APPROVED MINUTES

 

 

SHASTA COUNTY REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION PLANNING AGENCY (MPO)

Tuesday, April 22, 2003, 4:00 p.m.

Shasta Senior Nutrition Programs Building

2225 College View Drive, Redding, California

 

                    

(Note:  These minutes are not intended to serve as a transcript or verbatim record of the proceedings of the Shasta County Regional Transportation Planning Agency, but rather as a record of meeting time, place and attendance; the order and general nature of discussion; Agency deliberations; and action taken, if any.)

 

Agency Members Comnick, Clarke, Hawes, Kight, Mathena, Wilson and Alternate Member Farr were present.  Agency Member Duryee was absent.

 

1.   Call to Order:

Chair Kight called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m.

 

2.      Public Comment Period:

There was no one who wished to speak during the Public Comment Period.

 

Consent Calendar

 

3-1  Minutes of February 25, 2003, RTPA Meeting

 

3-2  Future RTPA Meeting Schedule Through April 2004 - Information Only

           

3-3  Regional Transportation Improvement Program (RTIP) Project Status Report

 

By motion made, seconded and carried, the items on the Consent Calendar were approved.

 

Regular Calendar

 

4.      Conduct Public Hearing and Approve Amendments to RTIP

Staff Member Dan Little explained that staff is recommending an amendment to the RTIP program for eight of the eighteen Shasta County projects that were approved in April 2002 when the California Transportation Commission (CTC) adopted the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP). A line of credit from the State applies to the year in which a project or project component is programmed.  STIP amendments cannot be approved by the CTC for projects in the current fiscal year.  Some Shasta County projects are coming up in Fiscal Year 2003/04.  If the County is not ready to go forward with those projects, the funding may lapse for several years. 

 

Dan Little advised that staff is recommending that three projects, Cypress A, Cypress B and the Redding Downtown Couplets be moved to FY 2004/05 because there are probable schedule delays that could potentially delay the projects which would result in a lapse of funds.  This proposed change would allow the RTPA to move some projects forward that are ready to go.  Those projects are North Street, South Bonneyview Widening, Shasta Bridge Replacements, and Ox Yoke Signal.  One project, the Shasta View Drive Extension, needs to be removed from the STIP because the  project needs to be delivered this year and funding sources this summer are unlikely given State cash flow problems.  The City of Redding proposed to go forward to finance this project with local funds.  Mr. Little noted that by eliminating the $748,000 that was earmarked for the Shasta View Drive Extension, the Agency would be able to program a portion of the construction for Bonneyview, which is a high priority project.  The amendments would go to the CTC by June for their approval.

 

Chair Kight opened the public hearing.  There being no one who wished to speak either for or against the item, Chair Kight closed the public hearing. 

 

By motion made and seconded (Clarke/Hawes) the staff recommendation passed unanimously.

 

5.      Conduct Public Hearing and Consider Public Involvement Plan Update

Staff Member Thomas Hays reviewed the staff report recommending that the RTPA conduct a public meeting to receive comments on the update of the Public Involvement Procedures for Transportation Planning.  The RTPA last adopted the procedures in 1998.  Federal regulations require the RTPA to periodically update the procedures.  Revisions were considered by the RTPA in both July and December 2002.  The Agency authorized the initiation of a 45-day public review period for the draft plan in December 2002.  Mr. Hays noted that staff added some revision strategies and measures of effectiveness, that were included in the document to ensure that public input would be incorporated into the plan.  

 

Chair Kight opened the public hearing.  There being no one who wished to speak either for or against the item, Chair Kight closed the public hearing. 

 

By motion made and seconded (Wilson/Hawes) the staff recommendation passed unanimously.

 

6.      Adopt the 2003/04 Overall Work Program (OWP)

Executive Officer Kovacich reported that the Overall Work Program is the RTPA’s budget for next year. It is basically a status quo budget, with the exception of a couple of special projects that Mr. Kovacich highlighted.  One is a request received from the County to look at the Gas Point Road intersection that has become impacted by considerable growth west of I-5 along Gas Point Road, and identify what major improvements may be necessary.  This technique was employed by the County when it adopted a plan line for the Knighten Road project.  The fact that there was a plan line in place really expedited the eventual delivery.  The other recommendation is to fund a traffic impact fee analysis in the area. 

 

Executive Officer Kovacich noted that if the OWP is approved, staff would like to bring the item back to the RTPA meeting in July and see what future needs in the area are, and compare that with the revenue mechanisms that are currently in place.  Also, at that time, staff would like to present a list of options to the RTPA that they may or may not choose to look into.  Based on the assumption that the Agency would want staff to look further into additional funding options, money was included in the proposed OWP to address that. 

 

Mr. Kovacich advised that there are two items in the OWP that have been presented to Federal agencies for their consideration to fund.  One is a traffic surveillance vehicle that has been requested by Shasta County.  The other request is for a video surveillance trailer that would be a unit that staff could set up at corners or somewhere along the road to monitor activity.  The trailer would not have to be manned at the site and would be made available to other agencies in the County.  Also, staff is requesting an RTPA staff vehicle for the first time this year.  Mr. Kovacich advised that travel has grown to the extent that a staff vehicle seems justified. In the event that the Federal agencies eventually disallow the two vehicles proposed in the OWP, staff would bring this item back to the Board and ask that the vehicles be funded from reserves that the Agency has accumulated over the years.

 

By motion made and seconded (Hawes/Comnick) the staff recommendation passed unanimously.

 

7.      Unmet Transit Needs – Consider Approval of 2003/2004 Transportation Development Act (TDA) Allocation    Instructions and Claims Budget

Executive Officer Kovacich noted that the Unmet Needs Hearing was conducted at the last meeting in February.  One of the steps in the process is to develop a TDA budget for next year.  Mr. Kovacich introduced Mike Evans, Chair of the Social Services Transportation Advisory Committee (SSTAC). Mr. Evans reviewed the results of a survey that RABA and the RTPA conducted of extended hours.  The survey results presented to the committee were based on extending the hours of service to midnight.  The committee determined that midnight service would not be reasonable to meet.  However, the committee determined that if the hours were cut back to 10:00 p.m., instead of midnight, the cost would be cut virtually in half.  Therefore, the SSTAC recommended that money be provided on a trial basis to fund the potential of running bus service until 10:00 p.m. 

 

Mr. Evans noted that two other issues raised at the Unmet Needs Hearing each year are the desire for Sunday service and extending routes to other locations in the County.  He advised that the Committee would like direction from the RTPA with respect to trying to find a way to make those issues work, at least for the densest areas of the County’s population.  Mr. Evans advised that issues with the Burney Transit seem resolvable if a driver that lives in Burney can be hired.  He urged the Board to do an intense search for solutions to resolve problems with rural services. 

 

Executive Officer Kovacich described some of the steps staff took to address Unmet Transit Needs.  A poll of riders was conducted on the RABA fixed route and the Demand Response System asking riders what areas they see as having needs for extended hours, and what areas they would ride to and from if the RABA system was extended.  Staff received 414 responses to that poll.  Mr. Kovacich advised that prior to conducting the poll, staff was hoping to find some pockets where people indicated a real desire to go from and to where a service could be designed.  However, the results showed the responses were pretty evenly distributed across the system.  Staff noticed that there were several responses in the Downtown area, the Four Corners area in Enterprise, the Hilltop area, and the Mt. Shasta Mall area.  Staff worked with RABA to look at any routes that would be feasible. RABA’s recommendation was that they run four routes and extend the routes four hours that would run from 7:30 a.m. until 11:30 p.m.  Those recommended routes were 2, 4, 6, and 11. 

 

Mr. Kovacich advised that RABA conducted a ridership survey on April 9 regarding service during the hours of 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Service currently operates until 7:30 p.m.  He explained how staff calculated the average fare for riders on the fixed route, which is approximately $0.64.  Staff then looked at two different scenarios; one was to charge $1.00 for the extended service and the other was $2.00.  The method used to analyze the data determined that when the cost to run the four routes was factored in, given the ridership, and the requirements of Demand Response in addition to that, it did not meet the 20% test.  Based on that data, staff recommended that extended hours is not reasonable to meet. 

 

Staff also looked at the issue of the Burney Express.  It was noted that the cost to operate the Burney Express had gone up considerably, approximately $2,000 a month.  This is due in large part to losing the driver who lived in Burney.  As a result, the service is starting in Redding and deadheading up to Burney necessitating two one-way trips.  The extra costs are being passed onto the County.  At the time the staff report was mailed out, the projected cost and revenues for that service for the next twelve months brought the farebox ratio down to 9.13%.  Based on that ratio, staff’s recommendation was that the Burney Express service did not seem reasonable to meet.  However, Mr. Kovacich noted, today staff received a voice mail from RABA stating that they recalculated the amount that should be charged for that service and came up with a new projected farebox of 10.31%.  Therefore, staff modified their recommendation that in fact the Burney Express service is reasonable to meet.  Mr. Kovacich stated that he would like the Agency to direct staff to continue to work with RABA to encourage them to find a driver from the Burney area.  Not only is it costing an extra three hours a day, but also it is putting an additional 125 miles on the bus.  Mr. Kovacich recommended that when the motion is made, the Agency accept staff’s recommendation with the revision to include the Burney Express as being reasonable to meet. 

 

By motion made and seconded (Clarke/Hawes) the staff recommendation passed unanimously with the change that the Burney Express is reasonable to meet and that RABA be encouraged to advertise in the Burney area for a driver. 

 

 

 

 

 

8.      Adjourn

 

Executive Officer Kovacich acknowledged and thanked Virginia Webster for hosting the meeting and providing refreshments.  Virginia Webster volunteered to conduct a tour of the facility for anyone who was interested.  There being no other business to discuss, Chair Comnick adjourned the meeting at 4:28 p.m.

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

 

Daniel J. Kovacich, Executive Officer

 

/lcg