| Plans and Programs Committee - May 12, 2009 |
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AGENDA PLANS AND PROGRAMS COMMITTEERescheduled Meeting Notice Date: 10:30 a.m., Tuesday, May 12, 2009
1. Roll Call 2. Approval of Minutes of the April 21, 2009 Meeting - ACTION* attachment 3. Citizens Advisory Committee Report - INFORMATION* attachment 4. Recommend Approval of the Fiscal Year 2009/10 Transportation Fund for Clean Air (TFCA) Program of Projects - ACTION* attachment The Transportation Fund for Clean Air (TFCA) Program was established to fund the most effective transportation projects that achieve emission reductions from motor vehicles in accordance with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District's (Air District's) Clean Air Plan. Funds are generated from a $4 surcharge on the vehicle registration fee collected by the Department of Motor Vehicles. As the San Francisco TFCA County Program Manager, the Authority annually develops the program of projects for the TFCA Program Manager funds. On March 2, 2009, we issued the call for Fiscal Year 2009/10 TFCA applications to San Francisco project sponsors. We received 13 project applications by the March 31, 2009 deadline, requesting over $1.5 million in TFCA funds compared to the $796,352 in available funds. We reviewed the projects for eligibility, and then evaluated eligible projects following the Authority's local expenditure criteria, which includes project type (e.g. first priority to zero emission projects such as bicycle facility improvements), cost effectiveness of emissions reduced, program diversity, project delivery (i.e. readiness), and other considerations (e.g. a sponsor's track record for delivering prior TFCA projects). Based on this review, we are recommending funding the ten projects shown in Attachment 3, including one traffic signal detection project, three travel demand management projects, two bicycle projects, three clean air vehicles projects, and one shuttle project. We recommend funding each project at the TFCA amount requested with the exception of the Department of the Environment's (DOE's) Light-duty Hybrid-electric Taxis project. We are recommending incremental funding for 116 of 125 vehicles requested because slightly reducing the scope of this segmentable project allows us to recommend full funding for the other 9 projects. We are seeking a recommendation to approve the Fiscal Year 2009/10 TFCA Program of Projects. 5. Recommend Adoption of the Geary Bus Rapid Transit Alternatives Screening Report - ACTION* attachment In November 2008, the Authority initiated the Scoping period for the Geary Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS) to obtain input from the public and government agencies regarding the alternatives to be analyzed in the EIR/EIS and the range of environmental impacts to be considered. Following the Scoping period, the Study team developed a Screening Framework, which applies several Screening Criteria to assess each suggested alternative's ability to meet the purpose of and need for the project ("Purpose and Need"). In February 2009, the Geary BRT Citizens Advisory Committee (GCAC) approved the Screening Framework; on April 2, 2009 the GCAC considered the draft results of the Screening Assessment. Following this input and consultation with the Geary BRT Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), the Authority prepared the Geary BRT Alternatives Screening Report, which documents the Screening process and describes the set of alternatives recommended for analysis in the EIR/EIS. For Typical Sections, three project alternatives are recommended for more detailed environmental impact analysis in the EIR/EIS: Side-Running BRT, Center-Running BRT with Side Platforms / Dual Medians, and Center-Running BRT with Center Platforms; for East of Gough, two project alternatives are recommended for more detailed environmental impact analysis in the EIR/EIS: Transportation Systems Management (TSM) Basic and TSM Plus. On April 30, 2009, the GCAC adopted a unanimous motion of support to approve the Alternatives Screening Report. We are seeking a recommendation to adopt the Geary Bus Rapid Transit Alternatives Screening Report. 6. Recommend Programming of $2.187 Million in State Element American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Local Streets and Roads System Preservation Funds to the Department of Public Works for the Bush Street Pavement Renovation and Curb Ramp Construction Projects - ACTION* attachment On February 17, 2009, President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). Among its other provisions, the ARRA specifies $48 billion for the Federal Department of Transportation. ARRA sub-allocates a portion of the transportation funds to be programmed directly by state and regional transportation planning agencies. On March 27, 2009, Governor Schwarzenegger signed ABX3 20 into law, defining the state's strategy for distributing its share of ARRA funds. ABX3 20 re-directed $1.6 billion (62.5%) of the total $2.57 billion of state element ARRA funds to the state's regional transportation planning agencies (e.g. the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC)) to program, and committed the remaining $625 million to the State Highway Operation and Protection Program. As a result, the Bay Area will receive from the state element of the ARRA $157.3 million in Non-Transportation Enhancements (TE) funds (i.e., Surface Transportation Program (STP)) and $9.6 million in Transportation Enhancements (TE) funds. These are Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) funds, and are in addition to the $494 million in regional element ARRA funds that MTC programmed in February 2009. The subject of this memorandum is MTC's proposal to provide another $23.4 million in non-TE/STP funds from the state element ARRA funds to congestion management agencies (CMAs) for programming to local streets and roads system preservation projects. San Francisco's share is $2.19 million, which is in addition to the $11.35 million of regional element ARRA funds that the Authority approved in February for five Department of Public Works (DPW) street resurfacing projects. MTC's proposal gives top priority to project readiness given the very tight use-it-or-lose-it deadlines associated with ARRA funds. After reviewing our prior survey of potential ARRA local streets and roads projects, we are recommending programming $1.115 million to DPW's Bush Street Pavement Renovation Project and $1.072 million to DPW's Curb Ramp Construction Project. The latter requires an amendment to an existing Prop K allocation to DPW for curb ramps, to enable DPW to more readily comply with the ARRA timely use of funds deadlines. We are seeking a recommendation to program $2.187 million in state element ARRA local streets and roads system preservation funds to DPW for the Bush Street Pavement Renovation and Curb Ramp Construction Projects. 7. Recommend Amendment of the Standard Grant Agreement for the Municipal Transportation Agency's Balboa Park Station Area Plan (Resolution 06-03, Project Number 113.110001) to Revise the Scope, Schedule, Budget, and Funding Plan - ACTION* attachment In July 2005, through approval of Resolution 06-03, the Authority allocated $625,000 in Prop K funds to the Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA) for the Balboa Park Station Area Plan (Project Number 113.110001) The purpose of the plan was to explore the feasibility of transportation-related recommendations from the Planning Department's Balboa Park Better Neighborhoods Plan, which envisions reconfiguring station entrances and passenger loading zones for buses and light rail, development of Muni maintenance and operations yards for new residential and mixed uses, a new deck over I-280 to provide space for transit functions, and other safety and circulation projects. In May 2007, the MTA submitted a revised work plan for the study to the Authority, but subsequent staff changes and resource constraints limited its ability to proceed with the study. Since 2005, several other efforts (e.g., the Transit Effectiveness Project, the West-Side Walkway, the Balboa Park Pedestrian and Bicycle Connections Project, the Muni Metro East Maintenance Facility) have reshaped the conditions around the station, necessitating a re-scoping of the study. To reflect these changes, the MTA has proposed to formally amend the scope of work of the original study, and update its schedule, budget, and funding plan, as well as change the name to the Balboa Park Station Capacity and Conceptual Engineering Study. The proposed revised budget would result in a lower need for Prop K funds: $570,000 instead of the $625,000 originally approved. Therefore, the amendment includes concurrent deobligation of $55,000 that will be available for programming to future Balboa Park Station Area Plan projects. We are seeking a recommendation to amend the Standard Grant Agreement for the MTA's Balboa Park Station Area Plan (Resolution 06-03, Project Number 113.110001) to revise the scope, schedule, budget, and funding plan. 8. Recommend Appropriation of $77,890 in Prop K Funds, with Conditions, for the Urban Partnership Program Pre-Implementation Project, Subject to the Attached Fiscal Year Cash Flow Distribution Schedule, and Amendment of the Relevant 5-Year Prioritization Program - ACTION* attachment In 2008, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) awarded $87 million to multiple agencies in the San Francisco Bay Area to implement a package of congestion management projects under its Urban Partnership Program (UPP). As part of the UPP, USDOT provided a $1.6 million grant to the Authority for Doyle Drive tolling analysis and other pre-implementation activities. On May 20, 2008, through Resolution 08-74, the Authority appropriated $299,240 in Prop K funds to match the federal pre-implementation grant. The funds were appropriated from the Doyle Drive Expenditure Plan category since the scope of work was then focused on the study of a variable toll on Doyle Drive in addition to other program components. Following discussions with regional partners and USDOT in December 2008, the Authority's pre-implementation grant was reduced to $600,000 and the scope changed to no longer include the study of tolling on Doyle Drive. To date, the Authority has spent $193,000 of the UPP grant and $36,835 of the Prop K appropriation, which leaves $407,000 in federal grant funds available for the Authority's refined UPP pre-implementation scope of work, including program-wide UPP evaluation and further work on San Francisco's area-wide congestion pricing feasibility study, called the Mobility, Access and Pricing Study (MAPS). We have de-obligated the unspent balance of $262,405 from the prior Prop K appropriation, thereby making the funds available for future appropriation to the Doyle Drive project. We have also identified $77,890 in Prop K funds from the Transportation Demand Management (TDM)/Parking Management category that, when combined with $24,110 in state Planning, Programming and Monitoring funds, will provide the required 20% local match to the $407,000 in remaining UPP funds, for a total project budget of $509,000. We are seeking a recommendation to appropriate $77,890 in Prop K funds, with conditions, for the UPP Pre-Implementation Project, subject to the attached Fiscal Year Cash Flow Distribution Schedule, and amendment of the relevant 5YPP. 9. Introduction of New Items - INFORMATION 10. Public Comment 11. Adjournment
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