OF THE 2003-04 UPWP
New Visions 2030 and Quality Region Initiative
In February 2002, a new task force was launched to oversee a visioning
exercise for the 2030 plan. The effort
implements the New Visions' recommendation for an update to the Capital
District Regional Planning Commission's "Regional Development
Plan". Labeled the Quality Region
Initiative, work will pick up intensity in the 2003-04 program year and material will be developed for public review and
discussion by the end of the year.
The
Travel Task Force will resume discussions and pick up the new issue of policy
treatment of possible growth-related travel increases. The New Visions for a Quality Region / Visioning
effort will continue, moving to a focus on transportation system issues and
local planning tools in 2003-04.
Involvement in ARISE, CEG and other regional efforts can be expected to
require significant time and attention over the coming year.
The Finance Task Force will
also reconvene in 2003-04 for critical aspects of the 2030 planning effort.
NY 5 Implementation
The NY 5 Land Use and Transportation Concept Plan was
adopted by CDTC as a revision to the New Visions 2021 plan in October
2001. During 2003-04, the Bus Rapid
Transit / Street Design Committee will continue to meet to refine street
section concepts and to help with the community-based planning of the NY 5 BRT
system. In addition, CDTC's zoning review
project will be completed. A broad-based
NY5 Coalition will meet regularly to help facilitate implementation of study
recommendations.
Linkage Program Year Four
Considerable activity is related to the Community and
Transportation Linkage program, which has become a major component of CDTC's
annual work effort. In an effort to
streamline the process, CDTC instituted a "Request for Expressions of
Interest" (REI) procedure in
2002-03 which minimizes consultants' preparation work and reviewers' work in
selecting consultants while maximizing the breadth of potential consultants'
participation. CDTC works hard to
implement a policy of "fair access" to contracting opportunities.
The 2003-04 program will a
recommendation for seven new Linkage studies.
The new work represents approximately $360,000 in federal, state and
local funding commitment to consultant work and CDTC staff effort; an
additional $75,000 in staff support is required to prepare and administer the
multitude of CDTC-municipal agreements, consultant solicitations, and consultant
contracts.
The transportation - land use cooperative planning program
will continue to expand in terms of its relationship to project development
work. A North Greenbush master planning
effort funded with I-90 Exit 8 Connector Phase 2 TIP project funds will also
get underway in 2003-04, as will another TIP-funded "Linkage type"
corridor master planning effort along Balltown Rd. in Niskayuna and Clifton
Park. The
The regional Community / Transportation Planning Group will
continue to meet quarterly to coordinate these many efforts and the comparable
efforts funded outside the UPWP.
The range of Linkage projects reflects the commendable
state of cooperative regional/local planning efforts. Planning efforts include bike and pedestrian
planning, urban neighborhood revitalization, suburban town center retrofitting,
pre-development master planning for a major suburban area, urban truck /
neighborhood compatibility planning , waterfront
revitalization and intermodal center exploration.
Safety Initiative
The staff expects to progress a major safety initiative for
2003-04 in the area of safety. CDTC has
been working for the past several years with NYSDOT to develop a GIS-based
crash data transfer process. In
parallel, the staff has been collecting data on "pedestrian
friendliness" features, including inventory at 400 intersections;
"red light running" data and "yield to pedestrian" data.
As soon as
data permits, the effort will be modeled after the New Visions work,
complementing significant technical evaluation of crash data with a task force
approach. Task forces will explore land
use and highway design considerations, law enforcement practices, and safety
education needs. Work will be
coordinated with local highway safety boards and others. The schedule for this effort was listed as
uncertain in the 2002-03 UPWP due to inconsistencies in the quality and
timeliness of GIS-based crash data The schedule for this work remains
uncertain, due to continue difficulties with timely access to crash data.
Development of a New
Regional Model
In
2001-02, CDTC selected the European family of models, VISUM/VISEM/VISSIM to
replace TMODEL2 as the framework for its STEP model. The software was received and training
received from the American vendor in December 2001.
To
date, staff has developed and calibrated a TMODEL2-equivalent version of VISUM
and is currently expanding the zonal system to the new 900-zone system
established for the 2000 Census. The
VISUM-based model will be developed incrementally through addition of greater
network detail, rather than importing the full
Congressional I-87 Corridor
Study Earmark
CDTC
and its members will be involved in this NYSDOT-led study which is expected to
start and finish in 2003.
Thruway Capacity Study
CDTC
staff is contributing technical assistance to the consultant study for the
Thruway Authority of 20-year capacity issues in the Capital District. The study will be completed in 2003-04.
A $100,000 consultant effort, using TIP funds from CDTC's Corridor
Management Initiative, will get underway early in 2003-04. The effort will define key features of the
Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) operations and capital plan for the NY 5 BRT project. It will also complete major portions of the
transit data collection effort listed in the 2002-03 UPWP. The remainder of the effort to collect
extensive baseline data on transit usage will be carried out in 2003-04.
Other Contractual Elements
The 2003-04 UPWP includes providing support to the NYS MPO Association
($125,000, using statewide pooled funds).
CDTC has also executed a consultant contract for a statewide effort to
seek to identify and document leading practices in community design and transportation
system design. CDTC will also hold the contract for a follow-up effort for
training, pegged at $100,000 statewide.
The CDTC/NYSDOT Public Relations Training and Assistance Program
($50,000) was successfully completed in 2001-02,
providing extensive training to approximately 80 NYSDOT Region 1, CDTC staff
and CDTC participants.
Bike/
Pedestrian Planning: The task force continues to
meet monthly; plans include updating the regional bike map and reviewing the
adopted bike and pedestrian priority network.
CDTC will continue to provide ample staff and financial support to these
activities. The task force will also
participate in the New Visions 2030 "visioning" work.
Goods
Movement: The task force continues to meet and identify
technical work. Integration of the task
force into the New Visions 2030 travel task force discussions will be an
emphasis in 2003-04.
NY5
Corridor: In
addition to BRT development, the detailed exploration of local ordinances in
the communities along the corridor will continue.
Arterial
Management: The staff will work with stakeholders in
updating the New Visions arterial management tools, capacity guidelines and
community compatibility indices.
Air
Quality: Work to help NYSDOT and NYSDEC pursue
designation of the Capital District as a "maintenance area" will be
included in the UPWP.
Greenways
Contract: CDTC will complete its small consultant
effort with Greenways funds to identify ways of closing "gaps" in the
bike trails in
Clean
Communities Planning: Work in 2001-02 included
regular roundtable meetings and a "Share the Choice" event at the
REVEST, Champlain-Hudson
International Trade Corridor: These
collaborative efforts will continue; the trade corridor work is now called the
"
TDM,
Access Transit Support: CDTC staff will continue to
assist CDTA in both expanding the regional TDM/transit pass program and in
developing the Access Transit brokerage.
The internet-based Commuter Register program will continue. In 2002-03, CDTC and CDTA successfully
completed a pilot TDM effort with the New York State Department of
Environmental Conservation (DEC), providing financial incentives to employees
at the new downtown work site to use transit.
The considerable cost-effectiveness was documented. A new pilot was established which requires
employees to give up parking privileges in exchange for transit fare
subsidies. In 2003-04, the success of
the new pilot will be fully documented and new pilot programs sought.
Statewide
Activities: The NYSMPO association plans to complete its
statewide investigation of transportation financing needs in 2003-04. Other candidate shared-cost projects include
various staff training exercises, work on policy issues for the TEA-21 reauthorization
discussions in
Other: Major effort will continue to be devoted to
data collection (including CDTC's biennial pavement condition survey of federal
aid roadways), support to