Fb 16 Presentation - Year 2035 Long Range Transportation Plan for Gainesville

Metropolitan Transportation Planning Organization fortheGainesvilleurbanized AREA

M BILITY NEWS

Livable Community Reinvestment Plan www.livabletransportation.org VOL 1 2010

YEAR 2035 Long RangeTransportation Plan

WORKSHOP

NOTICE

Please join us for a Public Workshop on the Year 2035 Livable Community Reinvestment Plan Update–

your Transportation Plan for the Gainesville Metropolitan Area – as we begin to develop

the Year 2035 Needs Plan.

Tuesday, February 16

5:30 – 8:00 PM

(Presentation at 6:00 PM)

The Thomas Center, Spanish Court

302 NE 6th Avenue, Gainesville, FL

We want to know what you think!

• How can we better connect people and

destinations in the Gainesville area by car, bus/

bus rapid transit, streetcar, biking, and walking?

• What are the best ways to address the potential

effects of peak oil production and greenhouse

gases on our transportation network?

• How will we know if our transportation plan is

effective? What should we measure?

This workshop is your opportunity to help shape the transportation network alternatives before the Metropolitan Transportation Planning Organization approves them for evaluation in March 2010. The Needs Plan will identify how to meet our community’s transportation needs through the Year 2035 and will incorporate ideas, problems and solutions suggested at this workshop.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Public Workshop #2

Needs Plan and Network Alternatives

February 16, 2010 • 5:30 – 8:00 PM

Needs Plan Public Hearing

August 23, 2010

Public Workshop #3

Cost Feasible Plan

September 2010 (Date TBD)

Cost Feasible Plan Public Hearing

October 4, 2010

The Gainesville Metropolitan Transportation Planning Organization (MTPO) includes elected officials from the City of Gainesville and Alachua County who work together to decide how to spend federal and state money to improve the Gainesville metropolitan area’s transportation system.

Public participation is solicited without regard to race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, familial status, religious status, marital status, sexual orientation, or gender identity. Persons who require special accommodations under the Americans with

IN THIS ISSUE:

Accessibility Analysis To Guide

Transportation Network Alternatives 2

Developing Strategies For Peak Oil 3

Developing the Needs Plan 3

Vision, Goals and Objectives 4

Relationship with UF Campus Master Plan 4

Accessibility Analysis To Guide

Transportation Network Alternatives

Access – along with mobility – is one of the two primary considerations in transportation planning that is often overlooked in how we measure transportation performance. Accessibility refers to the ability to get from one place to another; it is measured in terms of land use-transportation linkages (such as access to jobs, a school or the grocery store) and proximity to various travel options people may have available to them. While access centers on connectivity, mobility tends to emphasize speed, or the efficiency of simply getting from Point A to Point B. We need to have both for a good transportation network. In some neighborhoods or on some kinds of roads, it makes sense to place priority of one over the other.

A central feature of the Year 2035 Long Range Transportation Plan is an "accessibility analysis" that examines all of Alachua County in terms of access to land use destinations and the variety of travel options. The map below depicts areas that have been rated in terms of low, medium or high accessibility based on projected Year 2035 population and employment, as defined in adopted county, city and university plans. The variables used to develop this map include intersection density (a measure of street connectivity and an indicator of safety and likelihood of people walking, riding bicycles or taking transit), bus route accessibility (including location of stops and frequency of service), bicycle facility locations and traffic speed, land use mix, and proximity to retail, civic and educational destinations.

Based on the analysis, less than 30 percent of Alachua County population and 55 percent of the jobs in the Year 2035 will be located in "high" accessibility areas. More than 40 percent of Alachua County residents and nearly a quarter of jobs will be in areas rated "low" for accessibility. As the MTPO considers new transportation alternatives, such as Bus Rapid Transit, or expansion of bike trails, new bus routes and park-and-ride lot locations, the accessibility measures will change to reflect those investments. Of course, the other side of the policy coin is encouraging more people and jobs to locate in areas that already have high accessibility, such as East Gainesville and the area to the north of downtown Gainesville. The accessibility analysis will be a factor in developing the final Year 2035 plan.

2035 Accessibility Analysis

for Alachua County

Accessibility

by Area

Low

Medium

High

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Developing the Needs Plan

There are two primary components of the Year 2035 Transportation Plan: a Needs Plan and a Cost Feasible Plan. The Needs Plan will be adopted by the MTPO first – likely at its August meeting – and it provides the foundation for the Cost Feasible Transportation Plan, which will be approved in October or November 2010, based on estimated local, state and federal revenue for needed transportation projects over the next 25 years. The Needs Plan identifies the desired direction the community will take to meet mobility needs in the Gainesville Metropolitan Area, without limitations to available revenue. In essence, it is a wish list based on ideas, problems and solutions suggested from the public. But an effective Needs Plan must be realistic, have community support, and present a logical and attainable strategy to address improvements to both mobility and access, even if the money is not currently available for all of the projects.

The Year 2035 Needs Plan will be developed based on evaluation of four network alternatives and projected growth in households and jobs as defined in the adopted city and county comprehensive plans. The four alternative networks include: 1) a transit-focused alternative, primarily emphasizing a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, express bus service with connections to park-and-ride locations; 2) a highway emphasis alternative, addressing new street connections and selected road widening projects; and 3) a streetcar or rail-focused alternative with complementary BRT and expanded bus service. The fourth alternative will entail a hybrid of the three alternatives, combining the best elements from each. At the February 16th workshop, the community will have an opportunity to shape these alternatives before the MTPO approves them for evaluation.

Over the next several months, the alternatives will be tested and recommendations developed based on how well they address traffic congestion, improve accessibility and mobility for people and goods, lower vehicle miles of travel, and support community livability.

Developing Strategies For Peak Oil

Two global issues have become key considerations in the Year 2035 Transportation Plan: the concept of "peak oil" and the issue of greenhouse gases. Respected international energy authorities have estimated that the world will likely reach its peak production of fossil fuels by 2020. As we reach this point, the price of oil is expected to become increasingly volatile. Recall the price shock of 2008 when gas prices rose to over $4 per gallon. Peak oil does not mean the end of oil production, but the end of cheap oil.

Thus, as oil production costs rise, so too will gas prices at the pump and the cost of manufacturing many goods and services. This is likely to have far-reaching impacts on where and how people live, how they travel and how they get their basic supplies. As a result of efforts by the Alachua County Energy Conservation Strategies Commission, the MTPO voted to ensure the Year 2035 Plan will include land use and transportation strategies related to the anticipated effects of peak oil production and decline. Along similar lines, greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) from human sources are a source of concern. Research has shown that the transportation sector is responsible for as much as 30 percent of GHGs in the U.S., primarily from motor vehicles starting up and idling. The Federal Highway Administration and Florida Department of Transportation have asked all MPOs to incorporate analysis of GHGs and strategies to reduce emissions into their Long Range Transportation Plans. This is most commonly measured in terms of Vehicle Miles of Travel (VMT), which accounts for the number of vehicle trips and length of those trips. Reducing congestion, changing land use patterns to reduce travel distances for most trips, greater use of transit and ridesharing, and getting more people to walk or bicycle for their trips can all be part of a strategy to reduce VMT.

Both of these issues will be evaluated as part of the Year 2035 Plan by testing different factors related to VMT, including modifications to the transportation networks to improve accessibility for different ways to travel. The alternatives will be evaluated and recommendations developed for transportation projects and other strategies that will have the greatest impact on reducing VMT and energy consumption in the Gainesville/Alachua County region.

Mobility News/2035 Livable Community Reinvestment Plan 3

Year 2035 Transportation Plan Coordinated with UF Campus Master Plan

Because travel associated with the University of Florida has a profound influence on Gainesville/Alachua County travel patterns, the Year 2035 Transportation Plan is being coordinated with development of the University of Florida’s Campus Master Plan Transportation Element. Consistency in data collection, sharing of data, and common planning assumptions are essential to creating complementary transportation plans for both the University and Gainesville/ Alachua County. For that reason, data collection and modeling efforts have been conducted concurrently.

Data collected for the Campus Master Plan included a travel behavior survey to determine an estimate of campus mode share (how people get to campus) and identify some key characteristics of travel to and on campus. Based on the overall survey results, an estimated 39 percent travel to campus by transit, 24 percent drive alone, 19 percent walk or run, 10 percent ride a bicycle, 4.5 percent carpool, and three percent ride a motorcycle or scooter. Survey results showed a high use of carpooling, transit, and walking for students, while faculty and staff were more likely to drive alone or carpool than take the bus.

The Needs Plans for both the UF Campus Master Plan Transportation Element and the Year 2035 Transportation Plan will be developed over the next several months. Future transit service is a key issue for both plans, as can be seen by the high transit ridership among UF students. A large number of UF faculty and staff live within Gainesville and Alachua County, and the Bus Rapid Transit, streetcar, and park-and-ride facilities under consideration for enhanced transit service would provide them with more transportation options. Coordination of these two planning efforts will also improve timing and financial opportunities for needed transportation projects once the Cost Feasible Plan is adopted and available funds are allocated over the next several years.

Vision, Goals and Objectives Provide Basis for Plan Development

The Year 2035 Transportation Plan is guided by a vision for the future of transportation in the Gainesville Urbanized Area and a set of goals and objectives that provide further detail on how the vision shall be accomplished. The vision, goals and objectives for the Year 2035 plan are based on those written for the previous Transportation Plan and have been updated to address changing requirements relating to safety, security and greenhouse gas emissions, as well as key local priorities, such as peak oil production and energy conservation.

The vision articulates the community’s desire for a multimodal transportation system based on integrated land use and transportation planning through community well-being and partnerships. The goals and objectives focus on key themes in creating the transportation network that achieves the Year 2035 vision: economic vitality and community livability, sustainable decision-making and preservation, safety for mobility and accessibility, security and resilience, and transportation network management and operations. The vision, goals, and objectives will guide development of the Needs and Cost Feasible Plans and will provide direction for benchmarks and targets that can be used to evaluate how well the plan is performing in achieving the desired transportation network. The vision, goals and objectives were adopted by the MTPO in December 2009, and a revised version will be considered for adoption in March 2010.

The MetropolitanTransportation

PlanningOrganization

The MTPO includes elected officials from the City of Gainesville and Alachua County who work together to decide how to spend federal and state money to improve the Gainesville Metropolitan Area’s transportation system.

For more information, please contact:

Mr. Marlie Sanderson, Assistant Executive Director

North Central Florida Regional Planning Council

2009 NW 67th Place

Gainesville, FL 32653-1603

(352) 955-2200, ext. 103

www.livabletransportation.org

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