Below are the minutes for the Regional Transportation Advisory Committee meeting, held on Friday, April 15, 2005, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. in the Training Room 679 (6th Floor), at the Clark County Public Service Center, 1300 Franklin Street, Vancouver, Washington. The agenda for this meeting is also available.
I. Call to Order and Approval of Minutes
The meeting of the Regional Transportation Advisory Committee was called to order on Friday, April 15th, 2005 at 9:00 a.m. in the Training Room (6th Floor) at the Public Service Center, 1300 Franklin Street Vancouver, Washington. Dean Lookingbill, RTC Transportation Director, served as Chair for the meeting. Those in attendance follow:
Mike Clark WSDOT Justin Clary City of Ridgefield John Cullerton Metro Lynda David RTC Evan Dust Clark County Rebecca Eisiminger Port of Vancouver Richard Gamble Clark County Mark Harrington RTC Shinwon Kim RTC Katherine Klockenteger WSDOT Dean Lookingbill RTC Thomas Picco ODOT Ed Pickering C-TRAN Matt Ransom City of Vancouver Sandi Roberts RTC Dale Robins RTC Scott Sawyer City of Washougal Mark Turpel WSDOT Bill Wright Clark County Phil Wuest City of Vancouver Dean Lookingbill, RTC, asked for any changes or corrections to the March 18, 2005, meeting minutes.
JUSTIN CLARY, CITY OF RIDGEFIELD, MOVED FOR APPROVAL OF THE MARCH 18, 2005 MINUTES AND SCOTT SAWYER, CITY OF WASHOUGAL, SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION WAS UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED.
II. 2004 Congestion Monitoring Preliminary Findings, Discussion
Dale Robins, RTC, presented preliminary findings of the 2004 Congestion Monitoring Report. Maps were distributed to RTAC members. Dale said the congestion management system began in 1995 and has continued with publication of an annual monitoring report that is made available on RTC’s web site. The annual congestion monitoring report provides valuable information on the performance of the transportation system. The objective of the congestion monitoring report is to provide a continuing analysis of transportation system congestion thereby helping to protect the region’s transportation investments and improve the future transportation system.
Dale explained that an important step in defining the congestion management network is to define the basic unit for describing the network and performance analysis. A transportation corridor approach that also incorporates transit services provides a regional orientation and responds to the multimodal and alternative travel themes of the Federal Transportation Act. Dale said each facility within a corridor is further divided into a series of segments. A segment is the portion of a roadway between major intersections. The purpose of considering transportation data by segments is to identify specific locations where congestion is occurring, which may or may not affect the operation of the corridor as a whole.
Dale reviewed the maps:
- Corridor Congestion Ratio 2004 PM Peak Hour,
- Corridor Travel Speed 2004 PM Peak Two Hours,
- Speed as Percent of Speed Limit 2004 PM Peak Two Hours,
- Intersection Delay 2004 PM Peak Hour,
- Areas of Concern: V/C Ratio 2004 AM Peak Hour,
- Areas of Concern: V/C Ratio 2004 PM Peak Hour,
- Areas of Concern: Speed 2004 AM Peak Hour, and
- Areas of Concern: Speed 2004 PM Peak Hour.
Dale reported the scope of the congestion monitoring effort originally began with an emphasis on traffic volumes and capacity. The congestion monitoring effort has expanded to incorporate a wider range of data. The congestion monitoring effort generally provides a snap shot of how the system is operating on the day data is collected and some variation is to be expected. At times, it may take multiple years of data to establish a trend.
Dale said he would be setting up meetings with all jurisdictions to discuss changes and improvements, for example incorporating signal timing and suggested road improvements. Matt Ransom, City of Vancouver, talked about how the City sets speed limits. He said that speed studies are carried out and there is political input. Phil Wuest, City of Vancouver, suggested that it may be useful to review how many people are affected by corridor as well as look at the potential economic development impacts. Dean said that the full report will be shared with RTAC.
III. 2006-2008 MTIP Process, Discussion
Dean Lookingbill and Dale Robins, RTC, presented the proposed 2006-2008 Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Program (MTIP) process. Dean said we are still unclear on the funding levels that the anticipated six-year reauthorization act will bring to this region but we hope that the amount will at least be the same amount if not more regional STP funding than the previous transportation act. Allocation of STP funds to the region is also dependent on decisions made at the statewide level.
Dale pointed out that the RTC Board originally adopted the MTIP development process in 1993. He reviewed the steps of the MTIP development process which include: 1) project screening for consistency with local land use plans and the Metropolitan Transportation Plan, 2) evaluation and ranking of projects by the adopted set of selection criteria, 3) project selection, and 4) programming of projects.
Dale Robins, RTC, said he will be working with regional partners to review the MTIP project selection criteria. He reviewed the project screening criteria currently in place. The criteria are:
- All projects must be consistent with the Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) and Local Comprehensive Plans. Road projects that add additional capacity must be listed in the MTP.
- All projects must support the regional transportation system. Road projects must be federally classified as an urban collector/rural minor arterial or above to use STP-TMA funding.
- Projects competing for STP-Regional and/or CMAQ funds must be an improvement project. STP-Regional/CMAQ funds will not be used for maintenance.
- A maximum of $3 million of regional federal funds (STP-Regional/CMAQ) per project. To exceed the $3 million maximum, a project would need approval by RTAC and the RTC Board.
- Submitted projects should be ready to proceed and have a reasonable timeline for implementation. Dale pointed out that the detailed list of criteria and scores are attached with the memorandum.
Becky Eisiminger, Port of Vancouver, questioned how freight mobility projects could be evaluated against these criteria. Becky said the Port is interested in pursuing rail/highway freight investments. Dean said this is a policy question that needs further discussion at the RTC Board level and said it was unclear how much weight the Board might place on the economic development criteria. Dean said that there was an array of funding sources that rail freight projects could pursue. After this discussion it was decided to set up a sub-committee to discuss criteria for MTIP projects. Dale will notify members of meeting dates by e-mail. It is hoped that by June the MTIP criteria will have been reviewed by RTAC and will be ready to recommend to the RTC Board.
Dale said that he had made a conservative estimate of funding levels available for programming for MTIP year 2008: STP-TMA +/- $4.8 million, STP-Rural +/- $1.0 million, CMAQ +/- $2.1 million and Section 5307 +/- $3.8 million. Dale also referred to the MTIP development schedule outlined on page 2 of the Memo.
IV. MTP 2030 Land Use Allocation - Update, Discussion
Dean Lookingbill thanked RTAC members who had worked on the 2030 land use allocation process. Mark Harrington, RTC, provided a review saying that at the March 2005 RTAC meeting, staff presented the background to the development of the 2023 TAZ land use allocation and had provided a 2030 forecast of countywide population and employment. Mark said staff proposed a method for allocating the growth increment between the 2023 TAZ allocation and the 2030 forecast among the urban growth areas (UGAs) in the county using the proportional growth of UGAs from 2000 to 2023. It was suggested that after the 2023 to 2030 growth was allocated to UGAs, that local jurisdictions would then allocate their respective growth to TAZs within and around their UGAs. Mark stated that RTAC members concurred that this was an acceptable method to begin the 2030 allocation process.
Mark said on March 24th, RTC staff met with land use staff from member jurisdictions to discuss the 2030 forecast and allocation process. RTC staff presented the same background as was given to RTAC and the proposed methodology that was discussed at the March 2005 RTAC meeting. After some discussion, the local jurisdiction land use staff agreed that using the 2000 to 2023 UGA growth proportions would be the best way to allocate the 2023 to 2030 growth without deviating too far from the policy direction of the county’s Comprehensive Growth Management Plan. Mark said we are planning to present the complete 2030 TAZ allocation at the May meeting.
Mark distributed a chart that described the “2023 to 2030 UGA Household and Employment Growth – 3/28/2005” and “2030 UGA Household and Employment Totals – 3/28/2005”. Mark will e-mail RTAC members the final 2030 TAZ allocations.
Dean asked Evan Dust, Clark County, to provide a status report on the update to the Clark County Plan Update. Dean said RTC’s concern and interest is in meshing the update of the Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) with the Clark County Plan Update process. Evan distributed copies of a press release titled, “Commissioners to study urban boundaries for possible expansion” and “Clark County Plan Update Timeline for Changes to Current Plan”. Evan said the Board of Clark County Commissioners has scheduled a series of work sessions, starting April 19, to examine planning assumptions and land use designations aimed at meeting the need for homes and jobs over the next 20 years. Evan said the Commissioners would review elements of the comprehensive growth management plan adopted in 2004. They would consider the pace and character of recent development and the amount of land available for homes and businesses. These discussions will help the Commissioners determine the scope and direction of possible changes in urban growth boundaries to adjust the supply of buildable land.
Planning assumptions will be the focus of a Board of County Commissioners’ work session starting at 2 p.m. on April 19. Related topics, including capital facilities, will be addressed in subsequent work sessions scheduled for April 26 and May 3. Additional sessions will be scheduled when data is available from plan monitoring studies currently in progress. Additional information is available at: http://www.clark.wa.gov/longrangeplan/review/index.html
V. Washington State Legislature Transportation Update: Transportation Bills, Discussion
Dean Lookingbill, RTC, distributed copies of state legislative materials including: the “Proposed 2005-07 Senate Transportation Budget”, the “2005 Transportation Partnership Program”, the Transportation Improvement Act of 2005, Saving Lives, Moving People, Delivering Goods” from the House Transportation Committee (April 11 2005) and “2005-07 House Transportation Committee” list of New Law Projects. Dean also distributed copies of WSDOT’s bill tracking list showing the status of priority transportation legislation. Dean provided highlights of some of the Senate and House Bills. The state legislature is scheduled to adjourn on April 24, 2005.
VI. 2005-2007 Vancouver MTIP Correction: NE 138th Avenue – 18th St. to 28th St., Action
Dale Robins, RTC, said the City of Vancouver is requesting a Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Program (MTIP) amendment to shift $485,000 of federal STP funds allocated for the NE 138th Avenue from 18th Street to 28th Street project from right of way to construction. The amendment would allow the City to purchase right of way in advance of State environmental and right of way approvals in order to get the project under construction in the summer of 2005.
ED PICKERING, C-TRAN, MADE THE MOTION TO AMEND THE TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM TO SHIFT ALL OF THE FEDERAL STP FUNDS THAT WAS ALLOCATED TO RIGHT OF WAY TO CONSTRUCTION FOR THE CITY OF VANCOUVER’S NE 138TH AVENUE – 18TH STREET PROJECT. BILL WRIGHT, CLARK COUNTY, SECONDED THE MOTION. IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED.
VII. Other Business
A. RTAC Members
Dean announced that John Cullerton will soon be leaving Metro where he has worked for the past 25 years. Dean said John has been a valuable member of RTAC and we will certainly miss him. John said he will be working for URS Consultants and will be involved in light rail transit planning work on the west coast as well as projects in the Portland-Vancouver-Clark County area.
C-TRAN – Update
Ed Pickering, C-TRAN, distributed the spring 2005 “Public Transit Report”. Ed provided an update on the latest news from C-TRAN. He said that the Board had approved an amended Service Reduction Plan and had authorized staff to proceed with the following actions: 1) Adjust the service reduction implementation schedule from phased reductions in January, May, September 2005, and January 2006 to one full reduction on September 25, 2005. 2) Realign the organization from its current five to three departments. 3) Eliminate management positions and programs not directly related to sustaining core bus service. 4) Freeze management salary increases for 2005. 5) Consolidate work functions to include the creation of a centralized passenger service call center. 6) Make fare policy changes to support a substantial increase in passenger fares, and 7) Develop and adopt a new service and taxing boundary.
Ed said the Service Reduction Plan would dramatically change bus service available to Clark County residents. C-TRAN’s current annual service hours for fixed route and demand response service will be reduced from 356,081 to 190,946. Additionally, service outside the proposed new service and taxing boundary consisting of the Vancouver Urban Boundary (VUGB), Camas, Washougal, Ridgefield, La Center, and Town of Yacolt, will be eliminated.
Dean noted that other than the premium fare service to downtown Portland, interstate bus routes will turn around at the Parkrose and PIR light rail stations.
John Cullerton, Metro, encouraged people to attend the TRB national Planning Applications conference which will be held in Portland beginning on April 24th.
Matt Ransom, City of Vancouver, said he would like to have the CTR program addressed at the July RTAC meeting.
Katherine Klockenteger, WSDOT, distributed copies of the “Washington Transportation Plan Update Briefing Paper” prepared for the April 2005 Transportation Commission Meeting. Katherine said WTP Phase 2 discussions would continue with the Commission in workshop settings with themes of System Efficiencies and Bottlenecks and Chokepoints on day 1 (April 19) and Moving Freight and Building Future Visions on day 2 (April 20).
Katherine also distributed flyers for the free NHI class on “Integrating Freight in the Transportation Planning Process” to be held, September 29 – 30, 2005, in Tumwater.
Mike Clark, WSDOT, distributed a list of “Southwest Region Bottlenecks”. The top five priority projects for the region had been prioritized by WSDOT. Dean questioned why the region was not included in the selection of priorities. Mike also distributed copies of “WTP Freight Report, Truck Impedance Survey January 2005, submitted by Washington Trucking Associations” and a map showing “Washington Transportation Plan Freight Report Truck Impedance Survey – January 2005” results. Mike pointed out that the survey questionnaire was printed on the final two pages of the handout.
B. RTC Staff
Columbia River Crossing – Update
Dean Lookingbill, RTC, provided an update on the Columbia River Crossing Project. He distributed the April 2005 “Columbia River Crossing Project Update”, Identity Clark County’s “Columbia River Crossing Project, Case for Support” that had been presented to state legislators two weeks earlier, the staff organization chart for the “I-5 Columbia River Crossing Environmental Impact Statement”. Dean said that as the team makes progress on EIS work then there would be more substantive information to bring to RTAC.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:05 a.m. The next meeting will be Friday, May 20, 2005.
Regional Transportation Council
1300 Franklin Street, Floor 4
Vancouver, Washington 98660Tel: 360-397-6067
Fax: 360-397-6132
E-mail: info@rtc.wa.govServed by C-TRAN Route 3.
If you have special needs, please contact RTC.
       
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