REASSESSING THE NEW VISIONS PLAN AFTER THREE YEARS

CDTC and Other Follow-through

The continued validity of the CDTC New Visions policies was reconfirmed in part by a review of the actions of CDTC, its members and other parties in the years that have followed the New Visions adoption in 1997. CDTC believes that these actions reflect the plan very well and reflect the fact that the policies in the plan remain relevant to current issues and perspectives. Evidence of implementation of the plan includes the following facts:

· In the 1997-02 TIP update, CDTC members directed available funds to new projects in direct response to the New Visions plan. This included:

1. Full funding for "creative completion" of existing project commitments.

2. Use of new merit evaluation procedures revised according to the New Visions plan to more fully incorporate the core performance measures and social and environmental costs of projects.

3. Treatment of federal highway funding (with the exception of HBRR and Interstate funds and other earmarked funds) as flexible.

4. Consideration of projects based on merit and urgency rather than ownership. This led to programming a large number of non-state projects, particularly in urban areas.

3. Direction of $90 M in funds available for new projects to project categories that were under-represented (relative to the New Visions plan's budget allocations) in the previous TIP. This led to programming $15 M in new bridge rehab/replacement projects, $37 M in new highway rehab/ reconstruction projects, $5 M in additional transit projects (from highway funding), $5 M in additional safety projects, $17 M in "community compatibility / economic development" projects, and $9 M in bicycle and pedestrian projects. No highway capacity projects were considered, due to that category's over-representation in the existing TIP.

4. Use of multiple public involvement steps, including the reservation of $5 M in programming capacity for public input during the review of the draft TIP.

· In the 1999-04 TIP update, CDTC members worked with far fewer dollars to commit to new projects than in 1997, but still remained faithful to the New Visions plan. The actions included:

1. Full funding for "creative completion" of existing project commitments, including provision of all necessary funds to cover the costs of designs that incorporate New Visions features (access management, landscaping, bike and pedestrian accommodations, etc.) The commitment to full funding is the primary reason that few funds were available for new projects.

2. Addition of a $1 M set-aside for high priority Enhancement projects that do not receive funding in the statewide competition.

3. Addition of two safety projects (sign replacement for improved visibility) in the city of Albany and Albany County.

4. Addition of a number of local bridge projects.

· CDTC's Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) continues to be directed explicitly by the recommendations of the 1997 New Visions plan.

For 2000-01, New Visions themes include a pre-Major Investment Study analysis of Northway options; refinement of the transit plan through a Transit Service Standards Study; substantial data collection toward a new travel model; and considerable effort to advance and support integrated land use and transportation planning.

The New Visions plan included forty-four specific recommendations for short-range planning-related efforts. Many of these recommendations provide affirmation and support for existing efforts such as CDTC's Commuter Register program. Others represent new ventures.

Given the ambitious agenda established in the plan, progress made in less than three years since the plan’s adoption is quite commendable; several items -- TIP procedures, project design practices, the tandem lot study, demonstration commuter rail initiatives, a regional human service transportation brokerage, expanded funding for community/transportation planning -- have been advanced considerably ahead of the New Visions schedule. Some progress has been made in virtually every aspect of the New Visions recommendations set.

The details of the New Visions planning recommendations and their relationship to the 2000-01 UPWP are described in Appendix B. The original 44 recommendations are divided in Appendix B; there are 38 descriptions of recommendations that were largely or completely carried out and 18 descriptions of recommended actions that have been deferred, delayed or altered.

· The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT), the Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA), other transportation agencies and local governments have taken actions that advance the New Visions plan as well. Among others, these actions include:

1. In addition to project design and construction of projects such as the regional Transportation Management Center in the past three years, NYSDOT's Environmental Initiative and Context-Sensitive Design policies; new bike and pedestrian design guidelines; and a new economic development policy.

2. CDTA's core service restructuring, creation of the Access Transit brokerage, expansion of shuttle services, construction of the new Rensselaer Rail Station and initiation of the commuter rail demo, scenic train trackwork and Schenectady Amtrak Station reconstruction.

3. The Albany International Airport reconstruction and expansion; the Port of Albany's track work and container facility construction and new master plan; and urban revitalization plans in Albany, Troy, Schenectady and elsewhere.

4. The REVEST regional rail and intermodal initiative developed in April 1998 and revised in March 2000 from New Visions and local efforts; this effort totals $135 M in projects, of which $80 M was fully committed by early 2000.

5. The Champlain-Hudson International Trade Corridor Initiative which in linking multi-modal and intermodal planning efforts in the Capital District with others stretching from New York to Montreal.

6. Passage of the TEA-21 legislation in Washington and the multi-year transportation budget in Albany supporting the budgetary requirements of the New Visions plan.

7. Significant development of electronic toll and fare collection, notably the substantial use of EZ-Pass on the New York State Thruway and shortly, at the Albany International Airport and Rensselaer Rail Station parking facilities.

Public Attitudes

The continued relevance of the New Visions policies is also confirmed through examination of current public attitudes. CDTC developed the New Visions plan with explicit attention to public attitudes and priorities. The extensive task force activity, conferences, use of workbooks and worksheets and public meetings were employed to ensure a strong regional consensus on the choices reflected in the plan.

Attitudes Evidenced in Ongoing Activities

Reflecting on contributions from the general public, environmental community, business community, transportation industry stakeholders, elected officials, news media and others, CDTC feels assured that the New Visions direction is consistent with a continuing regional consensus. Among the items with clear regional support are the following cross-section of New Visions plan elements:

1. Very positive public and business community response to NYSDOT's creative facility designs such as the Broadway Saratoga Springs "gateway" project, with substantial interest in similar treatments elsewhere;

2. Support for greater public involvement and community leaders' contributions to project decisions during project development;

3. Support for further improvements in the approaches used to articulate and evaluate alternative project designs.

4. Increased interest in appropriate bicycle, pedestrian and community-enhancing aspects of highway projects.

5. Visible interest and support for the commuter rail demonstration, shuttle services, jobs access and brokerage projects of CDTA.

6. Very effective development use of electronic toll and fare collection, notably the substantial use of EZ-Pass on the New York State Thruway and shortly, at the Albany International Airport and Rensselaer Rail Station parking facilities.

7. Broad community support for intermodal projects (such as the Albany International Airport and Rensselaer Rail Station).

8. General acceptance of policies to focus on management strategies to address congestion issues on the Northway in the near future.

9. Strong business support for both REVEST and the multi-modal Champlain-Hudson International Trade Corridor initiatives.

10. Public concern regarding traffic noise from the expressway system, leading to a full-scale noise assessment by NYSDOT.

11. Improved designs for the proposed I-90 Exit 8 Phase 2 connector as a result of enhanced public involvement and the use of CDTC's community quality of life measurements in comparing and revising alternatives.

11. Increased participation from the minority community and increased frequency of projects and project proposals addressing minority and low income residents (such as Schenectady's Vale Neighborhood master planning effort complementing CDTC's NY 5 Land Use and Transportation Concept Study; CDTC's funding of the Albany Housing Authority's North Albany economic revitalization project; the South Troy Waterfront study). These efforts show support for New Visions commitments to social equity and complementing federal initiatives for Environmental Justice.

In addition, CDTC can reflect on the products of several survey efforts that gauge the attitudes of the public to current transportation policy.

CDTC's Annual Survey with the SUNYA Center for Social and Demographic Analysis

In 1997, CDTC initiated a cooperative effort with the State University of New York at Albany' Center for Social and Demographic Analysis. The effort attaches questions regarding public assessment of the transportation system to a broader survey of attitudes regarding job prospects, general well-being and the like. In so doing, CDTC is able to gather opinions of transportation in the context of other issues. The products of the survey are thus more likely to be representative of the public's attitudes than either a survey solely focused on transportation or public comments at an open house or hearing.

CDTC uses the survey as a yardstick to measure the success of the planning, programming and project development efforts in the region. As such it is helpful in considering the success of the New Visions plan and public attitudes towards the actions taken as a result of the plan.

The original New Visions plan contained an emphasis on providing a balanced transportation system characterized by the acceptance of modest increases in congestion (the net increase after accounting for committed projects) in exchange for improvements in transit, bike, pedestrian access; overall reliability; and reduced social and environmental impacts. The broad goal for transportation service is to "maintain or improve overall service quality from 1996 conditions" and "enhance the quality of life in the region."

The SUNYA survey confirms that the public judges that the plan's implementation in the first few years is generally on target. Of the several questions asked, consider the following:

1. Regarding congestion, 57.5% of respondents in 2000 said that congestion affects their life "a lot" (13.6%) or "somewhat" (43.9%). These values are not significantly different in a statistical sense from the 1997 response, in which 63.5% said that congestion affects their life "a lot" or "somewhat".

2. Similarly, the differences in responses in 1997 and 2000 for questions about congestion affecting where respondents live, where they work, when they work or where they shop are not significantly different.

3. In contrast, the positive response to a broad question regarding the "quality of the highway system" demonstrated a statistically significant improvement from 1997 to 2000. In 1997, 59.0% rated the quality of the highway system as good or excellent. In 2000, 71.4% rated the quality of the highway system as good or excellent.

4. In addition, support for transit service is reflected in the surveys. Each year from 1997 to 2000, between 93.2% and 96.2% of respondents said that CDTA's bus service is very valuable or somewhat valuable. (The year to year differences are not statistically significant.)

In sum, the ongoing survey efforts indicate that the public perceives the transportation system performing in a manner consistent with the New Visions plan -- with a resulting increase in system quality.

The NYS MPO Association's Statewide Attitude Survey

Further, the NYS MPO Association sponsored a shared-cost initiatives of the twelve MPO's in New York in 2000. This effort involved a survey of eight subsamples of populations grouped by geographic area across the state. The purpose of the survey was to assess public attitudes towards transportation policies, perceptions of existing system quality, and preferences regarding funding options.

Key results for the Capital District subsample (which included counties to the north and south of the four-county Capital District) support the New Visions plan. These include:

1. The public assessed the importance of various transportation goals with the following ranking (the number in parentheses reflects the percentage of respondents stating that the goal is important):

- Emphasis on continued maintenance of the existing highway and public transit systems (97.9%).

- Reduce congestion through measures that better utilize the existing highway system. For instance, EZ-Pass, park and ride and car pools. (88.9%).

- Transportation projects that promote economic development and job creation (86.1%).

- More projects to improve the quality of life. For example, more bicycle trails, sidewalks, access to outdoor recreation, and noise reduction (86.1%).

- Expanding public transit service, such as bus and rail (80.7%).

- Projects that encourage development in existing built-up areas already served by the transportation system (80.3%).

- Reduce traffic congestion by adding lanes or building new roads (77.3%).

These responses both confirm support for the New Visions policies and also mirror the general emphasis of the New Visions plan -- CDTC's complete commitment to system preservation as its top priority; increased visibility of quality of life and economic development projects, and reduced reliance on highway expansion.

2. The survey also elicited support for intermodal improvements (82.2% strongly support or somewhat support upgrading the high-speed rail corridor -- the highest support among the various geographic areas of the state), consistent with the plan's emphasis and subsequent actions.

3. The survey also identified support for transportation spending, with 85.4% of Capital District respondents assigning a high priority or very high priority to government spending for transportation. The Capital District's support was second to New York City's among all geographic areas.

4. The survey reflected the New Visions' outreach results which indicated that there is not consensus support for increased transportation funding. (The New Visions plan is crafted around existing resources and modest increases over time in keeping with inflation and travel growth.) When asked "which of the following ways of raising revenues is best", Capital District respondents chose "none" 39.8% of the time for local funding and 38.9% for state funding. (These numbers are similar to those for other geographic areas.)

5. Even the events of the past few years in exploring fixed guideway transit options in the Capital District are consistent with survey results. Over 70% of Capital District respondents support funding for commuter rail (which is an active option being explored through the demonstration project), but only 50% support light rail funding (exploration of which on NY 5 has led more to Bus Rapid Transit).

In sum, the survey provides strong support for the New Visions principles and actions, and validates CDTC's approach to New Visions 2021 as an update of the existing plan, rather than a wholesale rewrite.

The NY5 Land Use and Transportation Assessment

A major recommendation from the New Visions plan was to pursue a serious examination of land use and transportation concepts in the NY 5 corridor from downtown Albany to downtown Schenectady. This effort is being wrapped up in late 2000 and has led to a "preferred future" generated through an advisory committee, design charettes, workshops and open houses, use of computer visualizations and technical work. The preferred future is characterized by improved streetscaping and bike and pedestrian accommodations; accompanied by significant improvement in transit services and land use and site re-design.

The preferred future fully reflects pursuit of principles of the New Visions plan. In the summer of 2000, CDTC distributed 14,000 newsletters with color simulations of possible future site design, street design and transit design along with a survey to gauge public opinion. The public was asked two questions about the potential changes that provided residents, business owners and property owners along the corridor an opportunity to confirm or reject CDTC's New Visions approach.

The first question was, "Is this a vision that you think the communities along the Route 5 corridor should work to achieve?" 76% responded yes, 20% were not sure, and only 4% said no.

The second question was, "Would you be willing to accept traffic levels and congestion roughly as they are on Route 5 now if we could improve transit, walking, biking, landscaping, attractiveness and safety?" To this question, 79% responded yes, 11% were not sure and only 10% said no.

Combined, the responses from the two questions provide another confirmation that the New Visions principles and priorities continue to resonate with the public.

Task Force Assessment

To further test the contention that the New Visions 2021 effort is most appropriately pursued as an update, several CDTC task forces were asked to assess the success of implementation of the original New Visions plan and to identify changed circumstances and perspectives.

Two new task forces -- a Financing Task Force focusing on cost and budget aspects and a Travel Task Force focusing on travel and demographic projections -- were created specifically for the New Visions update. Additionally, two existing task forces, the Bicycle and Pedestrian Task Force and the Goods Movement Task Force were asked to assess the plan.

All task forces were asked to address the following questions.

For Phase 1 (leading to the New Visions 2021 Plan):

1. How have circumstances changed since New Visions was adopted? What has not changed?

2. How has our understanding of issues changed since that time?

3. How much of the New Visions plan has been achieved in just three years? Are we on target?

4. What facts and factors must we accommodate in reconciling the current plan to these issues and extending it to 2020?

5. Do these mid-course corrections require changes to the New Visions' set of principles, strategies, actions and budgets?

For Phase 2 (leading to a New Visions 2030 Plan in 2001):

1. What issues need further, in-depth examination than can be achieved by the end of phase one? What is the status of this work (locally, statewide, nationally)?

2. What does current research tell us about the issues needing in-depth examination?

3. What factors are (or could be) changing over time that will (or would) significantly affect the plan?

4. What tentative conclusions can be drawn about these issues?

5. What follow-up study or research is required before firmer conclusions can be reached?

6. What policy actions should CDTC and others take based upon this information? Specifically, how should real-world actions being taken today be revised to better relate to this information?

The products of the task forces constitute much of the basis for the revisions to the original New Visions Plan that are reflected in the New Visions 2021 Plan. Briefly, the Phase 1 answers of the task forces are as follows:

Financing Task Force

The Financing Task Force reviewed the progress of implementing the New Visions plan as well as the status of revenues and project costs (relative to expectations of the plan). A summary of the task force's conclusions follows:

1. The region's perspective on the New Visions plan has not changed. Expectations remain high regarding transportation - community integration and caution remains regarding major investments (Northway, rail systems, etc.).

2. Commitment to the plan remains strong. NYSDOT, CDTA and others are working hard to implement the concepts and projects of the New Visions plan.

3. Much has been achieved in three years, including proof that New Visions concepts can be implemented. Great progress has been achieved on major projects that were moving slowly prior to New Visions. Rail elements (REVEST) have moved much faster than anticipated.

4. However, the pace falls somewhat short of the very ambitious schedule of New Visions. For example, the plan calls for reconstruction of 25 lane miles of non-state arterials per year; the TIP funds only 14 per year. (See table for overall pace.)

5. So far, revenue growth has kept pace with the plan's requirements, but renewed construction inflation or failure to pass the state transportation bond (or find an equivalent source of funds) may jeopardize this situation. TEA-21 can be credited for most of the growth in finances in the past three years. More difficult challenges may lie ahead. (See New Visions Funding Chart).

6. Project costs have increased relative to New Visions estimates -- particularly for urban non-state arterials and Interstate work. For urban projects, this is due to an expansion of the scope of such projects and unanticipated costs of utility work compounded by the transfer of administration of the projects from NYSDOT to municipalities and their consultants. For Interstate projects, the cost increase is due to new design features (bridge shoulder width, broader safe areas on either side of the shoulders) and the increased use of night construction due to daytime traffic growth.

7. CDTC is confronted in the 2020 horizon with the double challenge of keeping revenue growth sufficient to meet New Visions' requirements while addressing rising project costs. The task force has helped generate the reconciled budget plan for New Visions 2021 and will continue the budget exploration into Phase 2.

The full text of the Financing Task Force's report is available.

Travel Task Force

The travel task force reviewed travel forecasts upon which CDTC based its 2015 plan and has discussed new approaches to handling travel forecasting for the update. A summary of the task force's findings follows.

1. CDTC's forecasts from the early 1990's have proved fairly accurate to 2000. A moderating of the rapid traffic growth of the 1980's was anticipated by CDTC and is borne out by NYSDOT's traffic counts. There is no need to recreate CDTC's forecasting process for purposes of the New Visions update.

2. The New Visions plan's requirement for a 15% reduction below trend forecasts of traffic by 2015 (in order to meet congestion, safety, budgetary and quality-of-life objectives) appears plausible. (See traffic growth chart.)

3. The budgetary implications of designing all highway projects to fully meet future traffic demand are immense -- and new approaches to highway design are necessary to use scarce resources wisely. The Task Force recommended that the TIP process should be used to more clearly state project objectives consistent with the Congestion Management System principles.

4. It would be wise to explore alternative growth forecasts to test the sensitivity to traffic forecasts of the plan, its results and its budget. NYSDOT recently completed a consultant effort that forecasts a modestly higher growth rate than CDTC's.

5. The issue of how travel may change over the next generation will have to be a key focus of the task force in Phase 2 of the New Visions 2030 effort.

The full text of the Travel Task Force report is available.

Bicycle and Pedestrian Task Force

This task force focused primarily on how successful implementation of the New Visions plan has been, from the perspective of walking and biking. Their conclusions are summarized below.

1. TEA-21 increased funding for bicycle and pedestrian accommodations over and above the ISTEA era (within Enhancement and CMAQ programs).

2. New initiatives at local and state levels, such as urban revitalization, waterfront plans, HUD initiatives, Coastal Water initiatives and NYSDOT Environmental Initiatives including Context Sensitive Design have added benefits to the bike and pedestrian realm including sidewalk improvements and amenities that encourage pedestrian activity.

3. Environmental Justice: This will help ensure the mobility of lower income neighborhoods because they have a higher percentage of households that do not own vehicles.

4. Heightened interest/awareness of bicycle and pedestrian needs and benefits: More local municipalities are showing support and commitment to walkable communities (e.g. the Town of Bethlehem with its pedestrian safety committee and the Town of Guilderland with its bike path and sidewalk committee); new master plans and municipal policies are highlighting the need for provisions for all modes (e.g. Clifton Park has just adopted a Trail Master Plan and the City of Albany's bicycle and pedestrian sub-committee are creating a city-wide bike network) and other organizations are exploring ways they can contribute to a better walkable environment (e.g. NYSDOH, School boards, Neighborhood associations).

5. New manuals and guidelines for bicycle and pedestrian accommodations include FHWA's new policy in response to Section 1202 (b) of the Transportation Equity Act that bicycle and pedestrian facilities must be incorporated into all transportation projects unless exceptional circumstances exist; AASHTO's Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities (1999); and the revisions to the Federal MUTCD's Part 9 (traffic controls for bicycle facilities) which will be available in 2001.

6. A major roadblock is the issue of maintenance costs for sidewalks/trails. Even with developers willing to foot the construction bill, municipalities have chosen to turn down these opportunities because they can not afford to maintain the facilities.

7. Community members would like sidewalks but are not willing to have parts of their property taken or to have businesses relocated. Retrofitting communities with sidewalks and room for bike lanes has been more of an issue than expected.

8. In general, the results since New Visions are a bit discouraging to the Bicycle and Pedestrian Task Force. There was a huge effort to create the New Visions policies and action items but where are the results, where are the walkable communities or at least the commitments? The results are coming slower than desired. New policies take time to embrace but with each project going in the ground an opportunity may be lost. The commitment towards bicycle and pedestrian projects only seems to come if federal funding is available. These facilities are still not considered an item to budget for locally by municipalities - they are not seen as essential to a transportation corridor.

9. In contrast, there are a number of successes to point to, relative to New Visions actions listed in the previous plan:

- Action 34: Four Class 1 facilities in 20 years - City of Troy urban bike path (6 miles)(parallels the I-787), Albany-Shaker bike path(1.8 miles), I-90 Exit 8 Connector (approx. 3 miles), Route 50 in Saratoga (multi-use path) (approx. 1.5 miles)

- Action 33: Spot Improvement Program - The Spot Improvement program was commenced in 1999- 2000 and will be funding over 10 projects in three counties including the Bike Racks on Buses program which will fund 58 racks (1/4 of the CDTA fleet) by September 2000.

- Action 14: Regional Site Design handbook - This project is intended to grow out of the Route 5 land use/transportation concepts study and this study is moving along well with great visioning for the "look" of a walkable and bikeable corridor. With local municipalities responsible for more project work, some type of "Capital District" planning and design guidelines will aid the creation of walkable communities.

- Action 19: Revision of NYSDOT's project scoping and development procedures manual - This action has not been commenced. The revision of these procedures can include consideration for bike and pedestrian facilities.

- Action 7: Priority Network Document - Along with the bicycle and pedestrian network, other networks including transit, ITS, are to be identified for special consideration (for additional amenities, etc.) in renewal work. While the bicycle and pedestrian network has been identified the Prioirity Network Document has not been produced. Having this document published would add weight to the importance of treating these networks as a priority for improvements.

- Action 21: Work with NYSDOT to develop materials for use in the design process - This action has not been commenced. Addressing the design process will help assure full consideration of all modes in facility design, including the incorporation of traffic calming steps in residential and mixed-use areas.

To advance the importance of the needs of bicycle and pedestrians, these action items need to be made a priority item.

10. More time is needed to do participatory public outreach. This time must be factored into the project. Projects will benefit with public involvement from the get-go rather than at the tail end.

11. The issue of available federal funds for construction and the lack of local money to maintain it must be addressed.

12. There should be a larger effort in public education.

13. A top priority should be to repair, repave, sweep - whatever it takes to make existing bike routes and trails bikeable. The State should invest more money to maintain the state bike routes. Facility maintenance should be explored through a regional clearinghouse, best-practice research or a think-tank so that all municipalities can benefit from the most up-to-date information on affordable maintenance practices.

14. Every effort should be made to ensure that the language in the Bond Act supports bicycle and pedestrian accommodations.

15. The Bicycle and Pedestrian Priority Network should be made into a policy. The roads identified in the network are those roads that need accommodations made to facilitate the movement of bicycles and pedestrians in our major corridors. Planning and construction must be done differently in these corridors. The municipalities and NYSDOT must agree to the suggested accommodations for this network. This must be made a priority.

16. CDTC should revisit the efforts needed to allow the New Visions policy to become part of the Capital District's routine planning and implementing actions. Some investigation into why these policies are not always followed through at the ground level should be initiated.

The full text of the task force's report is available.

Goods Movement Task Force

This task force examined changes since 1997 from the perspective of freight and intermodal activities. Their findings are listed below.

1. There have been significant freight related changes since New Visions adoption, including: TEA-21 and the Transportation Bond Act passage; the ton-mile tax reduced; there appears to be less willingness to accept noise and truck traffic; and the speed limit increase from 55 to 65. Further, the REVEST initiative (high speed rail); E-Zpass; a new Air Cargo Facility; Southwest belly freight mail; the Transportation Managament Center has been built; and the Port of Albany has expanded. Additionally,the Conrail transfer to CSX/NS has affected goods movements significantly.

2. There is greater awareness of freight mobility issues than 5 years ago (economic development synergy).

3. E-commerce - delivery schedules, more package deliveries, more distribution centers, freight forwarding and locating near the airport are recent events (12% growth in air cargo next 5 years)

4. There is greater understanding of the Capital District's freight opportunities - that all modes are available.

5. Highway & bridge programs and design improvements appear to be on target. Airport access projects are in design, and the Transportation Management Center is contributing significantly.

6. However, greater progress and renewed efforts are required for delivery access (need guidelines); port access improvements and elimination of at-grade rail crossings.

7. Refocused efforts are required to address the effects of e-commerce, just-in-time delivery, land use and transportation compatibility and tax policies.

8. The New Visions Plan should acknowledge work on the Thruway Tandem Lot relocation, and re-examine strategic congestion locations (NY 7, Exit 24) with actions such as High-Speed EZ-Pass in Phase 2.

The full text of the task force report is available.

Preliminary Environmental Justice Discussion

In April of 1997, USDOT issued an Order on Environmental Justice (EJ Order 5610.2) requiring DOT to implement the principles of Executive Order 12898 through the incorporation of EJ principles in all programs, policies and activities carried out by USDOT. In December of 1998, the Federal Highway Administration issued a similar order requiring the incorporation of EJ principles in all FHWA programs, policies, and activities.

USDOT has since conducted workshops to educate recipients regarding the purpose and requirements of the Executive Order. MPOs and state DOTs across the nation are at various stages in defining terms, evaluating processes and results and in identifying actions to address any inequity.

Executive Order 12898 was created to bring federal attention to the environmental and human health conditions in low-income and minority communities with the goal of achieving EJ. The goal of Environmental Justice is to ensure that any adverse human health or environmental effects of any government activities do not disproportionately affect minority or low-income populations. EJ does not intend to provide preferential treatment to these populations, but rather fair treatment to all populations. Specific to transportation, Executive Order 12898 has been issued in order to ensure that all Federally funded transportation-related programs, policies, and activities that have the potential to cause adverse affects, specifically consider the effects on minority and low-income populations. EJ is a public policy objective that has the potential to improve the quality of life for those whose interests have traditionally been overlooked.

Program Objective

CDTC's Title VI-Environmental Justice (EJ) Program is intended to ensure that EJ principles are included in CDTC's planning process. CDTC's objective is to fulfill this requirement proactively. Yet, as is the case with many other federally funded transportation agencies, CDTC is in the early stages of forming a standard procedure for addressing EJ principles. The following steps describe CDTC's proposed approach to implementing EJ:

1. Educate staff on EJ regulations, issues, and components.

2. Provide staff with case studies of successful EJ implementation.

3. Collaborate with NYSDOT and other MPO's regarding their status/approach concerning EJ implementation.

4. Formulate a standard procedure that allows for the realistic implementation and documentation of EJ analysis and principles.

The approach seeks to answer three core questions:

1. Is there adequate access to the process?

2. Is the outcome equitable?

3. Are the impacts fairly distributed?

These efforts will include a significant technical effort during 2000-01.

Known Contributions to Environmental Justice

Prior to outreach and careful technical analysis, it is not possible to conclude that there are no significant EJ issues in the Capital District. Early outreach in the Capital District by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation identified several transportation-related concerns.

However, there are several aspects of CDTC’s planning and programming processes and of its New Visions plan that have positive Environmental Justice aspects and go beyond typical commitments at the metropolitan level. These include the following:

1. Use of an Urban Issues Task Force during the creation of New Visions, elevating urban social and fiscal issues in discussions leading to the plan’s creation.

2. Inclusion of urban revitalization as a central theme of the New Visions plan.

3. Adoption of principles that make transportation funding available based on need and function rather than jurisdiction. This action has resulted in elevating the ability of cities (which own more important roads and have greater fiscal needs than towns and villages) to receive federal funding on a par with the state highway system (which are largely suburban and rural).

4. Establishment of an “Economic Development / Community Compatibility” budget line in the plan and the TIP. Programmed projects under this heading include several projects to reroute trucks out of low income residential areas.

5. Development in New Visions of a “Community Quality of Life” evaluation criterion which is now being used also at the project level to assess community impacts of transportation projects.

6. Development in New Visions of a “Level of Compatibility” measure to assess impacts of traffic on residential life.

7. Creation of a “Community and Transportation Linkage Program” to respond to local community transportation and land use planning issues. Current projects include a collaborative effort with the Albany Housing Authority in conjunction with its HOPE VI public housing project to revitalize commercial areas in low income areas of North Albany; a Central State Street community planning project in a low – moderate income area of Schenectady; and an effort with Albany County to examine effective, residentially-compatible truck access to I-787 in several communities.

8. Priority examination of transit and community revitalization potential along NY 5 from Albany to Schenectady. This corridor contains the residences of 30% of all households in the region without access to vehicles and is the largest “transit dependent” market; examination has focused on neighborhood issues (traffic calming and discouraging drug trafficking) alongside streetscape, transit quality, pedestrian safety and other issues critical to the residential neighborhoods along the corridor.

9. Priority funding commitment to allow CDTA to complete a 100% modernization of its full-sized bus fleet with low floor buses.

10. Provision of $300,000 of CMAQ funds as startup funds for CDTA’s Access Transit subsidiary serving Medicaid transportation users.

11. Support for feeder services, jobs access transit services and extended service hours to provide better transportation to low income and “welfare-to-work” individuals.

12. Examination through NYSDOT Region 1 of potentially-unacceptable noise exposure levels in residential areas, with the goal of identifying and programming appropriate countermeasures. While the study is still in its early stages, most of these areas can be expected to be in cities, largely in minority and low income areas.

As a result, CDTC believes it has many of the elements in place to ensure environmental justice in its activities.