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Home My WebLink About12-06-2011 Presentation Walter"". council mEmoaan0um December 2, 2011 TO: City Council FROM: Jay Walter, Public Works DilCen VIA: Katie Lichtig, City Manager SUBJECT: SLOCOG Downtown Transier St udy Presentation The Council will be receiving a presentation at the December 6, 2011 Council meeting from San Luis Obispo Council of Governments ( SLOCOG) staff regarding the San Luis Obispo Coordinated Transit Center Study. The Council will be presented information on the transit center site and design options developed by the study team, and the next steps in the process. The study team led by Dokken Engineering is made of representatives from the Regional Transit Authority, the San Luis Obispo Transit system and SLOCOG. City staff (Tim Bochum, Deputy Director of Public Works and John Webster, Transit Manager) have been involved at key points during the study. SLOCOG will cover the following items during their presentation: • Project Background and study locations • Transit Needs and Operations • Concept Development • Evaluation Criteria for alternatives • October 2011 Public Outreach and Feedback • Planning Study Next Steps • Future project phases and Project Implementation • Questions and Comments Additional background materials provided by SLOCOG are also available in the Council Reading File. ATTACHMENT San Luis Obispo Coordinated Transit Center Study information sheet hard cs► ernail• • COUNCIL. o CDD DIR • CITY MGR o FIT DIR • ASST CM o FIRE CHIEF • ATTORNEY o PW DIR • CLERKIORIG o POLICE CHIEF • FIB o PARKS & REC DIR • TRIBUNE o UTIL D1R • NEW TIMES o HR DIR • 3LA CITY NEWS o COUNCIL o CITY MOR o CLERK RED FILE MEETING AGENDA DATL -/-2 !! ITEM #�%�t x) San Luis Obispo Coordinated Transit Center Study Purpose of the December 6th 2010 City Council Presentation Per the City Manager's request, the consultant to SLOCOG will present progress made -to -date on this conceptual study; the purpose of the presentation is to solicit comments and feedback from the City Council on the transit center site and design options developed by the study team. The study team led by Dokken Engineering is made of representatives from the Regional Transit Authority, the San Luis Obispo Transit system and SLOCOG. Other team members are the LSC Transportation Consultants (transit operations and traffic analysis) and The Majic Consulting Group (public participation support). Summary of Tasks performed to date • History: In April 2011, the team reviewed prior efforts by the City to identify candidate locations for a future transit center in the downtown area; the last study was completed in 2003 and combined a new parking structure with a new transit center in the North Higuera area (NARF). No follow up action was taken by the City per direction from the City Council. The current study led by SLOCOG solely focuses on the location and conceptual design alternatives for a transit center. It is meant to either expand /upgrade the existing Osos Street facility (between Mill and Monterey) or to start a new facility near North Higuera Street (between Toro and Santa Rosa) • Operating Parameters: in April 2011, the team assessed the physical requirements for a future transit facility. This effort combined a review of existing services, future services and current operating constraints, especially on the RTA side of the existing Osos Street transfer facility. In order to meet future demand and address current deficiencies (namely capacity, passenger safety and lack of proper amenities), the consultant recommended developing alternatives with a minimum of 16 bus bays and a dedicated transit center building (about 5,000 square feet). • Initial Public Outreach: in May 2011, the team held a public workshop at the downtown library to introduce the transit center study, give examples of existing transit centers in other small cities and gather feedback via a survey tool on the desired passenger amenities for a future facility. The public was given the two general locations either staying on /near Osos Street or moving to North Higuera, without site specific lay out or operating details. General feedback from the transit riders surveyed as well as from participants at the Thursday Farmers Market booth showed no strong consensus on which of the two locations would be the most attractive. Features that ranked the highest were: an enclosed waiting area, restrooms for transit patrons, a sheltered shaded waiting area, schedules and information as well as bus arrival information. • Initial Transit Center Options: Between June and September 2011, the team developed conceptual design concepts for a range of alternatives at both the Osos Street and the North Higuera Street locations. SLOCOG staff made contacts with directly impacted property owners, whose input led to refinements to the original draft concepts. As of October 2011, for the second public outreach, the following options were presented to the public: Higuera # 2, Higuera # 3 and Higuera # 5 together with Osos # 1 through # 3. Higuera #1 would be a first phase of Higuera # 2 with only 14 bus bays; Higuera # 4 would block all driveway access on the Bank of America side of Higuera Street and was dropped from further consideration. • Evaluation Criteria: In July 2011, the team prepared an evaluation matrix using both quantitative and qualitative criteria grouped as follows: Site Characteristics; Transportation Service; Socio- Economic; Cost; Environmental; Policy /Planning Integration and Other. Those criteria will be used to compare the remaining Transit Center Alternatives and assess which is one is the best long term alternative (Early January 2012 completion). • Second Public Outreach: In mid - October 2011, the team held a second public workshop and open house at the downtown library to present the above transit center alternatives and get feedback from the participants. Formal notice of the open house was sent to over 850 property owners and tenants within a 650 -feet radius of the two candidate locations. Transit riders were notified via posting on board the buses. Two separate presentations were made and feedback gathered via comment cards and verbal input. The team also shared a booth with Regional Rideshare at the Thursday Farmers' Market and gathered input from the general public. • Feedback from the October Public Outreach: With more site - specific information presented in October, feedback came from different angles. Several sources, including the County of San Luis Obispo staff and the main property owner (Vintage Properties) adjacent to the current Osos Street facility expressed many concerns about any future expansion of this facility at or near Osos Street and viewed a new facility at Higuera Street as a better long -term solution. Most property owners directly impacted by the proposed Higuera Street Alternatives (Michael Blum and Stanford Clinton) stated their initial support for the transit center project; in particular interest was expressed for forming a public private partnership to fund and implement a transit hub project. Among a Cal Poly class of 21 students, more than 70% stated preference for relocating the center to North Higuera Street. • Refined Alternatives: In November 2011, the team refined the transit center options based on feedback received at the public workshop. One refined option is Osos Alternative # 4, which shifts some of the bus bays onto the south side of Mill Street (Morro to Osos) and reduces the impacts of Osos Alternative # 1 upon the City parking lot adjacent to City Hall and the existing SLO Transit transfer center. Another refined option is Higuera Alternative # 6, which slightly increases the footprint of the properties needing to be acquired and enables to have two -lane southbound traffic along the full length of Higuera Street (Toro to Santa Rosa) and maintains the on street parking and current driveway access onto the Bank of America side of Higuera Street. Next Steps for the Study • Evaluate Transit Center Concepts and Sites (December 2011) • Prepare Planning Cost Estimates and Identify Financing Options (Dec 2011 -Jan 2012) • Identify Best Long -term Transit Center Alternative and Short -term Improvements (January- February 2012) • Bring Findings and Recommendations to SLOCOG Board (April 2012)