BIKE: Matters arising

[Roger Baker]

Top oil US EIA statistician anticipates soaring oil prices later this  
year. Too bad if you drive a SUV:

http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=22943



                *****************************************

Better bike policy will have an opportunity for public comment at   
CAMPO's public hearing on the TIP on Monday in the LBJ auditorium. If  
you don't show us and speak for the interests of bike riders at the  
TIP hearing, see Table 6, item #6 below, I'll do it all by myself,  
but I probably won't do it as good as you would   :-)


[Some additional TIP stuff only appeared on the CAMPO web page a day  
or so ago. Until today the only info I had about the TIP was tables 5  
and 6, copied at the very bottom  The CAMPO bureaucracy thus does not  
release key info on their supposedly open and accessible public TIP  
hearing process until posting it on the internet just a few days  
before they expect public comment!

Go to link this link and then you can read Michael Aulick's memo on  
the TIP which I have copied below.  My own comments are all in bold  
and brackets, scattered below. -- Roger]

http://campotexas.org/pdfs/item2Jun.pdf


505 Barton Springs Road • Suite 700 • Austin • Texas • 78704
  P.O. Box 1088 • Austin • Texas • 78767-1088
512.974.2275 (voice) • 512.974.6385 (fax) • campo
TO:   Transportation Policy Board
FROM:   Michael R. Aulick, Executive Director
DATE:   May 27, 2005
SUBJECT:   STP MM Funding Request for CAMPO’s FY 2006 and 2007 Work  
Program

CAMPO staff is requesting STP MM funds for six ongoing and two new  
projects in FY 2006 and add
eight projects in FY 2007 of the FY 2006 – 2008 Transportation  
Improvement Program (TIP).  These
programs have played an important part in transportation planning in  
our region and will continue to
assist in the planning process.  Table 1 provides a history of STP MM  
allocations for studies by
CAMPO and member jurisdictions since FY 2000.  Table 2 summarizes  
CAMPO’s work program for
FY 2005 – 007 and identifies the source of funds.

Ongoing programs that have been funded in previously adopted TIPs:
1. Congestion Monitoring - This program includes data collection and  
analysis of congested
roadway corridors and intersections in the CAMPO area as well as  
Bastrop and Caldwell
Counties.  The program benefits CAMPO member jurisdictions by  
fulfilling several needs:
o it meets the federal government’s requirements for current data  
collection
o it provides current congestion data to local jurisdictions and  
transportation service
providers for use in their transportation systems planning,
o it provides a video library of the congested roadways and  
intersections, which is
available to member jurisdictions
o it serves as a source of quantifiable data for use in project  
evaluation

[This sounds harmless, but if you go to table 5 below, it says that  
congestion monitoring is planned to include "prioritize corridors  
needing improvement".  In other words, there is an assumption that  
congestion means planning to spend money, undoubtedly meaning in this  
context that road widening and not better land use is the preferable  
way to relieve congestion.]

2. CLEAN AIR Force Support – This program provides funding for  
salary, program design and
evaluation, air quality research and data analysis for the CLEAN AIR  
Force and is essential
to the success of the CLEAN AIR Force voluntary programs, technical  
analysis and public
outreach activities.  The CLEAN AIR Force is a regional non-profit  
organization that provides
air quality public outreach, education, and analysis and implements  
voluntary emission
reduction programs.

3. Ozone Action Day Program – This program funds the CLEAN AIR Force  
regional ozone
action day (OZAD) notification program and provides partial funding  
for air quality education
and public awareness programs and voluntary initiatives to reduce ozone.

4. Commute Solutions – This program that promotes a voluntary  
initiative to educate the public,
employers, and employees in the region on the benefits of alternative  
commute modes and
practices.  The reduction of single-occupant vehicles during the peak  
traffic period reduces
congestion and improves air quality due to fewer emissions produced  
in congestion.  The
scope of work for the program includes:
• Local employee transportation coordinator training and resources  
(the “Let’s Ride”
program)
• Zip code mixers, transit fairs, and other promotional events
• Purchasing of promotional items
• Program marketing and advertising
• Administration of Commute Solutions Month (October)
• Annual grant program for local innovative commute solutions programs
• Regional SchoolPool program development and implementation
Page 11 of 15
• Other travel demand management activities
In FY 2005, the Commute Solutions Coalition participated in over 20  
events in the CAMPO area
that promoted commute solutions as an alternative to single-occupant  
vehicles or provided
employer transportation coordinator training.
5.  Employee Transportation Coordinator Training Update - This  
program is the part of the
Commute Solutions Program that coordinates, provides training  
materials and conducts training
sessions for the regional Employee Transportation Coordinator  
training program for local
businesses and organizations.

6. Model Improvements - The improvements to the travel demand model  
include
o Refining the current modeling capabilities by
  Updating the travel demand model based on the 2005 travel survey
  Improving the toll road model using the route choice method
  Revisiting the transit model in the CMTA service area and expanding  
the
transit model to Bastrop and Caldwell Counties
  Adding a feedback loop in the travel demand modeling process
  Expanding the modeling geography and networks to all five counties

[This expressly plans the Austin-area future based on CAMPO's current  
toll road plans. This tells nothing about what assumptions CAMPO will  
use in modeling travel behavior, and how environmental and social and  
economic constraints will figure into their demand model. You can  
derive any policy you want -- and launder your role in shaping the  
conclusions depending on the modeling assumptions.]

o Preparing the 25-year demographic forecasts.

[This item is a hidden bombshell. This one line indicates that CAMPO  
intends to continue to plan the transportation infrastructure for any  
future population for the Austin area they chose. They propose to  
make all the big planning decisions, including where the future  
population will live and work and how far they will commute.]

o Preparing the 2005 base year model calibration in conjunction with  
TxDOT and
transportation service providers in the five county area.
o Transitioning the four-step modeling capabilities from TxDOT to  
CAMPO using a
parallel track procedure.  Perform the four-step modeling process in  
house within 3 to
5 years.

[This appears to say that TxDOT is planning to transfer its planning  
DNA/methodology from TxDOT to CAMPO. Some other cities like Houston  
use their own transportation modeling, independent of TxDOT. Why not  
Austin?]

o Retaining a three to five year consulting service to aid and smooth  
the TxDOT-to-
CAMPO modeling transitioning process and to refine the toll road and  
transit models.

[A five year consulting contract to transition TxDOT's policies on  
toll roads over to CAMPO? This makes it clear that TxDOT is  
determined to prevent any shift away from its current policies.]

o Developing a bicycle-pedestrian mode shift study and off-road  
bicycle-pedestrian
facility inventory.

[Yeah sure, big deal. This one sentence Aulick's memo could mean  
anything. They don't even model bikes as a separate mode now, and  
CAMPO's data indicates that Austin area bike use is falling.]

New programs that are seeking first time funding:
7. Air Quality Early Action Compact Implementation Program – This  
program supports regional
Early Action Compact commitments included in the State Implementation  
Plan (SIP), which are
state and federally enforceable commitments.  The program would  
provide funding for targeted
public and stakeholder outreach and program administration related to  
the on-road mobile
source emission reduction measures included in the region’s Early  
Action Compact air quality
plan.  The program will focus on the locally implemented and enforced  
heavy vehicle idling
restrictions in the 5-county MSA.  It may also address the low income  
motor vehicle repair and
replacement assistance program in Travis and Williamson Counties and  
other local EAC
commitments to reduce on-road mobile source emissions.  The success  
of these programs will
depend heavily on targeted and sustained outreach efforts.  The  
regional EAC Task Force will
serve as the regional workgroup to develop recommendations on the  
most effective use and
allocation of CAMPO EAC Implementation Program funds.

8. Regional Arterials Study - This study would develop project  
specific recommendations and
solutions for the roadways identified for regional arterial study in  
the CAMPO Mobility 2030 Plan.
The study would provide a state of the practice survey of arterial  
roadway information, including
standards and criteria, connectivity and spacing standards and other  
information that will be used
by the CAMPO Regional Arterial Working Group.  The working group will  
develop regional
arterial street design standards and criteria, which could be used by  
CAMPO jurisdictions, as
well as arterial connectivity and spacing guidelines and ultimately,  
a regional arterial
thoroughfare plan.

[This is another bombshell item.  This is a proposal to plan the  
local traffic associated with current suburbanization trends  
associated with the toll roads. Will the "CAMPO Regional Arterial  
Working Group"plan which streets running through Austin need widening  
as part of its regional planning? We do know that CAMPO's current  
2030 plan is based on the extension of current sprawl development  
trends.]

                   ****************************************

The first $ is local, second is federal, then third number is total  
spending proposed for 2006.

Table 5

1 Congestion Monitoring Collect/analyze travel data for arterial  
streets &  highways; prioritize corridors needing improvement.
  $          26,000  $  104,000 $     130,000

2 Commute Solutions Planning and promotion of commute alternatives to  
reduce congestion & emissions including employee transportation  
coordinator training and Commute Solutions website training
  $          12,000  $    48,000 $       60,000

3 Clean Air Force Support Salary, program design and evaluation, air  
quality research and data analysis  $          10,000  $    40,000  
$       50,000

4 Ozone Action Day Program Supports regional voluntary initiatives  
among government, environmental, and business organizations  as well  
as educational institutions in order to reduce ground-level ozone.
  $          10,000  $    40,000 $       50,000

5 Early Action Compact Implementation Provide funding for targeted  
public and stakeholder outreach and program administration related to  
the on-road mobile source emission reduction measures included in the  
region’s Early Action Compact air quality
plan
  $          10,000  $    40,000 $       50,000

6 Model Improvements Refine CAMPO's current modeling capabilities to  
include route choice for toll assignment, network coding for Bastrop  
and Caldwell Counties and population and employment forecasts.
  $          20,000  $    80,000 $     100,000

7 Regional Arterials Study Develop project specific recommendations  
and solutions for the roadways identified for regional arterial study  
in the CAMPO Mobility 2030 Plan.
  $          12,000  $    48,000 $       60,000


  $    Total    100,000  $  400,000 $     500,000

Table  6

1 Congestion Monitoring Collect/analyze travel data for arterial  
streets & highways; prioritize corridors needing improvement.
  $            6,000  $    24,000 $       30,000

2 Commute Solutions Planning and promotion of commute alternatives to  
reduce congestion & emissions including employee transportation  
coordinator training and Commute Solutions website training
  $          14,000  $    56,000 $       70,000

3 Clean Air Force Support Salary, program design and evaluation, air  
quality research and data analysis  $          10,000  $    40,000  
$       50,000

4 Ozone Action Day Program Supports regional voluntary initiatives  
among government, environmental, and business organizations as well  
as educational institutions in order to reduce ground-level ozone.
  $          10,000  $    40,000 $       50,000

5 Early Action Compact Implementation Provide funding for targeted  
public and stakeholder outreach and program administration related to  
the on-road mobile source emission reduction measures included in the  
region’s Early Action Compact air quality plan
  $          10,000  $    40,000 $       50,000

6 Model Improvements Refine CAMPO's current modeling capabilities to  
include population and employment forecasts, five county mode choice,  
menu driven taffic assignments, bicycle-pedestrian mode shift study  
and modeling feedback loop
  $        136,000  $  544,000 $     680,000

7 Regional Arterials Study Develop project specific recommendations  
and solutions for the roadways identified for regional arterial study  
in the CAMPO Mobility 2030 Plan.
  $          12,000  $    48,000 $       60,000

8 Employee Transportation Coordinator Training Update Coordinate  
regional Employee Transportation Coordinator training program for  
local businesses and organizations
  $            2,000  $      8,000 $       10,000

  $     Total   200,000  $  800,000 $  1,000,000



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