TO: Mayor and City Council
THROUGH: Steve Powers, City Manager
FROM: Peter Fernandez, PE, Public Works Director
SUBJECT:
title
Recommendations from the City Council Public Transit Committee.
Ward(s): All Wards
Councilor(s): All Councilors
Neighborhood(s): All Neighborhoods
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ISSUE:
Shall the City Council accept the Public Transit Committee recommendations and direct staff to return with a work plan for implementation?
RECOMMENDATION:
recommendation
Accept the Public Transit Committee recommendations and direct staff to return with a work plan for implementation.
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SUMMARY AND BACKGROUND:
In mid-2017, the City Council created the Salem City Council Public Transit Committee to advise Council on the role the City can play in the success of public transportation (Resolutions 2017-29 and 2017-43). The Committee met ten times over the course of a year to develop the attached recommendations for Council consideration. The recommendations address ways the City can support public transportation through planning, regulations, incentives, coordination, and infrastructure projects.
FACTS AND FINDINGS:
The City Council created the City Council Public Transit Committee in May 2017 (Resolution No. 2017-29) and amended the size of the Committee in July 2017 (Resolution No. 2017-43). The Mayor appointed 15 members to serve on the Committee, including three City Councilors, members of the community, and a representative from Cherriots. Councilor McCoid (Ward 4) served as the Committee Chair. The Committee met ten times between October 2017 and October 2018. The attached recommendations report completes the work of this Committee.
The Committee recommendations are listed below and further discussed in the attached report. Note that these are numbered for convenience and are not in priority order.
1. Prioritize transit-supportive considerations as part of updating the Salem Comprehensive Plan, with an emphasis on the transit core network.
2. Review and update the Employee Smart Commuter Program to encourage City employees to use transit and other non-auto modes of transportation.
3. Work with Cherriots to update the 2009 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the City and Cherriots and develop a common understanding of how the City and Cherriots can continue to improve working relationships.
4. Review the 2003 Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with Cherriots and direct City staff to report back to Council regarding appropriate actions needed to improve this IGA.
5. Coordinate with Cherriots to identify and implement projects to improve transit time reliability.
6. Evaluate jointly with Cherriots the feasibility of a downtown circulator bus.
7. Council to establish timelines for items 2, 3, 4, and 6.
Subject to Council approval, the next step would be for staff to develop a work plan for implementing each of the recommendations, including budget implications.
Robert D. Chandler, PhD, PE
Assistant Public Work Director
Attachment:
1. Transit Committee Recommendations