By: Sam Belfield
Senior Transportation Engineer

The HRTPO continues to receive input from military commuters since releasing a public transportation survey on November 8, 2011.  As of January 26, 2012, approximately 9,180 survey responses have been received.

The HRTPO is collecting information about the commuting experience of military personnel (active-duty, civilians, contractors, reservists and others) traveling to/from the region’s military bases.  The survey was developed by the HRTPO, in concert with the Commands from the region’s military installations and various transportation stakeholders. It is designed to identify and determine the challenges local military personnel and military-related commuters routinely face during their daily commutes.

The survey will remain open to local military commuters until February 20, 2012.  The survey results will be summarized and reported to the HRTPO board, local transit agencies, local governments, VDOT, and military officials in an effort to improve military travel in our region.

The Regional Board Room, 723 Woodlake Drive, Chesapeake, Virginia

1. CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order by the Chair at approximately 10:30 a.m.

2. HRTPO RESOLUTIONS OF APPRECIATION
The HRTPO Board recognized Transportation District Commission of Hampton Roads President/CEO Mr. Philip A. Shucet for his contribution to the Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization.

3. PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD
A member from the Sierra Club Observer addressed the HRTPO Board regarding the need for the Commonwealth to establish a revenue stream to address the region’s transportation needs.

4. COMMONWEALTH TRANSPORTATION BOARD MEMBER COMMENT PERIOD
Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) members Mr. Aubrey Layne, Mr. W. Sheppard Miller III and Mr. Hollis D. Ellis briefed the HRTPO Board on the actions of the January 18, 2012 CTB meeting.  They indicated that the CTB approved the City of Chesapeake’s application for $152 million from the Virginia Transportation Infrastructure Bank to complete the project funding package for the Dominion Boulevard road and bridge construction project and the shift of funding allocations in order to advance the Richmond/Hampton Roads Intercity Passenger Rail project by 10 months.  The CTB members also indicated the CTB de-allocated approximately $17 million statewide under the Revenue Sharing Program for projects not initiated after two subsequent fiscal years of allocation as described by the Revenue Sharing Program guidelines.  The CTB members noted that approximately $5 million was de-allocated from projects in Hampton Roads.

5. SUBMITTED PUBLIC COMMENTS
Submitted written public comments were provided to the HRTPO Board.

6. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
At the request of the Chair, Agenda Item #8 FY 2012-2015 Transportation Improvement Program Amendment: VDOT was moved after Agenda Item #17 of the Regular Agenda.  The amended Agenda was approved.

CONSENT AGENDA:
Agenda items under the Consent Agenda were approved by the HRTPO Board.
7. Minutes
9. FY 2012-2015 Transportation Improvement Program: VDOT
10. HRTPO Citizen Transportation Advisory Committee: Membership
11. HRTPO CMAQ/RSTP Projects and Allocations 2011: Final Report

REGULAR AGENDA:
12. Military Briefing: U.S. Navy
This item was for informational purposes only.  The HRTPO Board took no action on this agenda item.

13. Hampton Roads Long-Range Transportation Plan Adoption: Final Reports and Resolutions
The HRTPO Board approved the 2034 Long-Range Transportation Plan and associated resolution as well as the 2035 Rural Long-Range Transportation Plan and associated resolution.

14. FY 2013 Unified Planning Work Program: Establishing Planning Priorities
The HRTPO Board took no action on this item; however concurred on the following planning priorities: Transportation Funding, Military Transportation Needs, and Passenger Rail.  In addition, one member suggested that Freight and another member suggested that Regional Toll Impacts be considered for inclusion as regional planning priorities in the UPWP.

15. Project Priorities and Candidate P3 Projects
The HRTPO Board approved the list of regional priorities to be submitted during the development of the FY 2013-2018 Six-Year Improvement Program. The HRTPO Board also approved three regional projects to be submitted as candidate projects to advance under the PPTA.  In addition, the HRTPO Board directed the HRTPO Executive Director to coordinate with the city of Suffolk on the CenterPoint – Kenyon Connector project and with the city of Virginia Beach on the Virginia Beach Transit Extension to determine whether they are feasible candidate projects to advance under the PPTA in accordance with the Commonwealth transportation objectives and PPTA Implementation Manual screening criteria.

16. Downtown Tunnel/Midtown Tunnel/ MLK Freeway Extension Project: VDOT
This item was for informational purposes only.  The HRTPO Board took no action on this agenda item.

8. FY 2012-2015 Transportation Improvement Program: VDOT
The HRTPO Board approved the TIP Amendment.

17. Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation Comments and Updates
Ms. Amy Inman briefly reported on the CTB’s action to advance the Amtrak Virginia: Next Stop Norfolk project construction progress.

18. HRTPO Board Action Items: Three-Month Tentative Schedule
This item was for informational purposes only.  The HRTPO Board took no action on this item.  Mr. Dwight Farmer, HRTPO Executive Director, indicated that the HRTPO 2012 Retreat typically scheduled for the month of February has been tentatively scheduled for May 2012.

19. Correspondence of Interest
This item was for informational purposes only.  The HRTPO Board took no action on this item.

20. For Your Information
This item was for informational purposes only.  The HRTPO Board took no action on this item.

21. Old/New Business
There was no old/new business.

ADJOURNMENT

By Benito O. Pérez
HRTPO Transportation Engineer

Many people in Hampton Roads are reliant on the car for their livelihood. Whether it is to go to work, to shop, or to run to the beach in the summer, the majority of people in Hampton Roads rely on the auto to get them there. In fact, in 2010, 80.9% of Hampton Roads residents relied on the auto to get to work. This represents a 2.5% increase since 2000 (Source: US Census Bureau).
 
There are various modes of public transportation available as alternatives to the car in the Hampton Roads region. Public transportation in Hampton Roads includes:

From this array of transit services available in Hampton Roads, there are approximately 1.6 million passenger trips monthly across the regional public transportation system in 2010 (Source: National Transit Database).

As part of a larger national study, Bradley Lane of the University of Texas at El Paso conducted research exploring the relationship between fuel prices and transit ridership. Lane notes in his research, ‘[For] every 10 percent increase in fuel costs led to an increase in bus ridership of up to 4 percent, and a spike in rail travel of up to 8 percent. These results suggest a "significant untapped potential" for transit ridership.’

Evaluating fuel prices and transit ridership trends in Hampton Roads from January 2005 through October 2011, similar results to the Lane study can be found. As fuel prices rose 129% between January 2005 and July 2008, transit ridership increased 50%. Similarly, as fuel prices dropped 60% between July and December 2008, transit ridership decreased 20% in the same period.

Source: Federal Transit Administration National Transit Database
Source: AAA Fuel Gauge Report

As per Eric Jaffe's reporting in The Atlantic, Lane's analysis revealed two key relationships between gas prices and transit ridership. The first is what he calls an elasticity, which is essentially a behavioral response to an event. In this case the event is a change in gas prices, and the response is a shift in transit ridership. The second is what he calls a "lagged effect." That means that some elasticities — such as switching your commute from car to train — don't appear until several months after the initial change in fuel cost.

By Benito O. Pérez,
HRTPO Transportation Engineer

Starting in the fall of 2013 or sooner, it will be all aboard for Amtrak’s new passenger rail service to Norfolk, Virginia. Dubbed Next Stop Norfolk, the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation is partnering with Amtrak, Norfolk Southern, and CSX Incorporated to realize passenger rail service from Norfolk to the Northeast Regional Corridor.

To realize this project, DRPT and its partners have been hard at work at planning, designing, and constructing improvements along the Petersburg to Norfolk rail corridor. Those efforts include:

 
• Construction underway of the Harbor Park passenger rail platform
• Construction underway of the Norfolk train turning and servicing facility
• Discussions and design work of the Norfolk multimodal station facility improvements to connect the following services:

o Tide Light Rail (noted in red on map)
o HRT Ferry
o HRT Bus Service (noted in blue on map)
o Amtrak connector bus service
o Amtrak Passenger Rail service (noted in orange on map)

• Survey and design underway for Portlock Rail Yard improvements (circled in red) 
 

• Design work on Petersburg Collier Connection (circled in red) completed by CSX and under review by DRPT
• Grading work on Norfolk Southern’s component of Collier Connection is complete; track work near completion – adjustments to be made upon CSX connection work
• Facility coordination meetings being held between DRPT, CSX, and Norfolk Southern
• Coordination between Norfolk Southern, DRPT, and Petersburg on minimizing impacts to the Johnson Road highway construction project (circled in blue)
• Design work complete for Norfolk Southern running track between Poe and Walnut Hill (marked by white box); Construction to start in early 2012

• Bi-weekly update meetings between partners to efficiently advance and deliver the project
• Field surveys continue on the design of the US 460 corridor signal and crossover improvements
• Amtrak technical service agreement has been executed; work underway on service design

For additional information and project updates on Next Stop Norfolk, consult DRPT’s project website at: http://www.drpt.virginia.gov/activities/norfolk.aspx

Sources: Maps- Google Maps; Amtrak Train -Flickr @ Rob Shenk

Keith Nichols, Senior Transportation Engineer

The number of passengers using intercity passenger rail service in Hampton Roads has increased in recent years.  Over 175,000 passengers used Amtrak service at the stations in Newport News and Williamsburg in 2011.  This is an increase of 7% from the passenger levels seen in 2010 and a 35% increase from the levels seen in the middle of the 2000s.  Statewide, over 1.3 million passengers used Amtrak service in 2011, an increase of 16% over 2010 levels.

These passenger levels in Hampton Roads are expected to increase further with the addition of new passenger rail service between Norfolk and Richmond.  This service is expected to begin in 2013, and construction has already started on the platform to the east of Harbor Park.

By Mike Kimbrel

HRTPO staff has begun work on the Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) for fiscal year 2013, which runs from July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2013.  The HRTPO UPWP describes transportation planning work to be performed for the Hampton Roads area  by the HRTPO, Hampton Roads Transit, Williamsburg Area Transit Authority and the Virginia Department of Transportation.  Each task in the UPWP includes information on who will perform the work, the schedule for completing the work, resulting end products, and proposed funding and source of funds.

In addition to detailing the work associated with HRTPO core functions – the Long-Range Transportation Plan, the Transportation Improvement Program, the Congestion Management Process, and Public Participation – federal regulations state that the UPWP shall include a discussion of the planning priorities facing the metropolitan planning area.  It is in the determination of these planning priorities that the HRTPO Board ensures its vision and goals are carried forward in the UPWP.  Establishing clear direction from the HRTPO Board regarding its priorities allows the HRTPO staff to ensure that limited resources (manpower, funding) are properly allocated in the UPWP. 

HRTPO staff will be soliciting input on the planning priorities for the FY 2013 UPWP from the Transportation Technical Advisory Committee and the HRTPO Board during January 2012.  The first draft of the FY 2013 UPWP will be ready for review by March 2012.

By Robert B. Case, PE

In response to a request from VDOT, in December HRTPO staff collaborated with the HRTPO’s Transportation Technical Advisory Committee (TTAC) to identify candidate projects for FY 2012 discretionary grant programs. On December 12, 2011, HRTPO staff submitted a letter to VDOT identifying projects to be considered by VDOT for submission under these grant programs, including a “Regional Value Pricing Study” and a “HOT Lane Study on I-64 Reversible HOV Lanes”.
 
On December 15, 2011, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) presented a webinar titled “Update on the Urban Partnership and Congestion Reduction Demonstration Projects” as part of its webinar series: “Overcoming the Challenges of Congestion Pricing.”  Given that Hampton Roads has HOV lanes which may be candidates for being converted into High-Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes, the “lessons learned” from the webinar are summarized below.

The first speaker, Kathy McCune, presented an update on the “Metro ExpressLanes”, a conversion of 25 miles of HOV lanes in Los Angeles to High-Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes.  She presented lessons learned including:
• “A Political Champion is a must”
• “Engage the public early…and often…”
• “A multi-modal approach increases public acceptance”
• “Address equity issues early in the planning process”

For more information, see http://www.metro.net/projects/expresslanes/

The second speaker, Jay Primus, presented an update on “SFpark”, a parking management project in San Francisco.  The goals of the project is to achieve the following transportation objectives:

• Relieve congestion
• Increase usage of public transit
• Increase economic competiveness
• Increase safety
• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions

The project uses current communications technologies (web, smartphone apps) and demand responsive parking rates to achieve these objectives.  Initial results include increased revenue from parking meters and a reduction in revenue from parking tickets.
See http://sfpark.org/ for more information.

The third speaker, Rory Santana, presented an update on “95 Express Lanes Program”, a conversion of HOV lanes in the Miami / Ft. Lauderdale area to HOT lanes.  He reported a customer satisfaction rating of 90% or higher.  Based on the results of the project, he recommended selling reliability to the public, not speed improvement alone.

For more information, see http://www.95express.com/

The fourth speaker, Patrick Vu, presented an update on Atlanta’s I-85 Express Lanes, another HOV to HOT lane conversion.  His lessons learned included:

• “Anticipate/expect traffic pattern changes”
• “Collection of key performance metrics”- before and after data
• “Message coordination and addressing public response”- include radio traffic personalities
See www.PeachPass.com for more information.

The fifth speaker, Kenneth Buckeye, presented an update on “Minnesota’s Urban Partnership Agreement” which is funding 24 projects and initiatives, including an HOV to HOT lane conversion in the Minneapolis area.  His lessons learned included:

• “Clear decision-making authority and assignment of responsibilities…”
• “Real and meaningful deadlines…”
• “Multimodal solutions work”
• “Must continue to market strategies and performance”

For more information, see www.dot.state.mn.us/upa 

The sixth speaker, Patty Rubstello, presented an update on the Lake Washington Urban Partnership Agreement, which includes the tolling and replacement of an existing bridge and the addition of over 130 new daily bus trips in the Seattle area.  Lessons learned include:

• “Coordinate early with FHWA on sign messages”
• “Education- Lots of it!”
• “…something to sell”- replacement of existing vulnerable floating bridge
See http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/LkWaMgt/ for more information.

The next webinar in the Congestion Pricing series will be held February 23, 2012.