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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTrans 2012-06-18 Item 3 - SCATBd - 5/2/12 MinutesJOINT MEETING OF THE SOUTH COUNTY AREA TRANSPORTATION BOARD (SCATBd)/REGIONAL ACCESS MOBILITY PARTNERSHIP (RAMP) May 2, 2012 MEETING SUMMARY L Introduction, Comments, December 20, Meeting Summary SCATBd Chair Dave Hill and RAMP Co -Chair Tom Pierson thanked everyone for attending the joint meeting of the SCATBd /RAMP groups. Nancy Backus, Deputy Mayor for the City of Auburn, also took this opportunity to welcome everyone to the new downtown area of the City of Auburn. There were approximately 85 people in attendance, see Attachment A for a partial list of attendees. IL Opening Remarks Pierce County Executive Pat McCarty gave a brief history of the RAMP group and said that one of the strengths of RAMP was that it was a combination of business, labor, industry, local /county government, and legislative representatives that meet to share and discuss transportation issues. She said RAMP is a long standing body that was formed to have a single voice to inform state and federal government representatives about transportation needs for the South Sound area. Executive McCarty noted that RAMP has a lot in common with SCATBd as far as transportation priorities and needs. Mayor Hill introduced SCATBd and said it was a collaborative effort of local elected officials who were committed to improving the regional transportation system in the South Sound area. SCATBd includes representatives from 16 cities in the South King County area. He said that the South King County area contained about 691,600 people and had over 300,000 jobs. SCATBd members also include representatives from Pierce County, Pierce Transit, the Port of Seattle, PSRC, TIB, and WSDOT. Mayor Hill also announced that the South Sound Chambers of Commerce Legislative Coalition and the Port of Tacoma have agreed to participate in SCATBd's regular monthly meetings. Mayor Hill introduced Rob McKenna as the invited speaker to the joint meeting. HI. The Future of Transportation in the South Puget Sound Region, Rob McKenna, State Attorney General and Gubernatorial Candidate Mr. McKenna began his presentation by briefly summarizing his jobs plan for Washington State. He said it was focused on how to create conditions that will foster jobs creation. His plan was developed based from input from 14 small business roundtables that included 450 business leaders and managers, representing 350 different businesses. He said the key message he heard from the roundtables was that this is an expensive state to do business in, which resulted in not creating as many jobs as we might like to. Mr. McKenna said the emphasis of his jobs plan is to first, make the state more competitive in terms of the cost of doing business. His plan included a review of the state's B &O tax, its regulatory burdens, and the state's monopoly on industrial insurance. Second, he noted 39 Page that Washington State businesses that need skilled workers can't find enough qualified applicants to hire. He said we need to do a much better job of developing the skills and education workers need to land well paying jobs. He said the third issue is infrastructure. In order to sustain a modern economy, we need to be able to move people and goods. He said the key is to look at infrastructure in an integrated way, to consider the system as series of components that work together in a seamless fashion. He said that is why groups like RAMP, SCATBd and the TIB were important because they bring together key players to think about how the region can move forward with transportation infrastructure. Mr. McKenna's said his priorities for the South Sound region included: Freight mobility projects like the completion of the SR 509 corridor that would provide a link for the Ports of Tacoma and Seattle, improve travel times, and create an alternative route for traffic on I -5. Addressing the I -5 bottlenecks between Seattle and Tacoma and Tacoma and Vancouver. Congestion in this corridor affects the movement of people and goods and impacts freight mobility. He congratulated the PSRC Transportation Policy Board for adopting the Joint Base Lewis McChord (JBLM) projects into Transportation 2040. He said he supported the interchange justification studies to look at the interchange improvements needed to widen the JBLM portion of the I- 5 corridor. Finish the SR 167 corridor to the Port of Tacoma. He said this project would also greatly benefit the South King County area and improve congestion on I -5. He said we need to address north /south as well as east /west rail freight mobility to improve freight rail capacity and improve commuter rail service. Mr. McKenna noted that the region's ports are under competitive pressures from the Canadian Ports and South Eastern U.S. ports that will be taking advantage of an expanded Panama Canal. He said other regions are making investments in their ports and we need to stay competitive by investing in our ports. Mr. McKenna said that agriculture, one of the top exports in our state, is on the threshold of becoming a boom industry because the standard of living is increasing around the world and the first thing they buy is more food. He said Washington is one of the top food producers in the nation, and said our transportation infrastructure should continue to efficiently move food products to our ports. Mr. McKenna said that I -90 across the mountains is an important corridor linking the agricultural areas of eastern Washington and the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma. Mr. McKenna concluded his presentation by talking about funding. He said we clearly have unfunded needs. This includes unfunded preservation and maintenance needs, unfunded capacity needs for critical corridors like SR 509, SR 167, and bottle necks on I- 5 in the JBLM area. He said that local funding for transportation has been neglected, and if elected governor he would collaborate with local government to identify strategies to 40 Page 3 address local funding needs as well as statewide needs. He said this strategy might include: The possibility of more public private partnership projects to address corridors like SR 509, SR 167 and the Columbia River Bridge. A public vote on a transportation package, which should include roads, transit, and ferries. McKenna mentioned King County's request for local option authority to expand its transit network and BRT routes, and said this request should be considered. Finally, Mr. McKenna said we need to "do no harm That we should not take away funds from programs like the Public Works Trust Fund and FMSIB to fund activities other than transportation. Mr. McKenna was asked about his thoughts about what new revenue source he might consider to replace the gas tax. Mr. McKenna said that for the near future he felt that we will still be relying on the gas tax, but he also said that there should be increasing reliance on tolling. He also said that Public Private Partnership projects should be considered because of dwindling public revenues. One audience member noted that we over -study projects and asked how the region could better move transportation projects forward. Mr. McKenna said that it takes leadership to get projects going. He complimented Governor Gregoire for providing leadership on projects like the SR 520 and SR 99. He said we need to be able to pull the trigger on these types of projects. Mr. McKenna was asked about his thoughts on the need to also improve local highways like SR 169, SR 164, and SR 516. He said local governments will need to help the state to prioritize these types of projects. He agreed that these local corridors are needed to support growth management goals and to support communities, and reiterated the need for local revenue sources. Mr. McKenna also said he supported local communities' ability to form port districts to improve economic development. IV. Port of Seattle Century Agenda Port of Seattle Commissioners Tom Albro and John Creighton. Port of Seattle Commissioners Tom Albro and John Creighton briefed the Boards on the Port's Century Agenda, a plan to expand economic opportunity in the Puget Sound Region. The Century Agenda is a 25 year plan to stimulate economic development while remaining committed to social and environmental responsibility. They began the briefing with a 5 minute video explaining the goals of the Century Agenda. The Port of Seattle is currently presenting the Century Agenda to the community to get feedback on the agenda's goals. The Commissioners said that these goals are regional and the Port can't reach goals by themselves it has to be done in partnership with the community. They said the Port (seaport and airport) is responsible for about 200,000 41 Page 4 jobs, and the goal is to create an additional 100,000 port related jobs in the next 25 years. They noted that Washington State was the most trade dependent State in Nation, and that it was the job of the Port to serve constituents and to provide access to the national and worldwide market place. The Commissioners passed out a brochure that summarized the Century Agenda which included: Position the Puget Sound region as a premier international logistics hub Grow seaport annual container volume to more than 3.5 million TEUs Stricture our relationship with Washington ports to optimize infrastructure investments and financial returns Triple air cargo volume to 750,000 metric tons Triple the value of our outbound cargo to over $50 billion Double the economic value of the fishing and maritime cluster Advance this region as a leading tourism destination and business gateway Make SeaTac Airport the west coast "Gateway of Choice" for international travel Double the number of international flights and destinations Meet the region's air transportation needs at SeaTac Airport for the next 25 years Double the economic value of cruise traffic to Washington state Use our influence as an institution to promote small business growth and workforce development. Increase the proportion of funds spent by the Port with qualified small businesses firms on construction, goods and services to 25% of the eligible dollars spent Increase work force training, job and business opportunities for local communities in trade, travel and logistics Be the greenest and most energy efficient port in North America Meet all increased energy needs through conservation and renewable sources Meet or exceed agency requirements for storm water leaving Port owned or operated facilities Reduce air pollutants and carbon emissions, specifically: Reduce air pollutant emissions by 50% from 2005 levels Reduce carbon emissions from all Port operations by 50% from 2005 levels and reduce aircraft related carbon emissions at SeaTac by 25% Anchor the Puget Sound urban- industrial land use to prevent sprawl in less developed areas Restore, create, and enhance 40 additional acres of habitat in the Green /Duwamish watershed and Elliott Bay The Commissioners also said the Port is willing to work with the region to identify initiatives such as the completion of the SR 509 and 167 corridors but these also needed to be state priorities. They also mentioned that China is the largest luxury goods market 42 Page 5 in world, and they want US produced products. They said the mission of the Port is to support the region's export business that will supply the China market demand. Cargo and logistic is big part of port business, but the movement of people as part of its airport and cruise ships operations is also a big part of the vision going forward. They closed by saying that the Port is focused on creating good- paying jobs for the region. Bill Peloza thanked the Commissioners for the Port's support in the soon to be completed Auburn $23 million M street project. Mr. Peloza noted that M Street will open next year, and will greatly improve freight mobility in the area. Dennis Dowdy commented on SR 167 congestion. As a result of this congestion, general and freight traffic moves through the city impacting local roads. The City of Auburn is unable to keep roads up to standards. Mr. Dowdy wants to work with Port to find a solution to this local congestion problem. Commissioner Albro said that the region must change the conversation on how to improve freight mobility, he noted that in an effort to streamline the sales tax, it reduced the local funding to address transportation problems. He said the purpose of the Century agenda is to reframe the conversation to address the freight mobility problem. The Commissioners were asked about public /public partnerships to fund local state route project needs. Commissioner Creighton said the Port has partnered with locals on such projects, and said the Port's participation in the FAST program was an example of its participation. He noted that the Port, however, doesn't want to be a roads agency, but they also want to support freight mobility projects. Commissioner Creighton said they wanted to work with jurisdictions to come up with local funding options. V. Briefing on Discontinuation of Seattle's Ride Free Area Chris O'Claire, King County Metro. Christina O'Claire, King County Metro Strategic Planning and Analysis Supervisor, presented Metro's proposal for the downtown Seattle Ride Free Area. Ms. O'Claire briefed the board on the proposed elimination of the Ride Free Area in downtown Seattle. She said this was a result of Metro's actions to address a funding shortage that would have caused a potential loss of 600,000 transit service hours. She said that the King County Council faced this challenge by enacting a countywide congestion reduction charge, a $20 vehicle license fee, scheduled to go into effect within the month. As part of this process Metro looked at other cost cutting measures, including the elimination of the Ride Free Area. Analysis showed that while the City of Seattle paid $400,000 a year towards the Ride Free Area, Metro was still losing about $2 million a year in revenues. The King County Council called for the elimination of the Ride Free Area by October 2012 or to re- negotiate a new agreement with the City of Seattle to address the tree cost of Ride Free Area service. Because of budget constraints faced by the City of Seattle, they said they are not able to pay the true cost of Ride Free Area. As a result, King County Metro staff is moving forward with their implementation plan to eliminate the Ride Free Area service. 43 Page 6 Ms. O' Claire explained what will happen when Metro moves towards a pay as you enter system in the former Ride Free Area on September 29, as opposed to the current system where you pay as you leave. The plan will look at ensuring smooth passenger loading and transit operations, clear communications of the change to pay as you go, and mitigating the impacts for low income transit riders. 1) Ensure smooth passenger loading and operations between buses and light rail service and will include: Maintain light rail headways in the downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel Remove 3 routes from the tunnel to the surface streets Reduce bus dwell times Surface streets Bus zone improvements Traffic signal changes to maintain traffic movement on 2" d 3 h and 4 th Avenues in the downtown area. Fare collection Modify ORCA settings to address one or two zone transit trips, and to minimize driver /transit rider interactions Use portable fare transaction processors, and have transit staff at the rear door to facilitate pay -as -you enter transactions. Fare enforcement and collection through working closely with transit security and operators. 2) Deliver clear communications of change to pay -as -you enter system: On September 29 Metro held a Public Open House with partner agencies Sound Transit, Pierce Transit, Community Transit and Seattle to get feedback on how to do the transition as smoothly as possible 300 people attended Almost 800 comments, very informative Additional public outreach to inform the community of the Ride- Free -Area elimination will include: A marketing campaign ORCA outreach Operator /employee training Coordinate with partner agencies 3) Continue working on understanding how to mitigate the impacts of the pay as -you go system on low income, by communicating with the affected human service agencies beginning last fall. 44 Page 7 The purpose is to understand travel behavior of low income riders, and identify how to ensure they can access the services they need from where they live. An in depth survey found out that over 40% of respondents claim to have a transit pass and that most respondents will walls 3 blocks to a transit stop but no more than 10 blocks. Mitigation measures being considered include: Increase subsidy for the Human Services Ticket program. King County Metro currently provides a million tickets a year to these programs. Agencies pay 20% of the cost and King County pays 80 Agencies have said that they did not want to expand these programs because of the increase in administrative cost to non these programs within their organizations. Donate Vans to agency clients. Agencies have communicated to Metro staff that they did not want to become transportation providers for their clients Working on a free circulator. Not all service needs are inside the downtown core, so Metro is looking at providing circulator service beyond the current ride free area. Metro is working with the city of Seattle on these three options and also discussing the City's current $400,000 payment, which is still on the table to help pay for these options. After the September service changes are made, Metro staff will continue to monitor the new pay -as -you enter system to see if adjustments need to be made. VI. Closing Remarks Discussion made to adopt the minutes of March meeting. The discussion and adoption of the draft 2011 SCATBd Progress Report was rescheduled to the next SCATBd meeting. Chair Hill gave special thanks to David Allen for the use of the Rainier Room for the special joint SCATBd /RAMP meeting. Attendees Name I City /Agency Aaron Williams Russ Blount Scott Mason Sanjeev Tandle Dennis Dowdy........................... Sean Eagan Steve Gorcester Mike Mariano FME Chamber City of Fife ILWU 23 City of Puyallup City of Auburn Port of Tacoma Transportation Improvement Board Mariano Associates, Inc. 45 Page 8 Cathy Mooney City of Kent David Schroedel Tacoma Pierce County Chamber of Commerce John Wolfe Port of Tacoma Grant Fredricks City of Des Moines B_ art._ Ta. yl_ or City of Milton Debra Perr City of Milton Katrina Asay Representative, District 30 Geri Poor Port of Seattle Bob Roe g ner Federal Way Mirror George Walk Pierce County Zach Wurtz Washington State Democrats John Creighton Commissioner, Port of Seattle Nancy Wyatt Auburn Chamber of Commerce Carolyn Cogne South Sound Chamber of Commerce Legislative Coalition William Thomas City of Auburn Br ynn Brady Pierce County Government Relations Monica Whitman Suburban Cities Association Dean Moberg Federal Highway Administration Linh Thai Congressman Adam Smith's Office Ron Lucas Town of Steilacoom Rachel Smith Sound Transit Dave Richardson City of Lakewood Alisa O'Hanlon City of Tacoma Justin.._ Leighton i Pierce Transit Briahna Taylor Gordon Thomas Honeywell Government Affairs Brian Zie Pierce County Charles Wittmann -Todd Emiko Atherton King County Julia Patterson's Office Elizabeth Albertson Kent City Council Lynda Osborn City of Algona Nancy Backus City of Auburn Rich Wagner City of Auburn Bill Pelota City of Auburn Keri Rooney i Pierce County Ann McNeil Sound Transit Pat McCarty Pierce County Executive RAMP Co -Chair David Hill SCATBd Chair Tom Pierson RAMP Co -Chair Tom Albro Port of Seattle Commissioner Chris Arkills King County Executive's Office Jeanne Burbidge City of Federal Way Elizabeth Albertson City of Kent Chris O'Claire King County Metro Paul Takamine King County Metro Tom Swanson City of Puyallup Rick Hansen City of Puyallup 46 SCATBd Meeting Minutes May ?O1? Page 9 WSDOT Pierce County Public Works Best Ways Transportation, Tacoma City of Sumner City of Sumner Maple Valley City Council Realtor City of Burien City of Federal Way Washinqton State Attorney General Port of Seattle 9 47