10/24/1990 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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e Dave Reinhard, Public Works Transportation, said that a survey of the entire metropolitan population reveals that approximately 5.5 percent of the population rely on bicycles as their major commuting transportation; the City of Eugene has a slightly higher rate of success at 8 percent--well above the national average. Mr. Reinhard acknowledged that there has probably been no appreciable change in this figure over the past ten years and said this might be due to decreased funding for enhancing Eugene's bicycle corridor system. Responding to questions from Mr. Bennett, Ms. Andersen indicated that if the City had the necessary capital resources to improve the bicycle network, thus reducing the number of obstacles to bike usage, commuter bike riding would increase. Because cities have been prohibited from using gas tax moneys on off-road facilities and because of legislative action which occurred in the late 70s, the availability of capital resources for the bike system has declined dramatically. Mr. Boles identified Systems Development Charges (SDC) and Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP) moneys, including the use of moneys from roadbed. construction and maintenance, as two possible sources of bicycle network funding. Mr. Bennett warned the council that it may be forced in the future to prioritize its alternative modes efforts. In order to ensure that the City is accountable for its alternative modes goals, the work plan should include a means of assessing the City's progress toward its goals. e Mr. Holmer said that underlying the strategic planning process, the City needs a marketing survey to help determine what types of new strategies will be successful. Ms. Ehrman suggested that the City review the results of a survey recently taken of students, faculty, and administrative officials in the university area. Responding to questions from Ms. Ehrman, Mr. Pangborn said that LTD has not experienced much success with the carpooling program because the greatest desire for carpooling comes from long-distance commuters outside of the city. However, he noted that many of the carpooling lots such as the one used by Sacred Heart have been very successful. LTD could accommodate the increased volume of riders. Responding to a question from Mr. Boles, Mr. Gleason said that City employees compete in the same parking market as all other persons downtown. Mr. Rutan emphasized the need for a community education component of the transportation work plan which would inform citizens of the alternative modes goal and identify programs which have been set up to meet it. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 24, 1990 Page 6