HomeMy WebLinkAboutRES 07-118 RESOLUTION NO. 07-118
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF BEAUMONT:
THAT the City Manager be and he is hereby authorized to execute an Interlocal Agreement
with the South East Texas Regional Planning Commission to conduct a Transit
Development Plan for Beaumont and Port Arthur, Texas. The agreement is substantially
in the form attached hereto as Exhibit "A" and made a part hereof for all purposes.
PASSED BY THE CITY COUNCIL of the City of Beaumont this the 24th day of April,
2007.
- Mayor Pro "Nancy Beaulieu -
INTERLOCAL COOPERATION AGREEMENT
This Interlocal Cooperation Agreement ('Agreement") is made and entered into by and
between the South East Texas Regional Planning Commission ("SETRPC"), acting herein by
and through its Executive Director, and the City of Beaumont, acting herein by and through its
duly authorized City Manager.
WHEREAS:
In accordance with applicable law, SETRPC has agreed to conduct a Transit
Development Plan(`Plan"), the details of which are more particularly described on Exhibit "A"
attached hereto and incorporated herein by reference;
FURTHERMORE, the Plan is to be provided at a cost not to exceed $150,000, with it
being proposed that the costs thereof be borne $20,000 by the City of Beaumont, and the
remainder to be borne by SETRPC and/or other governmental entities; and
FURTHERMORE, SETRPC has agreed to be responsible for the coordination,
facilitation and implementation of the Plan and to provide the results thereof to the City of
Beaumont.
NOW, THEREFORE, FOR AND IN CONSIDERATION OF THE PREMISES, it is
agreed by and between SETRPC and the City of Beaumont that the Plan will be beneficial to all
persons and businesses residing and/or operating within the areas served by SETRPC and the
City of Beaumont; and
The parties agree that the costs of the Plan shall not exceed $150,000, with the costs
thereof to be borne$20,000 by the City of Beaumont, and the remainder to be borne by SETRPC
and/or other governmental entities, with all charges being billed or presented to such parties by
SETRPC with full and adequate documentation as may be reasonably necessary to allow such
receiving party to verify and confirm such charges as true and accurate charges for which such
party is legally responsible; and
The parties agree that SETRPC will be responsible for the coordination, facilitation and
implementation of the Plan; and
The parties agree that SETRPC will provide the results of the Plan to the City of
Beaumont upon completion thereof.
Any notice to be given hereunder by any party to the other shall be in writing and must be
telefaxed, hand-delivered or sent by first class U. S. Mail to the parties at the following
addresses:
EXHIBIT "A"
SETRPC
2210 Eastex Freeway
Beaumont, TX 77703
Phone: (409) 899-8444 Ext. 251
Fax: (409)729-6511
Attention: Mr. Bob Dickinson,Director
Transportation&Environmental Resources
City of Beaumont
Phone:
Fax:
Attention: City Manager
This Interlocal Cooperation Agreement shall constitute the entire understanding of the
parties hereto with respect to the subject matter hereof, and no amendment, modification or
alteration of the terms hereof shall be effective unless made in writing and duly executed by all
of the parties hereto.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned have executed this Interlocal Cooperation
Agreement as of the dates stated.
SOUTH EAST TEXAS REGIONAL
PLANNING COMMISSION
By:
Its:
Date:
"SETRPC"
CITY OF BEAUMONT
By:
Its:
Date:
"City of Beaumont"
i
EXHIBIT"A"
DRAFT WORK SCOPE
Transit Development Plan for
Beaumont and Port Arthur
A. Background
The two largest cities in the three-county southeast Texas planning area own and operate transit
systems within their metropolitan areas. The two systems, Beaumont Municipal Transit (BMT)
and Port Arthur Transit (PAT)both operate fixed-route and demand-response services.
Within both systems over a recent ten-year period, the demand response services have been
stable in terms of passengers served and operating costs. The fixed-route services; however,
have been declining in ridership while experiencing rising operating costs. In Beaumont, a fare
increase in 2001 actually resulted in lower fare revenues due to a sharp drop in ridership. In Port
Arthur, little or no change has been made in the fare structure, with the result that declining
ridership has resulted in a shrinking percentage of operating cost being covered by fare revenues.
B. Objectives
As a consequence of the condition and trends noted above, it is intended to develop a Transit
Development Plan (TDP) for the two metropolitan areas. The TDP is intended to present the
service needs and corresponding financial plan necessary to meet projected needs of the two
transit agencies.
The TDP will investigate three primary areas, those being operations, equipment, and facility
needs. Each of these three objectives, in turn, will look at two time horizons; near term (0-4
years) and short range(5-10 years).
This TDP development will study current and projected conditions, identify current strengths and
weaknesses, consider possible actions to assure a stable supply of transit sufficient to address
mobility needs within the metropolitan areas, meet environmental objectives, and fit within
identifiable, attainable financial resources. The study will determine whether the services could
be strengthened in ways that would better serve existing and potential transit users. The outcome
of the study could be a specific transit service policy to be adopted by the two cities, actions with
regard to financing, appropriate adjustment of fixed route and demand response transit services,
and plans for continued monitoring and revision of the services in future years, as consistent with
adopted policy.
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C. Work Plan
Task 1: Formalize Project Oversight and Transit Objectives
In consultation with the South East Texas Regional Planning Commission(SETRPC),BMT and
PAT:Define entities that will oversee, advise and make decisions regarding the TDP. Determine
the membership of each such entity, and plan the level and frequency of meetings or other
actions needed in the course of the development of the TDP. Assure participation at policy,
technical, and community levels.
Under this Task, conduct and document meetings and activities of the groups established for
these purposes.
Beginning with the discussion in Section 2, prepare an Objectives draft statement. Circulate the
statement to Steering/Technical Committees. Meet with the Committees and obtain an approved
statement of Objectives for the transit systems, as guidance to the range of alternative actions to
be considered by the TDP.
Deliverables
Documentation of project committees, working groups, and decision process
Draft and Approved Statement of Transit Systems Objectives
Task 2: Understand Current Ridership and Service
Indentify deficiencies: Conduct an inventory of all existing transportation services, including
type of operation, service area and customers served, route and schedules, and key statistics.
Inventory all existing areas that are within-one-quarter mile of a bus route where pedestrian
access is not available and recommend solutions. Identify those areas of the Beaumont and Port
Arthur that are located beyond reasonable walking distance of existing service. Map future
anticipated growth in the two cities, both under city comprehensive plans as well as specific
proposals by developers. Conduct a workshop in which community leaders are invited to
articulate what they view as either unmet needs or improvements needed within the existing
transit program.
Line-by-Line Analysis: Conduct a study of each local fixed-route. Obtain a complete statistical
picture of the ridership, productivity and performance of existing local routes by segment.
Propose immediate revisions to routes and schedules to meet the needs of current and potential
transit users. Assess on-time performance; identify routes by time of day where on-time
performance falls below 95%. A sampling of passenger mile data must meet Federal Transit
Administration (FTA) requirements for minimum levels of confidence (95%) and precision
(1U%).
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Transfer Center Analysis: Analyze passenger transfer patterns at the BMT Dannenbaum
Transit Center,the PAT Downtown Transfer Center, and any other locations where BMT or PAT
passenger transfers occur at significant levels. Conduct limited surveys to gather passenger
transfer data for this purpose. Compare numbers of transfers to/from each route with total
passengers on each route.
Review Transit Link: Review available data from the 2001-2003 Transit LINK program, which
connected the BMT and PAT services. Identify the extent of use and any obstacles to success of
the program.
Neighborhood Network Plan: Currently, only portions of the populations of the Cities of
Beaumont and Port Arthur are within walking distance of a bus stop. Geography, street patterns
and neighborhood concerns may require the use of vans or other small transit vehicles to reach
more residents. Possible solutions include converting special population demand response
vehicles to general public use or converting it to a general public zoned system; a route deviation
service program; or a fixed-route network operated by vans. Compile data on characteristics of
current BMT and PAT riders. Compare this "rider profile" data with the population at large.
Estimate the extent of un served demand within the population having similar characteristics.
Identify other population segments containing favorable or unfavorable characteristics regarding
transit use.
Explore the interrelationships between fixed route and demand response services and passengers
in BMT and PAT in areas most like the current users. Highlight the strengths and weaknesses of
each transit mode, as a key to identify the most favorable roles of each mode.
Review metropolitan area demographics and travel patterns and forecasts in context with present
ravel patterns of BMT and PAT transit passengers.
Assemble Maps: Assemble or prepare study maps illustrating existing bus routes and coverage
areas by time of day, demographic characteristics of riders and potential riders, existing land use,
transportation analysis zone boundaries, and the area's streets and highways.
Deliverable:
Mapped information set
Line-by-Line Analysis for each fixed route
Technical memorandum on passenger transferring, including BMT-PAT linkage issue
Technical memorandum on rider profiles and un-served demand of high and low potential
Technical memorandum on fixed route and demand response roles
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Technical memorandum on metropolitan area demographic and travel pattern characteristics,
present and future, and the role currently provided by BMT and PAT.
Task 3: Formulate Alternative Service Strategies
Considering the findings of Task 2, compile a list of transit service options that would respond to
the range of identified mobility needs and potential expanded use of the public transportation
systems, including possible interconnection of two metropolitan areas. Package the service
options into not less than two alternatives varying in service approaches and scale, for each of
the metropolitan service areas. Define the specific concept-level routes and services contained
within each alternative service strategy.
Deliverable:
Technical memorandum describing the alternative service strategies
Task 4: Evaluate Alternative Service Strategies
Prepare a comparative evaluation of the defined alternative service strategies, in which the
alternatives are compared with one another and with the existing BMT and PAT services.
Working at a conceptual or sketch-planning level, identify the following characteristics of each
alternative:
• For fixed routes,the routing, headways, and the hours and days of service
• For demand response, the service areas and conditions, and the hours and days of
service
• Anticipated ridership, present and for a future year (both year levels to be
selected)
• Fare revenue
• Capital cost
• Operating and Maintenance cost
• Conceptual level user benefit
Analyze the above results and identify the strengths, weaknesses, and relative performance of
each alternative.
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I
Deliverable:
Report on evaluation of transit development alternatives for near term(0-4 years)and short range
(5-10 years)
Task 5: Assess Financial Prospects
Compile recent records of BMT and PAT financial sources, and prepare a near term and short
range forecast of transit funding available from those sources. Compare that funding level with
the capital and operating costs of the alternatives, including their anticipated effect on fare
revenues. Identify the approximate level of any additional funding needed for each alternative.
Explore funding sources used in support of other metropolitan area transit services, as well as,
concepts that may be brought forward by the study committee(s) or working groups established
in Task 1. Determine the approximate amount of funding that might be obtained from each
identified source. Rank the sources and discard those deemed least promising or useful.
Address how well the remaining sources would meet any additional funding requirements of the
transit development alternatives.
Deliverable:
Report on financial prospects of the transit development alternatives, including possible
implementation of expanded or added funding sources.
Task 6: Formulate Policy and Plan
Present the alternatives, their evaluation, and their financial prospects as documented in Tasks 3,
4, and 5 to the Committee(s) overseeing the project. With those Committee(s), select a preferred
transit development policy and plan for each transit system. If the selected plan differs from the
alternatives originally defined and evaluated, bring the selected plan to the same level of
definition, evaluation, and funding options as was done for the original group of alternatives.
Document the selection process and results.
Deliverable
Technical memorandum on selection of a preferred transit development policy and plan for each
transit system, including documentation of the selected policy and plan.
Task 7: Identify Neat Steps
Outline responsibilities and tasks to implement the selected transit development policy and plan.
Page 5 of 6
Deliverable:
Technical memorandum documenting an outlined implementation plan for the selected transit
development policy and plan
Task 8: Prepare Transit Development Plan Report and Presentation
Compile and edit the technical memoranda and related study materials to provide a
comprehensive final report defining issues, objectives, background data, analyses, improvement
alternatives and their evaluation, financial analyses and conclusions, the selection of a preferred
transit development policy and plan for BMT and PAT, and the proposed implementation
process. Incorporate revisions in response to comments and publish a final version of the report.
Prepare a PowerPoint presentation summarizing the study and its results.
Deliverables:
Draft and final study report
PowerPoint presentation summarizing the study and its results
D. Schedule
The work would be carried out sequentially for the most part, following steps outlined in the
Work Plan. The technical work should not require more than six months, but the schedule could
be affected by any public involvement processes introduced at logical points and by time for
Steering or Technical Committee deliberations and decisions.
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