Fiscal Note
No expenditure required beyond the commitment of available staff resources. A $300,000 federal Economic Development Initiative grant is anticipated to fund the work of the selected consultant. Expenditure of those grant funds will require future Common Council budget authorization.
Title
Creating a Streetcar Study Committee to make recommendations to the Mayor and Common Council regarding the electric rail-running vehicle, the initial route and subsequent extensions, timing and phasing of construction, capital and operating fiscal plans, and management.
Body
WHEREAS, electric streetcars on rails represent a viable urban neighborhood friendly form of transportation that can meet multiple community goals, including promoting infill development, acting as a circulator among downtown destinations for both visitors and residents, moving staff and students within the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, and providing commuter options between homes and jobs within the City, and
WHEREAS, streetcars are urban neighborhood friendly because they are clean and quiet and small enough to fit in the intimate urban landscape and can make multiple stops to serve dense neighborhoods and they are versatile enough to run on dedicated right-of-way and in the streets; and
WHEREAS, the Transport 2020 report recommended streetcars as a part of a regional transportation network; and
WHEREAS, Transport 2020 has agreed to participate in the study of streetcars with the City of Madison;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Transport 2020/City of Madison Streetcar Study Committee is established to have not less than 11 or more than 15 city-appointed members appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the Common Council no later than January 30, 2005 with not less than 4 Transport 2020 members named by the chairs of that committee in consultation with the Mayor; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the committee will develop a plan for the street car study, conduct the study and then issue a report with recommendations. This committee will submit these to both Transport 2020 and to the Mayor and the Common Council in a report issued no later than November 1, 2005; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this report shall at a minimum, cover the following issues regarding the electric rail-running vehicle:
1. The initial route and possible subsequent extensions to any Madison neighborhood that can support this mode;
2. A recommendation for the initial routes;
3. The timing and phasing of construction;
4. An estimate of capital and operating costs;
5. Possible financing plans;
6. Management and governance; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that City staff will assist the committee and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the committee is authorized to select a consultant to be approved by the Common Council and funded through a federal EDI grant; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the committee will make its recommendations consistent with the following six principles:
1. The vehicle and route will be amenable to urban neighborhoods;
2. The system will promote good land use and urban infill development that is mixed use and walkable;
3. The system will be compatible with and supportive of the Madison Metro bus system;
4. The system will be paid for in an equitable way;
5. The system will be developed in a cooperative way with the neighborhoods it is likely to go through, businesses in these neighborhoods, the University of Wisconsin and other major employers, and infill developers;
6. The system will be developed to the greatest extent practicable to coordinate with any regional system that might be proposed by Transport 2020; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the committee work will be coordinated with Transport 2020 in the following ways:
1. The consultant will be contractually required to work cooperatively with the Transport 2020 consultant and to share information freely. However, the consultant will not be required to wait for a Transport 2020 consultant to be hired to begin its work;
2. The committee will make frequent reports to the Transport 2020 committee;
3. The final report of the committee will be forwarded to Transport 2020 for its review and comment; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the committee will hold public meetings in locations likely to be served by the initial streetcar routes.