Fresno COG Header

Regional Transportation Plan and Sustainable Communities Strategy Roundtable

Date:
Time:
Place:

Wednesday, August 30, 2017
2:00 PM

COG Sequoia Conference Room
2035 Tulare St., Suite 201, Fresno, CA

Toll Free Number: 888-398-2342 ~ Participant Code:  740166



Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Accommodations
The Fresno COG offices and restrooms are ADA accessible. Representatives or individuals with disabilities should contact Fresno COG at (559) 233-4148, at least 3 days in advance, to request auxiliary aids and/or translation services necessary to participate in the public meeting / public hearing. If Fresno COG is unable to accommodate an auxiliary aid or translation request for a public hearing, after receiving proper notice, the hearing will be continued on a specified date when accommodations are available.

I.WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS - Dave Fey

II. PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS

This portion of the meeting is reserved for persons wishing to address the Committee on items within its jurisdiction but not on this agenda.  Note:  Prior to action by the Committee on any item on this agenda, the public may comment on that item.  Unscheduled comments may be limited to 3 minutes.

III. FOLLOW UP ITEMS

IV. NEW INFORMATION/DISCUSSION ITEMS

A.
Approve July 26, 2017 Meeting Summary [APPROVE]
B.
Draft Policy Element (Meg Prince/Jennifer Soliz) [APPROVE]

Summary: Fresno COG received a comment letter on June 26, 2017, on the Draft Policy Element from a group of five community based organizations (Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, Cultiva La Salud, Safe Routes to School Partnership, ClimatePlan and Sequoia Riverland Trust). During the July RTP Roundtable, Fresno COG asked RTP Roundtable members to provide direction on several of the prominent comments received in the letter. Staff recommended that a Policy Element Subcommittee convene in August to review the other comments in the letter in detail, as well as to help complete the rest of the updates to the Draft Policy Element.

The Policy Element Subcommittee was comprised of representatives from the City of Fresno, City of Clovis, Fresno County, an east city representative, a west city representative, a transit representative, a bicycle and pedestrian representative, the Building Industry Association, and Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability a community based organization representative. 

The Draft Policy Element has been updated based on the recommendations from the Policy Element Subcommittee. The final Policy Element will not be formally adopted until the rest of the RTP/SCS is adopted next year. This Draft Policy Element is the version that will go out for public review with the RTP/SCS and Environmental Impact Report in early 2018.

Action: Staff and the Policy Element Subcommittee recommend that the RTP Roundtable approve the Draft Policy Element. 

C.
2018 Safety Performance Targets (Lang Yu) [APPROVE]

Summary: As presented at the May RTP Roundtable meeting, setting safety performance targets is part of the new requirement from the federal transportation bills Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21) and Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) that require MPOs to conduct performance based planning. Future year targets need to be set for each of the five following safety performance measures: number of fatalities, rate of fatalities per 100 million VMT, number of serious injuries, rate of serious injuries per 100 million VMT, number of non-motorized fatalities and serious injuries. Fresno COG will have the option of following the State of California overall targets or setting separate regional targets for one or more performance measures.

Fresno COG has organized a safety target subcommittee to discuss the target options and recommendations. City of Fresno, City of Clovis, County of Fresno, City of Reedley, City of San Joaquin, City of Firebaugh and Caltrans attended the sub-committee meetings. Three options were discussed including the State targets, State Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) targets, and evidence based targets. The subcommittee recommended to adopt the evidence based safety performance targets for 2018 for all five performance measures. The evidence based targets project future year fatalities and serious injuries based on the recent trends. The recommended targets for 2018 are as follows:

  • Number of fatalities: 130 (2014-2018 average: 116.0)
  • Rate of fatalities per 100 million VMT: 1.521 (2014-2018 average: 1.388)
  • Number of serious injuries: 320 (2014-2018 average: 315.4)
  • Rate of serious injuries per 100 million VMT: 3.743 (2014-2018 average: 3.779)
  • Number of non-motorized fatalities and serious injuries: 69 (2014-2018 average: 67.7)

It is to be noted that the final target numbers for rate of fatalities and rate of serious injuries may change slightly due to the use of final VMT from the 2018 RTP/SCS, which will be approved by November 2017. However, the methodology will stay the same. Staff will present all three target options at the RTP Roundtable meeting.

Action: Staff recommends that the RTP Roundtable recommend approval of the evidence based safety performance targets for 2018 with the understanding that the rate of fatalities and rate of serious injuries are subject to change when the final VMT from the 2018 RTP/SCS is available.

D.
Fall 2017 Sustainable Communities Strategy Scenario Results Outreach (Brenda Veenendaal) [INFORMATION]

Summary:  As Fresno COG prepares to release the Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS) scenario results in October 2017 for public review and selection of a preferred SCS scenario, plans are underway to form an outreach strategy. Staff is meeting with the RTP Mini Grant recipients on Friday, August 25th to discuss outreach needs and preliminary strategy options. Following that meeting a final outreach strategy will be summarized and presented to the RTP Roundtable at the meeting.

Action:  Information item. Action may be taken at the discretion of the committee.

V.OTHER ITEMS

A.
Items from Staff

B.
Items from Members

Upcoming meeting dates:

September 27, 2017 from 2:00 – 4:00 PM.

October 25, 2017 from 2:00 – 4:00 PM.

February 28, 2018 from 2:00 – 4:00 PM.

AFTER MEETING: RTP Roundtable Member Spotlight - TENTATIVE Roger Brown, Public at Large