AGENDA #6

 

MEMORANDUM

 

TO:                  Mayor and Town Council

 

FROM:            W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager

 

SUBJECT:       2001 Mobility Report Card

 

DATE:             June 10, 2002

 

This memorandum summarizes the findings of the 2001 Chapel Hill Mobility Report Card. Mr. Ray Moe of LSA Associates will present the Report to the Council.

 

BACKGROUND

 

On June 11, 2001 the Council authorized the Town Manager to contract with LSA Associates, Inc, to prepare a Mobility Report Card for Chapel Hill. The proposal to complete a Mobility Report Card for the Town was included as a recommendation in the Chapel Hill 2000 Comprehensive Plan.

 

“10F. Mobility Report Card

To ensure progress in improving mobility for Chapel Hill resident through the above initiatives, community-wide transportation mobility surveys should be conducted on a periodic basis. The survey results will become the Town’s Mobility Report Card for use by the Town Council and staff in prioritizing and modifying transportation programs to address citizen needs.”

 

By monitoring and consistently evaluating progress, the Town will be able to more effectively

 

·        Detect and correct problems

·        Manage, describe and improve processes, and

·        Document accomplishments

 

DISCUSSION

 

The Mobility Report Card, (Attachment 1) is intended to provide a “snapshot” of transportation conditions within the Town. In addition to providing information about transportation conditions in the last quarter of 2001, the data in the Report Card will provide a base against which future Report Cards can be compared. The concept of the Mobility Report Card assumes that the transportation information will be updated every two or three years.  The attached Mobility Report Card includes a summary of the information collected. A Technical Appendix, which includes all survey data, is available in the Council reading room for review. A copy of the Report Card will be also be available at the Chapel Hill Library and on the Town’s website.

 

The 2002 Chapel Hill Mobility Report Card includes the following information:

 

• Daily and peak hour intersection volumes and level of service analysis
• Vehicular travel times along selected corridors
• Daily bicycle counts
• Daily pedestrian counts
• Transit ridership
• Parking survey

 

The data included in the Mobility Report Card was collected by LSA Associates during October, November and December, 2001.  The data collected by LSA was supplemented with similar information gathered by the University of North Carolina for their Campus Master Plan Transportation Impact Analysis. The combination of the data provides a  more comprehensive overview of transportation conditions within Chapel Hill. In addition to the Report and Technical Appendix, LSA Associates has created an electronic database for the peak hour intersection data. This database will be used by the Town to evaluate the intersection timing of individual intersections and evaluate the operation of intersections along specific corridors.

 

KEY FINDINGS

 

Key findings from the Report include:

 

• There are significant variations in daily traffic volumes throughout Town, ranging from 2,000 to 50,000.
• Most intersections in Chapel Hill are operating at Level of Service D or better.
• Travel times tend to be longer for inbound routes during the AM and outbound routes during the PM, reflecting peak hour directional travel.
• Peak travel times during the PM tend to be longer than during AM or Noon periods.
• Overall miles per hour tend to be lower on the urban streets that have a higher density of signalized intersections.
• Sidewalk coverage throughout the Town is best in the downtown and campus area, very good in the Southern Village and Meadowmont and generally lacking in many of the remaining residential areas.
• Between 1996 and 2001 the bulk of new sidewalk construction was associated with the new developments such as Southern Village and Meadowmont.
• As would be expected, the Town of Chapel Hill experiences major pedestrian activity in the downtown and UNC area, with up to 12,700 pedestrians crossing a single facility in a 12 hour period.
• There are very few bicycle facilities within the Town and what facilities do exist are not integrated.
• The highest bicycle activity is within the University of North Carolina campus area and approaches to the campus. The bicycle traffic counts demonstrate the need for additional dedicated bike lanes and paths to serve bicyclists.
• The Town of Chapel Hill has excellent transit coverage with approximately three-fourths of the Town within one quarter mile of transit.
• Fixed route ridership has increased by approximately 24 percent over the past 10 years, as compared to only a 16 percent increase in fixed route hours. (Please note: ridership data used for the Mobility Report Card did not include information from the 2001-2002 service period, which includes fare free service.)

 

NEXT STEP

 

The information included in 2001 Mobility Report Card will be used by the Town to evaluate transportation issues. It is anticipated that the Town would update the Mobility Report Card data in 2003.

 

Mobility Report Card (downloadable sections): requires Adobe Acrobat Reader