Planning Board will receive a presentation on the Draft Transportation Demand Management Plan for Alameda Point and provide comment

Body

CITY OF ALAMEDA
Memorandum

To: Honorable President and
Members of the Planning Board

From: Jennifer Ott
Chief Operating Officer - Alameda Point

Date: March 24, 2014

Re: Provide Comments on the Draft Transportation Demand Management Plan for Alameda Point

BACKGROUND

On February 4, 2014, the City Council certified an environmental impact report (EIR) and approved a comprehensive zoning ordinance amendment (Zoning Amendment), associated General Plan Amendments, and a Master Infrastructure Plan (MIP) for Alameda Point. The General Plan and the EIR require that all new development comply with a Transportation Demand Management Plan (TDM Plan) for Alameda Point. As a result, City staff has been actively working on preparing the TDM Plan.

The TDM Plan was discussed at the joint Planning Board and Transportation Commission meeting on September 30, 2013, and at the Transportation Commission meeting on December 11, 2013. Based on feedback from the boards and commissions and the community, City staff and its consultant, Kimley-Horn and Associates (KMA), prepared a draft TDM Plan (Exhibit 1). City staff is now requesting comments on the draft TDM Plan from the Planning Board. The draft TDM Plan and the comments from the Planning Board hearing will be presented to the Transportation Commission in April. At the April public hearing, City staff will request that the Transportation Commission recommend approval of the TDM Plan to the City Council, along with any proposed changes. City staff will incorporate comments from the Planning Board and Transportation Commission into a final TDM Plan for City Council approval. No new development will be allowed at Alameda Point until the TDM Plan is completed and approved by the City Council.

DISCUSSION

As required by the City's General Plan and the EIR, the City must prepare a TDM Plan for future development at Alameda Point to help create a transit-oriented community and to mitigate potential impacts from increased automobile traffic.

TDM refers to a range of strategies, measures, and services that, individually or combined into a comprehensive program, helps create the envisioned transit-oriented development at Alameda Point; achieves the City of Alameda's General Plan goals to reduce automobile trips, and in particular, targets the reduction of Single Occupant Vehicle (SOV) trips; and mitigates potential traffic impacts. TDM strategies are designed to change travel behavior (when, where, and by what means people travel) by using combinations of incentives, disincentives, and convenient services.

Consistent with the General Plan, the performance objectives of the TDM Plan are to reduce peak hour trips generated from Alameda Point, as projected in the EIR, by 10 percent for new residential development and 30 percent for new commercial development.

The EIR requires that the City condition all development projects at Alameda Point to comply with the TDM Plan as a mitigation measure for all transportation impacts identified in the report. Beyond mitigating the potential traffic impacts of Alameda Point development, TDM contributes to meeting regional goals that include reducing traffic congestion on the Bay Area's routes of regional significance; reducing the primary source of mobile emissions; improving safety, and thus increasing mobility, for those who bicycle, walk or take public transit; conserving energy; and improving the health of the population by encouraging physically active forms of transportation.

The property owners, residents, and employers of Alameda Point will be required to fund, comply with, and collaboratively manage, monitor and continuously improve upon a TDM program that mitigates traffic impacts as well as improves the quality of life for those who live and work at Alameda Point. The primary components of the draft TDM Plan include:

1. Transit Services: The TDM Plan addresses the provision of public transit or privately operated vehicles primarily for convenient, frequent, and direct connection to the regional rapid transit systems aimed at supplementing, complementing, and expanding AC Transit, Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) and Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) services.
2. Car and Bicycle Share Programs: The TDM Plan includes the provision of a collective system of vehicles and bicycles accessible to employees who use transit and residents who do not have access to a vehicle for business or personal purposes.
3. Parking Management Plan: In concert with the development standards regulating private parking included in the recently approved Zoning Amendment, the Parking Management Plan in the draft TDM Plan outlines the plan for the public supply of parking that together with the development standards are designed to optimize the efficient utilization of public and private parking spaces and encourage the use of alternative modes of transportation. The careful management of parking supply and pricing can be very effective in influencing parking utilization and mode of travel.

4. Support Services: The TDM Plan includes an array of services and incentives that support and encourage the use of programs such as free or subsidized transit passes, carpool matching service, or a guaranteed ride home in the event of emergencies for transit users.

5. Transportation Management Association (TMA). The TMA oversees the ongoing implementation of the TDM Plan, including compliance strategies prepared by individual employers and resident associations, and is funded by special tax or assessment revenue generated annually by Alameda Point property owners. The TMA Board of Directors is likely to include some combination of representatives of the following organizations: Alameda Point employers, tenant associations, Homeowner Associations, and developers; City of Alameda staff; the Transportation Commission, and/or regional transit agencies.

6. Annual Monitoring and Reporting. The TDM Plan includes a plan and methodology for the annual monitoring and reporting of TDM Plan performance in meeting the established trip reduction goals. The monitoring will result in refinements and modifications to the Plan as development occurs. Monitoring will most likely use a combination of survey instruments; traffic counts; utilization surveys of pedestrian, bicycle, and transit facilities and services; and employee and resident surveys. The TMA will self-enforce its TDM Plan through a continuous cycle of monitoring, reporting to the City Council, and refineing of the TDM Plan through improvement of existing and introduction of new strategies. This approach to monitoring and enforcement results in a system of financial awards and penalties because the length of the cycle and the cost associated with introducing and monitoring new programs is an incentive to implement robust TDM strategies and packages of complementary services from the beginning.

The TDM Plan provides flexibility to a) adapt to future phasing of Alameda Point land uses; b) implement transit services starting at the commencement of development and introduce larger and more comprehensive services as needed by development; and c) use annual monitoring of performance as a mechanism for continuous improvement of individual employer compliance strategies and TMA-provided services. As a collaborative, the property owners, residents and tenants of Alameda Point will fund, implement, and direct the management of the TDM Plan and be accountable for the TDM Plan's success. As stated above, every development at Alameda Point will be required to comply with, and provide an annual financial contribution to fund the management and implementation of the TDM Plan.

The TDM Plan also includes an annual operating budget for implementing the TDM Plan and providing the services discussed above during its initial stages of implementation and at buildout of the proposed development. The capital costs associated with the TDM Plan are included in the recently approved MIP. Ultimately, the annual operating budget will be funded through special tax or assessment revenue generated from property owners at Alameda Point, parking charges, and parking enforcement violation fines. During the initial stages of implementation, funding may come from grants (i.e, staffing assistance monies from Metropolitan Transportation Commission), lease revenues, developer contributions, as well as some initial special tax or assessment revenues. The TDM Plan estimates the annual operating budget for the initial phase at approximately $325,000 and for buildout at approximately $1 million. These budgets are net of parking charges and enforcement revenues. The annual operating budget will grow and change as the TDM Plan evolves over time with the phasing of development.

Based on the development program contained in the EIR (i.e., 1,425 housing units and 5.5 million square feet of commercial development), the City evaluated the feasibility of funding the projected TDM Plan budget through special tax or assessment revenue (Exhibit 2). The analysis projected approximately $14 million in annual special tax revenue to be generated from development at Alameda Point at buildout, which is significantly greater than the approximately $1 million required for the TDM annual operating budget at buildout. The remaining amount of special tax or assessment revenue will be needed to finance infrastructure improvements; municipal services, if required; abatement of geological hazards; and other potential uses, if necessary.

While it is crucial to maximize the use of these special tax revenues for infrastructure given the significant cost of required infrastructure at Alameda Point, other sources of funds will be required to pay for the full infrastructure costs, such as land sale proceeds, developer contributions and development impact fee revenues. All parcels at Alameda Point will be required to pay for their fair-share of the full infrastructure costs through these potential revenues sources.

City staff recommends that the discussion on the draft TDM Plan focus on the following topics:

· Does the proposed TDM Plan cover all the right topics? Is there anything missing?

· Are there topics that should be emphasized or de-emphasized in the draft TDM Plan?

· Are any of the topics highlighted in the summary document that should be more carefully described or clarified?

ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW

The Planning Board's review and comments on the draft TDM Plan requires no environmental review.

RECOMMENDATION

Provide comments on the draft TDM Plan for Alameda Point.

Respectfully submitted,

Jennifer Ott, Chief Operating Officer - Alameda Point

Exhibits:
1. Draft Transportation Demand Management Plan for Alameda Point
2. Special Tax Burden Analysis for Alameda Point Development