Transportation Committee Meeting
September 18, 2007
11:00 am
Present: Jillian Buckholz, Sustainability Coordinator; Ann Bykerk-Kauffman, Faculty/Academic Senate; Beverly Gentry, Strategic Planning; Jim Jessee, APO; Suzy Littrell, Cashiering; Russell Mills, Faculty-Civil Engineering; Glennda Morse, FMS; Eric Reichel, University Police; Ken Sator, EH&S; Cale Whitehouse, Staff Council; Julie Wright, AS Environmental Affairs; Ivan Garcia, Butte County Association of Governments; Guests: Kathleen Purvis, MLIB; Jon Hooper, Faculty-Recreation; Alan Rellaford, Communication Design.
Chief Reichel introduced himself as chair of committee; had members introduce themselves since some are new this year. He recapped the goals and purpose of the committee, and also summarized minutes from the last meeting (of May 15, 2007).
Guest – Kathleen Purvis voiced her concerns regarding the safety of those who use the parking structure. She said she was involved in an accident last semester when she had to jump out of the way of a vehicle before she was even to her car. There are visibility issues; vehicles driving too fast; has notice many students walking through the structure (who are not parking in there) which has increased number of pedestrians contributing to the safety issues that are already present. Cars have to back into slots because one can’t see when backing out. She has also noticed the electric cart-vehicles being driven through the structure as a shortcut to get to campus. Kathleen made several suggestions such as considering a stop sign be erected by the NE corner of the structure (by the MLIB crosswalk) so cars have to stop before going around that corner area.
Discussion ensued; other suggestions made such as mirrors be considered, speed bumps, directing the flow of incoming versus outgoing traffic differently. Chief Reichel talked about this at some length. He said this is an area where the campus police have conducted several traffic control techniques in the past, especially last semester during Tuesdays and Thursdays (which seem to be the biggest problem days).
Glennda said they should go look at the area in an effort to see if the stop sign recommendation is even feasible. Perhaps it could be done with a single stripe .Bev Gentry commented that various issues have been dealt with in the structure in the past, such as some spaces that have been taken away to help with line of site. They considered diagonal parking spaces, but discovered it would not work. And they have been trying to address some many ideas over the past year and they are aware of the difficulties in the structure. It was decided that Chief Reichel and Glennda Morse will go look at structure; will see what impacts are present (regarding suggestions discussed) and if other possibilities exist. Will keep KP updated as to progress. Ken Sator also suggested signage indicating “this is not a pedestrian walkway.” Kathleen said if signs did exist then she, as a user of the lot, could and would tell people who she observes walking through there to observe the sign, and use another route to walk to the campus. Glennda said they will look into that as well.
Transportation Survey Draft – Bev Gentry handed out draft of Transportation Survey she has been working on. She wants to administer it on line to students, faculty, staff with the assistance of Institutional Research. She plans to work with IR to get a good sample of Students, Faculty and Staff; there are still issues of “how to conduct the survey” that need to be worked through. At this time, she is presenting the survey to solicit ideas, suggestions, etc. from this committee.
Talked through the survey. Discussion followed and many suggestions were made. Questions include “Indicate your primary mode of transportation to campus” and “if you drive a car to campus, to what degree is each of the following a reason for driving (and not using an alternative method).”
Glennda asked what the goal of the survey is. Bev indicated they would like to have an idea of the various modes of transportation used for coming to campus so they will know to whom to target their marketing efforts, and how. What should be targeted more? Should we be promoting one or two particular modes of transportation more? If we had to prioritize those marketing strategies, what would that look like? And, how the survey results could help in the sustainability efforts and decisions of our campus. She is trying to be as inclusive as possible.
Suggestions included:
§ When asking where you live, include where in
§ Walking/Skating should not be blended – two very different modes
§ Ask how much time do you spend looking for parking space
§ Find out if people feel “safe” bike-riding
Other points made included that academic folks try to help alleviate vehicle/parking traffic congestion by spreading their schedules over 5 days instead of concentrating on TTH schedules. Chief Reichel commented that last semester, especially between 12pm and 3pm on TTH, the traffic was highly congested on Warner in both directions due to the stop sign for pedestrians in front of Shurmer Gym. Jim Jessee suggested folks utilize the data store information when possible. In general, go here for Facilities Inventory and Use Information:
http://cypress.csuchico.edu/APO/MainPages/classofficemgmt.shtml and, for the specific report on Sections by Day and Hour go here:
http://cypress.csuchico.edu/APO/webdocs/counts/byhourperdaycounts/sectionsbydayandhour.xls
A suggestion was made that a bicycle map be available so bike riders know routes available (that are an alternative to heavily used traffic routes). A problem with novice bike riders is they ride their bike on the same route as they drive which doesn’t make sense. Ivan Garcia said his agency is working on creating a map, showing all the class 1 and class 2 streets as well as transit routes. The City’s Bicycle Advisory Committee is helping with the map.
Bev requested that all other suggestions not discussed today be e-mailed to her by October 2 and that she will be utilizing IR prior to administering, so there may be further changes based on their expertise in administering surveys. For any additional information regarding this survey, contact Beverly Gentry.
Concerns with Bike Signage – Guest, Jon Hooper spoke at this time. He and a colleague, Dr. Michael Leightner, recently visited Chief Reichel with concerns about the bike signs erected over the summer, especially the ones around O’Connell and Yolo. He thanked the Chief for conducting a positive meeting and remaining open to their concerns. He took various pictures of the areas he was concerned about and shared them with committee members. He indicated that he has noticed the reaction to these new signs has been less than positive. Signs have been vandalized. He (and others) believe the signs discourage bike use instead of encouraging it, and that their tone is negative. He believes the campus is potentially portraying a negative public relations image when the first sign you see is “$158 fine for riding your bike in this area.” Much discussion regarding this topic took place amongst committee members, including safer means of getting to/from Yolo, O’Connell, bike racks in area, around tennis courts, etc.
He requested that the restrictions to bike riding around that area be reconsidered. It was also suggested that bike lanes be considered in that area, especially in the wider areas.
It was also discussed that it’s not easy to just put in bike lanes. There are many codes that must be followed, and Cal Trans standards that need to be addressed, such as ADA requirements that call for the identification of exactly where pedestrians will cross, widths of two-way lanes need to be in compliance, sidewalks need to be changed, etc. All of this has been discussed, and is continuing to be discussed.
Russell Mills said what took him by surprise was that the Campus Core was expanded, and that it was not widely known. Glennda said it was never really expanded, and that because walk ways are there (around O’Connell and Yolo), it has always been considered part of the core.
Chief Reichel commented that he appreciated that faculty has shared their concerns with him. He explained that the campaign he was asked to pursue by various VP’s, as well as the cabinet, has been to use a “safety first” design. Thus, yellow signs were supposed to be “caution” signs, located just outside of campus and visible as one is approaching the campus core. In general, traffic signs that are yellow mean caution – there is something coming up ahead that you should know about. That is why they thought yellow signs would work. He said they are currently addressing these yellow signs, however, and trying to come up with different wording. Chief Reichel also explained that all the new white signs depicting no bike riding here, were placed in most of the same places where the old signs existed. These signs were also shared with the Chico Traffic Court Commissioner and approved as signs that can be enforced in court.
Chief Reichel said in the past, Yolo has been poorly marked, even though bike riding has not been allowed there (on the walkways). Additional signs were put up around Yolo to increase awareness. Jim Jessee recommended lets look at all suggestions more seriously. Reichel agreed, and suggested ad hoc committee be formed to discuss further and re-visit this issue, as well as make other suggestions, but keeping in mind the laws and codes that must be considered Remember that the bottom line is the safety of campus, which is continuing to grow in population. He believes the committee and campus officials in general, want to encourage biking to and from campus, and he said he is open to discussing the issues further.
Russell Mills reminded the committee that he remembered President Zingg stating the campus would consider hiring a consultant to help propose a viable plan for biking to/from/through campus. He provided names of 3 consultants to Gail Hutchinson (the Academic Senate Chair) and he wondered has happened since then? Glennda said that there was an effort to get a Cal Trans grant to fund that type of consultant, yet it did not come through. She thinks it was then tabled due to the funding status. Ann Bykerk-Kaufmann said we shouldn’t have to get a grant to do this sort of thing. Glennda said she will talk to Joel Trenalone about the Traffic Demand Management plan, which is in the stage of RFP, and include a section on bike usage. This plan will be discussed at the next meeting when Joel will report its status to the committee.
Ann said she noticed a big increase in bike riding in the campus core this semester. She asked if there had been a decrease in enforcement. Chief Reichel said no…. officers have indeed been enforcing, however, much of their enforcement efforts include warning and educating people more than giving out citations. Their attitude is they don’t want to be heavy handed with giving out cites left and right, but they do want to be visible and warn and educate the campus community about their need to walk their bike in the campus core. Russell said he has noticed some people aggressively riding through the core, and they make it look bad for other responsible bicyclist.
In summary, Chief Reichel suggested that a few members (he, Glennda, Mike Bates) re-walk the campus in order to look at the existing signs, and perhaps with Russell’s help, as a new set of eyes. Jon Hooper also volunteered to be part of that.
Glennda said she hopes everyone does not go away looking at this as being negative. This is just a part of what the Transportation Committee is all about. The committee has to also look at the big picture, and ultimately is encouraging different means of transportation to/from campus to help with the mission of sustainability.
Meeting adjourned at 12:20 pm.