 they're not having those normal rush hour periods.
 We're actually seeing more travel throughout the midday
 as folks utilize the fixed route,
 the GO zone and the A train
 to accomplish more midday tasks.
 So we've shifted our schedule to accommodate that.
 Oh, it went backwards.
 My millennial skills are failing me.
 So here's the revisions to Denton Connect route two.
 By shortening this route
 and taking out the loop component of it,
 we've been able to increase the frequency of the bus
 from running once every 60 minutes to once every 42 minutes.
 So an 18 minute improvement.
 That's also allowed us to increase the number of routes
 that we can run during the day
 from 13 round trips to 15.
 I'm gonna go through these kind of quickly
 since they've already been presented.
 But if you have any questions, please stop me.
 So this is route three.
 This one we've been able to improve the frequency on that
 from every 46 to 51 minutes,
 depending on the time of day
 to consistently running it every 40 minutes.
 This has been able to increase the number of round trips
 from 14 to 17.
 And we've also made some modifications to now serve stops
 at both Serve Denton and Denton County Health.
 So route four was trimmed down
 and now has an improved frequency
 from every 56 minutes to every 40 minutes.
 And to make up for that cutoff portion there,
 we've also put in a new Denton Connect route five.
 This is a new circular route
 and it has a frequency of every 30 minutes
 and makes 22 round trips every day.
 Route six, we've increased the frequency
 from 50 minutes to 33 minutes.
 So significant improvements on the frequency there.
 And that has allowed us to run this route round trip
 from 13 trips a day up now to 20 routes a day.
 And then finally revised route seven.
 This one has a variable time depending on peak period.
 So it was running every 30 minutes to every 68 minutes,
 depending on the time of day.
 Now it runs every 27 minutes
 and then the last shift of the day
 between seven and eight o'clock,
 it runs at an hour frequency.
 So significant frequency improvements
 during that midday and early peak period.
 We've also been able to increase the number of round trips
 on this route from 22 a day to 24 a day.
 Yes, ma'am.
 (mumbling)
 Okay.
 - I apologize if this sounds really just
 kindergarten level question.
 For a route like this and for the amount of time
 that you're saying that it's gonna take to get that route,
 are there, how many vehicles are on the,
 that's handling this route?
 Is this one vehicle that's just going around and around?
 Are there a couple of vehicles?
 - I'm not sure how many vehicles are dedicated
 to each route, but I can certainly take that back
 and I can figure that out from our operations folks
 and get back to you how many vehicles we run
 on each route each day.
 - 'Cause I'm just hearing varying times,
 take 18 minutes or 30 minutes to go this route.
 That's, it just sounds almost kind of impossible
 for one vehicle to do all of that, so I appreciate that.
 - Yeah, I'll look into it.
 Depending on the route, it may have different vehicles
 on different routes, but that's a very good question.
 I'll find out and we'll definitely get back
 to your office, yeah, I agree.
 - Do you have an office?
 - I do, I have an office.
 (laughs)
 - Or carrier pigeon, whatever motive, whatever, yeah.
 I'll get the same.
 And so now, oh, yes sir.
 - Yeah, before we get off this topic.
 - Sure.
 - So how were these changes communicated
 to the drivers and to the general public?
 - So we have a variety of methods that we use
 to communicate to the general public.
 We did a lot of stuff on our website, social media,
 but we also use traditional methods of public involvement,
 so putting it in the newspaper.
 We've also ordered bags that we have a QR code on them
 that we put on the stops that were closed
 that folks could take, that would take them
 to the trip planner so they would understand.
 But our marketing and communications department
 utilized all of the resources available to us
 to make sure that, most importantly,
 our traveling public knows of these changes.
 And then the changes to the routes communicated
 to the operators were done through our partners at NTMC
 and the close communication that we have
 working with the HTG and NTMC entities.
 - This is sort of anecdotal,
 but from speaking with operators,
 the version that was filtered to me was,
 no idea what's coming, show up one day,
 get the new lefts and rights.
 It sounds like kind of skimpy to me.
 I understand there's an intermediary,
 but I think ultimately we're still responsible
 for quality control.
 I'm just sharing that back to you.
 - Absolutely, and we'll take that feedback back
 and make sure that we do a better job
 of conveying any kind of upcoming changes
 through our channels as well as through NTMC's channels
 with any future changes we have,
 and appreciate that feedback.
 Any other questions on the March service change
 before I move into the fund that was February?
 - I just wanted to address, we were talking about pay,
 and I wanna make sure that David hears that
 as our new representative on the NTMC board.
 Trinity Metro has job postings for brand new trainee
 who does not have a CDL starts at $17 an hour.
 With a CDL, they start at $20 an hour
 and go up to $25 an hour.
 Dart is starting folks with a CDL at $21.13 an hour.
 And NTMC is starting folks, it looks like with a CDL,
 at $14 to $17 an hour.
 - How does that compare?
 - So there's, yeah, somebody who has a CDL
 would have an obvious choice to make.
 So I think if we're gonna address those staffing shortages
 at NTMC, we might need to address that.
 - So if we're serious about having a robust system,
 you need to have operators.
 If you're serious about having operators,
 you've got to offer competitive wages.
 - We'll take that back, thank you, Council Member McGuire.
 So for the increment weather response and next steps,
 I like pictures, not bullets on the slide.
 So I wanna talk you through our response
 to the two winter storms that struck
 the North Texas region in the month of February,
 go over some of our lessons learned
 and then talk you through some of our next steps.
 I apologize, Council Member McGuire,
 it's gonna be almost verbatim
 what I provided the board earlier this month.
 But to begin with, I wanna put a little bit of context
 around how the decision are made
 in these kind of increment weather events.
 When it comes to modifying or suspending any kind of service,
 that's not something that we take lightly.
 We recognize that we are a public service agency
 and that we provide critical lifeline services
 to many of our customers.
 Providing transportation is always one
 of our guiding principles and highest missions.
 When increment weather strikes the North Texas region,
 particularly icy weather like we saw
 through both winter storm Landon and winter storm Oakley,
 safety has to be our highest priority
 and transit agencies across the region
 really have to strike a fine balance
 between providing those critical lifeline services
 and then keeping the safety of our staff, our operators,
 and then our traveling public top of mind.
 So we look at all kinds of things.
 We look at weather conditions, we look at road conditions,
 we look at what our partners across the region are doing,
 what decisions are being made from DART, Trinity Metro,
 other providers, and those are all considerations
 that go into making any kind of service determination,
 augmentation, or suspension.
 So we take that very, very seriously.
 So going into winter storm Landon,
 which did strike the North Texas region
 the first week of February,
 we began that Wednesday meeting regular two-hour periods
 to evaluate the forecast
 and start taking the preliminary steps needed
 to ensure the continuity of service
 when the weather did hit.
 Our contractors, Rio Grande Pacific,
 began that evening by lighting the switch heaters,
 which is the picture of the rail on fire,
 which I think is a very cool picture.
 Those will keep the rail switches from freezing
 and allow us to continue running A-train operations
 during prolonged periods of below freezing temperatures.
 We also had crews out that evening
 laying out biodegradable ice melt at the DCTA stations
 and bus stops and sidewalks and parking lots,
 as well as provided our operators with biodegradable
 ice melt on their vehicles to spot treat as necessary.
 That evening, we did make contact
 with all three of our member cities
 to evaluate their needs
 during the incoming inclement weather.
 We worked closely with the city of Denton
 on their request to provide shuttle services
 to the emergency warming centers
 and shelters at our Daily Bread
 and across the city of Denton.
 For the city of Lewisville,
 we provided a warming bus on standby
 at one of the rail stations
 in case they had any emergency needs
 for warming centers or evacuations
 like they experienced in February of '21.
 And then Highland Village politely declined
 any requests for assistance.
 So moving into Thursday,
 we started meeting regularly at 5 a.m. in the morning
 to evaluate road conditions
 and start making determinations on service.
 Our partners at VIA requested
 that we go ahead and suspend GoZone service.
 And this was done in accordance with similar decisions
 made by VIA-provided service at Trinity Metro
 in the city of Arlington.
 We did decide to continue running the A train
 and the Connect service,
 albeit on a Saturday schedule.
 And then pair transit service
 and the emergency shuttle services ran as normal.
 Moving into Friday, things really got icy.
 Our friends at DART went ahead and made the decision.
 And I worked at DART for nine years
 and never saw it happen to suspend all service
 on both the train and the buses.
 And with that decision,
 that lack of regional connectivity,
 we made the decision to go ahead
 and suspend A train operations.
 We planned on running a limited Connect service,
 but as road conditions deteriorated Friday morning,
 operators had a really hard time getting to work
 and of course, putting their safety first.
 We went ahead and made the decision
 to cancel Connect service and shift those services
 onto providing those critical lifeline services.
 So those operators were deployed
 on the emergency shuttle services
 for the city of Denton
 and then primarily on our paratransit services.
 And on that Friday,
 which was arguably the iciest, most dangerous day,
 the day that DART shut down,
 our operators took nearly two dozen people
 to their dialysis appointments.
 And I know that two dozen people
 for some of the larger agencies
 doesn't sound like a whole lot,
 but to me, that's 22 people
 that could have potentially suffered
 life-threatening ramifications had we not got there.
 And it's a point of pride for me
 that we got those 22 people there
 and I am so proud of our operators and our staff
 for getting those 22 people where they needed to go.
 That's why we get up and come to work every day,
 is to make sure those 22 people
 have the services they need.
 So the shuttles, the UNT shuttles were suspended
 'cause campus was of course closed.
 Via the GoZone service also did not run on Friday.
 Moving into Saturday,
 we had a little bit of break from the ice.
 It was still a hard freeze in the morning,
 which made getting operators to work
 to mark up a little bit difficult.
 But this was GoZone's ability to really step up and shine
 and demonstrate their flexibility.
 As the roads began to thaw,
 as the temperatures did increase throughout the day,
 we were able to launch the GoZone service
 beginning at noon and running until seven o'clock
 when the roads started to refreeze.
 And in that time, we completed nearly 1,100 trips
 on the GoZone service.
 By Sunday, we were back to normal,
 all modes operating regularly
 and we all took a big sigh of relief,
 which lasted for about two weeks
 until winter storm Oakley showed up.
 When that storm struck at the end of February,
 very similar protocols began meeting every two hours,
 reached out to the cities,
 again, got the request from the city of Denton
 to provide the emergency shuttle and warming center,
 which we were able to accommodate.
 As the ice began to fall that Wednesday afternoon,
 UNT made the decision to cancel classes early,
 so we went ahead and suspended the UNT shuttles.
 And then as the roads really started to slick
 as the sun went down,
 we went ahead and suspended the GoZone service at 5 p.m.
 But the A-Train and the Connect service
 did finish their regularly scheduled routes for that day.
 Moving into Thursday,
 we also had the request from VIA
 to suspend the GoZone service,
 again, in conjunction with similar decisions
 that were made at Trinity Metro in the city of Arlington.
 We had planned that Thursday to run a regular Connect service,
 albeit started a little bit later at 10 a.m.
 to give the roads an opportunity to freeze,
 which they did not unfreeze.
 And so we did have an operator shortage
 and once again made that determination
 that those resources would be better shifted
 onto providing those emergency services,
 those lifeline services.
 And then we did continue Route 7,
 which was still showing some ridership as well.
 The A-Train operations also continued that day.
 By Friday, luckily, this was not as long in duration
 as Winter Storm Land, and so by Friday,
 we were back to normal and everything was running
 as per usual.
 And we tried to do our best,
 and I think we were very successful
 in communicating these changes frequently
 to the board member, again, I apologize for all the emails,
 the traveling public, and then to the cities as well.
 So as we're moving into March now,
 and as we've already seen this week,
 hopefully we're moving out of winter weather season
 and straight into tornado season.
 So, but we're not waiting until next winter
 to already start dissecting what we've done
 with our winter weather response.
 We've already been meeting both internally
 and with our partners to evaluate our lessons learned
 and start thinking about next steps.
 A few things that we learned from the two opportunities
 February gave us to respond to winter weather
 is the value of making decisions on a day-by-day basis.
 There's a saying here in Texas,
 if you don't like the weather,
 wait 15 minutes and it will change.
 And that doesn't stop during winter weather events.
 So the ability, as much as some of us were a little cranky
 and uncaffeinated at those 5 a.m. meetings,
 the ability to meet every day,
 to meet with that kind of frequency
 allowed us to be flexible and nimble
 and make decisions as they were presented to us.
 And so short-term decisions, meeting regularly,
 standard operating procedures were definitely
 one of the lessons learned,
 the best practice takeaways that we had.
 Another one is being able to communicate regularly
 with our partners.
 So including VIA, including Rio Grande Pacific,
 including NTMC in our decision-making process
 allows us, again, to be flexible,
 to know what their limitations are
 and then to respond as appropriate.
 And then the last best practice lesson learned
 is communication, communication, communication.
 I cannot overstate the importance of communicating,
 whether it be with this council,
 whether it be with our partners at our different agencies,
 but especially with our traveling public
 and letting them know what's going on
 and what goes into the decision-making process,
 that these decisions aren't made in a vacuum.
 As we look towards the next winter season,
 we're already starting to take a look at things
 that we could do better.
 So how can we start being proactive
 in a way that allows us to continue operations
 as much as we can, again,
 always with that safety component top of mind.
 And then we also know that the City of Denton
 has been interested in having conversations
 with transportation needs for individuals
 to emergency warming centers and shelters,
 even when it's not icy.
 So those are conversations that we're happy to engage with
 with the city as we start planning for next February.
 So with that, that's really all I have
 on the winter weather response.
 And if there are any questions, I'm happy to answer them.
 - Great performance, I mean, with the service.
 - Yeah, and I said this at our last board meeting,
 but I wanna say it here as well,
 that thank you to DCTA staff.
 I know that our staff here at the city
 also did outstanding work during both of those storms
 to keep folks safe and maintain those essential services.
 It was a tricky situation.
 Safety always comes first, obviously,
 and that's a balancing act.
 No, you don't want vehicles on the road unnecessarily,
 but as you said, there are folks who need to get to dialysis.
 And I think that y'all did an excellent job
 of balancing those concerns.
 - Thank you, ma'am.
 - All right, well, with that, that concludes our presentation.
 Thank you again.
 - No, don't leave, don't leave.
 - Aw, man. - Any questions, sorry.
 I figured, you know, DCTA is on the slide,
 therefore we could ask anything related to DCTA.
 I hope that's right.
 - That's fair game. - We like long meetings
 here in Denton.
 - I was wondering, Paul, could you maybe share
 with my colleagues a little bit about what's going on
 with the A train?
 Because there are so many exciting plans in the works
 for the A train with Corinth and Carrollton
 and positive train controls and maybe double tracking.
 - Sure, glad to.
 So in our last board meeting, we provided,
 I provided a briefing on opportunities
 to enhance the value of the A train,
 that really the value that the A train provides
 to our member cities
 and our broader Denton County community.
 The basis of the presentation was,
 we have opportunities for new member cities,
 potentially in Corinth.
 We have opportunities to be in further partnership
 with Dallas area rapid transit
 to get the A train down to Carrollton.
 And we have opportunities to partner
 with the private development community,
 as well as leverage our own land resources
 to do transit oriented development.
 All three of those different things we believe
 would lead to increased ridership on the A train
 and again, causing it to be of greater value
 for our communities.
 And so the vision that was set forth in that meeting
 was the opportunity or the need really
 to evaluate all the different infrastructure components
 that are required to make those things happen.
 And that's enhanced capacity primarily through,
 by increasing speeds, we can increase speeds
 and capacity by doing things like improving
 our positive train control system,
 which is the automated safety overlay
 that sits over top that train
 to make sure that it operates within its boundaries
 as safely as possible.
 Also the addition of track segments in different places
 be a siding so that two trains can pass one another
 or double tracking so that two trains can operate
 in the same space simultaneously
 as they go in opposite directions.
 The old, if a train leaves station A at this time
 and a train leaves station B at this time,
 where do they meet?
 That's the kind of analysis that we're talking about.
 And so the board provided signals
 that it is interested in moving forward
 with understanding what that would take.
 And so we've been in conversation
 with our consultant partners
 who have evaluated different pieces
 of that puzzle over time.
 Like what would it take to add a station at Corinth
 and not degrade performance?
 What would it take to enhance our PTC system?
 But we have not done that evaluation altogether
 because the system of the railroad
 depends on all those different pieces.
 And if we wanna really determine
 what are the most cost effective ways
 to achieve those outcomes,
 we should look at them altogether.
 So since that board meeting had a call
 with our consultant team as recently as yesterday
 to continue to refine the scope of services
 that we can bring back to our board here
 in the near future to say, here's a path forward
 should we choose to take it.
 So thank you for the question.
 - I have several questions about via GoZone.
 If I can hold you a little bit.
 - Sure.
 - Do we have safety expectations in our contract?
 Are there metrics about accidents and frequency and so on?
 Any kind of service level definition related to safety?
 - I would like to be able to really digest the contract
 with these sorts of questions in mind.
 - I'll give you the questions.
 You do not expect me to answer something like that.
 - Okay, great.
 So safety metrics.
 - Okay, yeah.
 - And then obviously the rejoinder is how are we doing?
 How's that looking?
 Do we have average wait time expectations
 with service level metrics in our contract
 and how are we doing?
 - Okay.
 - And last one I wanna in that vein is
 do we have specific service level metrics
 related to having rides available for disabled customers?
 In other words, how many times do we provide a vehicle
 that is, that can take someone with a wheelchair
 or a walk or whatever when it's asked?
 - Right.
 - Is there a correctly equipped vehicle available?
 And obviously these questions are coming from a concern
 that maybe we're not meeting those standards
 or that there aren't standards built into the relationship.
 So, you wanna know, I wanna know.
 - Yeah.
 - We'll talk about it when--
 - So we will in the conversation
 that we'll have tomorrow at our board meeting,
 we are gonna talk about performance metrics
 like average wait time, seat unavailability,
 those sorts of things.
 We'll have a conversation with the board
 about what are the inputs that can be had
 to improve those things.
 And so we can certainly come back to this body
 with more details around the more robust set of metrics
 that you've just laid out.
 - I'll tell you, the driver safety thing,
 if the anecdotes bear out, that's a really serious concern.
 If there's something systemic in the way
 that they're compensated or managed
 that is leading to a problem there,
 I'm gonna stay from Missouri, you'll tell me,
 but if that is a reality,
 that's gotta go to the top of the list, right?
 - Understood.
 - Okay, that's great, thank you very much.
 I really appreciate you coming in, sharing with us.
 - Oh, please.
 - I wanna preface this by saying that I was on Nextdoor,
 you know the Nextdoor app?
 So there's all kinds of things that are going on.
 But one of the questions that came up
 and it seemed a bit petty.
 And as a city council person,
 I always wanna just jump on there
 and say something, you know, to these people.
 But I know that it has to be in a way that, you know.
 So I just choose not to indulge.
 But the question came up and the concern in the,
 and I'll use this term loosely,
 the pettiness came up as to why the GoZone cars
 do not have the State of Texas registration tags on them.
 And so they're concerned that the vehicles may not be safe
 as if they were not, you know, that's serious,
 but it was just kinda, you know, a first thought that,
 well, what does this matter?
 But it does if we're talking about people riding
 in State of Texas examined vehicles, you know,
 we have to have our cars inspected
 before we get our registration.
 And if we're seeing a lot of cars coming out of Florida
 or wherever these tags are from that's,
 they didn't say that.
 I'm adding that particular part on there
 that it's a safety factor as well.
 So Mayor Pro Tem, I appreciate you bringing
 that conversation up, you know, that topic up of safety.
 This also goes along with that.
 How can we assure our riders
 that they are in the safest vehicles possible,
 especially by having those vehicles registered
 with the State of Texas?
 I don't think I've seen one that shown
 that it was a Texas registered vehicle,
 which thereby means that it's been inspected
 and, you know, and allowed to be on the road.
 - Understood. - Thank you.
 - Yeah, you know, if you can, you know,
 if the general safety issue is substantiated,
 then I'm sure there are many tools
 you're gonna want to look at.
 How are they recruited?
 What are the standards?
 What's the training, right?
 So obvious management stuff.
 Yeah, thank you so much.
 - Okay, thank you.
 - All right, we're on to MC22-08 staff report.
 (door thudding)
 All righty, well, thank you very much
 for having me to allow me to do the staff report today.
 So the first thing that I wanted to start off with,
 I know last month we introduced Brett,
 our new deputy city engineer.
 Trevor also is new to our department
 and is taking the position
 that Rachel Wood previously held.
 And so I wanted to give Trevor a chance to come up
 and introduce himself, talk to y'all a little bit
 about his different roles he's played within the department.
 And we're gonna start off with that.
 So Trevor.
 - Good morning, thanks for having me.
 So my name's Trevor Crane
 and I'm the Deputy Director of Capital Projects.
 I've been with the city almost three years now.
 I originally came in October of 2019
 as a project manager in the Capital Improvements Department.
 Close to about 10 months ago,
 I was promoted to the Public Works Inspections Manager,
 and I've been in that role since,
 or I guess up to about a month now I've been in this role.
 So I'm excited to move into this role.
 I worked with Rachel very closely
 when I was a project manager in that department.
 I was involved in a lot of those policies
 and procedures that we built.
 So I'm excited to be back with that team
 and keep moving this forward.
 - Welcome.
 - Thank you.
 - Thank you, Trevor.
 The unfortunate part is we now have
 a Public Works Inspection Manager position to fill.
 But I am glad to have Trevor in the position that he's in.
 He's doing a fantastic job already.
 So the next item that we wanted to go through
 was the Parkway Street and then the Locust Elm intersections.
 I know Mayor Pro Tem, I believe you asked
 for some additional information.
 We do have individuals from the Traffic Operations Team
 present today that helped work with us on this.
 So specifically, you asked the question
 about when the traffic signal analysis was completed,
 when the signals were brought down,
 and kind of what that process was.
 So I'm gonna paraphrase, but of course
 you have the backup in your information.
 So June 2019, staff did construct
 a traffic signal warrant analysis
 and determined that they thought it was best
 to remove the signals at those intersections.
 And that deactivation occurred in January of 2020.
 And then it kept in that same operation
 until December 8th of 2021.
 During that time frame, that intersection
 operated with a side street stop on Parkway.
 So if you can envision, you're only stopping
 at Parkway at both Elm and Locust.
 So there was free flow of traffic traversing
 up and down Elm and Locust.
 October 8th, our team, along with James Andrews
 and Danny Kramer, Traffic Operations, Street Operations,
 worked through to install that all-way stop.
 So now envision that now we have stop signs
 both at Elm and Locust.
 Then James actually worked to install
 the red flashing beacon.
 And that's actually just at the intersection of Elm.
 What we found, and James did some of this evaluation,
 was folks that are coming northbound on Locust,
 they've just come through the intersection at McKinney,
 so they're not accelerating as quickly,
 and they're noticing that there's a stop sign
 almost immediately.
 Folks that are coming down Elm Street, unfortunately,
 they haven't had a signal since 380.
 They could have picked up a decent rate of speed,
 and we're not always noticing those stop signs
 that were installed at Elm.
 So red flashing beacons are located at that location.
 We did work with PD to assemble crash data,
 and we're working to complete all of that.
 I know we mentioned that we're gonna have
 that crash data available.
 Nathan has some preliminary,
 which he just stepped out of the room,
 preliminary data.
 One of the things that we're working through
 is collecting all of that
 so that we can provide that information to you.
 So something that we're continuing to work with PD on.
 We ourselves, because we're now housed
 right at the corner of that intersection,
 have seen several crashes.
 The data is not exactly adding up
 with the information that we've seen.
 So we're working through that
 so that we can bring that back to the committee.
 And then, of course,
 we're continuing to evaluate the operations.
 I do feel like from the current perspective
 that we see that the all-way stop is working
 in a much better fashion
 than just the stop in the direction of Parkway.
 So wanted to bring that forward.
 Of course, as usual, we provide you the information
 where that was provided in previous Friday reports.
 There was one in October that we provided information
 about the warning signs and the stop signs.
 Any additional questions on that item?
 - Yes, I have one question. - Sure.
 - I travel that, I travel those roads
 'cause I live kind of on the north side.
 Are there any warning signs to prelude the stop signs
 that are going south on Elm?
 Do we get a warning back here that there are stop signs?
 - Well, I travel that every day, too,
 and I'll have to be honest with you.
 I don't know that I've ever noticed that.
 James says yes.
 James, would you like to come up
 and speak where those locations are?
 (man speaking faintly)
 - Okay.
 - The stop ahead signs, that's what they're called.
 - Yes, ma'am.
 So sounds like they're stop ahead signs.
 I would assume they're several hundred feet
 from the intersection north of the intersection
 that actually tell people that there is going to be
 a stop sign ahead.
 And we can look at those exact locations, too,
 if you'd like to know this.
 - Well, I'm gonna drive. - Okay.
 - I gotta go that way anyway when I leave here.
 - Well, great.
 - So I'm gonna come back on Elm
 because my next meeting is over across the way
 at your building.
 So I will see that for myself
 because I don't have it in my head
 as to whether or not I'm told that there's a stop sign.
 - Sure.
 - Ahead, other than then seeing the flashing lights.
 - Absolutely.
 - So, yeah, I'll do that.
 - Okay, great.
 Wonderful.
 So on that item specifically,
 hopefully we've addressed the questions.
 The only thing that we have still we're working through
 with PD is just that crash data specifically
 on the Parkway and Locust and Parkway and Elm.
 Like I mentioned, Nathan is working
 with the police department to continue to collect
 all of that in a fashion that we can present
 that information to you.
 So we will bring that crash data back at the next meeting.
 The next item that was a part of our staff report
 from last month was to get an update kind of on,
 and I think it was quoted saying kind of what's going on
 in the Dearwood, Kingsway, Kingsrow area.
 And so we are working with the development services team
 to provide you information that shows you
 the existing configurations in that area,
 what the mobility plan now shows for that area,
 and then specifically what the development was required
 to do in that area, or asked to do in that area
 as a part of that PD.
 So that'll be a presentation that'll be brought back
 at the April meeting.
 Is there anything else specifically that you'd like
 for us to drill down on that individual item?
 Okay.
 - I just have another question here.
 - Sure.
 - Speaking with the State of Texas group
 and connecting with our city,
 I mean our development issue that we had over there,
 I know that one of the primary concerns
 was whether or not that frontage road would be ready,
 you know, when this development came through.
 And I think that that was one of the things
 that it was highlighted pretty heavily,
 you know, at that point.
 And as we were having that conversation,
 I was trying to connect whether or not
 if we did the service to that community,
 and trying to figure out the timeframe
 that a frontage road would be put in,
 versus the timeframe when the development would be there.
 So the issue is still there,
 because some of the conversation came through
 as to the lot size and all of that other stuff.
 So would you all look into that?
 You know, how closely would the development be done
 versus being able to have a true frontage road?
 - Sure, we can absolutely bring that forward.
 I will mention to you, Mr. Polster made that
 as a part of his presentation.
 You saw where they're just in the very beginning stages.
 So those frontage roads, it's gonna be sometime
 before those are constructed.
 What you will hear in the presentation
 is that the developer, actually myself,
 TexDOT, several on our staff,
 and TexDOT Dallas district office,
 along with the planning department,
 development services team, coordinated with TexDOT
 to see what could be constructed
 since it will be sometime from the frontage road.
 And that's what some of the options were
 that Ms. Wyatt presented at that meeting.
 So we can bring that forward
 so you can kinda understand what the conversations were
 that we had with TexDOT.
 That's gonna be a similar conversation
 anywhere along the Loop 288 corridor
 from 380 all the way to 35,
 and really actually even to the west side of 35,
 where what we call the paper clips are
 until Loop 288 west is connected.
 In that particular area,
 because it's a controlled access freeway,
 direct connection because folks are driving
 60 miles per hour is prohibited.
 So we're not going to, along with ourselves
 and TexDOT, allow connection directly to Loop 288.
 So that's why some sort of frontage road
 will be constructed when folks need to do so.
 So we can bring that back to you, no problem.
 So timing on the actual construction
 of those frontage roads is quite a ways out
 based on Mr. Polster's report.
 The next question that was asked
 was specifically related to Southeast Denton,
 seeing the trucks go through to get to Duncan.
 And I know this is something that Mr. Kramer
 led the charge on with help from
 some of our engineering staff
 and then also our transportation planning staff.
 I think Council Member Byrd,
 this is one of the ones that you brought forward
 asking questions about trucks going through
 to get to Duncan and some signs
 that might need to be installed.
 Traffic operations through James' team
 actually did observe the street sign
 and determined that it needed to be replaced.
 So that happened on March 14th.
 And then you can also see additional information
 that was provided in the Friday report
 in December of 2021.
 So I think that from the street department,
 public works and traffic operations department,
 they feel as if they've installed
 the additional traffic sign measures in that area.
 And I'm not aware of any additional concerns
 that we've received in that area at this time.
 Okay, okay.
 And then of course, the last question that came up
 was kind of talking about the citywide speed study.
 Nathan is leading the charge
 on the citywide speed study for our team.
 And so I would just mention that we're currently
 in the data collection phase.
 That's the exciting part
 'cause we're getting all of the data collected.
 Nathan actually did a fantastic job
 of actually developing a GIS system
 that shows actual points of where the data
 is gonna be collected along with kind of an overview
 that shows the information that will be collected.
 You can see in the report that traffic speed
 and volume counts are being conducted.
 I mean, he's also looking at crash data
 and several other measures so that when we look
 at the speed of the particular roadways,
 there's more data that's going into those conversations
 in that collection.
 We anticipate that that will be completed by late May.
 So typically you wanna collect not when it's spring break
 and not when school's out of season.
 So right now we're working to collect the data
 from now until basically late May.
 Once that data is completed,
 then our staff along with transportation planning
 in development services team will work to coordinate
 and evaluate all of the data to draft a speed study report
 that will be presented not only to this committee
 but then also to city council in that late summer,
 early fall timeframe, August, September
 to get direction from council.
 And of course we completed several Friday report items
 on speed reduction.
 So I wanted to make sure you saw that that was in the June
 and the July Friday reports.
 And then with that, we are gonna move over to our matrix
 that Ms. Logan has provided for us.
 So on the first item, which is the construction
 of Bonnie Bray and the timing,
 we believed that we had addressed that concern
 at the February meeting.
 But as of today, I think that based Mayor Pro Tem
 on your feedback, you'd like to hear a reoccurring conversation
 just to give a brief status update
 as a part of the overall report
 at each one of the mobility committee meetings.
 - Yes, and with specific focus on the torn up area
 kind of from Oak Street South there.
 And I wonder if you'd be able to get something
 into a Friday report before our next mobility committee
 meeting, even two or three sentences.
 It just helped me out, you know,
 try answering these questions, you know,
 when you have a slightly annoyed person behind a door
 that you've knocked on and they're trying to close it,
 you know, that's the kind of answer I need.
 - Sure, we can put something,
 we can work to even maybe try to get something
 in the Friday report this week, if not next week.
 We actually have a change order
 that'll be coming through the system.
 It goes to PUB on Monday and to council on April 5th.
 That'll talk about some of the improvements
 that are gonna be made to expedite
 some of the pavement repairs in that area.
 So definitely something we can bring forward.
 We can, Trevor and I can work on making sure
 that that's in a Friday report.
 So that's not an issue at all.
 - Most recent email I got about that
 from a constituent referenced a car-sized pothole.
 I don't know if you got that one, yeah.
 - Well, if you'll continue to bring those
 to our attention, you know, we received word yesterday
 from TXOT about some concerns on their driveway entrance
 because that's one of the only ways in and out
 of their facility and they drive larger trucks
 through that area.
 If those concerns are brought to our attention,
 whether it's through the project manager,
 engaged it and et cetera, we'll be happy
 to have the contractor go out and evaluate those concerns.
 I know there's been several that Danny assisted with
 during some of the ice and some of the weather conditions.
 So if we're aware of those, we'll work to address them.
 Obviously we understand the roadway needs to be repaved.
 We're working to complete the utility.
 The next item on the Parkway Locust,
 I'm gonna leave that on the overall agenda
 because I wanna make sure that we bring back
 that crash data.
 Nathan's gonna work to collect that
 and present it to you in a manner
 that we can share that information.
 The Kingsrow, we already discussed that.
 That'll come back at the April 20th meeting.
 I guess Council Member Byrd,
 would you like for us to leave the Southeast
 in the neighborhood until you have an opportunity
 to discuss with constituents
 if they're still concerned in that area?
 - I'll be speaking with them on Monday
 at their neighborhood meeting
 and we'll have that conversation.
 By the way, I did notice a nice brand new Dunkin' sign
 up there off of...
 When you cross over Dallas Drive,
 I think it's called Shady Oaks or something like that.
 I never could get the name of that street right.
 But I did notice a brand new sign,
 but I did not notice any signs notifying drivers
 of larger vehicles that this is not a through street area.
 I need to check with that.
 So I'll talk to them on Monday
 and I'll get back with you.
 - No, that'd be fantastic.
 Actually, if you have that opportunity to speak with them
 and then could provide that information to us,
 we'll make sure that we address it
 at our next mobility committee meeting.
 Yes, ma'am, thank you.
 And then of course, the citywide speed study,
 we've given you an update.
 Is that something that you still want us to continue
 to give you a monthly update on or do you feel like
 since we're in the middle of data collection,
 we can wait until the time that data has been collected
 and of course, we're ready to kind of do that draft plan
 or is that something you're wanting us
 to continue to bring back to you?
 - Comments, sorry. - I think I can wait.
 - How about you, do you need a continuous update
 or ready to wait until there's something to report?
 - At least I could be able to let my constituents know
 that we're working on a speed study.
 - Yes, ma'am.
 It's gonna be several months to collect that data
 so we don't anticipate even having that data in
 until late May.
 So we wanna work through the school year
 because that's when normal travel patterns are happening
 and so it'll be late May before Nathan has that data in.
 - I'm happy to wait until there's something to report.
 - Okay, perfect.
 - And also-- - Without objection.
 - Excuse me, sir.
 Also, is this speed study,
 is it including that South Indian version
 of the evil ways that you've renovated?
 - There will be roadways that are included.
 Keep in mind that this is only for roadways
 and that's something we could report on,
 but this is only for roadways where posted speed limit
 is not 30 miles per hour.
 So there's specific lists that were provided previously
 that we evaluated and then Nathan also evaluated
 additional roadways that he wanted to study
 based on conversations that we had
 or questions that come in maybe
 from a speeding perspective, et cetera.
 So definitely roadways that may be traversing that area,
 but not specifically residential streets
 in that downtown area.
 So with that, that is all that we currently have
 on the staff report.
 Is there anything additional
 that either one of you would like to add
 for us to bring back at the April meeting?
 - Yes, I'd like to add a street to the report.
 It's gonna be Swisher Road
 that's off of Shady Shores Road.
 Yes, it's in the city of Denton.
 - Portions are and portions are not.
 - Right, so this particular portion
 is there beautiful homes on the street,
 but the road is not conducive to what they need right now.
 - Okay.
 - Some culvert issues, drainage,
 and I've driven out there and spoken with homeowners
 in that area.
 So that road doesn't have any lights.
 Pavement is worn down.
 So we'll just have to give that road some attention.
 - Okay, well we can look and see if it's scheduled
 or planned as any part of any bond package
 or upcoming CIP.
 If not, we can work with Danny's.
 Okay, perfect.
 So what we'll do is bring back to you
 what phase of 2019 that's in
 and then also when that is scheduled
 and what the anticipation.
 So that'll be a very easy question to answer.
 Absolutely, we can do that.
 I don't have the map in front of me,
 but we all have this handy dandy PDF
 that we keep on our desktop
 so that we can answer those questions.
 So we absolutely can bring that back to you, no problem.
 That'll be very simple.
 - Councilmember McGuire,
 anything you want to add to the list?
 - I'm going over my long list of things
 that I'm thinking about,
 but I don't see anything currently that's relevant here.
 - I think we've done it.
 - Well, wonderful.
 Thank you very much.
 Well, we look forward to bringing back
 these future items to you
 and look forward to hearing from you
 about the Southeast Denton area.
 And then with that,
 I guess we're done with the staff report.
 - All right, thank you. - Thank you very much.
 - All that remains is concluding items.
 Does anyone have any concluding items?
 Seeing none, we are adjourned at 1039.

        
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