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Plan and its population projections. He said planners recognized that e projections were not an exact science, but that the best available data must be used. He said TransPlan consisted of short-range projects identified in the County's five-year capital improvement program and long-range projects that were not time-certain. He said long-range projects needed to be planned for well ahead of time, even if the exact year of their need was not yet known, in order to allow for right-of-way needs and eventual construction. He said the county CIP was the only implementation document for county projects, and long-range projects identified would be considered for implementation when the County Board of Commissioners felt projects were justified. He said staff therefore did not believe that the issue of population projections was a major factor in the adoption of TransPlan. He said timing of metro area projects was correlated to population growth, but when the need arose was something to be determined by each agency. Lane Transit District Planning Administrator Stefano Viggiano said it was very difficult to predict the amount of transit ridership so far into the future, because many of the variables, such as gas price and availability, were difficult to predict and outside of local control. He said some factors could be controlled, however, adding that TransPlan had been designed to lead to policy decisions by elected officials that would promote transit use and help to meet the projected goals. Mr. Simmons said Portland and other metro areas seemed to be part of a national trend toward offering free transit service downtown, and he asked whether LTD had any specific implementation strategies to reach the e projections. Mr. Viggiano said free service had been considered and a reduced-fare shuttle had been implemented downtown. He said that or other service could be made free. He also said TransPlan contained suggestions for a system of more direct, more frequent service connecting areas of high use, which it was believed would handle the eight percent ridership and be attractive to users. Mayor Obie asked staff what the first opportunity for review of the ridership level and population figures would be if TransPlan were adopted. Ms. Andersen said the plan called for an annual review one year from the adoption process, and studies identified in the appendix would be looked at then, along with other data gathered over the year. Ms. Andersen said TransPlan had a dual purpose in that it also was intended to be the pUblic facilities document required by the State, and that was why a full list of projects was identified specifically in the plan, even though not all were funded. Mr. Holmer asked about the criteria for the list of projects, and Ms. Andersen said criteria came from the transportation planning process. She also said staff had felt it was beneficial to list projects more specifically than had been done in the T-2000 Plan because it made it easier to identify projected needs for improvements and to meet the requirements of the PFP planning process. Mr. Replinger reviewed the schedule for deliberations: December 16 for Springfield, and December 18 for the other three bodies. e MINUTES--Joint Elected Officials Hearing--TransPlan December 4, 1985 Page 13