Agenda Packet 2-19-19 Work Session

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MovingAhead 2018 Outreach Summary 2 Executive Summary With the launch of the MovingAhead Alternatives Analysis Report in Fall 2018, the project team implemented a robust outreach and engagement program to involve community members in the process of developing possible investment packages for MovingAhead based upon community support and technical evaluation. Using a variety of outreach activities including in-person and online open houses, listening sessions, tabling activities, and more, the project team was able to gain specific feedback from approximately 500 people. Feedback was focused on understanding the investment preferences for each corridor (No- Build, EmX, or Enhanced Corridor) and the importance of various criteria for evaluating future investment package options. A number of key themes emerged from this feedback: Investment Preferences Strong support for better transit improvements. Overall, comments that voiced support for MovingAhead transit improvements far outweighed comments that were critical of the project. Additionally, the build alternatives (Enhanced Corridor and EmX transit service) consistently rated higher than the No-Build alternatives. In the comments as well as in the feedback exercises, increasing ridership emerged as a high priority, though suggestions for how to achieve this were highly varied – bus shelter amenities, bus-only lanes, more comfortable buses, and more frequent service among them. Many people also voiced support for additional service, outside the five MovingAhead corridors. Clearest support for EmX on River Road. While community members generally showed support for the build alternatives over the No-Build alternatives, there was less clarity in preferences for Enhanced Corridor compared to EmX alternatives. The exception was the River Road Corridor. In the in-person open houses, EmX was generally favored over Enhanced Corridor options, but the preference for EmX was most pronounced on River Road. Online open house participants indicated a slight preference for Enhanced Corridor on all other corridors, except that they showed a slight preference for EmX on River Road. Evaluation Criteria Bike and pedestrian improvements are highly valued. Biking and walking improvements were rated as the most important criteria for evaluating MovingAhead corridor alternatives and were also a common theme in general comments. Comments related to biking and walking often indicated a desire to use these options more, but cited safety or perceived safety issues in existing infrastructure as the main barrier to use. Operating Cost and traffic are concerns. Two of the most common concerns heard about the MovingAhead project were about cost and traffic congestion. While most people did not consider operating cost a top priority for the evaluation criteria, those that did feel it was important often ranked it as the most important criteria, suggesting a passionate minority around this issue. A number of comments about cost concerns referenced dissatisfaction with the return on investment from existing EmX lines. February 19, 2019, Work Session - Item 1