Friday, May 18, 2001, CDTC Office, Colonie, NY

Attendance:

Bill Behrens (NYS Thruway)

Ellen Burkhard (NYSERDA)

Jerry Deluca (NYS Motor Truck Assoc.)

Jane Fisher (NYS Thruway)

Michael Franchini (Albany County)

Steve Iachetta (Albany Int. Airport)

William Sheffield (Target Dist. Center)

Ted Thompson (NYSDOT - Region 1)

Katherine Forster (CDTC)

Record of Previous Meeting - In the February meeting notes, it stated incorrectly that Mr. Spigner was with Bax Global. He is with Trans-Border.

J. Fisher discussed the NYS Thruway's long range plan. They have many projects that are currently on-going including expanding the Vollmer Truck Tandem Lot study that evaluated the truck lots at Exit 23 & 24 in the Capital District. The Thruway is now looking at Exits 19 - 25A hoping for nine new or improved sites for the tandem trucks.

Other projects include: "Toll Plazas of the Future" which is a study looking into kiosk pull off areas, large bright LED signs, etc. and "Truck Stop Electrification" where truckers can shut down, plug in, and power up to help reduce emissions and diesel usage. A two-year demonstration project will start either this summer or early fall for approximately $1.50/hour for the electricity. "Reinventing Thruway Service Areas" is a project in which the Thruway is researching examples from Europe and other states of new services that can be provided for truckers.

The last project discussed was the Capital District & Berkshire Studies in which the Thruway will determine inaccessible levels of traffic and identify measures to mediate these levels. For example the Thruway can coordinate with NYSDOT on projects like the Selkirk Bypass to improve traffic. The Thruway would also like to reconfigure some toll plazas to encourage people to stay on the Thruway (especially down to New York City). New signs have been put up and they are looking at a barrier system and one-way tolling.

The County of Schenectady formed the Capital District Clean Communities (CDCC) in 1996. They applied to the Federal Dept. of Energy to be included as part of the Clean Cities program. The group is a coalition interested in promoting clean fuel vehicles. Schenectady County has been running the CDCC however, they have only been able to staff the program with interns. Because of this the CDCC program was turned over to CDTC this year. It will be a good match with some of CDTC's projects and the program will benefit from a consistent level of staff support.

Each year CDCC receives funding through the Federal Clean Cities program to hold an Advance the Choice event and to promote the Clean Cities agenda through a flexible annual program that can include newsletters, meetings and other events. The Advance the Choice event targets a niche market of vehicles and promotes them to interested parties such as a municipal road maintenance fleet or a school bus fleet.

This year CDCC will be holding their Advance the Choice event in conjunction with the May 23, 2001 Tour de Sol event at the Empire State Plaza. CDTC would like to encourage Task Force members who are interested in clean fuel vehicles to participate in CDCC. The next meeting is June 20, 2001 at the CDTC office. Please call CDTC for more information. CDTC would like to add interested parties to the mailing list so that they can receive meeting announcements and newsletters.

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) participates in CDCC and has some of its own funding programs. E. Burkhard gave details on the Clean Cities challenge, which is open to all stakeholders. The closing date is in September 2001. A representative from both CDTC and NYSERDA attended the National Clean Cities conference, which included a presentation by Schenectady County discussing their clean fuel vehicle fleet. E. Burkhard gave some other examples of clean fuel vehicles being used in New York State including White Plains, which uses street sweeps. One of the many benefits of using clean fuel vehicles is that they are quieter than diesel vehicles. It was discussed that the program has not specifically targeted the semi-truck niche because long haul vehicles cannot perform well with clean fuels, such as compressed natural gas because they can't carry enough fuel. There may be some new opportunities with liquefied natural gas in the future however.

Locally, the Albany International Airport is about to commence a clean fuel fleet conversion of their 60 vehicles. This conversion would include on-airport fueling with compressed natural gas for shuttle buses and maintenance vehicles. They will be using an AIR-21 grant for the fueling facility and they hope to start construction in six months. The Colonie substation is just down the road if needed.

NYSDOT – The NYSDOT Access Highways publication was updated in April 2001. It can be obtained by calling William Logan at 474-6377. T. Thompson noted that there is a bottleneck at Schenectady International. Track work will be improved and NYSDOT is trying to help with the expansion. They are looking for funding. NYSDOT is also working with CSX on grade crossing improvements in Region 1.

Airport – The freight access from the airport cargo facility to Route 7 should be done within the year. The Airport has received the environmental approvals to expand the cargo facility. They are exploring large-scale refrigeration. Bidding is scheduled for this fall with construction in the spring of 2002.

Albany Co. – June 21, 2001 is the letting date for Albany-Shaker Rd. It is a boulevard design and the County is sponsoring a new Adopt a Road program to obtain sponsors that will help maintain the new landscaping. There will be kick-off meeting next Thursday for this program.

Target – The Distribution Center is expanding in the northeast. It serves 50 stores presently and will be serving around 78 by October 2001.

NYSMTA – The Motor Truck Assoc. has started a program built upon the Thruway's discounts for vehicle use of the EZPASS program. There will be a larger discount for Association members. NYSMTA is also working to increase the number of divisible load permits because New York State has reached its statutory cap. In New York City the Association is trying to eliminate restrictions for standard size trucks into the city. Presently anything over 55 feet is not allowed. They would also like to eliminate highway restrictions for 53 feet trucks.

CSX – CSX is still trying to advance a property tax change. This issue is progressing both in court and in the legislature. It may take some time for it to be settled in the legislature because the property tax issue is tied to the state budget, which is presently stalled.

Champlain-Hudson Trade Corridor – Plattsburgh Chamber of Commerce is organizing a Trade Corridor Coalition meeting on March 23, 2001at the Albany International Airport. The Task Force is encouraged to attend to learn more about the Coalition's current objectives. The Chamber would like to organize another meeting this summer that would include a tour of the Port.

Cor-Bor program – The Federal Corridors and Borders program has announced its second round of funding. The FHWA is requesting letters of intent. This will be one of the topics for the Champlain-Hudson Trade Corridor meeting on March 23, 2001.

TIP Update – There are no new projects for the 2001-2006 TIP but there are some scheduling changes. CDTC is hoping to have 50 million for overruns and new projects in 2003.

May 23, 2001, Advance the Choice Event, part of the Tour de Sol, Empire State Plaza