AGENDA #2.1

MEMORANDUM

TO:                  Mayor and Town Council

FROM:            W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager

SUBJECT:       Public Forum: 2003 Chapel Hill Mobility Report Card

DATE:             November 22, 2004

The purpose of tonight’s public forum is to review the findings of the 2003 Chapel Hill Mobility Report Card. Copies of the Report were provided to the Council on October 11, 2004.  Tonight’s Forum will also allow the Council to receive public comment and review the comments and recommendations of Town advisory boards.

BACKGROUND

The Chapel Hill 2000 Comprehensive Plan included a recommendation that a community-wide mobility report card be completed on a periodic basis to assess various elements of the Town’s transportation system and monitor changes in travel behavior.

In 2001 L.S.A. Associates completed the first Chapel Hill Mobility Report Card. The Mobility Report Card provided data on various elements of the Town’s transportation system, including traffic volumes, transit ridership, bicycle and pedestrian counts.  The Report also included information on the Town’s sidewalk network. The data were used to evaluate intersection level of service, changes in transit use and to establish a database on pedestrian and bicycle activity. Funding for the 2001 Mobility Report Card was provided by the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization, using Surface Transportation Program Direct Allocation funding. The cost of the 2001 Study was $71,000.

In August 2003, the Council authorized L.S.A. to undertake the preparation of a 2003 Chapel Hill Mobility Report Card. L.S.A. presented the 2003 Mobility Report Card to the Council on October 11, 2004. The Council received the Report, referred the Report to Town advisory boards for review and set a public forum for November 22, 2004.

KEY FINDINGS

The 2003 Chapel Hill Mobility Report Card reviewed data collected in fall, 2003. The data includes twenty four hour and peak hour traffic counts, bicycle and pedestrian counts, transit ridership information and travel time data. The information was used to evaluate the state of the Chapel Hill transportation system and to compare these data with similar data collected in 2001 to identify changes in conditions within the Town.

The 2003 Report Card included the following findings:

• Vehicular activity, arterial level of service and peak hour intersection level of service were largely unchanged from the 2001 Report.
• Automobile travel times evaluated along major transportation corridors has improved.
• Bicycle and pedestrian facilities within the Town were expanded since 2001.
• While pedestrian activity has increased compared to 2001, bicycle activity has declined when compared to the previous Report.
• Transit service and ridership has expanded since 2001. Fixed route transit service has increased 42%, while transit ridership for the same period has grown by 55%.
• Parking areas surveyed show less overall utilization than in 2001.
• The 2003 Report introduces the multimodal mobility evaluation. Several corridors, including Franklin Street, Airport Road and Raleigh Road/South Road exhibit high potential for multimodal mobility.

DISCUSSION

The 2003 Mobility Report Card provides valuable information about the Town’s transportation network. The 2003 Report concluded that the Town has maintained mobility along major transportation corridors for automobiles, measured by the intersection level of service assessment and the travel time evaluation. Transit service and ridership have also increased between 2001 and 2003, supporting the Town’s efforts to increase the use of alternative modes of transportation.

While the Report finds that bicycle and pedestrian facilities have expanded, resulting in increased pedestrian activity, bicycle usage is generally lower. We believe that there are several possible explanations for the decrease in bicycle activity. The expansion of public transit service may have resulted in a decrease in bicycle use. We also believe that some of the decreases in pedestrian activity along specific corridors may have also been the result of increased transit ridership. Other reasons for reductions in bicycle activity could be increased traffic volumes and vehicle speeds along major corridors. We believe that the multimodal mobility evaluation, introduced as part of the 2003 Report Card, provides the Town with useful information on the overall transportation system.

We believe an updated Chapel Hill Mobility Report Card should be prepared in 2005. We will evaluate the need to expand the number and location of the traffic, bicycle and pedestrian counts. We will also review the multimodal mobility evaluation to refine the data included in the assessment.

NEXT STEPS

Staff will consider comments from the public and Council made at tonight’s public forum and incorporate these comments into a final recommendation for the Council’s consideration at its January 24, 2005 meeting.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Manager’s Preliminary Recommendation: That the Council adopt Resolution A, supporting the need to secure funding from the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization to prepare the 2005 Chapel Hill Mobility Report Card.

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Transportation Board Recommendation: The Transportation Board will review the Mobility Report Card in December. Their comments will be included in the January 2005 Council item.

ATTACHMENTS

1. Planning Board Recommendation (p. 5).
2. Active Living By Design Advisory Board Recommendation (p. 6).
3. Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board Recommendation (p. 7).
4. Greenways Commission Recommendation (p. 8).

A RESOLUTION ENDORSING THE FINDINGS OF THE 2003 CHAPEL HILL MOBILITY REPORT CARD AND REQUESTING FUNDING FROM THE DURHAM-CHAPEL HILL-CARRBORO METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION FOR THE 2005 MOBILITY REPORT CARD

WHEREAS, the Mobility Report Card is an important element of the Town’s Comprehensive Plan; and

WHEREAS, the 2003 Chapel Hill Mobility Report Card presented information on the Chapel Hill transportation network; and

WHEREAS, the 2003 Report Card provided the community with important information on the changes in travel behavior within Chapel Hill; and

WHEREAS, the Town Council has reviewed the findings of the 2003 Mobility Report Card.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill that the Council endorses the findings of the 2003 Chapel Hill Mobility Report Card.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Council requests funding from the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization to complete the 2005 Chapel Hill Mobility Report Card.

This the______day of __________. _____..