TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Report on Chapel Hill Transportation Management Plans
DATE: April 25, 2005
The Town Council first requested a report on the status of the Transportation Management Program in 2004 and subsequently included a request for an update on the program in its 2005 goals. In this memorandum we summarize:
The Town’s Transportation Management Program is intended to reduce the use of single occupant vehicles by providing information and incentives for employees to carpool, use public transit, bicycle or walk to work.
In December 1991, the Town Council amended downtown parking regulations to provide greater flexibility for new development. This change introduced the option of developing a transportation management plan in lieu of providing parking spaces for new development within the Town Center area. Subsequent to the application of the Transportation Management Plan provisions in the Town Center, the Town has required proposed non-residential developments throughout Chapel Hill to prepare Transportation Management Plans as part of development application review procedures. In certain cases the Town has also required multi-family developments to prepare Plans.
The initiative to require businesses to develop and adopt Transportation Management Plans was intended to support the broader Town goal of increasing the use of alternative modes of transportation. The Town’s 2000 Comprehensive Plan includes a goal to “Develop a balanced, multimodal transportation system that will enhance mobility for all citizens, reduce automobile dependence and preserve/enhance the character of Chapel Hill.” An objective under that goal proposes that the Town “develop and implement programs that reduce the percentage of trips made by single occupancy vehicles and encourage transportation by alternative modes.”
The Transportation Management Plans were developed to support the goal of improving mobility within the Town and reducing the need to expand existing roadways or construct new facilities to meet future travel demands. The Transportation Management Plans, developed by the applicants with assistance from Town staff, are also intended to provide employers with information on transportation alternatives and to monitor the travel behavior of employees working at sites with plans. We had previously prepared a Transportation Management Plan report in 2001.
In February 2005, the Council requested an evaluation of the Town’s Transportation Management Plan program and suggestions for modifying the program. The Transportation Board and Planning Boards also petitioned the Council to evaluate and revise the Transportation Management Plan program. As noted in our quarterly report on Council Goals, we have been delayed in reporting back to the Council due to the time demands of other projects, including the development of the 2030 Regional Transportation Plan, proposed Regional Transit Consolidation and preparation of the regional Air Quality Conformity Analysis.
SUMMARY OF SURVEY REQUESTS
In the fall of 2003, the Town conducted a survey of businesses and their employees required to provide Transportation Management Plans. As of December 2003, there were a total of 61 individual sites required to develop and maintain a transportation management plan. We estimate that this represents approximately 266 businesses and 5,500 employees. This compares to 36 sites, approximately 115 businesses and about 4,000 employees in 2001. We estimate that approximately 20-25 additional sites have been issued special use permits with the requirement for developing a Transportation Management Plan since the fall of 2003.
Summary of Results 2003 Chapel Hill Transportation Management Plan Survey
Attachment 1 includes a summary of information from the 2003 survey. We have presented the 2003 data in comparison to survey results taken since 1994. While the total number of respondents has increased from 111 in 1994, to 2,581 in 2003, the overall mode split represented in the table below, Employee Commute Modes, shows the majority of respondents driving a single occupant vehicle.
Employee Commute Modes by percent, 1994 to 2003
|
|
Employees by Percent |
|||||
|
Mode |
1994 |
1995 |
1996 |
1999 |
2001 |
2003 |
|
Car |
93 |
90.3 |
90 |
90.6 |
93.5 |
90 |
|
Walk |
2 |
4 |
2.4 |
1.4 |
1.4 |
1.2 |
|
Carpool |
2 |
4.6 |
3.8 |
5.6 |
3.7 |
3.5 |
|
Transit |
2 |
0.8 |
2.5 |
1.9 |
0.7 |
2.1 |
|
Bicycle |
1 |
0.3 |
1.3 |
0.1 |
0.6 |
0.2 |
|
# of Respondents |
133 |
372 |
551 |
1056 |
2329 |
2581 |
The figures for other modes of travel, while they have varied over time, have remained in the same range as represented in the 2003 survey. We would expect future survey results to vary in part due to the continued expansion of the number of sites surveyed and percentage of respondents at each site.
University of North Carolina Survey Results
In July 2001, the Council approved transportation impact analysis guidelines for proposed development on the University of North Carolina main campus. These guidelines include a requirement that the University prepare a survey of students and employees to be used in the development of updated transportation impact statements. The transportation impact statements are required to be updated every two years. The University survey includes many of the same types of information as collected in the Town’s Transportation Management Plans. The results below include data from the 2004 University survey and summarize the results of mode of travel for employees and commuting students.
|
|
1997 |
|
|
Mode |
Employees (%) |
Commuting Students (%) |
|
Drive Alone |
77 |
41 |
|
Carpool/vanpool |
08 |
09 |
|
Dropped off |
05 |
09 |
|
Bus |
05 |
26 |
|
Bike |
04 |
17 |
|
Walk |
03 |
27 |
|
Park & Ride |
06 |
10 |
|
|
2001 |
|
|
Mode |
Employees (%) |
Commuting Students (%) |
|
Drive Alone |
72 |
33 |
|
Carpool/vanpool |
02 |
03 |
|
Rideshare |
04 |
05 |
|
CHT |
05 |
20 |
|
Regional Transit |
01 |
01 |
|
Bike |
03 |
09 |
|
Walk |
02 |
12 |
|
Park & Ride |
07 |
12 |
|
Other |
04 |
06 |
|
|
2004 |
|
|
Mode |
Employees (%) |
Commuting Students (%) |
|
Drive Alone |
61 |
19 |
|
Carpool/Vanpool |
05 |
07 |
|
Bus |
08 |
34 |
|
Bike |
02 |
05 |
|
Walk |
02 |
14 |
|
Park & Ride |
15 |
16 |
|
Other |
06 |
06 |
The survey results show a significant shift of both employees and students from driving alone to other modes. In 1997, 41% of commuting student and 77% of employees drove alone. The 2004 survey indicates that only 19% of commuting students and 61% of employees drove alone to the campus.
In 2002, and 2003, the Town’s Planning and Transportation Boards provided the Council with comments and recommendations concerning the ongoing Transportation Management Plan program. We have used the comments and recommendations of the Boards as the basis for evaluating the current Transportation Management Plan Program. We have summarized the comments of the Boards below and addressed their specific concerns.
Planning Board (Attachment 2)
The Board identified several specific issues related to the Transportation Management Plan program:
Comment: We agree that more can be done to improve the Transportation Management Program. At this time, we collect survey data every two years due to limited staff/intern resources and have been unable to monitor the program or collect information on a more regular basis.
Employer response to the Transportation Management Plan surveys has been uneven for several reasons. Because the special use permit requirement applies to the property and property owner, business tenants are often unaware that they will be required to comply with the provisions of the plans. Business turnover at individual sites also slows the survey process due to out of date records for contacts. While most sites comply with the requirement to complete the employee surveys, some sites do not.
Although payment-in-lieu was an option for development in the Downtown prior to the establishment of the Transportation Management Plan program, no development has ever provided payment. The Transportation Management Plan option has allowed some development to be completed in the Downtown by either eliminating on site parking or reducing the number of spaces provided. Most developments that have used the Transportation Management Plan option outside the downtown have only deferred a portion of the parking required.
Comment: We have found this to be an important issue. Because we have only been able to survey sites every two years the program has not been very visible. We have encouraged property owners to make their tenants aware of the Transportation Management Plan requirements when they move into a site and have begun to include specific requirements to include notice of Transportation Management Plan requirement in leases with tenants.
Comment: While the implementation of the fare free policy for public transit service has removed one of the more tangible elements of many Transportation Management Plans, on balance we believe that the fare free policy will encourage more employees to choose public transit alternatives. As the Town expands transit services in the future, more sites with Transportation Management Plan requirements will have access to public transit services. Continued development of park and ride facilities and expansion of Triangle Transit Authority transit service will also provide employees living outside Chapel Hill with improved access to public transit. We believe that the existing Transportation Management Plan requirements will allow Chapel Hill Transit to market directly to employees at these sites.
Comment: We believe that the current survey process could be strengthened through more rigorous follow up with property owners and employers. We also believe that establishing a regular communications with transportation coordinators, required as part of the Transportation Management Plans, could result in increased response rates to the surveys. The transportation surveys provide the Town with information that cannot be acquired from other sources concerning the travel behavior of these employees. This information, added to other sources, provides a much fuller picture of travel in the community. We have made it clear to property owners that the completion of the surveys by their tenants is not a voluntary activity but is required as part of their special use permit.
Comment: After initial written contact with each site, we have provided at least two follow up contacts. We worked with various sites to achieve additional compliance from individual businesses. In some cases we have been unable to establish contact with the property owners of individual sites.
During the course of conducting the 2003 survey we sent two follow up letters to those sites that had failed to respond. These letters indicted that failure to respond to the survey might result in a fine of $25 per day. We did not impose fines on the 11 businesses that failed to respond to the survey due to the request by the Council to report on the status of Transportation Management Program.
We believe that the collection of complete survey data is an important benefit of the Transportation Management Program. As part of the 2005 survey any site failing to adequately respond to the surveying requirement be fined in accordance with existing Town regulations for violations of special use permits after reasonable notice has been given as required by law.
Transportation Board (Attachment 3)
The Transportation Board also provided the Council with recommendations concerning the Transportation Management Program.
These recommendations included:
Comment: We believe there are several opportunities to better integrate the existing Transportation Management Program with the Town’s transit marketing program. The Transportation Department anticipates using the Transportation Management Plan to provide businesses with information about the Town’s transit system. With the relatively low rate of transit ridership reported by the 2003 survey we believe there is an opportunity to expand transit use among the employees of these businesses.
While the 2003 survey showed that just over 2% of those responding used public transit for their work trips, the data indicates that over 25% of respondents would be willing to change their travel behavior if they could save money and almost 20% suggested they would consider using public transit if it were more convenient. We believe that an effort to promote greater transit use among these employees could increase transit use.
The Town’s Active Living by Design program also anticipates using the Transportation Management Plan to distribute information on healthy lifestyles, the benefits of daily physical activity and the promotion of transportation alternatives. We believe this use of the transportation management program will strengthen our overall effort, improve the accuracy of the database and encourage greater compliance by employers.
Any effort to better expand the Transportation Management Plan program will require additional resources.
Comment: We agree and suggest that the Town impose penalties on those sites that are unresponsive. As part of the 2005 survey, we will include information on the penalties for failing to respond to the survey requirements. If they fail to respond to our requests, we will impose the fine allowed under the Town’s code.
Comment: Some cities that have transportation management programs impose a fee on each site or business to cover the cost of managing the program and preparing related materials. We believe that charging a fee would be reasonable and will recommend such a fee as part of the 2005-2006 budget.
Comment: Implementation of transportation management plans is an important element of the 2030 Regional Transportation Plan. In April 2004, Orange County was designated as an air quality non attainment area by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. The operation of transportation management programs in Durham and Orange County’s allows the Urban Area to receive credits in the assessment of air quality as part of the Regional Transportation Plan.
The Town’s Transportation Management Plan also supports other related programs and projects. In 2004, Orange County was designated a non-attainment area for air pollution. As part of the development of the 2030 Long Range Regional Transportation Plan, the Urban Area included a commitment to maintaining a transportation management program in the larger urban areas of the region, including Chapel Hill. This commitment to maintaining transportation management activities has allowed the Urban Area to be given credit in the air quality conformity analysis. Data from the Chapel Hill Transportation Management Plan survey on the age of vehicles driven also provides information that is used in the development of the air quality conformity reports for the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro long range transportation plan.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR REVISING PROGRAM
We believe the Transportation Management Program should be maintained and strengthened for the following reasons. The Chapel Hill Transportation Management Program supports the Town’s 2000 Comprehensive Plan Goal to promote alternative modes of transportation within the community.
The Transportation Management Program provides the Town with a source of travel behavior data that is used by Town staff and regional staff to monitor current behavior and assess the effectiveness of efforts to encourage greater use of transportation alternatives.
The Program also supports goals of the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Long Range Transportation Plan and allows the Urban Area to receive credit in the air quality conformity analysis for actively promoting alternative transportation. These credits allow the Urban Area to accurately represent the impact of ongoing efforts to reduce the use of single occupant vehicles and improve air quality.
The Transportation Management Program is one reason Chapel Hill was recognized as a “Best Workplace in America” by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This certification requires a commitment to monitor employee travel behavior and implement program designed to increase use of alternative modes of transportation.
The Program was also included in the Town’s Active Living by Design grant application, which received funding in 2003. A major work task of the grant program is to provide information, through employers, to employees of businesses in Town, about the need to be more active and about transportation alternatives. It was anticipated that the existing transportation management program would be utilized to implement this portion of the grant program.
We propose to strengthen the Transportation Management Plan program by:
NEXT STEPS
We currently are preparing to conduct the 2005 survey beginning in September 2005. The collection of the 2005 data will be coordinated with the 2005 update of the Town’s Mobility Report Card and the collection of travel behavior information required for the updating of the Triangle Regional Transportation Model.
We anticipate sending out letters to all sites with Transportation Management Plan requirements in early September and require the surveys to be returned by the end of September. We will contact any sites that have failed to respond by September 30, 2005, and hope to complete the entire survey by October 30, 2005. We will prepare a Report for the Council summarizing the results of the 2005 survey in early 2006, in conjunction with the anticipated release of the 2005 Chapel Hill Mobility Report Card.
We will also prepare a proposal to establish an annual Transportation Management Plan fee to support the program. We will include this provision in the Town’s 2005-2006 Budget for Council’s consideration.
ATTACHMENTS