Meeting_Body
PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING COMMITTEE
JANUARY 20, 2016
Subject/Action
SUBJECT: ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION STRATEGIC PLAN UPDATE
ACTION: RECEIVE AND FILE
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
Title
RECEIVE AND FILE Metro Active Transportation Strategic Plan Update.
Issue
ISSUE
In July 2014, the Metro Board of Directors passed Motion #25, directing staff to develop an active transportation finance strategy (Attachment A). Staff is providing a status update on the Active Transportation Strategic Plan (ATSP), which supports Part A of Motion #25.
Discussion
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
The ATSP supports Motion #25, Part A, as well as further carries out a number of policies that the Board has previously adopted in order to improve mobility in the region for people who walk, bike, and take transit, including:
• Metro/SCAG Joint-Work Program, May 2015
• Complete Streets Policy, October 2014
• First Last Mile Strategic Plan and Planning Guidelines, April 2014
• Countywide Sustainability Planning Policy and Implementation Plan, December 2012
• Bicycle Transportation Strategic Plan, June 2006
The ATSP will serve as Metro’s overall strategy for funding and supporting implementation of active transportation infrastructure and programs in Los Angeles County. The ATSP will identify strategies to improve and grow the active transportation network to expand the reach of transit and develop a regional active transportation network to increase personal travel options. It is intended to provide guidance to Metro and partner organizations, including local jurisdictions, regional government, and other stakeholders, in setting regional active transportation policies and guidelines to meet transportation goals and targets in support of the Regional Transportation Plan/Sustainable Community Strategy, Long Range Transportation Plan update, and other future planning efforts.
In most instances, Metro does not own or operate many elements of the public right of way, including pedestrian and bicycle facilities beyond our station footprint. However, effective walking and bicycling infrastructure are critical elements to facilitate first last mile connectivity to our extensive public transit network. Beyond the connection to transit, a high quality, safe, low stress regional active transportation network can provide more transportation options and improve mobility. The ATSP builds on local and sub-regional planning already underway in the region to weave a cohesive strategy for our county and identify opportunities for Metro to support local partners in achieving implementation.
Stakeholder Engagement
During the development of the ATSP, the project team engaged and solicited feedback from various Metro departments, as well as agency partners, including the Metro Technical Advisory Committee and its Subcommittees, sub-regional Councils of Governments, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), local governments, and other stakeholders. We also formed a project Technical Advisory Committee, which consists of internal Metro departments and external stakeholders, to guide the development of the ATSP. During August 2015, we held seven stakeholder workshops across the county to solicit input. These workshops were attended by over 250 attendees and included representatives of local, regional, and state government agencies, elected offices, sub-regional councils of governments, nonprofit organizations, community groups, advocates, private firms, transit operators, transit riders, public health, and other stakeholders. We launched an online survey to gather additional input from stakeholders during Summer 2015. During December 2015, we held a second round of six stakeholder workshops across the county to provide an update on the ATSP and solicit additional input. Over 120 participants attended in total to provide feedback. We will continue to conduct outreach to key stakeholders.
Status of ATSP Development
The project team has completed a needs and opportunities assessment and is currently developing strategies to support active transportation implementation, including the creation of tools and resources to better position partners for local, state, and federal grant funding opportunities that arise in the future.
Status of Directives in Motion #25, Part A
Included within Motion #25, Part A, items 1 and 2, was direction to:
1) Define performance metrics to measure improvements for walking and biking, including: access to walking and biking infrastructure, access to education and encouragement programs, rates of Metro customers walking and biking to transit, collision and injury/fatality rates and greenhouse gas reductions from active transportation.
2) Set benchmarks based on the developed performance metrics and identify what level of annual investment is necessary to meet those goals.
Performance Metrics and Benchmarks
Staff has identified a preliminary set of metrics and benchmarks to measure improvements to walking and bicycling, as shown in Attachment B. The metrics and benchmarks were informed by the Project Technical Advisory Committee; best practices from two key national sources of guidance, the National Complete Streets Coalition and the National Association of City Transportation Officials; and by a review of “cutting edge” peer agencies. These metrics are optimal for the county level, so Metro and partner agencies can understand the overall, county-wide effects of active transportation investments. Tracking at the county-wide level is critical as some metrics may see an exponential effect - where the observed increases or decreases are greater than the sum of the activity occurring right around the project location. The benchmarks are set as an opportunity for Metro to be a leader in the field of active transportation planning. They are specifically tied to the context of Los Angeles County in terms of our current baseline. The horizon year of 2025 was selected for most of the potential benchmarks because the ten-year horizon is generally the time frame in which active transportation plans are refreshed and updated, and would be a good point to revisit these targets. This time frame would allow us to track the implementation of active transportation projects and evaluate the performance of those projects against the baseline and benchmarks. Staff will continue to further refine the metrics and benchmarks and incorporate additional feedback obtained during the second round of stakeholder workshops that were held in December 2015.
Identifying Annual Investments Needed
Per Board directive, staff developed a preliminary high-level estimate of the cost to build out a high quality active transportation environment throughout Los Angeles County. Linking the level of active transportation investment to meet benchmarks is a new concept for many organizations. This is an opportunity for Metro to pioneer this concept where the funding strategy is tied to targeted outcomes in order to help our region understand the overall countywide effects of active transportation investments over time. The costs are presented in Table 1 as a low-medium-high range, based on increasing magnitude of project and, therefore, cost. The ATSP will focus primarily on the regional active transportation network and first last mile access to major transit stops/stations in the County; therefore, the cost to implement improvements identified in the ATSP would be a subset of the overall costs mentioned in Table 1. These preliminary cost estimates will be further refined as we develop the ATSP.
Motion #25, Part A also included items 3 and 4, providing direction to:
3) Inventory available funding sources to meet the investment need.
4) Recommend possible changes to Metro, State, and federal policies to increase access to existing funding sources if the need exceeds available funding, including but not limited to an analysis of the funding priorities of Metro’s Call for Projects and the state Active Transportation Program.
Staff is currently developing an inventory of available funding sources that could be applied to the investment needs identified in Table 1. We will continue to monitor and analyze Metro, state, and federal policies to increase access to existing funding sources for active transportation. A concurrent report will be presented at the Ad-Hoc Sustainability Committee meeting in January 2016 regarding Cap-and-Trade Affording Housing and Sustainable Communities Program Strategy to position our County for competitiveness of this important new state funding source.
Next_Steps
NEXT STEPS
Staff will continue to develop the ATSP and conduct outreach to key stakeholders. Staff anticipates circulating the draft ATSP report for public comment in February 2016 and bringing the ATSP for Board action in April 2016.
Attachments
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A - Motion #25: Developing an Active Transportation Finance Strategy
Attachment B - Preliminary Performance Metrics and Benchmarks
Prepared_by
Prepared by: Tham Nguyen, Transportation Planning Manager, (213) 922-2606
Laura Cornejo, Deputy Executive Officer, (213) 922-2885
Diego Cardoso, Executive Officer, (213) 922-3076
Reviewed_By
Reviewed by: Calvin E. Hollis, Interim Chief Planning Officer, (213) 922-7319
