Notes from April 14th Meeting

Notes taken by Stephanie Taylor.

Green LA Coalition Transportation Work Group Meeting 4/14/09
at Coalition for Clean Air – 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm

Notes

AGENDA

1. Work Plan – Identify benchmarks and timelines
2. City Budget
3. Mayor’s Meeting Review and Confirm Accomplishment & Ask
4. Presentation on Cicolvia
5. Updates/Report Back
1. Federal Stimulus
2. Federal Reauthorization
3. Metro Board – new members
4. Measure R – any immediate steps (?)
5. National Bike Summit

Work Plan

1) Complete Streets:

* Need to create a statement about Complete Streets to add to the blog.
Legal definition… state level, Caltrans Deputy Directives 64.
Also, add resources. – walkability checklist.

Action Items:
1. Joe will write a statement.  Complete Streets has all modes, cars, bikes, transit, ped… doesn’t favor one mode.
2. Jerard will send out email asking for photos with a blog link
3. Joe made a blog, we could post comment with links and do a flickr page.
4. Stephen Box will add legal definitions.   Add the Good magazine links.
Find any research on sidewalk standards.
5. Stephen Villavaso will send links on Austin Complete Streets.

2) Wilshire Bus Only Lane:

Ask the BRU – to see what the status is.  Follow their lead.  If we wanted to we could generate a list of possible good prospects for additional bus only lane.  The city of LA is doing this but reluctantly… if there was an outcry for more, maybe they’ll move quicker.

Action Item:
1. Joe will follow up with BRU to see if pressure points.

City Budget:

City of LA- budget comes out on Monday.  Facing $530 million deficit.

The bike and ped budget is a mystery.

If we had an ask: Don’t gut the bike and ped budget.

We could look it at the budget and analyze to try to influence the council to modify it for bike and ped projects.   Budget should be tied to a departmental strategic plan to establish priorities to hold them accountable and let departments be rewarded for performance.

Action items:
1) Take a look at Measure R with budget.
2) Stephanie will ask Jaime de la Vega about how the Measure R Local Return allocation will be decided.

Parking Ordinance:

* Do we want to get CRA support on the ordinance?  Look at downtown parking study.  Yes, we should meet with CRA.
* Would it revise traffic impact analysis?  No in transit rich places, have 20% excess parking.  The traffic impact analysis guides the …
* Parking update- The City of LA is attempting to sell their parking revenue for upfront money.  Chicago  sold their parking revenue for $500 million.  Not a good idea- it would privatize meter readers… bust union labor.    City gives up control and ability to use parking policy as a tool.
* Damien will write a blog about it tomorrow.
* The Mayor’s office was excited, but the council liked the revenue but had questions about control.  The mayor formed a task force.
* Budget gimmicks for one time borrowing is bad because it doesn’t address the structural problems.
* Push to have city to have a public private partnership template.
* The TOD Parking report will be done by April 30. Next step to shop it around to city council.

Measure R/Local Returns:

How other cities are using local returns (report from Tom Johnson):
* City of Bellflower-  Pacific Edison train tracks – put a bike path.    Used their Fed Stimulus.
* Long Beach – wants to spend $1 million on bike improvements – shared road, bike box- safe place to weight.
* Lakewood Blvd – Caltrans is responsible for its a highway.  So if want to make a bike lane, need to go with city.  City has to submit plan to Caltrans, but Caltrans hasn’t told them what to submit.
* A lot of cities haven’t figured out what to do with Local Return money.
* Increase connectivity to LA and other cities.

Action Item:
1. Set up a meeting with Rita Robinson as a new Metro board member.  First need to develop an ask.

Ciclovia Presentation:

Stephen Villavaso and Bobby Gadda of the LA Bicycle Coalition gave a presentation on the Ciclovia and LA’s effort (ClicLAvia).  Would like to pilot a Ciclavia in LA in the summer. Talking to Garcetti’s office about Hollywood Blvd.

www.ciclavia.wordpress.com

Action Items:
1) Raise awareness of the Ciclavia concept.  Share the link on facebook.
2) Send the link to the workgroup
3) When the right time, the group can write a support letter.