Fiscal Note
The proposed resolution accepts a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Inter-Agency Staff Team recommendation to proceed with Phase 1 Project Development. A total of $2,004,953 in federal and state funds will cover the BRT Phase 1 costs, no city appropriation is required.
The federal and state funds highlighted below have been committed for Bus Rapid Transit Phase 1 project implementation and are available to fund Phase 1 BRT Project Development, scoping of the project, further engineering/design work, preparation of a Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Small Starts grant application, and completion of required National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documentation. The grants shown below were awarded in 2006 and 2007 and are managed by Metro; state funds have been received by the City and the federal funds are received as reimbursement. The use of these funds do not require any commitment from the City capital or operating budget.
• WI-26-0012 Grant (2006 Section 5314-Transport 2020 Alternative Analysis)
o Federal = $861,336
o State = $861,336
• WI-39-0002 Grant (2007 Section 5339-Transport 2020 Alternative Analysis)
o Federal = $141,141
o State = $141,141
Title
Supporting the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Inter-Agency Staff Team recommendation to proceed with Phase 1 Project Development in an east-west corridor running through the UW Campus and Madison’s Central Business District (CBD), with the east and west project termini to be determined.
Body
WHEREAS the City of Madison's population and economy is growing, and in order to help facilitate this growth and ensure a high quality of life, the City has identified a need for a comprehensive transportation system strategy that integrates all modes of transportation (i.e., auto, bicycle, public transportation, pedestrian, high-capacity transit, etc.), and identifies how those modes interconnect and work together; and,
WHEREAS Madison in Motion, the City of Madison’s long-range transportation system plan, policy framework and guide for future transportation investments long-range transportation system plan, recommends planning for and implementing a high-capacity rapid transit service, and to take all necessary steps toward BRT project development and service implementation, in accordance with all applicable local, state and federal regulations; and,
WHEREAS the Regional Transportation Plan for the Metropolitan Area (2050), the MPO’s current long-range transportation system plan, recommends completing project planning leading to an initial BRT project and future expansion of the BRT network to fulfill the BRT system vision in the Madison area; and,
WHEREAS the Madison Area Transportation Planning Board, in 2013, completed and accepted the Madison Transit Corridor Study: Bus Rapid Transit in the Madison Area (the “BRT Study”) and recommended taking the next steps to move BRT into the project development phase; and,
WHEREAS the BRT Study identified corridors and segments to carry forward into detailed analysis, each arranged around the Capitol Square and oriented towards North, Northeast, South, and West Madison; and several alternative routings along the main corridors, as well as potential long-term future extensions to Sun Prairie, Monona/East Madison, Middleton, Fitchburg, Southwest Madison and Verona; and,
WHEREAS the BRT Study concluded that the BRT system that was evaluated demonstrated strong ridership potential and would favorably compete with other BRT systems throughout the U.S.; and,
WHEREAS City of Madison Resolution ID 35566 (adopted 12-19-14) resolved that the Mayor and Common Council accepted the MPO’s BRT Study Report, endorsed BRT as a high-capacity transit concept that could help the City achieve its long-term strategic transportation planning and urban development goals, and authorized moving forward to the next phase of project development, environmental evaluation and project implementation; and,
WHEREAS recent Metro Transit surveys have indicated that the highest number of complaints from customers about current Metro services are overcrowded buses and long travel times, and that low-income persons and persons of color are affected more by long travel times; and that Bus Rapid Transit will directly improve these service conditions; and,
WHEREAS a City staff evaluation team conducted an analysis of the MPO’s 2013 BRT Study Report in an effort to identify the first corridor(s) to implement the new service; and,
WHEREAS the City staff evaluation team considered a variety of criteria to help inform their recommendation of the first phase of service - including corridor ridership, how well the corridor will serve Racial Equity & Social Justice (RESJ) populations, technical readiness/complexity, capital and operating cost considerations, redevelopment impacts, and traffic capacity constraints; and,
WHEREAS the City staff evaluation team concluded that, based on the evaluation criteria noted above, a Phase 1 corridor project should be developed with a focus on an East-West corridor to include the UW-Madison Campus and the central core of the City (and other destinations yet to be determined) and with the east and west project termini also yet to be determined; and,
WHEREAS the next steps in the Phase 1 BRT corridor project include a more detailed evaluation of potential routes and street alignments (in particular, a thorough evaluation of BRT routes through the downtown core and potential impacts on traffic, pedestrians and bicyclists), station locations, transit priority treatments, further refinement of the BRT operating plans and Metro route modifications, evaluation of community and neighborhood impacts (including mitigation measures), and following agreement on the initial project scope the submission of an application to enter project development under the Federal Transit Administration Small Starts program; and,
WHEREAS Metro Transit is completing design for a satellite maintenance facility in order to accommodate BRT articulated buses and applying for TIGER grant; and if the TIGER grant application is not successful, the plan is to seek partial funding for the maintenance facility as part of the Phase 1 BRT corridor project; and,
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Common Council supports the Bus Rapid Transit Inter-Agency Staff Team recommendation to proceed with Phase 1 Project Development in an east-west corridor running through the UW Campus and Madison’s Central Business District, with the east and west project termini to be determined.