Wait out in the H somebody else live all right good afternoon everybody Welcome to the February 15th program advisory committee meeting I’d like to note that we are starting the meeting at 4:45 uh just a reminder the meeting is being streamed live on mvc’s YouTube page and I’d like to note that pack
Chair PCH is also joining us virtually due to a family medical reason she’s asked me to chair the meeting as she can’t be here in person welcome chah p and feel free to jump in any time after we’ve moved on the electronic resolution um staff have now confirmed a quorum we
Actually have all members of the committee here and Mr Karen tonis from Arlington um we do need to take action to approve chair Paul’s remote participation can I have a motion to approve chair Paul’s request to par moved second second all right um all those in favor I opposed stained no all
Right motions approved um chair Paul welcome you hear much okay great and we can everybody can hear her yeah okay great um keep moving okay great so as part of today’s meeting materials we are provided a summary of the September 21st 2023 pack meeting does anyone have any comments to share with
Staff I’m hearing none so the committee will accept the summary of that meeting U moving right along we are going to have a facilitated discussion about ntc’s research strategic plan and I see joining us over the years nvtc has done an amazing job providing valuable timely research and Analysis on a variety of
Topics such as the recently updated value of Transit Study last year the commission decided to step back and take a more strategic approach to the research nvtc should conduct while still maintaining the ability to react quickly to issues the that opportunities that pop up savior would you please provide
Us with a little more context on the Strategic plan and introduce our facilitator sure and I’ll be brief try and get things started so so thank you all nice to see you all this evening so right now we are working as mentioned on a strategic Transit policy research
Roadmap purpose of this project is to support staff in developing a strategy for Regional Transit policy research over the next four to six years the Consulting team that is helping mbtc do this includes INF strategies and the Eno Center for transportation and members from both organizations at the end of
The table and they’ll be facilitating the discussion in a few minutes um they will be uh conducting the Strategic exercise this evening uh hope that we get input into the Strategic the Strategic vision for mvc’s research priorities in the coming years these inputs will be used to help develop a
Refined vision and research priorities to help develop our policy research agenda moving forward so very brief but we’ll get more detail from the slides um and I will introduce uh Joshua shank who will be leading the discussion and um uh with him is uh uh surfy and Andy from
INF strategies and ener and they will take it on here great thanks Xavier and thank you for having me here I’m Joshua shank with info strategies if you’re confused I used to be with Eno so that’s very complicated we are partnering with Eno uh but I’m now with info strategies
And uh what we’re going to do today is we’re going to try to uh get some input uh from this group about the NBT research nbtc research program so that we have uh we make sure to take into account what your considerations are what your thoughts are as far as
Research it won’t be painful it’ll be easy I promise you we’re going to make it as easy as possible we go to the next slide just to do quick um uh stuff on I think Xavier essentially went through this uh already um but the idea is that
This is the research program it’s one of the unique features of this organization that you have this dedication to research and it’s a contribution that you can really make in this region uh we’ve done a lot of work looking at other organizations similar organizations already uh and looking at
Their research programs no one quite like you so and that’s great because it does present opportunities next slide so the idea here is we don’t want to just come up with like okay this would be an interesting thing to look at and then go look at that right we want
To have some strategy behind the research program so that there is a clear direction that we know we’re doing something meaningful and useful that that supports the mission of the organization right and that’s why we’re doing this along with many other um activities to figure out what this
Program should look like and that includes um looking at what the research pipeline should look like and how that research pipeline might be funded because we don’t want to just rely on the funding that we have available we want to make sure that we’re maximizing the sources of funding to maximize the
Benefit of the research program uh that’s similar to how youo does things similar how other think tanks do things they’re not just thinking about what’s the best stuff to look at they’re also thinking what we get funded you have to balance both those things all right next
Slide so this is how we think of the policy I’m going move over here policy research road map right so it’s similar to a strategic vision for anything like if you’re doing a strategic plan for an organization a strategic vision of any kind you want to essentially have uh the
Mission and vision for the organization right here yeah it’s kind of the guiding principle everything you’re doing at nbtc including the research program has to go along with Mission Vision but then there’s a specific vision for the research program itself and that’s something that we’re trying to develop
Through this process and based on that Vision you have research priorities that fall out of that Vision um and then you have a structure and pipeline that feeds into those research priorities and then of course as I mentioned who are you going to work where’s the money going to
Come from uh is part of it so what we’re going to talk about today is it’s kind of difficult to narrow down a vision with a big people but it’s a little bit better to talk about some of the research priorities that will help us figure out what that Vision should look
Like and then we’ll shape the rest of it from there so that’s what we’re going to talk about today next slide so just so you understand where we are in this process and how it’s going to go from here U so we’re currently still in the stakeholder engagement
Component of this process and so you are part of that stakeholder engagement process U we’ve done a lot of research and already talk to subject matter experts in the field I mentioned we did a lot of research to figure out what are the other organizations that do this and
What do they look like and how do they structure their program and we of course not only um the the pack but the other Commissioners as well as uh staff and Partners at nbtc are all going to be part of how we engage stakeholders and get their perspectives on what this research
Vision should look like and then we’ll move on to okay now we we’re going to figure out what’s the vision look like based on what we’ve heard uh we’re going to figure out what the partnership opportunities that come out of that vision and then we’re going to be able
To finalize the policy research road map based on all that information and that will be a great way for yeah I was wondering if you could move that thing I don’t know if it’s possible I’m sorry I didn’t mean to distract it’s okay no I I was thinking at the words give
You I just don’t know what else is going to be covered up as you keep nothing really it’s okay probably um results an actual right thank you all right next slide so before we get into the workshop and and what we’re going to do today over the next 20 25 minutes does anyone
Have any questions on or thoughts about what we just went over as far as the research program yeah can I just ask because I wasn’t here when was the last time this kind of or this is like we never actually done this type of activity we’ve done some strategic work
On the organization as a whole ironically 10 years ago before right the week before I started this gentleman actually facilitated mbtc strategic planning effort that resulted in our um mission and vision and things like that not always folds into our um our work plan but thinking strategically specifically about the research program
Is this is new okay yeah that’s great thank you and I will say so far the organizations we’ve talked to most of them don’t think strategically about their research program either so it’s great to do it because it will give you such a leg up a lot of places are just
Like oh where do we get funding what am I thinking about today it’s great to have a little more of vision Associated okay so let’s go to the activity and this is where we’re going to get your input and we’re going to try to make it as easy as possible for you
To do that so the first part of this discussion is to think about the topics that you think would be most most critical for transit in Northern Virginia over the next four to six years so what does that mean when you think about the challenges that Northern Virginia is facing with public transit
What are the things that come to mind that you think well if we had research on this particular topic we would be better equipped to address some of those challenges or our partners would be better equipped or the region would better equipped to address those challenges and what we’re going to do is
We’re going to have you uh tell us some of the topics Sophie’s going to write them on the board back there uh and we’re going to then try to dig a little deeper into each of those topics after we figure out what they are um but a
Topic for um for Transit research that you think is really valuable for this region um does anyone want to start us off sure yes thank you I don’t even know if it counts how can we get more people on Transit so ridership uh yeah like do all these wonderful things but if
Nobody’s writing it pretty basic right yeah like how do we increase R room for improvement so two things that come to mind for me that um our education about Transit what is the most effective way to make people more confident that they know how to use public transit my I think um
One thing I’ve seen with Dash going Fair free is it also eliminated all the anxiety about having the right app the amount of ticket the do I need to physically have something or not and so the the that is unrelated to frequency and and routes and such like that but it
Just it eliminated a barrier to people using Transit that has nothing to do with the actual emissions or locations but was just like oh the bus is coming I’ll just get on on you know um so I think education and confidence in accessing the systems um I
Think I’ll throw into that like my own experience in like London last year the transit app that I use here worked in London I found myself standing outside the football stadium in brenford and like was like I wonder if there’s a bus you know what I mean and I just opened
The transit app and which app was it called it’s a transit app yeah yeah like be cute but like yeah but like it just brought up the next buses and like took a bus back into the City and so I think um what I’m finding increasingly when we
Talk about trying to con like convince people um money isn’t doing it safety isn’t doing it emissions doesn’t necessarily do it I think part of it is like the average person knows how to walk out of their house into their driveway and get in their car and drive
The same route they’ve taken a hundred times before how do we lower the education and the like it’s different feeling and barrier that exists yes I think I’m hearing two different things from you right one is giving people the information they need to make them more comfortable writing the other is making
It easier just reducing the barriers the the friction when riding in general right like you sometimes like like you were saying with Dash you don’t need any information it’s free so that’s great um but there are other ways to to do that besides making it free there’s other
Ways to reduce that friction so those are two great topics yes um I actually can think of three things that I’d like to see um and Libby and takas know that I’ll be a broken record on this but um women have very different needs when it comes to Transit
And if you read a book called invisible women you will see that you know we have built so many systems including transit for the default human um the guy who just goes to work and goes home and then goes you know and Carri a briefcase carries a briefcase and that’s it they
Don’t have no babies no diaper bags no no babies no diapers bag don’t have to stop the C don’t have to do the grocery shopping you know um basically do the 99% of the work that is required to run a household so um I’d like to see us
Maybe do if it fits in this I’m new in this on this committee but if it fits in with this discussion or This research I would love to see how we can uh design our systems to work better for women um the second thing I I was thinking
About now I come from Lowden and we have three new stations and um with covid and the new commuter uh um patterns what worries me the most is um how do we have how do we have um what are the attractions around um the the transit and do people know
How to get to those attractions um those sort sorts of things and I know that things are going to be built in a different way probably outside of Transit and there may be new things that people want to take transit to hopefully in Laden County there will be new things
That people want to take transit to and the can I just clarify that so you’re you’re saying that it would be interesting to look at how we get people to use transit to go to events to go to anything but work so non workor yeah
Yeah to how do we get people to use it to do anything but go to work which Dev Tails a little bit on onto the first topic I was talking about right um because women have to do a lot more things than go to work and back most
Women education so you’re talking about educating people how to use Transit about nonwork activities or Al I guess it’s also within increasing the ridership right so yes exactly yeah that the underlying concern no I was hearing like that’s an opportunity for transit to expand its market share right is the
Non-work trips and then lastly I was just thinking about the younger generation right like you know the kids that are just starting their jobs or people that you know are a lot younger than us and figuring out what what their needs are with Transit because they might be very
Different than the needs of the people that are sitting in this room so not just gender specific but also age or generational yeah generational yeah like literally like breaking down the you know segregating the data so to speak and I want to recognize the the chair if
I can add one quick thing DOL you before I um turn to you I on that point um the the average cost of owning a car went up I think 133% last year and the average car payment is now $700 so like when you talk about the age difference like my
First car was less than $10,000 you Dodge Neon but I’m just saying like I bought it making like $221,000 a year and my car payment was like $180 or something like that just doesn’t exist anymore and so like the the way people are even entering the transportation space financially is just
Fundamentally different it’s just like housing like the things we take for granted about like well you get a good job you buy a house because that makes sense the same thing is true of a car though I mean you know you get a good job you cannot necessarily afford a $700
A month I mean you know that’s what my parents mortgage payment was so I mean but right so I I I completely wholeheartedly agree like with with sort of the age point and then the gender point I I as you were saying it completely agree with that too and I
Also think we need to expand that into like um you know if we build a systems that work for seniors and the disabled we will have a system that works for everybody including women doing you know grocery runs and daycare pickups and such you know but if we expand our
Design model to be more inclusive it it would tends to help every it would tend to help everybody yeah I I I don’t dismiss it all like the gender specific lens crosswalks and sidewalks yeah exactly then you can do a stroller then you can do a bike then you can do a
Scooter um how do I now oh she’s good okay okay uh CH PCH can you all hear me yes yes oh good awesome well thank you so much I I love this discussion I’m sorry I’m not with you in person um I’m probably tacking on a little bit um of what I’ve been
Hearing and um from my perspective I think expanding it even more so um then even the last two Commissioners got to which is knowing right the the needs and the reliability and the costs when we’re trying to get more people to use the system thinking about what is missing to
Help make our entire ecosystem um for Reliable and cost effective Transportation um able to reduce the need to own a car right whether or not you can so whether that I mean Northern Virginia is the only place I’ve lived where I had to buy a car um because
There are not the whether it’s the bus the rail the car share the Bike Share the the safe Walk sidewalk to know that for someone who non-gender specific doesn’t have you know a nine-to-five job that they go and they come back has a much more different schedule and needs
And and can’t not have something reliable right to get around and so what is missing in our Northern Virginia ecosystem to help less people feel that they absolutely you know cannot live without having that car um to be able to do the things they need to
Do so could could we uh call that strategies for reducing car ownership dependence yeah I guess looking at right what is the entire um transit system right what are the missing links to reduce the car Reliance re so I think it’s like all of the above but um yeah well because car ownership
In in cities around the world is is correlated certainly with Transit but it’s not just Transit right there’s lots of other factors and so that’s why I had car share right that made me feel okay if I ever absolutely have to have a car right in a city that’s there but most of
The time it’s not necessary because there are all these other ways yeah right right the last Point she made was the one I was going to make the one thing that I I’m noticing too I’m thinking the people we need to hear from are the people we don’t see so that I
Think that’s the tricky part that you’re gonna have to write if they’re not on Transit we want to talk to them how do we find them oh n so non- Riders and yeah we want yeah people that are there that’s great we want to talk to people who
Aren’t here why aren’t they there what do we need to do what’s the problem we think we’ve got some good ideas so understanding what non-writers need you’re kind of getting yeah it’s just hard to find the people you don’t see yeah so um all valid points Sur you
Remind me at this I I discovery that I me as a student when a a mayor of a Paris suburb said and now in all V equivalent stations will will have a daycare as part of the project as a as a standard and since then and in Sweden
They all have grocery stores go it’s parking right and you awesome app to male Transit Riders too so yes yes so anyway so Transit demographics is for me a very important thing this is the country that it we have a complete segregation uh mean who D who who rides
With me my bus in the morning is really not reflective of the average demographical place this is a huge problem so uh talking about the the car dependency yes it’s a function of income uh and we and and the the most absurd thing is that where we have the
Highest income and the highest you know tax capacity we have in comparison the lowest quality of Transit uh delivery instead of the opposite right we try always to to uh to satisfy a and that has a lot to do with impact of Transit I I think one of the amazing things that
Uh the team of nvtc has done this year is to to argue for you know what’s economic impact of of Transit and where does it materialize in in a world that things are changing the work is changing you know some some the our idea of how
Uh Urban Land Use can work is changing so we we are coming out of a few decades you know dominated by the transit oriented development uh realm and and I think we need to redefine re- research what the transit oriented development proposition is today that’s one thing
Yeah that includes how we cover the territory for example this is a metropolitan region has already six million people the northern region is is really growing very fast yet we have amazing pieces that are not covered by by transit or not covered good enough we are discussing here you know
Seven uh uh brt lines uh we have vast I mean the isenhower corridor was not uh the was that borgard Corridor was not covered by transit Alexandria responded with a complete redevelop re re rethinking of their Master Transportation plan to that successful in my op but they responded you know not efficient
Geography of Transit uh we are the only Metropolitan region of that size that I know uh in the western world that doesn’t that is very reluctant to discuss the expansion of the systems we we takes us like decades to to get the Silver Line the cost of that is absolutely absurd in Arlington
Virginia uh we were see I was seeing costs per per mile per passenger mile that are absolutely not comp London has less is less costly than we are London UK so that’s for me cost is cost of expansion or cost of capital infrastructure cost cost of operation
Etc which is unusually high cost for and then the substitution of models we we have double bus systems here bus yellow buses for schools and so actually triple triple Metro yellow buses and then our loc so that there’s a lot of overlapping and over capacity still isn’t getting people where they I
Hope this is fun sorry I had another comment that kind of ties in what you guys were saying something that I have found a little bit frustrating and I don’t know if we can do this but is there a way to I don’t know with mapping or or something like
That to figure out what the not just the need but what is the potential capacity out there for for ERS or users so I I feel like in my jurisdiction I don’t know about you guys but in my jurisdiction we have this mentality of well we then we’re not going to put a
Rout there because there’s no demand like well how do you know if there’s no demand that’s I’m saying trying to build a bike lane oh yes trust me yeah it’s the same it’s same but for me it’s like well actually if you build it they will
Come and my bike L my bike lines prove that right it’s like people say but yeah then then all of a sudden you see all these people walking and biking and all that so I I don’t I mean you’re the experts but it’s like how how would you
Figure out um what what the capacity is because sometimes you build it and they don’t come that’s an issue we’ve got with right with what well like getting back on Metro getting people back that’s a whole different story well yeah I’m just the dat we have on travel patterns
Is better than anything we’ve ever had in history because people’s cell phones are with them at all times and really good ide so it’s a lot easier to say okay we see a lot of people going from here to there maybe we should of us there rather than just guessing so been [Laughter]
Waiting I’m glad I waited because I agree with everything I second that motion um and the I’ve like you Sirah I’ve ridden transit systems like all over the world and ironically the Beijing system is more easy for an English speaker to use than the Metro System because everything
Is in Chinese and English it’s direct there’s you know it works really well plus it’s cheap okay but that’s an aside I mean we all approach this from our own experiences I mean let’s be honest Transit doesn’t go where people want to go in the way they want to go
There and the car is perfect you get out of your house you get right into your car it’s heated and it’s got a big trunk so you don’t have to Lug groceries and I did go to the grocery store today I want you to know
That but you for me it it’s look at lft and Uber look at the business models and we ought to see if they don’t offer a whole lot more in the transit space than than we’ve really explored so from my standpoint I’d like to see how there for some people like like I
Ride I ride Metro Rail to go in and out of DC most of the time so for some sorts of trips the established what do they call them routes you know work okay although why we have people sitting on the pavement waiting for a bus is just beyond me
But but there are a lot of trips if you’re talking about these daily trips it’ll really have to be on demand and if Metro if Transit is serious about dramatically increasing we need to study where people are going when they are going and provide them the service that
They find attract easy to say hard to do and then of course there’s the money issue how do you afford this I I just want to sort of second and expand on that which is again when transit’s working well you don’t even check the schedule so that’s something else I’ve
Experienced recently like um I’ve walked out of City Hall to catch a train and I didn’t even look at when the next bus was coming on King Street because the free frequency is such that like it was going to be less than 10 minutes from
Now you know and it ended up being 6 minutes or something so that’s that’s that that’s the confidence and the comfort and and less to think about and analyze as far as another data point to look into and I think this gets to Libby’s point about who isn’t like using
Transit there seems to be a like a real focus on commuting but so many car trips have nothing to do with going to or from work and I feel like those are the harder ones to convert because commuting happens on a fixed schedule at a time
When we have lots of action in the system you know um V is you know facing this challenge too but so many of the people who I’m trying to sort of you know get to kind of rethink does the ride to CVS require your six seater SUV
You know to pick up a prescription kind of vibe and so is there a way to identify how do people use their cars unrelated to commuting how you know I think we know some of this already but research it with an eye towards okay how can we convert some of those non-
Commuting activities we sort of know how to do the commuting thing we’ve just lost commuters so now it’s more about okay we’re probably not going to get some of those commuters back some of these jobs are just going to perpetually be done from home so if we want for a
Mission sake and safety sake and infrastructure safe to get people out of their cars we have to get like the CVS trip out of a car we have to to get the soccer run out of the car and so I’d love to understand more about the volume
Nature distance of those trips and what routage and Transit would it take to induce those customers to make a different Choice yeah it’s a it’s a really critical point that that people are saying over and over again is now that Transit has lost a percentage of commute trips looks like forever well
How do they capture a lot more of the trips that are outside of the commute because those are vastly outnumbering commute trips and they always have actually did you have one other thing because I want to move to the next exercise okay I’m just one of these people so I
Feel terribly guilty I hardly ever take transit I really so I’ve got a house here with two cats I’ve got my mother here is’s 95 I have to see her four times a day I’ve got meetings here meetings here meetings here and I am flying around it’s different every day
And I have five minutes to and I’m 15 minutes late for here so and I don’t know that I’m all that unusual and I don’t know how we solve that one and it might be Uber Jitney something and I don’t know if we Cano well that’s that’s
Why we have a research program is to try to help answer some here’s what we’re going to do in the short time we have left um we’ve got cou bit questions I think so how to increase Transit ridership I think is kind of the the
Issue that a lot of that seems to have fallen in is you know how to get understanding why people take transit why why people that was one of the big topic there was something about accessibility are what else what what else are the kind of the big buckets in here for
Those sticking out I mean I heard cost cost was a big one yeah and then I’ve heard that this concept of gender and generational specific issues yeah cost is tricky I got to tell you because it’s fundamentally cheaper you know what I mean over the course of a year and a
Budget is that was cost of producing transit or for I heard cost of providing Transit yeah just making yeah from a user perspective that’s an education component and I do compan think of that I could get rid of the car and just do lists all the time but then there’s
Issues doing that can can I add frequency since we’re getting to such specifics something that’s the big one that’s we’re about to do that so we’re about to get I’m just try to figure out what the buckets are so these are the buckets we have so far and you can start
Writing on your sticky notes if you have a couple more microeconomic issues which I might put on the Bigg text me so what we’d like you to write on your sticky notes are the more specific things that you think need to be researched under these buckets so some
Of them you’ve already told us and that’s fine you can write those again if you want to reiterate them but what are the specific like when you think about what is a research question that you would want answered on under that that’s what research is right it’s like
Answering your question so what is the question that you think needs to be answered under that category uh and you can put as many sticky notes as many categories you text you and uh and write those down and post them in the where where put understanding the demographics and
To and land use I’ve parked a little bit more to more of the M economic topics what do I forget service design was both the redundancy the over and and the TNC issues yeah I think those are kind of the big buckets so got like 15 and they’re all Dr yeah
You have to keep I don’t throw anything out though I know I mean I I feel your pain we can do a whole collection and art project dead pants I’ll be capturing Dolly she if you cannot read my handwriting please say something so we’re supposed to put more questions under each bullet more
Specific specific so so these are these are topics right these are Big topics now the question is well what specific research question would you want to answer under that topic what’s the white paper yeah yeah we going to do resarch study what would we say we want to know the answer
Sa here’s next PhD one is enough a doctor doctor how’s it working yeah this is not the end of the input you are welcome to share ideas with us at any time politics and Transit because this is already settled right all right so if I say Jitney syst do that
Mean something one question about Jitney systems do you want answered that would help you lead to can we develop think one of the Hampton like is that talking no no well jys are in like is that around the world basically lawn mowers I was thinking riding mowers and
They’re on little cars and they fly all around the city and you just they’re all over the place you pick it’s like a cab but they’re really tiny and they just go everywhere and they’re all over the place because nobody has cars have you ever been to India or
I’ll bring you I have a but anyway it’s just they’re just they’re like Rider mowers who drives there’s a driver each time that’s the problem because C this is not what should we do it’s should we think about research and I think if we had robots and automated
Ones we could probably do it that’s my guess is an okay question I don’t know everything at this point is okay this is because I’ve decided that’s the that’s going to get me out of my car between all I have to do I’m a we’re all human pingpong balls sometimes right it’s
Just this is the right [Laughter] group guilty every time I go to a Metro don’t feel guilty system worked well you would be on or if I had 48 Hours yes I can yes well we can collect them if you like whatever you prefer you don’t know what I don’t know
Where you want to put it get your steps in go ahead that’s why you didn’t even leave it up space is Kate transcribing doll I am she’s like I’m going to fast as I can you I do not her thumbs are faster than your I’m I’m done Kate thank
You I just get this print onto the stickies thank you I guess I have to figure out where these go so this more like a survey questions no oh oh no it’s fine no question no no I’m just thinking some of those are actually build what do you do your can’t on
Transit how many places every Metro get off the Met they have a metro system is in Stockholm always a little grocery store in the St talk you should take and they pick up their kid they pick up their groceries and there right we just developed real differently here um
Or it doesn’t I mean obviously the buckets overlap but it’s not keep getting my my laptop slow so I keep like I’m off by like two minutes are they there’s vegetables and cookies oh wow so you have one of both and your perfect now it’s MRN you’re being okay
So okay just a teaser in this that’s [Applause] stff too many questions too Lal research budget it’s okay because some of these things we might find that others have done we can that is true some of these things will have obvious funding source yes potentially right they’re just two
Two this is sneak past you I’m comfortable it yeah thank you and you to wrap this up okay so if I could invite everybody to start migrating back towards the table I understand Mr shank has a a timing element we want to respect um so do you want to bring some closure
To yeah I mean so this is this is great and I you know we’ll go through these and we’ll we’re going to take a look and see like okay what where these where’s their overlap um how do we distill these into some good uh research topics and
That will all go into U how we construct the the vision of the resarch program so um I just want to say thank you for being such great participants in this um all of the like you obviously care a lot and have a lot of about this stuff and that’s great
Because that’s not always true um I’ve worked with plenty of boards who are most indifferent to this stuff so it’s wonderful thank you for your time and see me again soon thank you very much um for the facilitated discussion I’m gonna hand it back to Xavier to sort
Of introduce the next portion of the research discussion yes okay so the next portion is essentially just a a a preview of what we are currently working on we have two papers that uh the transit Resource Center which is the the program my manag is working on uh
Next got here in front of you as well two pages so I will um yeah so the first one is I’ll go with the first one and then Sophie I believe is on the call and she’ll be going with the second one because that’s the one managing the first one is the climate
Benefits of Transit Norther Virginia excuse me [Applause] so there’s a lot of words in this slide which is always less an idea but this is more an information slide to give you a heads up of what was captured in here the uh report itself has a lot of
Analysis but essentially we capture how many emissions um trans North Virginia reduces every year in in this region um an important point from our analysis shows that all bus fuel types even diesel buses are a much greater environmental option than using cars and we emphasize that using different
Metrics get what we how we dve just get people and then there are opportunities I looked at the policies as well from each of the agencies and each of the region uh each of the jurisdictions and there are a huge Variety in different policies that intersect Transit and the
Environment and there’s a really good opportunity for different jurisdictions in the region to learn from each other tackling this in different ways and there’s opportunities to really look at whatever else is doing and learn from each other from this report we have five main recommendations and we’re going to
Talk about this in a lot more detail in the April April meeting yes um essentially the main recommendations number one increase writers ship so great to see that discussed tonight um next is reducing what we call Dead Heading which is the miles and hours when a Transit vehicle is not taking
Passengers um increasing the amount of Transit in the region in general speeding up buses using bus priority infrastructure and policies uh and then transitioning to zeriss buses and the graphic on the right of the of the slide just different ways of conceptualizing the environmental benefits of Trends in
The region how much of an impact are we talking about when we say 120,000 metric tons of CO2 that doesn’t really mean anything to anyone so here’s a different ways so you can you can capture in Imagine um so that’s a summary of that and I’ll turn over to Sophie who’s going
To talk about her briefly talk about her report can I ask one quick question oh yes sorry just um and I recognize the the studies already the information has been done but was it looked at it all in there if electric buses help in the inducement like is
There a kind of person who like hears and sees and Breeze a diesel bus and thinks well I don’t want to you know contribute to that but if the bus is electric they actually feel like they’re doing something positive from on a climate front by getting on the electric
Bus yeah so we didn’t look at that so much because we didn’t have that kind of data but we did look at like electric bus versus electric car diesel bus versus electric car so different bus fuel types and car fuel types to see what Rises to the top um and there’s
More analysis that dies into that and talks about that um that’s why we had the point the all bus fle types even diesel buses are much greater environmental option um and so more important just get more bus service out there regardless of the fuel type definitely get that there are some
Elements of that that are not captured in just like what is the actual environmental missions it’s the perception not just what you actually have yeah I think some people find I mean the diesel they get dirty they smell bad I mean you just want to avoid
Them yeah and I while I completely agree and and understand that all bus ridership is L Car you know individual car I do wonder if that’s an inducement tool as well if people just feel better choosing a cleaner it wasn’t the scope of this that doesn’t mean it can’t be on that
Right out there yeah okay thank you I have a just a question um by the way comfort of using and the quality of the vehicle and all the smoothness ETC is a huge thing that should be really articulated at some point uh question the 120 to 160,000 met carbon
Equivalent is that is that the transit as it it used today or what or is it a function of how many people how many trips were taking as based on existing roers ship so basically everyone who uses Transit yes exactly yes hey um this is pretty
Awesome um I don’t know if this was asked but sort of thinking about the the type of vehicle question is there data on like I remember when the circulators first started in DC um not just the routes but the type of buses and and the cost right
Sort of the comfort and feeling like it’s a little bit more um I don’t know it felt how do you say that more comfortable more more comfortable for people who weren’t used to buses that wasn’t cing this but uh we’ll add it to the uh ideas for H future setting okay thank
You what you Sophie all right can you all hear me okay I hope yep can okay perfect um so like Xavier said oh good my video’s on um so like Xavier said I’m going to just give a super brief preview of the other study we’ve been working on which is the
Nor Northern Virginia Transit Trends report um and this will also be presented at the April commission meeting so this is going to be very very high level just a few takeaways um but in this report we analyze Trends over both space and time we wanted to review
How Transit has and has not changed over the last 15 years um and so in the and we looked at this in the context of ridership and service metrics um looking at things like we looked at pure ridership numbers we looked at um average trip length bus speed lots of
Different metrics to get a full picture and then in the second portion of the report we looked at how people moved across the region in one snapshot year which was 2017 which is um most recent data that we had available to understand more spatially where people are going um
On a given day and because this is really high level I’m just going to cut to the Chase and run through the three main takeaways from this report uh and then you can see the rest of it in April uh when we present but the first of
Which was that we saw an overemphasis on classic Peak off peak Monday through Friday computer oriented scheduling which you all were just discussing earlier in your Workshop um Miss baggley alluded to this specifically earlier but I have the numbers almost 2third of trips in Northern Virginia are not
Commutes so only I think it’s 36% of trips is commutes and then the other two that’s some highspeed analysis for you um and the second takeaway was um as you’ve heard me talk about before and Xavier uh the Region’s bus speeds have slowed down over time uh and we do have
Ways to speed these up I’ve talked to you previously about bus priority treat ments um this ties all back to our advancing bus priority report from last year um we have specific bus priority treatments and even more bus priority um brt incoming with the V Route 7 and
Similar things um and that rolls me into our third takeaway which is that more Transit connections are needed within Virginia um which you all were just talking about as well there’s so much movement that happens in transit into and out of DC but people move more than in and out of
DC um they move in more than just that direction by implementing brt like the Invision Route 7 project high-capacity Transit corridors like on Columbia Pike uh ntc’s regional Bus analysis that we’re currently working on these all are working to contribute to enhance these inate interjurisdictional connections
That are more than just in and out of the urban Hub and I would be remiss to not mentioned better bu Network redesign which is also working um on these kinds of connections and a focus on more high frequency Transit so that’s just a little little nibble of uh the full
Presentation that you will get um in April at the commission and that will have a lot more detailed findings and more takeaways but for now you can enjoy these three takeaways and this little video of changing commuting Trends that’s crazy well and it all starts to
Happen in 2019 I mean I’m I’m you know kind of totally focused on this a littleit you have to get attracted to stop at 22 have more details in the report this is just I promise there’s many more there’s a lot more graphs and if I couldve I don’t think
This was in the script so obviously we started talking about research strategic plan you’re we’re diving into some of the most recent things June 14th we are doing a policy Symposium as a part of our 60th anniversary it’s going to be over um at at the George B in Arlington
Campus so you’re going to be hearing a little bit more about that that’s not all going to be nvtc showcasing we’re going to get a chance to do that but it’s also showcasing thematically a lot of the things that we’ve been working at especially for those who’ve been in the
Commission for a little while I my senses are going to probably have some zero Mission bus stuff we are going to have some Transit Trend stuff but anyway but stay tuned because that’s going to be an all day Symposium um very much geared to our jurisdictional staff and
Partners and consultants and all that um but you guys will get all the information and definitely welcome to come so that will be like a day of geeking out on Transit data and Analysis and policy work um so I just had to put that in there get get us the sessions
Ahead of time because I’m located I could just drop in exactly well yeah don’t you were going to hear plenty about that so sorry for like you know snatching I was like because all this kind of stuff feeds right into but you guys are going to see this a little bit
Later this spring um at the commission meeting we just wanted you guys to get a preview of it okay well thank you Xavier and Sophie for your work and presentation we’ll see more in April and um we’re going to move on to our commuter Choice program we’re well into
The 2526 funding cycle for the i66 corridor and Owen is here to walk us through the program updates and some ideas for the committee to discuss yes go for it Ben great thank you all good to be with you again for the first time
In a while so I do have a few updates on our i66 Comm Choice fiscal year 2526 process um next slide please the first is eligibility review so we held our call for projects late last year we received received 15 applications with a total $23.7 million we’ve looked through all for
Consistency with benefiting inside the Beltway toll payers as well as program goals and moving more people and representing improvements that would improve Mobility travel options safety and reliability so we are expecting to carry forward 11 of these with a roughly $1 13.5 million total funding request they comprise eight bus service improvements
Um these are largely established Services they are commuter Focus but um they’ve seen on the whole like ridership bouncing back in the last couple years um so eight of those two TDM incentive campaigns and one Bike Share expansion now um there’s somewhat of a difference between 13 and a half and 23.7 million
Most of that um consists of three bus services that we’ve referred to drpt for consideration under their I the Beltway funding program that funding um these SE are two Omni ride commuter routes one beginning in Front Royal one in Warrington um going into Arlington and DC and then one
Local Fairfax Connector bus route that would parallel um much of i66 outside the Beltway in Fairfax County so drpt has those three applications they do remain in our process for now um if drpt opts to fund them the spring we would anticipate withdrawing them coordinating that from our process um there was one
Proposal definitively withdrawn that was a to move a V after afternoon inbound train to the morning um Peak period so while that would have benefited morning commuters the operation is already fully funded by V and we our program policy is that we can’t supplant um other funding
Sources so we are moving into scoring um once we complete that we will work with drpt to obtain formal input from The Office of the Attorney General as well as we do in each round so 13 and half million you might be comparing that to the $40 to $50 million we advertised as
Being available this round and a couple of the things I’m going talk about um after this address that um this Corridor since the pandemic has not had as much of a rebound in commuter demand as we’ve seen in our 39595 Corridor where travel and Transit volumes are higher and we’ve
Seen a lot more demand for our funding Department of Defense travel in that Corridor which partly helps to explain the Quaker rebound but also in the 66 Corridor there have been other significant sources of funding to support some of the types of improvements we typically would have
Been asked to fund like um commuter uh parking facilities as well as some of the longer distance travel services and that funding is from the outside the Beltway Express links concessionaire so we have put a good bit of thought into these circumstances and I will talk about a couple of the
Strategies but first I will stop for any questions on the applications we’ve received seeing any at the moment all right we go I asked something so the TDM how how is that that application structured for TDM so 1.5 million funding request so these are specific PDM measures that are then priced and
Yeah yeah so one of these is a half Fair campaign on Omni ride routes in the corridor so they would be basically measuring those trips at the fair box and Reporting ridership and billing us based on that um the other is kind of a comp Canyon project to um a
Reinstatement of Amtrak stepup ticketing on Fredericksburg line that we funded in the last 395 round so basically V would be integrating with Amtrak’s app for people to be able to book reservations on Amtrak trains good question bank for the back for TDM yeah yeah no we’re measuring it directly now yeah
Not doing as well as we do but we come so close so close for far less money though that’s a problem um cool next slide then okay so one of our strategies at staff level at this point is to shift a portion of our toll award for a project that uniquely
Benefits toll payers in both of our program corridors from I 39595 to i66 and this project specifically is V’s new expanded Crystal City station it is served by both lines and we funded this in the last I 395 round um it was one of our first what we call larger Capital
Project Awards under which we basically split our total contribution across consecutive programs of projects so we funded $10.8 Million last year as part of the $8.8 million award um the 8 million outstanding on the project that we originally expected to fund the next 395 round um we would look to fund that
In the i66 program currently instead um since there is ample funding available it does have benefits to toll payers in both corridors it would free up um room for new projects in the next 395 round um where we anticipate to pretty high we have talked with v they support
The concept since they’re working through final design of the station and it would give them the funding in place sooner for construction we have discussed it with drpt staff and our legal council there have been identified just given the Demand versus supply of funding it wouldn’t include
Funding for anything else and if we advance it yeah um we would figure out kind of how best to package this but we would document all the kind of distinctive circumstances here um as thoroughly as we need to and have it go through the Meeks review on the i66
Corridor again where the Office of the Attorney General would look at it and provide feedback just for good measure so um this is unique it’s the the first time we’ve considered something like this under the program um I will stop here to see if there are any questions thoughts on the concept so
You’re gonna it’ll get it’ll complete this project faster that’s the IDE by a year or more yeah it’ll be a year sooner yeah and can I is right and I if I recollect once the station gets set there should be connection to the airport connection to VRE connection to
Amtrak connection to Metro a connection to like everything right Trail and the M Veron bus trail yeah yeah yeah yeah it’s it’s pretty huge but this will need a decision from the commission at the right time because we’re effectively taking from what would have been on a different program and
Moving into this one right but the nice thing I think the is almost unique in that space is that these assets along from Crystal City and Alexandria and lefont they are both the Manasses line which is parallel to 66 we’ve already received determination that is parallel
And and effective use of the 66 funding as well as the 395 so we’re this was almost in a unique situation to be able to move this and front this early with the 66 funding um but it’s obviously something that the commission would need to be and then eventually sort of
Stamped approval by the CTB I have a question um I was wondering um I’m very supportive of this do we have a sense if there are any um reduced costs that I assume would be Associated to moving it up a year early yes question yeah that
Is a good question so there’s a v board meeting tomorrow Takis and I can perhaps no check just inflation I I bet usually I mean time is money yeah have a contingency with their project so maybe this actually could help better chance of that yeah would it be premature at
This stage to discuss it with VR I mean you’ve already raised it with v so they’re aware of it aware of it report back let me know how it goes I mean it hasn’t been it was scored already under the 395 so it will be scored again under 66 same criteria
But it sounds like a good topic for like the VR exact committee tomorrow morning you know to just discuss it in that context right we’ll both be there and I’m assuming it’s supposed to I mean it’ll increase ridership probably right I mean is this is just like a leveraging
Booing I mean it sounds definitely leverages a lot of the Redevelopment going on around there yeah well and more people coming and then they can come and connect and yeah so let me ask a couple questions so um what’s the V rid or ship it’s lower than Metro Rail
Right I don’t know how to compare the apples apples part of that it’s not dou it’s about 8,000 yeah I mean it’s it’s up which is it continues to go up go and it’s um this year I think January was um hitting 8,000 on its you know it’s up
But where is it compared to 2019 it’s about 45% less is there how much 45% 45% recovering recovering slower than Metro right Metropolitan Metro we don’t Metro doesn’t classify exactly so uh but recovering nevertheless so at some point somebody’s going to ask you keep um funding V projects large projects expensive
Projects and the ridership doesn’t support them so all I would say is those with v involved in the VRE and one of the few jur jurisdictions that has no V service and frankly would probably view removal of funds from i66 to yet another VRE project as a negative I’ll leave that aside
But I haven’t seen something that is convincing that this investment is a coste effective way to bring Riders back maybe it’s there all all I’m urging VRE and everyone involved in the VRE world to please make that case more strongly than has been made so far because I see expensive project
After expensive project being funded and yet the ridership maybe is crawling back so I would just and I think that’s a legitimate question particularly now that we’re talking about removing money from the i66 corridor that would benefit jurisdictions not served by VRE into yet another VRE um set of projects the
Second thing is is there a payback from I 39595 back to the i66 after this $8 million is removed from i66 or it’s gone it’s not a it’s not an advance that will be refunded yeah the proposal is to use because this is under subscribed is to use those funds now for
The Crystal City project that’s the proposal okay no I I all I you know there’s a regional issue and it’s a regional body so I go along with what the region wants but I think there are fundamental questions that have not been successfully answered with regard to BR
So I’ll just leave it there and I if I could I mean I I think um to some extent in in my ongoing education you know over the last two years with with BR they were at almost capacity you know as the pandemic arrived I mean they were 19,000
People or you know they were reaching a point so um and the lead time that goes in you know to some of these projects the the how do we start to deal with what are our approaching capacity issues and you know the expansion elsewhere um
So I I think to your point in some ways the Chrissa arpa you know I mean all all the various money that is currently um alleviating what would otherwise be really obvious pressures on VRE is is on a time frame I mean there’s a there’s a year or two left of that so
The questions that you’re raising now like are going to have to be answered you know in the next 18 months anyway and I appreciate you’re sort of raising them now the reality is they’ve got to be answered one way or the other with
Over the next 18 months and so um I I I see your point I think I think some of this was largely envisioned and scoped and studied at a time when capacity was different and you know and usage was different and it for for me to have like
If I would have been in the rooms let’s say in 2021 I think I would have still been of the mindset well we don’t know yet where this all shakes out you know after the pandemic and so now at to your point you know it’s coming back but it’s
Probably not you know ex going to be exactly what it was before so I do think we’re approaching a point with V where we have to right size in some way um so I I hear you I don’t I don’t dismiss the concern um I think part of this capacity
And part of this project is also designed for Amtrak to play a role in that station as well you can’t currently stop Amtrak can’t use that as a stop so there’s there’s other sort of elements here that’s why I brought up my question and it’s the airport so yeah
There’s a connection to the airport I mean it’s a so I me David you’re really good points I I think this is much more got much more than D TR I guess in fact I do know that so um theary is working on their system plan and they will be
Coming to the commission this spring to be presenting their next and that’s their 2050 plan and I think and that will be before the commission’s going be making a decision about this so I think some opportunities for conversation and reflection on that um but um so yes so
The timing of that should work well a couple of foot footnotes to that yeah that’s not all a couple of footnotes to that so V is making uh the case of even even with a lower with a lower service and lower ridership it is uh uh you know helping
Us decongest i66 and reduce the demand on 395 system and the i66 system that that that case is made and it’s pretty good actually the second thing is vent now was the red you know haired child of the transportation system that didn’t have its own trucks this so a lot of the
Conver a lot of the investment here goes also into the capacity increase of the area of the of the ability to scale the the the delivery from the level of service of V uh the the questions are absolutely valid but we have to see also
What V what kind of obstacles V has up to date so in Crystal City for example there will be fourth truck in there that’s not there today you know massive Federal investment in an additional Bridge there is massive massive investment the Franconia bypass that all that that all integrates BR in the
Transportation system of the entire region now thanks was there one more slide there is sorry that’s not all so another element is um for the benefit of future calls for projects um staff would like to take a closer look at the universe of potential i66 Corridor improvements that are funding
As well as drps outside the Beltway funding could support um the most recent studies to do so are pretty obsolete at this point uh the inside the Beltway study was conducted in 2012 outside the Beltway was published in February 2020 um we know there are major Capital Improvements to come into the corridor
Including other VPR projects as well as W’s proposed rosin Metro Rail infrastructure improvements so staff would like to take a closer look at the role that both i66 commu Choice as well as drps funding could play in these transformational efforts we would look to ground the effort in analyses of
Current and potential future travel Trends and needs along the full extent of the corridor and have broad discussions with all of our old and for the engage with fot as well as the owner of the so beyond looking at potential investment strategies for major capital projects final product would also
Provide a resource for eligible applicants in deciding what projects aligned with program goals they could apply for future calls for projects so we started um discussing the concept with drpt staff um if it moves forward we’d look to include the nbtc portion of study cost in our i66 commun choice
Administrative set aside request that would be bundled with the program projects approval so so not something we be asking the jurisdiction specifically to support so another kind of outside the box um concept here um interested in any questions thoughts you have at this point we would have more specific
Details to share our next meeting are there any other questions for Ben St yeah I would I would just say that there’s a linkage between what we’ talked about there and this part of it is um getting people into Transit that exists in the corridor which means jurisdictions all up and down the
Corridor might have an interest in smaller projects one of the things that I see it I’ll be honest about it at ta as well as here is the big projects of being funded but try to get money for biked or or microtransit good luck so part of the
Issue that I’m trying and maybe it’s because these criteria have been set in legislation but things like bus shelters I mean basic yeah basic why are we we’ve got seem to have a lot of money for big projects but boy try to get fill in gaps
And exactly that kind of thing and the money doesn’t seem to be there so we’ve actually been we’ve actually did Bike Share in the city we’ve done bus shelters in Al in Arlington so I think that there’s opportunities in here well that’s what the multi modal yeah so
We’ve actually been able to do small projects we’ve got a bike pads going up um near Vienna Metro so this actually does provide some opportunities but the J ditions need to come with the applications and so I think that’s the thing in particular we found this time
Was that we did a lot of Outreach to our jurisdictions and there were not projects coming forward this bunny by the way is not use or lose okay so if we have a smaller program right now it just sits in the bank but part of the reason that that Ben and the team
Want to propose is us do a new study is because the studies that say what was needed in that Corridor have now been overtaken by just the way people are changing in the way I think a really important thing to understand is right now the legal thing we have is that we
Are supporting people that move in 66 when it’s told inside the Beltway which is in the morning and out 66 when it’s told heading out in the afternoon those are the legal constraints because that is what this funding must be used for so that is a dynamic because we are we must
Be using the tolls revenues to benefit the toll payers of those revenues news and these are based on inside the Beltway if I may add to that um so I really appreci I I think it is important to do a study because uh as we talk
About we’re a region and it’s a little bit different for each jurisdiction right and so for fair facts you know the those small projects versus a large project and what we apply for and how we use that funding um you know and the fact that V owns our roads makes things
A little bit different than it does from some other jurisdiction I know that while that it was excellent to get that trail some other things that we want you know we don’t know necessarily we be able to get them approved by Vita so sometimes the process is a little bit
Different for the county um than it is for the city but as David knows as when we work at joint projects they’re they’re super helpful but I do think you know I’ve started I’ve had conversations with our staff to understand why we didn’t have more projects and I also
Would probably recommend that we all do that with our jurisdictions to understand that as well as through this because it is trying to understand why why it’s underfunded I think it’s it’s a really huge question um because I know there are a lot of different ways and things that we want to get
Funded capital is one way we’ sort of worked with a little bit too since capital projects benefit people during the peak period they benefit during off peak periods as well so I think my only point with regard to this agenda item is be careful how we
Define the corridor if you will and make sure we’re taking a truly holistic view yes it’s the big things but it’s also the small things that enable people to get the transit it’s yeah and you’re right the program yeah has made a good faith effort at doing that I I would
Just urge that we not lose that gu absolutely we have a wonderful and when we work with the administration on the the multi-decade agreement there’s literally a map of the corridor and it’s par allel paths it’s 50 it’s 7 it’s 29 as well as i66 and so that gives us a
Wonderful and that’s how we were able to do like share and how we’re were able to do other things so um but it is true technical capacity even within the jurisdictions to be doing 7,000 different applications to different with different rules some that are in code
And some that are in agreements is not you know we recognize the challenge of that so but again this money is not going away we want to just help our jurisdictions to be strategic so that we can be making those investments in the future so I just want to highlight I
Think it was such a good comment about bus shelters you know we wonder why why don’t people riding because they got to stand out in the hot sun and I mean it’s and it’s just because it’s always been that way so we don’t think about it but
It’s it’s really a good point to that was actually one of our first projects for for Arlington County was helping do bus shelters I think on a number of different I still get upset some why don’t we have a shter there yeah thank you I had mapped out next
Steps too but I’m happy to just say I’ll be back in April completed scoring at that you and the Cherry blessings yeah [Laughter] perennial okay um well thank you Ben and and staff for the the work and you know I I want to just commend I guess the
Creative thinking that that did go into this whether it’s ultimately approved by the full commission I think it’s good that that this sort done outside outside the box um is there any other business um before the pack or any other final questions or comments from committee
Members no I told I told our consultant I thought this was therapeutic for us than you I had one more idea for the consultant Should I stick it on the Fantastic sounds like a yes okay well so then I will remind they also have a email so you’re you’re assuming it’ll stay in
My brain until I get to my email the next pack meeting is scheduled for Thursday April 11th at 4:30 p.m. in the same location we’ll get an update on Envision Route 7 brt strategic implementation plan and have a discussion about staff’s I recomend projects which we’ve gotten
The so um thank you everybody and we are