July 15, 2015

Time: 8:00 – 9:30 AM
Location: Enoch Pratt Free Library (400 Cathedral Street)

Attendees:
Fleming El-Amin, Ricardo Boulware, Liz Briscoe, Robin Budish, Art Cohen, Ben Cohen, Liz Cornish, Michael Crowley, Ryan Dorsey, Peter Duvall, Jen Fischetti, Ben Groff, Paulo Harris, Steve Holt, Greg Hinchliffe , Alex Hutchinson, Michael Kelly, Sasha Kolodny, Phil LaCombe, Jim Leanos, Henriette Leanos, Hans Mayer, Ed Myers, Eric Norton, Ben Oaks, Brooks Phelps, Klaus Philipsen, Jimmy Rouse, Kimberly Routson, Sandy Sparks

Moderator: Phil LaCombe, TRIP Program Manager at Central Maryland Regional Transit (CMRT) based in Laurel, Maryland welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked the attendees for coming. Phil then introduced the first guest speaker.

Speaker: Michael B. Kelly, Executive Director at Baltimore Metropolitan Council (BMC)
Presentation:  “Baltimore Regional Plan for Sustainable Development”

Presentation highlights: Opportunity Collaborative: For a Greater Baltimore Region
· What We’re Doing – Developing a common vision for:
a. Workforce Development
b. Transportation
c. Housing

· Recommendations:
a. Grow Regional Economic Opportunity & Competitiveness
Regional Median Hourly Earnings
Scarce Mid-Skilled Jobs
Employment Barriers
Distribution Warehouse Career Pathways

b. Improve Transportation Access to Career and Educational Opportunities
Job Sprawl
Downtown Transit-Shed
Amazon Transit-Shed

c. Close the Opportunity Gap by Increasing the Supply of Housing Attainable to the Region’s Workforce of All Income Levels
Housing Cost Burdens

d. Place Based Strategies
1. Address Housing Needs, Increase Opportunity, Further Fair Housing
2. Sustain Diverse Communities
3. Bolster Vulnerable Communities
4. Boost Opportunity for People in Highly Challenged Markets

· Deconcentrating Poverty

· Looking ahead – Next Steps:
a. Corridor Driven Planning
b. Route 170 Corridor

Contact:
Michael B. Kelly
Executive Director
Baltimore Metropolitan Council
mkelly@baltometro.org
410.732.9561
www.baltometro.org
www.opportunitycollaborative.org

Additional comments:
– The “Baltimore Regional Plan for Sustainable Development” was funded through a HUD grant.
–  A key focus for the BMC is transportation planning.
–  There are very few job paths for people with criminal records
–  The BMC will soon announce a project based vouchers program to incentivize development in high opportunity areas. Developers would be eligible to receive a voucher if their development project meets the voucher criteria.

Speaker: Arthur L. Guzzetti, Vice President of Policy at American Public Transportation Association
Presentation: “Trends and Development in Public Transportation: How Communities are Choosing Their Own Future”

Presentation Highlights:  Themes
a. National trends affirm a rising demand for public transportation.
b. The public is voting with their feet, and choosing transit as a preferred option (when good choices are available.)
c. The pipeline of new public transportation projects is robust.
d. New research quantifies the benefits & economic impacts of public transportation investments.

· Public Transportation in the U.S.
a. 36 million boardings every weekday.
b. 10.8 billion annual boardings in 2014.
c. Approximately 7,700 transit providers in U.S.,
d. 52% of trips on bus; 44% taken on Rail.
e. 46% of U.S. households have no access.
f. $64 billion / yr. industry; directly employs 400,000 and supports 1.9 million jobs.

· APTA in context
a. Principal public transportation trade organization in North America, with more than 1,500 transit, business, and other members.
b. Began in 1882—the era of horse-drawn street railway cars.

· National Trends Affirm a Rising Demand for Public Transportation
a. Population Growth
b. Urbanization
c. Demographic
d. Economic
e. Energy & Environment
f.  Affordability

· The public is voting with their feet…..
a. Ridership
b. Transit Ballot Measures
c. Real Estate

· Ridership Growth v Population Growth – Transit Ridership Has Grown Faster Than Population

· Transit Ballot Measures:  Consistent, Overwhelming Approval Rate

· Examples of Efficient Transit Growth:
a. Salt Lake City
b. Vision for a New Denver
c. System Expansion Each Year in Dallas
d. Rail Transit Comes to the Valley of the Sun
e. Atlanta Regional Investments

· 2013 & 2014 Project Openings
– Salt Lake City Draper Line Extension
– Salt Lake City Airport Line
– Salt Lake City Sugarhouse Streetcar
– Houston North Line LRT
– Denver West Line LRT to Golden
– Miami AirportLink
– Roaring Fork BRT (Aspen, CO)
– New Orleans Loyola Avenue Streetcar
– Dulles Corridor Phase I Metrorail
– Orlando SunRail Commuter Rail
– Tucson Streetcar
– Minneapolis – St. Paul Central Corridor
– New York #7 Line Subway Extension
– Houston Southeast Line
– New York:  Fulton Center Project
– Oakland Airport Connector
– Chicago Central Loop BRT
– San Diego Mid City Rapid BRT
– San Antonio  Primo BRT
– Grand Rapids Silverline BRT
– Roaring Fork BRT (Aspen, CO)
– Crystal City – Potomac Yard Transitway
– Jacksonville SE Corridor BRT
– Los Angeles ARTIC
– Los Angeles Wilshire Avenue BRT
– Seattle RapidRide BRT
– Houston East End Corridor

· Existing / Recommended New Start Full Funding Grant Agreements (FFGAs)

•    Los Angeles Regional Connector
•    New York Second Avenue Subway
•    New York East Side Access Project
•        San Francisco Third Street Central Subway
•        Silicon Valley Berryessa Extension (BART Extension)
•        Denver Eagle P3
•        Hartford Busway
•        Honolulu LRT
•        Charlotte Blue Line Extension
•        Portland – Milwaukee LRT
•        Seattle University Link LRT Extension
•        Los Angeles Westside Subway Extension
•        Orlando SunRail Phase II South
•        MBTA Cambridge to Medford Green Lind Extension
•        Baltimore Red Line
•        Maryland National Capitol Purple Line
•        Fort Worth TEX Rail

· Additional New Projects – Recommended Small Start Projects:
•        Oakland East Bay BRT
•        Fort Lauderdale Wave Streetcar
•        Eugene BRT Extension
•        Nashville BRT
•        El Paso BRT
•        Vancouver BRT

· Additional New Projects – Core Capacity Projects:
•        Chicago Red and Purple Line Modernization Project

· The Streetcar Renaissance…
•        Seattle First Hill Streetcar
•        Atlanta, GA
•        Dallas, TX
•        Kansas City, MO
•        Detroit, MI
•        Cincinnati, OH
•        Tempe, AZ
•        Los Angeles, CA
•        Milwaukee, WI
•        Oklahoma City, OK
•        Sacramento Riverfront Streetcar
•        Fort Lauderdale, FL

· High-Speed Rail Project Pipeline
•        2460 track miles under construction
•        680 ready for construction
•        5,675 track miles preparing for construction

·        Benefits & Economic Impacts of Public Transportation Investments

•        The Economic Impact of Public Transportation Investment

•        The New Real Estate Mantra:  Location Near Public Transportation

•        Millennials and Mobility:  Understanding the Millennial Mindset

•        A New Partnership:   Rail Transit and Convention Growth

•        The Role of Transit in Support of High-Growth Business Clusters

· Integrated Mobility / Transformative Technology
1.      Ensure Accessibility
2.      Encourage Innovation & Entrepreneurship
3.      Promote Integration & Coordination
4.      Provide Appropriate Oversight
5.      Encourage Sharing & Cooperation
6.      Establish One-stop Shopping
7.      Heighten Stability & Efficiency
8.      Develop Understanding & Best Practices
9.      Identify New Business Markets & Partnerships
10.   Assure Ongoing Public Transportation Service

Contact: aguzzetti@apta.com

Additional comments:
– The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) advocates for high speed rail in Washington, D.C.
– Proximity to transit is a high priority for people.
– Convention centers that have access to airports fare better than those that do not.
– Streetcar projects that receive federal funding require that the assembly of the streetcar must take place in the United States, and 60% or more of the contents of the streetcar must be American made.

Discussion Summary:
Meeting attendees were given the opportunity at the conclusion of both presentations, to share their feedback and to provide suggestions, ideas and concerns with the guest speakers. Electronic copies of both PowerPoint presentations will be made available to the full Transit Choices group.

Jimmy Rouse: thanked everyone for coming to the meeting and acknowledged guest speakers, Mike Kelly and Art Guzzetti for their interesting presentations. He then gave an update on recent Transit Choices activities:

· Jimmy Rouse, Robin Budish, Klaus Philipsen (ArchPlan), Brian O’Malley (CMTA) and Jill Sorensen (Bus Work Group Chair) will be meeting with the new MTA Administrator, Paul Comfort on July 16, 2015. The purpose of the meeting is to:
a. Acquaint Mr. Comfort with Transit Choices, discuss the “Quick Hits” list, and ask for the same level of cooperation that we had with previous Administrator, Robert Smith to implement the “Quick Hits”.
b. Discuss how we can work collaboratively to create better public transit in Baltimore.
c. Inquire about the MTA’s vision and priorities for transit both short and long term.
· Transit Choices convened a meeting on June 29, 2015 with Caitlin Doolin (the city’s full-time bike and pedestrian coordinator), Jon Laria (chairman of the Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Commission), Bikemore and Bike Maryland. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss a unified vision for prioritizing bike projects, bike share, substantive plans for new bike lanes and cycle tracks.
· Transit Choices will be sponsoring a political forum in the fall with all current City Council members, as well as new candidates running to have them discuss on the record their respective transit vision for Baltimore and plans for implementation.
· In January 2016, Transit Choices will be holding a Mayoral Candidate forum to talk, think and commit to a transit vision for Baltimore.
· Mark Heishman (Transdev) organized a meeting on June 30, 2015 at MICA to discuss a synergistic relationship to coordinate efforts on shuttle bus transit services, vehicle maintenance and overlapping routes with area college and university representatives, Baltimore Collegetown, Baltimore CityDOT. A second meeting will be held in the fall.
· After the Red Line – what’s next? Transit Choices may consider creating a “Transit Commission” to explore and recommend alternative transit solutions.