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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda 11-07-19 Item 6-b - Approval of a Planning Framework for Updating the Orange County Transit Plan 1 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: November 7, 2019 Action Agenda Item No. 6-b SUBJECT: Approval of a Planning Framework for Updating the Orange County Transit Plan DEPARTMENT: County Manager ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: Travis Myren, 919-245-2308 Theo Letman, 919-245-2007 Craig Benedict, 919-245-2592 PURPOSE: To approve a planning framework for updating the Orange County Transit Plan and to appoint two Commissioners to serve as representatives to the Policy Steering Committee. BACKGROUND: In 2012, the Board of Orange County Commissioners along with the Durham- Chapel Hill Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization and GoTriangle adopted the Orange County's first comprehensive Transit Plan. This Plan was funded using a newly adopted Article 43 Half-Cent Sales Tax, and it included investments in new and expanded bus service, new capital infrastructure projects such as the Chapel Hill North-South Bus Rapid Transit Project, the Hillsborough Train Station, and the Durham-Orange Light Rail Project. The Plan was most recently updated in 2017 to meet federal requirements associated with the Durham-Orange Light Rail Project. In March 2019, the Durham-Orange Light Rail Transit Project was discontinued. This project was central to the Transit Plan. It was the Plan's primary investment, represented a critical partnership between Durham and Orange counties, and served as the transit infrastructure around which other transit services and growth strategies were planned. In response to the discontinuation of the light rail project, a staff team began the process of creating a potential planning framework to create a new Orange County Transit Plan that prioritizes investments, funds service improvements, and improves the resiliency of the public transit network. The proposed planning framework would be led by a Policy Steering Committee composed of two (2) Commissioners serving as Co-Chairs, and one representative each from Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Hillsborough, and Mebane. The County and/or municipal appointees should also represent the interests of GoTriangle and the Durham-Chapel Hill Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization (DCHC-MPO). 2 The Policy Steering Committee would be supported by a staff team which would be led by County staff and include representatives from the same organizations as well as staff support from the Triangle J Council of Governments, the Triangle Area Rural Planning Organization, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Both the Policy Steering Committee and the staff team would provide direction and guidance to a consulting firm responsible for analyzing data, facilitating public input processes, soliciting feedback from specific stakeholders, and drafting the Transit Plan. The new Plan would outline transit investment priorities through 2040. Specific consultant responsibilities detailed within a request for qualifications would include: • Creating an overview of services and capital improvements that have been made possible through prior iterations of the Orange County Transit Plan, • Affirming that recently adopted short range plans provide an appropriate, seamless continuum of bus services, • Establishing a process for how improvements are prioritized, so that priorities are understood and supported by elected officials and residents, • Identifying transit dependent populations in Orange County and strategies to serve these populations, • Reporting on public preferences regarding transit services and future investments, • Creating performance measurement criteria that can explain how different existing and planned services meet community goals and preferences, • Creating a Regional Connections Opportunities assessment that examines: o NCDOT studies and projects underway that could be modified to include a transit component o Remnant sections of the Durham-Orange Light Rail alignment that might still be used as high-capacity transit corridors o Travel market needs that link Orange County with Durham County's resident and business needs to build, expand, and support cross-county line transit networks. The Plan should also examine emerging transit needs and opportunities that cross into Alamance and Chatham counties, • Proposing year-by-year implementation recommendations for transit investments through 2040, • Creating a risk assessment to identify potential implementation barriers for new transit projects, • Examining transit recommendations through a racial and social justice lens, establishing agreed upon benchmarks through which to achieve equitable outcomes, • Preparing a financially sound plan that considers the costs and benefits of debt financing using a 20 year financial model, • Preparing all necessary maps and exhibits, and 3 • Writing a succinct, user-friendly, easy to understand and meaningful - Final Report and Documentation with an executive summary. The Final Orange County Transit Plan would be approved by Orange County, GoTriangle, and the DCHC MPO. FINANCIAL IMPACT: The current Orange County Transit Plan has allocated up to $500,000 to pay for consulting services and other expenditures necessary to complete a new Plan. SOCIAL JUSTICE IMPACT: The following Orange County Social Justice Goals are applicable to this item: • GOAL: FOSTER A COMMUNITY CULTURE THAT REJECTS OPPRESSION AND INEQUITY The fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race or color; religious or philosophical beliefs; sex, gender or sexual orientation; national origin or ethnic background; age; military service; disability; and familial, residential or economic status. • GOAL: ENSURE ECONOMIC SELF-SUFFICIENCY The creation and preservation of infrastructure, policies, programs and funding necessary for residents to provide shelter, food, clothing and medical care for themselves and their dependents. Public Transportation provides opportunity for access to jobs and services and supports these Goals. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT: The following Orange County Environmental Responsibility Goal impact is applicable to this item: • CLEAN OR AVOIDED TRANSPORTATION Implement programs that monitor and improve local and regional air quality by: 1) promoting public transportation options; 2) decreasing dependence on single-occupancy vehicles, and 3) otherwise minimizing the need for travel. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board: 1) Approve the planning framework for updating the Orange County Transit Plan; 2) Authorize staff to proceed with implementing the planning framework and issuing request for qualifications for consulting services as outlined in this abstract; and 3) Appoint two BOCC members to serve as co-chairs of the Policy Steering Committee.