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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-07-12 Cities for Climate Protection MinutesJuly 12, 2007 Reading Advisory Committee on Cities for Climate Protection Program Special Meeting Notes for July 12, 2007 (Next Meeting - July 25th at Town Hall) Special Meeting 10:00 AM, present were Peter H., Carol Kowalski, Rob Guptil (CTPS), Tracy Sopchak, Michele Benson, Ron D'Addario, Gavin Anderberg, and Stephanie Anderberg. Special Meeting with Town Manager, Town Planner and CTPS staffperson to discuss process for Suburban Mobility Grant' application - Rob Guptil of the Central Transportation Planning Staff (CTPS) explained Some of the background on the Suburban Mobility Grant program. (CTPS is the data collection and analysis "arm" of the Boston MPO - Metropolitan Planning Organization.) The Suburban Mobility Program has been implemented in three phases: Phase I - a study of suburban transit Phase II - Identifying communities with potential for fixed-route transit Phase III - Flex-route/demand responsive services The program is in Phase III at this time. Suburban load densities and disconnected street patterns don't often work well for fixed route service. Other characteristics which differ for fixed route communities and demand-responsive communities are the population density, number of jobs, commute patterns, and drive-alone patterns. Demand responsive service can be used to target specific populations (e.g. the elderly) or neighborhoods, etc, if desired. The MPO sent out letters about the demand-responsive transit grants. Reading was one of five communities to respond to the letters. The others were Lexington, Bedford, Carlisle and Acton. Later in the meeting, but written here for clarification: The communities are not necessarily in competition, and there may be funding for all five programs. Rob then asked what Reading might want to see from this service. Peter: The town has a very active CCP committee and is a member of ICLEI. Transportation is the town's biggest single issue to address in climate change. There isn't necessarily a lot of congestion in Reading at this time, but we do sometimes get clogs in the downtown. We have some transit service in the form of T bus and commuter rail, and those are now interconnected. We do have a senior van for 30 service hours per week. Our last taxi company went out of business in December. The town has a focus on enhancing its downtown. It's a good downtown already, but it can be more. We do currently have mixed-use zoning and a 40R contract which is due to be signed soon. Reading has clusters of population density, in areas such as Summit Towers, Archstone development, Johnston Woods... The Addison-Wesley site appears to be going to a largely residential development with 350-400 units plus some office space. (Rob mentioned that we could mark such places on his GIS maps, to give him more updated info on the town's development.) The town no longer has school bussing (possibly one route remains) but now that we have 5 elementary schools, all households are within guidelines for not needing bus service. The schools area place where we get traffic jams. We have recently implemented an anti-idling policy for municipal vehicles, and are working with schools for anti- idling messaging. Ron: We have also recently updated our 1-2-3 Pledge with an additional version focusing on transportation items, and we recently launched this new version. Tracy: The town has a Downtown parking committee, and one thing to consider is weighing building more parking against increasing transit potential to reduce demand for parking. Carol: A lot of teachers have mentioned that they live in communities where they could connect to our commuter rail line, but they would then need a shuttle connection to get them from the Reading Depot to the various schools. Peter: Transportation will become a higher profile issue as we will soon have gas station lines as in the 1970s. Tracy: We were lucky to have the help of the middle school students, and an energetic teacher, in the transit surveys. The train station surveys indicate that people are coming from neighboring towns to take the train from here, but they are experiencing a parking crunch. Park & ride locations with shuttles to the train station appear to be desirable. Peter: There used to be a bus from Andover to the train station (possibly run by MVRTA?) Stephanie: We have survey data, and I would welcome Rob's input on what sort of queries he might like to see out of it, so I can consider that in setting up the data entry (I've been having some issues with the set up so far). Rob agreed and I said I'd send him the blank surveys so he can get an idea of what data we have. Also, Peter mentioned that we have traffic issues in the vicinity of the schools, and one important potential transportation node for our town could be the cluster of schools/the Y/the sports fields in the Birch Meadow vicinity. And, while parking was briefly mentioned as an issue in Reading, it's important not to under-stress that issue as it appears to be a growing issue, and a standard response for how to address a variety of other concerns. For example, the recent survey on increasing the library's attractiveness to potential users, there was a question about whether increased parking supply would entice people to visit more. Ron: 93 is jammed, gas prices are going up. You can't get to Boston, not even on 28. It's more and more difficult all the time. So local transit to the train station, and improved train service (including double-tracking) is needed. Tracy: there are populations who can't drive, and local transit could also promote local business. If a bus will go by your house, maybe you'd be more likely to shop in town than to drive out of town to do your shopping. Businesses might support the shuttle through an annual buy-a-seat program. We could put community bulletin boards on the bus to build the sense of community ownership. The buses should have bike racks. Ron: A set route with demand-responsive flexing off the route for pick-ups and drop-offs is desirable. We'd like to keep the goal of fixed route service eventually. We should try to make the route so that people don't have to walk more than a quarter mile or so. Stephanie: What happens after the grant funds run out? Is it administered by MassHighway? Is it a reimbursable grant where we'd have to front the funding? Rob: the grant would be for 3 years, reducing from funding 80% to 70% to 60% over that time, he believes. The funding phase is not his specialty, so he is unsure of the answers. The grant application rating process does take into consideration the plans for financing local match and after the grant period expires. Stephanie: does the grant rating process "care" if the town owns vs contracts the vehicles? Rob: no, and most towns will find that contracting the vehicles is the more cost-effective way to go. Peter: are there additional grants available to help us design the route? Rob: CTPS will do the initial analysis for us, and then if the grant goes forward, they will assist with financial planning and route planning. At this point, our application is just for the feasibility study. Tracy: What do we need to do to get feasibility study help? Rob: by sending in our letter, we have already gotten ourselves into that process. Ron: we do still have the possibility of getting help from the middle school students and teacher(s). Tracy: we also have help available from Austin Prep students and maybe the High School. Michele: can all 5 towns get funded, or just one? Rob: All five can be funded. Rob handed out two maps of Reading, with data from 1999, showing population densities and land use. Peter, Carol, and the committee suggested the following updates and changes: Change landfill to retail Change Frugal Fannies/warehouse area to retail - grocery stores Add Archstone, Johnston Woods, and Avalon (even though it is in Woburn, because the only access is via Reading roads) Add Wood End school Marked school cluster/YMCA/playing fields Marked a few smaller multi-family buildings (approx 30 units each) Marked Peter Sanborn Place Marked nursing homes/senior housing Peter: are employment centers an important part of this grant? Rob: that depends on how we set up the service and which target audience we want to serve. Peter: is it possible to re-orient existing bus route (136/137) as it doesn't take into account the new retail developments on Walker's Brook DO Can the bus route be re-rerouted toward the retail? Ron: An express bus to North Station/Haymarket would also be nice. (there followed a discussion of T services, stations, potential route changes, and limitations) Carol: would it help Rob if we sent photos of some key areas in town? Rob: Any and all info would help. Can we also send a list of key addresses? Stephanie (to Peter): would it be better if committee members send info to Carol, for her to compile into one list/email for Rob? Peter: yes. A discussion followed on the pros and cons of serving destinations outside of Reading.