MEETING NOTICE AND AGENDA

WEST CONTRA COSTA

TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE

FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2005

NOTE TIME:  7:30 AM TO 9:30 AM

LOCATION:   City of San Pablo, Council Chambers

13831 San Pablo Avenue (at Church Lane) - San Pablo, California

NOTES:

• If you have special transportation requirements and would like to attend the meeting, please call WCCTAC at 215.3035 or 215.3044 at least 48 hours in advance to make arrangements.
• Please refrain from wearing scented products to the meeting as there may be attendees susceptible to environmental illnesses.
• Please turn off all cellular phones and pagers during the meeting.

1. Call to Order and Self-Introductions – Chair Mindell Penn

2. Public Comment – Please fill out a speaker card and hand it to the Chair/Staff

      At this time, the public is welcome to address the WCCTAC on any item which does not otherwise appear on the agenda.  With a full agenda, comments may be limited to three minutes per speaker.

*****  CONSENT CALENDAR *****

3. Minutes, Sign-In Sheet, and Meeting Summary from the February 25, 2005 Meeting – ATTACHMENTS

      The minutes, sign-in sheet, and meeting summary from the February 2005 meeting are attached.

Staff Recommendation:    Approve the February 2005 minutes.

4.   Staff Reports – ATTACHMENTS

      Employee Staff Reports from the Managing Director, the Management Assistant, and the Transportation Project Specialist for March are attached.

Staff Recommendation:   Accept the reports.

5. Contracts with Yellow Cab for Guaranteed Ride Home Program (GRH) Taxi Vouchers and Enterprise for Guaranteed Ride Home Rental Car Vouchers – SEPARATE ATTACHMENT

The contract with Contra Costa Yellow Cab, Inc. (dba Yellow Cab of Walnut Creek) for GRH Program taxi vouchers has been under discussion for approximately one year.  Several difficult issues were negotiated including the amount of liability insurance that the provider was required to carry.  The contract has been reviewed and approved by WCCTAC’s Advising Attorney.

Several changes have been made to the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Company of San Francisco contract which have been reviewed and approved by WCCTAC’s Advising Attorney.

Staff Recommendation:   Approve the contracts with Yellow Cab and Enterprise; authorize the Chair to sign the contracts.

6. Resolution of Support for the Contra Costa Housing Trust Fund Initiative - ATTACHMENT

In addition to several WCCTAC Board members, staff has been attending the CCHTF Steering Committee meetings, providing input on the relationship between affordable housing, land use, and transportation.  Resolution 05-02 (attached) supports the effort currently underway.  The WCCTAC Board discussed the Initiative and WCCTAC’s role at a past meeting.

Staff Recommendation:  Support Resolution 05-02; authorize the Chair to sign the Resolution.

7. T-PLUS Planning Grant Recommendation – ATTACHMENT

The TAC supported the T-PLUS Subcommittee’s recommendation (the recommendation from the Subcommittee to the TAC is attached) to fund three projects with West County’s $100,000 for this program:  (1) El Cerrito’s Del Norte BART Master Plan ($40,000); (2) Hercules’ Waterfront District Transit-Based Development Plan ($32,500); and (3) the Richmond Redevelopment Agency’s Richmond Transit Village East Side Public Improvement Plan ($27,500).  The TAC also committed to working with WCCTAC staff to research funding opportunities for the San Pablo project – Giant Road: A Growing Transit Community – which the Subcommittee and TAC felt was a worthy project but did not meet the TOD requirements of the T-PLUS planning grant.

Copies of the full grant applications will be available at the meeting.  If you would like copies prior to the meeting, please call Lisa Hammon at 510.215.3044.

TAC Recommendation:  Recommend funding for the three projects above; forward applications and transmittal letter to CCTA.

8. Future Agenda Items

ü Form-Based Codes Workshop

ü WCCTAC Internship Projects and Recommendation for Funding

*****  END OF CONSENT ITEMS  *****

ACTION ITEMS:

The order for discussion of Action Items is as follows:  (1) Staff  Report; (2) Public

Comment; (3) Board Discussion and Questions; (4) Action/Vote.

9. West County’s  Strategic Plan Projects – Draft Letter to CCTA – Staff – ATTACHMENT – 15 minutes

ACTION ITEM

The attached letter summarizes the WCCTAC recommendation from the February 2005 meeting regarding the El Cerrito BART Parking Garage project, and a recommendation regarding the Wildcat Creek Trail project from the TAC, in response to CCTA’s request in December 2004.

Staff/TAC Recommendation: Review and approve the draft letter.

10. WCCTAC Budget, Dues, and Scope of Work for FY 05-06 – SEPARATE ATTACHMENT – 30 minutes

ACTION ITEM

The following budget-related items are in the Separate Attachment:

(1) Comprehensive WCCTAC budget (including comparison to FY 04-05);

(2) Staff Report with background information;

(3) Revised Job Description for the Administrative Analyst;

(4) Summary of TSM projects/budget;

(5) Draft adopting Resolution outlining the dues structure for the member agencies;

(6) Accomplishments in relationship to the FY 04-05 Scope of Work; and

(7) Scope of Work for FY 05-06.

Staff Recommendation:  Review the documents; provide comments to staff.  Direct staff to forward the documents to the member agencies and request comments by June 10, 2005 or request additional review of the budget at the April 29^th meeting with changes.  Final action by the WCCTAC Board will be at the June 24, 2005 meeting.

11. Proposed Casino San Pablo Expansion – Regional Transportation Impacts – Staff – ATTACHMENTS and VERBAL REPORT – 15 minutes

ACTION ITEM

WCCTAC staff have attended several meetings recently regarding the proposed Casino San Pablo expansion and potential regional transportation impacts.  A summary of the TAC discussion on this item is attached, as well as other information received since the February WCCTAC meeting, including:  letter from the City of Pinole, letter from the city of El Cerrito, response from Senator Torlakson, Revised Casino Plan document, and draft letter from CCTA to Supervisors Uilkema and Gioia (final letter will be distributed at the meeting).  The City of Pinole adopted the Resolution in support of cooperative planning for traffic impacts/mitigations, the Resolution was supported by AC Transit’s External Affairs Committee (and it will go to the AC Transit Board in April), and Hercules staff has indicated interest in participating in a cooperative effort.  Staff will provide a verbal report, as well.

Staff Recommendation:   No recommendation; Board action/direction as appropriate.

12. AC Transit Line 74 (San Pablo Dam Road) – Staff and AC Transit Staff – ATTACHMENTS – 15 minutes

ACTION ITEM

There are currently two issues regarding AC Transit’s Line 74 in the San Pablo Dam Road area:

1. The bus is funded with Air District Transportation Fund for Clean Air (TFCA) funds and, while the ridership has been steadily increasing, it is not meeting the TFCA cost-effectiveness criteria.  Therefore, the TFCA funds will expire in May, and AC Transit will have to fund the service and/or secure grant funds.  The TFCA grant required that AC Transit provide free transfers from BART (at an annual cost of approximately $60,000) which AC Transit must also fund in May, or start charging for transfers which will have an effect on ridership.  WCCTAC Staff drafted the attached letter to AC Transit regarding the importance of the service and possible assistance from WCCTAC’s TFCA funding to provide a portion of the cost of the transfers for new riders.

2. There are neighborhood concerns along Olinda Road (see attached letter from Supervisor Gioia) where the Line 74 bus currently is routed.  WCCTAC Staff, the Supervisor’s Staff, AC Transit, and County Staff have met in the past regarding the location of bus stops along San Pablo Dam Road in this area, and currently the bus is routed along Olinda (along with school buses) due to lack of bus stop area along San Pablo Dam Road in the vicinity.  Staff and AC Transit have agreed to schedule another meeting with Supervisor Gioia’s staff and County staff to revisit the issue.  A potential developer in the Castro Ranch area may upgrade the intersection at San Pablo Dam Road and provide bus turn-outs, at which time the bus can remain on San Pablo Dam Road.

A draft letter is attached – addressing both issues – for the Board’s review, comment, and approval.

Staff Recommendation:   Board action/direction as appropriate.

INFORMATION ITEMS:

13.    Richmond Parkway Transit Center Report – AC Transit Staff – ATTACHMENT  (excerpt – first five pages of the 200-page document) – 20 minutes

Jon Twichell, AC Transit’s Capital Projects Implementation Manager, will present highlights of the recently-completed Richmond Parkway Transit Center Planning and Conceptual Design Study. WCCTAC staff – in cooperation with many other agencies – has been working on this project for the past several years.  There will be a fifteen-minute presentation followed by five minutes for questions.

Staff Recommendation: No recommendation; for information only.

14.    Correspondence/Other Information:

Incoming:

TRANSPAC letter to Barbara Boxer re:  Amtrak Funding – February 24, 2005.

“New Urban News,” Article on Hercules TOD – March 2005.

Email from Peter Loubal Regarding February 25^th meeting – March 1, 2005.

TRANSPAC meeting summary – March 3, 2005.

SWAT meeting summary – March 9, 2005.

Email from Gene Skoropowski (Capitol Corridor) re:  February 2005 statistics – March 10, 2005.

Email from Roy Nakadegawa re:  El Cerrito BART Parking Measure C Funds – March 14, 2005.

Items approved by CCTA for circulation to the RTPC’s – March 17, 2005.

Email from Bob McCleary with a Press Release from Ellen Tauscher’s office re: “House Passes Highway Bill” – March 17, 2005. (NOTE: $3.9 M for the Central Avenue/I-80 interchange in Richmond is on the list in West County.)

Email from Bob McCleary with a letter from George Miller re: “House Passes Major Bill with Local Transportation Funding” – March 17, 2005.  (NOTE: $5M for the parking structure at the Richmond BART station and $1.5 M for the Hercules rail station are  on the list in West County.)

Outgoing:

         Letter to George Miller re:  FY 2006 Appropriations Request – 2.18.05.

         Letter to George Miller re:  Appropriations Request (FY 2006) – 2.24.05.

         Letter to David Murray re:  STMP fees for City of El Cerrito – 2.28.05

         Letter to Martin Engelmann re:  Countywide Model – 2.28.05.

         Letter to AC Transit Board re:  Fare Restructure – 3.2.05.

         Letter to Peter Loubal re:  request for information – 3.2.05.

         Letter to Peter Loubal re:  additional information – 3.7.05.

Newspaper/Internet Articles (all articles from West County Times unless stated otherwise):

         “Governor Goes After Congestion,” 2.25.05.

         “Lytton Tribe Waits for Negotiations,” 2.27.05.

         “Industrial Project Irks Community,” 3.2.05.

         “Lyttons Offer $25 Million to Caltrans,” 3.3.05.

         “Richmond Chimes in on Cleanup of Toxic Site,” 3.3.05.

         “Still a Bad Deal,” 3.4.05.

         “Bishop Ranch’s Efforts Keep 9,000 Cars Off Road,” 3.6.05.

         “In a Bind Over Casino,” 3.8.05.

         “Electronic Signs to Aid I-80 Drivers,” 3.9.05.

         “San Pablo Casino Deal Rejected by Key Sponsor,” SF Chronicle, 3.12.05.

         “House Approves Highway Bill Giving $25 Billion to California,” 3.12.05.

         “Miller urges Killing San Pablo Casino Bill,” 3.12.05.

         “Consider Casino Zones,” 3.14.05.

         “Supervisors Fortify for Urban Limit Line Battle,” 3.16.05.

         “Controversial Issue of urban Limits May End Up on Ballot,” SF Chronicle, 3.16.05.

         “Cities Unite for Urban Line Limit Fight,” 3.17.05.

15.    Board Member Comments/Reports

16.    Other Business

ADJOURN TO NEXT MEETING:

APRIL 29, 2005